iSpring SDK integration into Web systems

There are several ways of PowerPoint to Flash conversion solution creation with iSpring SDK. Depending on project demands, estimated number of presentation conversions, and scalability of the solution, you can choose one of the following ways of iSpring SDK integration.

Simple online PowerPoint to Flash conversion solution.

• Create a simple web page that prompts user to upload PowerPoint presentation file to the server
• Convert it after uploading using COM API or Command Line interface in a web page code

This simple way is not intended for wide use and have several issues with efficiency and scalability:

• Heavy CPU load and memory consumption. If several users upload presentations at the same time, several iSpring SDK processes work simultaneously. This can lead to a high CPU load and higher memory consumption.

• User experience issue. Web page will not be shown to the client until the conversion process is finished.

• Security issue. User account which is used for web page generation (for IIS it is usually NETWORK_SERVICE user account) has limited permissions to activate COM objects, use PowerPoint, and access file system. To make iSpring SDK work using such user account you would probably have to setup necessary permissions to user account (read Installing iSpring SDK under Windows Server 2003 articles for details).

Advanced online PowerPoint to Flash conversion solution.

• Queue. When a user uploads their presentation to the server, they put information about the presentation into the queue. This queue can be implemented, for example, as a database table or as a Web service at the same or another computer.

• Multiple processes. Create a process or several processes that periodically scans the queue for new entries and converts them using iSpring SDK. Usually 2 or 3 simultaneously running iSpring SDK processes provide the maximum efficiency on modern server hardware. During conversion, these processes can dynamically update the status of presentations being converted by handling iSpring SDK Events.
  You can run several copies of iSpring SDK on dedicated computers; this requires the purchase of additional licenses.

• Notifications. To notify users about the progress of the conversion process dynamically, you can use AJAX or Flash technologies or simply display conversion status by reloading the web page.