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Naveen Yajaman, Edward Jezierski, Brenton Webster, David Hill, Mohammad Al-Sabt (Microsoft Corporation); Brian Button (Murphy and Associates); Prashant Bansode, Guru Sundaram (Infosys Technologies Ltd); Bharat Rawal (Volt); Blaine Wastell (Ascentium Corporation); Roberta Leibovitz (Modeled Computation LLC)

February 2004

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Summary

This page provides an overview of the Offline Application Block, which is intended to serve as an architectural model for developers who want to add offline capabilities to their smart client applications. The block demonstrates how to:

• Detect the presence or absence of network connectivity.
• Cache the required data so that the application can continue to function even when the network connection is not available.
• Synchronize the client application state and/or data with the server when the network connection becomes available.

Contents

Who Should Read This Guide
What Is in This GuideInsurance Claims Processing Sample
Feedback and Support
Contributors

Who Should Read This Guide

This guide is written for:

• Software developers
• Application architects

What Is in This Guide

This guide describes the design and features of the Offline Application Block and demonstrates how you can use the block to add offline capabilities to your smart client applications.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1 introduces the Offline Application Block and gives a high-level description of its architecture. It also includes a customer scenario, which is further developed in Chapter 2.

Chapter 2: Design of the Offline Application Block

Chapter 2 examines the Offline Application Block features, architecture, and design, as well as its relationship to other components that support it, such as the Caching Application Block.

Chapter 3: Development Using the Offline Application Block

After you understand the features of the Offline Application Block, you can start developing with it. Chapter 3 details the process for building the block and modifying your application to use it. The chapter also discusses the QuickStarts that are included to help you understand the steps that are needed to implement your own offline solution.

Chapter 4: Offline Application Block Configuration and Security Considerations

After you create your applications, you must configure, secure, and deploy them. Chapter 4 presents the steps for using the application configuration file and deploying the applications. It also discusses possible security threats and the countermeasures you can take against them.

Appendix A: Test Cases

The appendix documents the test cases used to verify that the Offline Application Block works correctly.

ReadMe File

The ReadMe.txt file is a separate document that contains troubleshooting hints and information about known issues. To access it, click Start, click All Programs, click Microsoft Application Blocks for .NET, click Offline, and then click ReadMe.

Insurance Claims Processing Sample

The Offline Application Block comes with an insurance claims processing sample that offers some insight into development decisions explained in Chapter 2, "Design of the Offline Application Block." The complete code and the associated documentation for the sample are available on the GotDotNet community in the patterns & practices Smart Client workspace:

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/GotDotNet.aspx.

Feedback and Support

The Offline Application Block is designed to help you add offline capabilities to your smart client applications. The sample code is intended to serve as an architectural model that you can use as guidance when developing your own solutions. The example code is provided as source code that you can use "as is" or customize for your application. Support is available through Microsoft Product Support for a fee.

Contributors

Many thanks to the following advisors who provided invaluable assistance:

• Maarten Mullender, Microsoft Corporation
• Mark Bolter, Microsoft Corporation
• Scott Densmore, Microsoft Corporation
• Tim Osborn, Ascentium Corporation

Thanks also to the many contributors who assisted us in the creation and production:

• Carlos Farre, Solutions IQ
• Matthew Evans, Microsoft
• Sharon Smith, Microsoft

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