Webmaster Forum / Flash / Data Integration / July 2005

I am about to begin developing training apps that must be available in a
"stand-alone" mode as well as from a web server.  Our clients typically have
personnel who must be able to run the training apps in the field on a laptop
with no internet connectivity.  Progress data, test scores, etc., will need to
be stored on the laptop, and then rolled up to the server database when the
student is able to get to an internet connection.

I am considering Flash for this and other similar projects.  I'm familiar with
Flash MX 2004 Pro, and I've developed several "hybrid" apps.  It's fairly
simple to split a presentation up into several .swf files to facilitate loading
chunks of the app as needed via a dial-up connection.  For the stand-alone
implementation, I just publish the main file as an .exe and put it on a CD with
the same file structure as on the web server, setup an autorun file, and the
client has a "plug-and-play" version for the field that provides a nice
full-screen view.

Now I need to add database functionality.  To summarize the requirements:

1.  Must run stand-alone and over the web

2.  Stand-alone version must be as close to "plug-and-play" as possible in
order to minimize installation and configuration issues

3.  Would prefer stand-alone version to run as full-screen app (.exe)

4.  Except for the launch file and support files, the content file structure
must be the same for both implementations

5.  Stand-alone version must be able to store state data to the local hard
disk for later uploading to the server database

6.  I would like to leverage my existing Flash experience and code base

Questions:

1.  Is Flash suitable for this type of development effort?  If yes, then...

2.  What is the best solution for "stand-alone" database connectivity?  From
what I can tell from reading the documentation, Flash database access requires
some type of server side logic.  I don't have a problem with requiring client
notebooks to be Win2000/XP so I can run IIS and ASP on them.  The system CDs go
with the computers, so I can supply instructions on installing IIS or talk a
user through the process if necessary.  Am I on the right track here?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!