Pushing messages from server to client

How is it done?

[GordonS]

This is the sitch:

We have an admin system for our web site. We review our customers orders, uploads etc regularly, but there's always a time-lag.

Since we're always online, we really want to "push" data or messages to our Windows desktops or web browsers, so that the moment a customer places an order, something pops up on our screens.

Is this so hard to do in .net? What are our options?

G.

[mrMister]

It's more a network issue. If you're behind a firewall or NAT then it's going to be harder.

You would probably be better off using pull, but at a faster interval. Is the difference between a pull every 10 seconds and a genuine instant push going to matter to you?

[aspdaddy]

Sounds like a good one for AJAX, get a control on the screen to re-query the database every 10 seconds

Its going to use a lot of resources though, why not look at a more creative solution to the whole problem like automating the order processing and just printing a batch of invoices every hour.

[carguy84]

Or have it kick off an email to you?

[mattglet]

Take a peek at .NET Remoting, and a client-subscribe method. The best examples are chat/IM tutorials.