What is .NET:
 .NET is the Microsoft solution for Web services, the next generation of software that connects our world of information, devices, and people in a unified, personalized way.

NET technology enables the creation and use of XML-based applications, processes, and websites as services that share and combine information and functionality with each other by design, on any platform or smart device, to provide tailored solutions for organizations and individuals.



.NET is a comprehensive family of products, built on industry and Internet standards, that provide for each aspect of developing (tools), managing (servers), using (building block services and smart clients) and experiencing (rich user experiences) Web services. 

Enterprise Technology for...

The Service Industry

SERVTRAC® .NET has been built entirely on a Microsoft® foundation, ensuring that our customers receive cost effective "best-of-breed" business solutions; solutions that are designed to provide them with the best management tools that are available at any price.

And, because AMTECH products follow Microsoft's "Best Practices" model for design, development and deployment, customers can be assured that the application software we deliver will provide enterprise-class business applications that will give them the competitive advantage that are searching for.  

The list of technologies illustrated below represent the foundation of SERVTRAC® .NET.

  • Microsoft® .NET Framework

  • Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework

  • Object-Oriented Model Design

  • N-Tier Architecture

  • Web Services

  • Microsoft® SQL Server 2000 Database, Enterprise Edition

  • Microsoft® SQL Server 2000 Windows® CE Edition

  • Microsoft® Visual Studio .NET Technologies:

    • VB.NET

    • ASP.NET

    • ADO.NET

  • Microsoft® Windows Server 2003 Operating Systems

  • Microsoft® Windows XP Professional Operating System

  • Microsoft® Windows Mobile Operating System for Pocket PC

  • Microsoft® MapPoint® 2003-2004

  • Microsoft® Office® 2003 

  • Windows® User Interfaces

    • Windows® Forms-based Interface

    • Windows® Browser-based Interface

  • RoboHelp, Support Authoring Systems

  • Crystal Enterprise™ 9 Reporting, Analysis and Delivery for the Web

  • Intel®-based Server and PC Hardware 

What is .NET?

Microsoft® .NET is a set of software technologies for connecting information, people, systems, and devices. This new generation of technology is based on Web services—small building-block applications that can connect to each other as well as to other, larger applications over the Internet.

What are Web Services?

Although deceptively simple, XML is turning the way we build and use software inside out. The Web revolutionized how users talk to applications. XML is revolutionizing how applications talk to other applications—or more broadly, how computers talk to other computers—by providing a universal data format that lets data be easily adapted or transformed:

  • Web services allow applications to share data.

  • Web services are discrete units of code; each handles a limited set of tasks.

  • They are based on XML, the universal language of Internet data exchange, and can be called across platforms and operating systems, regardless of programming language.

  • Microsoft® .NET is a set of Microsoft software technologies for connecting your world of information, people, systems, and devices through the use of Web services.

Web Services: A Universal Language

Web services let applications share data, and—more powerfully—invoke capabilities from other applications without regard to how those applications were built, what operating system or platform they run on, and what devices are used to access them. Although Web services remain independent of each other, they can loosely link themselves into a collaborating group that performs a particular task.

An Example: How Web Services Connect Applications

Say you have a stand-alone inventory system. If you don't connect it to anything else, it's not as valuable as it could be. The system can track inventory, but not much more. Inventory information may have to be entered separately in the accounting and customer relationship management systems. The inventory system may be unable to automatically place orders to suppliers. The benefits of such an inventory system are diminished by high overhead costs.

However, if you connect your inventory system to your accounting system with XML, it gets more interesting. Now, whenever you buy or sell something, the implications for your inventory and your cash flow can be tracked in one step. If you go further, and connect your warehouse management system, customer ordering system, supplier ordering systems, and your shipping company with XML, suddenly that inventory management system is worth a lot. You can do end-to-end management of your business while dealing with each transaction only once, instead of once for every system it affects. A lot less work and a lot less opportunity for errors.

These connections can be made easily using Web services. Web services allow the applications to share information via the Internet, regardless of the operating system or back-end software that the application is using.

Web Services Use Industry Standard Protocols

Web services also make it possible for developers to choose between building all pieces of their applications, or consuming (using) Web services created by others. This means that an individual company doesn't have to supply every piece for a complete solution. The ability to expose (announce and offer) your own Web services creates new revenue streams for your company.

Web services are invoked over the Internet by means of industry-standard protocols including SOAP; XML; and Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI). They are defined through public standards organizations such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

SOAP is an XML-based messaging technology standardized by the W3C, which specifies all the necessary rules for locating Web services, integrating them into applications, and communicating between them. UDDI is a public registry, offered at no cost, where one can publish and inquire about Web services.

Security and Web Services

A key benefit of the emerging Web services architecture is the ability to deliver integrated, interoperable solutions. Helping to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and security of Web services through the application of a comprehensive security model is critical.

Components of Microsoft .NET-Connected Software

.NET is infused into the products that make up the Microsoft platform, providing the ability to quickly and reliably build, host, deploy, and utilize connected solutions using Web services, all with the protection of industry-standard security technologies.

"Smart" client application software and operating systems enable PCs and other smart computing devices to act on Web services, allowing anywhere, anytime access to information.

Microsoft and others are developing a core set Web services—from authentication to calendaring—that can be combined with other Web services or used directly with smart client applications. The Microsoft MapPoint® Web Service allows you to integrate high-quality maps, driving directions, and other location intelligence into your applications, business processes, and websites is an example of one of these services.

Microsoft provides the best server infrastructure—the Microsoft Windows Server System™—for deploying, managing, and orchestrating Web services.

Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework are a complete solution for developers to build, deploy, and run Web services.

.NET Experiences

Building solutions with .NET technologies, you can create and connect to an infinite variety of personalized .NET experiences, with industry-standard technologies helping to protect your security and safety. Individuals can enjoy rich, tailored interactions—.NET experiences—when Web services are pulled together, allowing access to information across the Internet and from stand-alone applications, online or offline.

What is the Microsoft .NET Framework 

The Microsoft® .NET Framework is an important new component of the Microsoft Windows® family of operating systems. It is the foundation of the next generation of Windows-based applications that are easier to build, deploy, and integrate with other networked systems.

Most consumers will never notice that the .NET Framework is running on their Pocket PC, smart-phone, or desktop computer. But they may appreciate the reliability, ease of use, and ability to connect to other systems that the .NET Framework helps bring to computers.

The .NET Framework helps software developers and systems administrators more easily build and maintain systems with improvements toward performance, security, and reliability.

A New Approach to building Windows Software 

The .NET Framework simplifies Windows software development. It provides developers with a single approach to build both desktop applications—sometimes called smart client applications—and Web-based applications. It also enables developers to use the same tools and skills to develop software for a variety of systems ranging from handheld smartphones to large server installations.

Software built on the .NET Framework can be easier to deploy and maintain than conventional software. Applications can be designed to automatically upgrade themselves to the latest version. The .NET Framework can also minimize conflicts between applications by helping incompatible software components coexist.

Benefits of the .NET Framework

The key advantages of the .NET Framework include that it:

  • Helps IT professionals better integrate existing systems with its native support for Web services.

  • Assists with the deployment of software to both users and Web servers.

  • Facilitates the development of software with improved reliability, scalability, performance, and security.

  • Helps developers be more productive by:

    • Making it easier for them to reuse existing code.

    • Enabling them to more easily integrate components written in any of the more than 20 supported programming languages.

    • Helping them more easily build software for a wide range of devices using same skills and tools.

Basic Components of the .NET Framework 

The .NET Framework consists of two main parts: the common language runtime and the .NET Framework class library.

  • Common language runtime. Provides the common services for .NET Framework applications. Programs can be written for the common language runtime in just about every language, including C, C++, C#, and Microsoft Visual Basic®, as well as some older languages such as Fortran. The runtime simplifies programming by assisting with many mundane tasks of writing code. These tasks include memory management—which can be a big generator of bugs—security management, and error handling.

  • .NET Framework class library. The library includes prepackaged sets of functionality that developers can use to more rapidly extend the capabilities of their own software. The library includes three key components:

    • ASP.NET to help build Web applications and Web services.

    • Windows Forms to facilitate smart client user interface development.

    • ADO.NET to help connect applications to databases.

Why Microsoft SQL Server 2000

Business today demands a different kind of data management solution. Performance, scalability, and reliability are essential, but businesses now expect more from their key IT investments.

SQL Server 2000 exceeds dependability requirements and provides innovative capabilities that increase employee effectiveness, integrate heterogeneous IT ecosystems, and maximize capital and operating budgets. SQL Server 2000 provides the enterprise data management platform your organization needs to adapt quickly in a fast-changing environment.

With the lowest implementation and maintenance costs in the industry, SQL Server 2000 delivers rapid return on your data management investment. SQL Server 2000 supports the rapid development of enterprise-class business applications that can give your company a critical competitive advantage.

Benchmarked for scalability, speed, and performance, SQL Server 2000 is a fully enterprise-class database product, providing core support for Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Internet queries.

Easy-to-Use Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

Through rich data analysis and data mining capabilities that integrate with familiar applications such as Microsoft Office, SQL Server 2000 enables you to provide all of your employees with critical, timely business information tailored to their specific information needs. Every copy of SQL Server 2000 ships with a suite of Business Intelligence services.