Universal help desk database access tool using C# and WEB services on the .NET platform

There is a continuous need for a tool that can access limited sets of data through remote program interface. The current technology development offers Internet and Web based application as the obvious choice. Web Help Desk application which accesses a data source and displays contents to the users is usually developed using Internet, together with target application. This paper offers a different approach. By using SQL database meta-data a generic Web Help Desk application can be created to access different database systems, independent of the implemented technology and data model changes. By using XML Web Service as the layer where all access to the remote data sources are located, a system can be created that can access to data source across networks and operating systems boundaries. If any part of a data model is changed, application should still be able to access a data source. Keywords: C#, Help Desk, JAVA, .NET, Relational Database, SQL, Web Service, XML