Jelle Druyts

It's been quite a while since the last progress report on WeFly247.NET, but we've been very busy getting a more or less stable build out for the rest of the team to review - luckily that also means a lot of work has been done in the mean time

Last time, I left off with a "standalone" Passenger web site that looked like it was designed by a developer (well, it was ), but since then I've updated the look and feel to match the great designs from Elevator Digital and connected it all to the business tier. The website is pretty much done right now, it's all talking to the backend over Web Services through smart Agents that handle security and custom authorization Soap headers.

The home page:

The "panels" (flight info, destination info, crew info, ...) on the homepage are Web Parts so you can customize the whole lot and look only at what you would want to see during your flight. The Flight Map on the homepage is a dynamic image (easy as pie with the new .asix handler and the DynamicImage control in ASP.NET 2.0) which displays the the route the plane has already traveled and where the plane is at now.

There's also an InfoPath form that allows you to fill in your Customs & Immigration information; it also pulls and pushes data from and to the backend through Web Services (but since InfoPath doesn't talk Soap headers yet, it's not automatically secured yet).

The Duty Free Shop:

So with that part pretty much done, I've started working on the Maintenance application, which is a Smart Client application for the pilots that can be used on a Tablet PC. They use it to go over a checklist before takeoff (there are no gas stations in mid-air so better check if you're fueled up) and to monitor some statistics in-flight (to make sure you won't be fined for speeding). There's some custom controls here with transparency, and the whole app is supported by smart Office documents: the new ActiveDocumentHost control allows you to embed those directly into your WinForms app! If there's a problem with one of the readings (e.g. your altitude is too low), you can look at an Excel sheet showing the data and you have a Research Pane ready to help you diagnose the problem before you submit a problem report in Word.

The Maintenance Application:

So we've already covered quite a lot of the scenarios but there's still a lot of work (especially on the Flight Attendant app on Pocket PC) - so I'm off coding again!