Jim,

>>I suppose that "datasets" has a unique meaning in .NET?<

DataSets are nothing more than disconnected "views" of your data. They are objects containing Tables and Rows in those tables. So, yeah, take that terminology literally ... that's about right. Think of a DataSet as being a cursor or a remote view. You need to have some way of using the data that you get back from the Data tier in your UI. DataSets are how you do that.

>>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 ".<

Dunno ... sounds like tiers to me ...

>>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.<

Well, no ... basically you're binding to the DataSet object. Then these DataSet objects get sent back to the back-end DataAccess tiers which is where the updating of the SQL Server database takes place ... on the back-end where it belongs.

~~Bonnie



>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