Bonnie,

I got the idea from the description given. . .
"We're building a .NET app using Winforms for remote users, a Web Service, a middle-tier layer, and SQL Server. The UI is very 'rich', and we pass datasets back and forth to the Web Service [which passes them on to the appropriate middle-tier function]. The datasets that we pass 'up' contain 'packaged' information on user selections for reports, data that users have added/changed [for INSERTS/UPDATES], etc. The datasets that get passed 'down' are usually formatted results of queries [for user grids, lists, or reports that are run at the remote end].

So the remote end [presentation layer] passes datasets up, and receives datasets down.
".

This part sounded non-tiered to me: "using Winforms for remote users, a Web Service, a middle-tier layer, and SQL Server" especially when combined with: "The UI is very 'rich', and we pass datasets back and forth ".
I suppose that "datasets" has a unique meaning in .NET?

Winforms--->WebService--->middle-tier layer--->SQL Server also struck me as an odd 'configuration'.

Having read up only the ASP.NET part of .NET, the other terminologies are unknown to me and I take them literally (i.e. dataset).
Also, when I read threads mentioning "binding" I infer that to be (data fields) TO a form and that sounds counter n-tier to me.

totally my non-knowledge of .NET I suppose.

Jim

>Jim,
>
>Nope, not true ... I'm wondering how you jumped to that conclusion?
>
>~~Bonnie
>
>>Kevin,
>>
>>Pardon my jumping in (because I sure can't help with your question) but reading your problem description made me ask myself if .NET is effectively making the ol' 3-tier model impossible to do. Any comments on that?
>>
>>Sorry and thanks
>>Jim
>>
>>
>>>Follow-up to my last question...
>>>
>>>I'm 'guessing' (wildly guessing would be a better term) that by default, when we send up a dataset to a Web Service (and get one back), that's using MarshalByValue as the default. How would 'MarshalByRefObject' be more efficient?
>>>
>>>(Again, I'm on foreign territory and am still learning this aspect, so I may be tossing around terms that I don't quite understand).
>>>
>>>Kevin