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  1. #1

    Default Web site as an APP on a PC

    Hi,

    I am designing an application UI in xara. It looks like a web page/s and really could be one but for two issues.
    1 It has to run off line
    2 It has to communicate with a dongle. It is a HID device so much like a mouse.

    Is it feasible? What language would the base code that would talk to the dongle need to be written in?


    Many thanks

    Tim

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    Default Re: Web site as an APP on a PC

    Tim, Xara web pages are static and are happy with the file:// protocol so off-line is fine.

    Never done anything with HID devices but Chrome has an API (https://developer.chrome.com/apps/hid) so JavaScript probably would suffice.
    if not in Chrome then you are coding (C++, C#, Java). I am sure there must be libraries out there.

    Acorn
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Web site as an APP on a PC

    Quote Originally Posted by TimBox View Post
    Hi,

    I am designing an application UI in xara. It looks like a web page/s and really could be one but for two issues.
    1 It has to run off line
    2 It has to communicate with a dongle. It is a HID device so much like a mouse.

    Is it feasible? What language would the base code that would talk to the dongle need to be written in?


    Many thanks

    Tim
    I would ask the Dongle's manufacturer/vendor if there is an api for communicating with the dongle from a web browser. It's possible there may even be an independent software group that works with the dongle.

    I have yet to come across any browser-based software that uses a dongle. I thought they were falling out of fashion, particularly since USB standards and socket configurations are changing and they are a pain when used with a laptop.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Web site as an APP on a PC

    "I would ask the Dongle's manufacturer/vendor if there is an api for communicating with the dongle from a web browser."

    I am the manufacturer. It is a HID device like mice. I can make it act like a mouse in fact with a little software change.

    "I thought they were falling out of fashion, particularly since USB standards and socket configurations are changing and they are a pain when used with a laptop"

    I'm not aware that using a mouse dongle was such an issue!

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Web site as an APP on a PC

    Quote Originally Posted by TimBox View Post
    "I would ask the Dongle's manufacturer/vendor if there is an api for communicating with the dongle from a web browser."

    I am the manufacturer. It is a HID device like mice. I can make it act like a mouse in fact with a little software change.

    "I thought they were falling out of fashion, particularly since USB standards and socket configurations are changing and they are a pain when used with a laptop"

    I'm not aware that using a mouse dongle was such an issue!
    It's an issue if you use a laptop sitting on a chair not flat on a desk or table.

    I'm guessing that you need the dongle for software protection? Most companies just talk to their devices directly through bluetooth.

    I have some 3D software that used a dongle, but it's been about ten years since they dropped that - thank god.

    So do you actually make the dongle itself? That 3D software use sentinel dongles and it required Sentinel drivers to be installed on the machine to provide an API for the 3D software to talk to.

    Good luck.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Web site as an APP on a PC

    Its not a security dongle. Its a PIC MCU and 2.4ghz RF device. I designed it because I need to be able to talk to it.

    Bluetooth is CRAP. When was the last time you connected 2 + devices to a laptop at one time. They drop out, you have to go into settings to connect to your device. No way would I inflict them on a customer of mine.

    With a HID device you plug it in and it works. No fing about it just works. I have sold 1000's of devices that connect to a PC this way. They ALWAYS work.

    But I do not do the PC coding. Previous ones were written in Delphi. As I mocked up the interface in XARA and can produce a web page with xara I was checking if you can turn the Xara HTM file into a web app. I want to know what code can the coms between a web app and the HID interface be written in. PHP, java what?

    However since posting this I have found there are libs that enable PHP to access the USB ports.

    Tim

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Web site as an APP on a PC

    Tim, glad we were able to help.

    I bet Charles Moir would have chipped in if you had described your HID's purpose sooner.

    Acorn
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2000
    Location
    Bracknell, UK
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    Default Re: Web site as an APP on a PC

    Quote Originally Posted by TimBox View Post
    Its not a security dongle. Its a PIC MCU and 2.4ghz RF device. I designed it because I need to be able to talk to it.

    Bluetooth is CRAP. When was the last time you connected 2 + devices to a laptop at one time. They drop out, you have to go into settings to connect to your device. No way would I inflict them on a customer of mine.

    With a HID device you plug it in and it works. No fing about it just works. I have sold 1000's of devices that connect to a PC this way. They ALWAYS work.
    Wow - all I did was ask!

    Incidentally, I have programmed software to control Bluetooth devices, I didn't design the hardware I was talking to (an Arduino controlling a very fancy light) , I just do as I'm asked - mostly.. ..err sometimes.

    But I do not do the PC coding. Previous ones were written in Delphi. As I mocked up the interface in XARA and can produce a web page with xara I was checking if you can turn the Xara HTM file into a web app. I want to know what code can the coms between a web app and the HID interface be written in. PHP, java what?

    However since posting this I have found there are libs that enable PHP to access the USB ports.

    Tim
    Excellent.

    2.4GHz is a WiFi frequency, so do you just mean WiFi? If not doesn't that interfere with any Wifi comms (or is this some application for a remote location with no WiFi)

    If it is WiFi, is your device giving a boosted range perhaps?

    I'm just curious.

 

 

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