database - Exchange Data between two apps across PC on LAN

Question

I have a need of implementing two apps that will exchange data with each other. Both apps will be running on separate PCs which are part of a LAN.

How we can do this in Delphi?

Is there any free component which will make it easy to exchange data between apps across PCs?

Answer 1

If I'm writing it myself, I (almost) always use sockets to exchange data between apps.

It's light weight, it works well on the same machine, across the local network or the Internet with no changes and it lets you communicate between apps with different permissions, like services (Windows messages cause problems here).

It might not be a requirements for you, but I'm also a fan of platform independent transports, like TCP/IP.

There are lots of free choices for Delphi. Here are a few that I know of. If you like blocking libraries, look at Indy or Synapse. If you prefer non-blocking, check out ICS.