Hello friends,
I'd like to briefly introduce the new system I'm working on – the FW2WEB Merry-Go-Round. The goal of this system is to create a simple and flexible way to exchange data between our desktop application and a web server or microservice without requiring special network configurations or firewall changes.
What is the FW2WEB Merry-Go-Round? The FW2WEB Merry-Go-Round is a communication workflow based on standardized web technologies. The idea is that the desktop application sends a data request (e.g., an invoice preview) to a web server, which processes this data. The web server then returns a response that the desktop application receives and further processes as needed.
How the system works: Sending the request: Our desktop application (Fivewin) creates an HTML document that sends the request with the relevant data (e.g., customer data, invoice number) to the web server.
Querying the web server: In the HTML document, a JavaScript “interval” regularly checks with the web server to see if a response is available. Once the response is ready, a download button is activated.
Receiving the response: The user clicks the button to download the response data. The desktop application detects this download and can automatically close the HTML window.
Automatic handling: Thanks to the Merry-Go-Round approach, the entire workflow remains automated and efficient. It’s essentially a loop from desktop to web and back – with no manual intervention required.
Advantages of the FW2WEB Merry-Go-Round No firewall changes: The web server communicates over standard HTTP/HTTPS ports, minimizing the need for special firewall rules. Easy integration: It works based on HTML and JavaScript, making it easy to integrate the process into existing systems. Flexibility for microservices: The system can be extended to support microservice requests, should we want to adopt more modular architectures in the future. Clear communication flow: The system provides a well-structured way to securely exchange data between desktop and web without additional dependencies.
Example application In the current setup, we use the system to process invoice previews. The desktop application sends the invoice as JSON to the web server, which processes it and returns a response (e.g., as JSON). This allows us to synchronize data with the server without much effort.
The system could also serve as a kind of gateway in the future, enabling microservices to be addressed and information to be transferred in a continuous loop.
Next steps I'm looking forward to feedback and ideas on how we could use the FW2WEB Merry-Go-Round in other areas – especially as we begin integrating more microservices into our architecture. If you’re interested in testing the system yourself or diving deeper, let me know.
Best regards,
Otto
