Execute application on shared folder using resource of shared machine

Question

I write small apps to help automate daily work of some colleagues and want to put on a shared folder on my machine so that others from local network can execute when my computer is on. I don't have the luxury of my own server so this is the best I can do.

One of which is a Winform app that connects to an Oracle database via an Oracle client and Oracle Data Access installed on MY machine to retrieve information. I would hope that people can execute the app (.exe file) when my machine is on, without installing anything on their machine. The app will write to an output file (.html) on the same folder and open it on THEIR browser.

My question is : What should I do to make it possible ? How can people run this .exe file using Oracle Client, Oracle DataAccess and .Net framework already installed on MY machine as if I am running it locally.

I mark all C# Assemblies (automatically added by Visual Studio) as Copy Local to True (Microsoft.CSharp.dll, System.Data.dll, System.dll, System.Data.DataSetExtensions.dll, System.Deployment.dll, System.Drawing.dll, System.Net.Http.dll, System.Windows.Forms.dll, System.Xml.dll, System.Xml.Linq.dll). Would people still need .Net framework installed ? My app is quite simple with only one external dll Oracle.DataAccess.dll. How about Oracle client and Oracle Data Access.

Many thanks.

Answer 1

Best solution for your situation is create a webservice and make the clients that'll consume your webservice instead of them making direct calls to your database. It removes system dependencies and easier maintenance.

Answer 2

Your colleagues can go to your computer via remote desktop if it is feasible. In the probable case that this is not feasible, you need to decide what the colleagues will see. If they only need to see the generated html and they only need to trigger the execution of your exe, then you will need to have a program which listens to a port and make sure that the given port is requested correctly by your colleagues via a small client app.

But honestly, the use-case you describe sounds like a website used by your colleagues. You can create a website in .NET, the exe you have would be the controller or code-behind depending on the approach you use and the HTML would be the response. Then the colleagues will just request your page with the port you are listening at.