Is WCF right for this??

Question

Hi,

I've been looking at some WCF examples and all and I just cant see if this would be appropriate in my application.

I have an application for which I need multiple users to be assigned to. And each user needs privileges assigned to them, so that when they make a database request (MySQL database running on server), the privileges are seen and applied.

Does WCF support a 'user' adding removing and database access application? Or am I looking in the completely wrong place?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Person.

Answer 1

Hi Person!

The truth is, the Windows Communication Foundation is actually Web Services :) I believe your idea is quite good, but you can also apply a set of access/privilege rules using one or more tables in the existing database. Of course if you can modify its structure :)

If you can't modify the database, you have few possibilities: either you can create your own database with access/privilege rules or you can write a WCF Web Service serving as a 'gatekeeper' for your application (serving a set of different methods for each user). I'm not sure if you need a WS for your purpose, but it definitely sounds like a very interesting project :)

Please share your ideas!

Cheers!

Answer 2

Hi,

I have an application which I want users to sign into...so user accounts are required.
Our database is hosted god knows where, though its not on my machine.
I have to find a way of applying locks etc to the database so as to allow the admin user to read and write and others with varied privileges.

I dont know anything about WCF and it was mentioned to me that it would make the creation of this application easier. Though I looked at WCF documentation a bit yesterday and it seems that it is generally used for web services etc, is this true?

Thanks,

Person

Answer 3

Where is your application and database server? Are they on separate machines? If they are on same machine, you don't need WCF. WCF is needed when you need to make a communication between 2 or more machines.

You need to be more specific. What exactly are you trying to do?

It its just a simple database based Web application, you really don't need WCF. You can do everything in just using ASP.NET.

Answer 4

Hi Person!

I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve, but if you have authentication in mind, the answer is yes - WCF supports authentication. You can use for example Windows Authentication - based WCF application and connect to your database using c# and appropriate framework.

Please let me know if this helps.

Cheers!