Can I do this with C++

I am a web database designer using javascript regularly. I originally learned C, but haven't used it for years.

I need to write a program that will run under Windows XP, which a user can download and install on one of their computers and which will do the following:

Accept input from an external source (a private digital telephone exchange) and then automatically upload the data via FTP or email to a remote website.

Is C++ the best way to go? If so, can anyone recommend any good books that will help me to learn how to do this, in particular how to address the ports on a Windows computer.

Thanks for any help,
Doug

All sorts of different approaches may work, and no doubt C++ could do it.
Whether its worth the effort or not is another matter. There are a whole bunch of client side scripting languages which make the second part of the problem a snap, but which may have big problems with the first part.

For example, what is "Accept input from an external source"?
Which data source and what format are questions which immediately spring to mind.

Personally, I would write a C program to read the data from the source (over whatever interface it provided), and store that information in a text file. I would then spawn the normal FTP client to do the actual upload to a site.

given a choice, I would do everything mentioned above with perl, but perl doesn't run on windows without some extra software from ActiveSource.

I agree wiht the above answer, that c is the best way to get stuff from the external source, but then again, you coudl use c++ with c libraries and get some more advanced options in addition to the normal c stuff.

Actually, given the nature of teh problem, Java might be a good language to look into. It has a lot of the same capabilities as c and c++ and the sockets are A LOT easier to deal with.

Many thanks for your very interesting replies. I am thinking of taking the advice to head towards Java for the solution, as I remember that C was quite awkward to use with communication interfaces.

If anyone has any recommendations for good books to start learning Java, I would be grateful for your thoughts.

Thanks again,
Doug