Best technology to create web forms and reports on top of a Dynamics AX backend?

Question

Want to create web sites with data on Dynamics AX. We want not to pay for Enterpise Portal or SHarepoint an do our own web app on top of AX.

Answer 1

You are pretty much on your own.

If your web-application is read-only then reading from the database (or an offline copy) may be an option. Then your question boils down to: how to create a web site?

If your web-application needs to write data back, you should not write directly to the database. You have to talk to Axapta. Depending on Axapta version it could mean one of:

1. Use document exchange (maybe a combination of XML, AIF and BizzTalk)
2. Use Axapta Buissness COM-connector
3. Use AX .NET Framework
4. Use AX web services (in AX 2009)

Listed in decreasing difficulty. Option 1 is slow and difficult, but would allow asynchronous communication with AX.