An information management system based on .Net 3.0

The Client

This is a software development & multimedia company based in US.

What the client wanted

It has been several years since the information management system developed with VB 6.0 SP5 on the client's side. It uses SQL server 6.5 and runs at normal Windows platform.

The client wanted to release a new version of the product around the time when Windows Vista comes out. The requirement is clear to migrate the system to .NET Framework 3.0 in the aims of taking good advantages of Vista, upgrading the program performances and reducing the maintenance cost.

ATL's Responsibility

There are 3 main phases on the development of Smart Client application and we are responsible for:

• Migrate all the screens & user controls to XMAL.
• Rewrite the business logic from VB 6.0 to VB.NET 2.0.
• Convert all the law document templates to Word 2007.

In addition, we also help the client to do some research and testing on the functions implemented by new technologies required.

The project solutions

Since that NET 3.0 was just during the beta period, we didn't have much experience in it. In order to master the technologies as soon as possible to ensure the schedule and quality of the project, we take on the training in the following way.

At the initial stage, an experienced team leader learned and repeated some comparatively easy tasks assigned by the client, to know more details about the new technologies and the project. When he was able to complete the development by himself, we selected two seasoned VB.NET programmers to join the team, who got the training from the team leader and helped to complete the new tasks.

The advantages of this training mode are no charging for the client to bring up our developers on the new technologies, and less influence on the project schedule. It is also impactful to reduce the risk of management. The effect is positive: we just took less than 3 weeks to enter the normal development states, and met the client's schedule for a 5-people team.

Because of the lack on requirement documents, the client used the project list to assign tasks. Every 1~2 weeks, we submitted a new edition to get the feedback and then the next tasks from our client. Except for training new developers, the team leader was responsible for the definition of everyone's tasks in team, gathering the problems occurred during the development, and communicating with the client in time.

The Project

Efforts
27 man-months

Technology
• Visual Studio 2005 & VB.Net 2.0
• Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF)
• Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
• Office Open XML

Phased results
• Migration of WPF screens with the UI in XAML and codes in VB.NET 2.0.
• Implementation of the new data binding model of WPF to this project.
• Conversion of law document templates in Word 2007.
• Function of the XPS file transformation from database server to client application by using WCF.

The benefits

• Dedicated team and efficient development methodology ensure the smooth completion of projects and value-added ODC services we provide.
• The training model reduces the risk of new technologies application and provides more convenient & content outsourcing products to the client.

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