Desktop application to work on Windows and Mac

[nayen]

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but here is my question:

I want to build a desktop application that will run on Windows and Mac. The application’s purpose is to connect to a website, log in using username and password info, browse to a page on the site, fill a form and submit it. This is to automate a certain task that I am doing repeatedly on my site.

My question is, for such an application, which platform would be the best choice for me to build upon? I am considering Adobe Air as an option but I haven’t decided yet as I don’t know if it can do what I need. Also heard about TideSDK.

Thanks for any ideas.

[ParkinT]

If you are connecting to a website and interacting [solely?] with the website, why must this be a Desktop Application?
You are adding the overhead of an Installation, Update/Maintenance, dealing with Anti-Virus and Firewall interference and the [paranoid] Users’ concern about security of a “foreign” application.

Using scripting languages (like Python or Ruby; both of which can be installed on Windows) you could ‘automate’ this operation in the background.

[nayen]

@ParkinT

If you are connecting to a website and interacting [solely?] with the website, why must this be a Desktop Application?
You are adding the overhead of an Installation, Update/Maintenance, dealing with Anti-Virus and Firewall interference and the [paranoid] Users’ concern about security of a “foreign” application.

Using scripting languages (like Python or Ruby; both of which can be installed on Windows) you could ‘automate’ this operation in the background.

Thanks for all your points and they do make sense but I need it to be a desktop application because I will distribute it and I don’t want to make it an online application.

[wwb_99]

Air will work though that requires installing another toolkit. Java is also an option. Mono could work as well though you might have framework installation requirements. GTK+ + python could be interesting as well.

[Jeff_Mott]

@nayen

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but here is my question:

I want to build a desktop application that will run on Windows and Mac. The application’s purpose is to connect to a website, log in using username and password info, browse to a page on the site, fill a form and submit it. This is to automate a certain task that I am doing repeatedly on my site.

My question is, for such an application, which platform would be the best choice for me to build upon? I am considering Adobe Air as an option but I haven’t decided yet as I don’t know if it can do what I need. Also heard about TideSDK.

Thanks for any ideas.

If it absolutely has to be a desktop application, and you definitely want to build it using web technologies (HTML/CSS/JS), then I highly recommend NodeWebkit.

[nayen]

Thank you all for your suggestions.

@Jeff_Mott

If it absolutely has to be a desktop application, and you definitely want to build it using web technologies (HTML/CSS/JS), then I highly recommend NodeWebkit.

Thank you. Can NodeWebkit do what I want to do?

“The application’s purpose is to connect to a website, log in using username and password info, browse to a page on the site, fill a form and submit it.”

I mean, the application will have a user interface, fields to enter info, then when I click a button, it will go to my site, log in, go to a specific page, fill a form based on the info I entered and submit.

[sg707]

Another solution is to use http://docs.seleniumhq.org/ Selenium Web Driver. Personally, I haven’t used it but seems to satisfy your requirements. It’s free as well. Here’s the description

Selenium automates browsers. That’s it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that. Boring web-based administration tasks can (and should!) also be automated as well.