Hi All,
I have just finished lesson 3 of the course and I have to admit that it has left me a little concerned about LC's suitability for my needs. I'm fairly confident though that it is down to my 'newbieness' and I'm hopeful you can clear things up for me. By the way, I've been reading through the forums on the subject but still have concerns.
1. The app I wish to build will make use of a web database that users will need to signup for and sign in to. I had hoped to use some sort of cloud database that would expose services through an api. Can LC handle this and if so, how is authentication handled? Lesson 3 does not cover this scenario - instead it describes the LC server approach.
2. I am flexible and willing to go with the LC server approach but I have a couple of concerns/questions about it:
a) How secure is it? It seems to involve keeping a script on the server that includes a single username and pwd in plain text then writing app-side scripts to call urls passing parameters. Given that each user will have different login credentials, how can they be passed securely?
b) The learning curve for LC client side is steep enough as it is and I did not expect, until I watched lesson 3, to have to learn about server side scripting and deployment as well. Frankly I'm concerned that it will prove a step too far for a non-programmer like me. My concern is compounded by a feeling that the subject is not covered extensively enough in terms of tutorials. It would help to have a number of videos dedicated to the creation of an example mobile application allowing signups/sign-ins and manipulation of data in a web database, including the creation steps for both the app and server side scripts. If there is a question to this last point, it is, can you please point me to your best resources on the subject? I fear that I have already seen them though.
This turned out to be more of a rant than I intended - sorry. It's just that I signed up for the course with a great deal of passion and I want to continue, but a database is a big requirement for me and I guess I was hoping for better support and coverage. As I said hopefully you can clear things up for me. Thanks.
Cloud/Web Database
Moderators: LCNeil, heatherlaine, kevinmiller, elanorb
Re: Cloud/Web Database
Dear Willcom,
Thank you for your request.
I hope the following responses give you some leads-
1. The app I wish to build will make use of a web database that users will need to signup for and sign in to. I had hoped to use some sort of cloud database that would expose services through an api. Can LC handle this and if so, how is authentication handled? Lesson 3 does not cover this scenario - instead it describes the LC server approach.
You would need to implement this functionality yourself. one of the easier approaches would be to create a database of users that contains all of their required informations (e.g. passwords, usernames, email addresses).
You would then query this database and if the username entry matches the password entry in for a users database entry then access would be granted. I would recommend a MySQL database for this purpose.
I would still recommend the LiveCode server approach for this method, as the encrypt commands are not yet possible on mobile so you would essentially be transferring plaint text credentials to and from the MySQL database (not recommended)
2. I am flexible and willing to go with the LC server approach but I have a couple of concerns/questions about it:
a) How secure is it? It seems to involve keeping a script on the server that includes a single username and pwd in plain text then writing app-side scripts to call urls passing parameters. Given that each user will have different login credentials, how can they be passed securely?
As long as you use https then any passwords/usersnames passed to and from LiveCode server should be encrypted. The username and password used to connect to the MySQL database will be different that the username and passwords stored within the MySQL database.
b) The learning curve for LC client side is steep enough as it is and I did not expect, until I watched lesson 3, to have to learn about server side scripting and deployment as well. Frankly I'm concerned that it will prove a step too far for a non-programmer like me. My concern is compounded by a feeling that the subject is not covered extensively enough in terms of tutorials. It would help to have a number of videos dedicated to the creation of an example mobile application allowing signups/sign-ins and manipulation of data in a web database, including the creation steps for both the app and server side scripts. If there is a question to this last point, it is, can you please point me to your best resources on the subject? I fear that I have already seen them though.
The script used for the LiveCode server scripts is very similar to the direct MySQL scripts. There are only a handful of script changes required and instead of passing direct SQL statements to a database you are using URL calls.
We are currently creating a Cloud/Database academy that is covering LiveCode Server Database access in more detail. Once this is released (shortly) as you are part of the idea2app course it will be added to your LiveCode account.
Kind Regards,
Neil Roger
--
RunRev Support Team ~ http://www.runrev.com
LiveCode – Realize fast, compile-free coding
—
Thank you for your request.
I hope the following responses give you some leads-
1. The app I wish to build will make use of a web database that users will need to signup for and sign in to. I had hoped to use some sort of cloud database that would expose services through an api. Can LC handle this and if so, how is authentication handled? Lesson 3 does not cover this scenario - instead it describes the LC server approach.
You would need to implement this functionality yourself. one of the easier approaches would be to create a database of users that contains all of their required informations (e.g. passwords, usernames, email addresses).
You would then query this database and if the username entry matches the password entry in for a users database entry then access would be granted. I would recommend a MySQL database for this purpose.
I would still recommend the LiveCode server approach for this method, as the encrypt commands are not yet possible on mobile so you would essentially be transferring plaint text credentials to and from the MySQL database (not recommended)
2. I am flexible and willing to go with the LC server approach but I have a couple of concerns/questions about it:
a) How secure is it? It seems to involve keeping a script on the server that includes a single username and pwd in plain text then writing app-side scripts to call urls passing parameters. Given that each user will have different login credentials, how can they be passed securely?
As long as you use https then any passwords/usersnames passed to and from LiveCode server should be encrypted. The username and password used to connect to the MySQL database will be different that the username and passwords stored within the MySQL database.
b) The learning curve for LC client side is steep enough as it is and I did not expect, until I watched lesson 3, to have to learn about server side scripting and deployment as well. Frankly I'm concerned that it will prove a step too far for a non-programmer like me. My concern is compounded by a feeling that the subject is not covered extensively enough in terms of tutorials. It would help to have a number of videos dedicated to the creation of an example mobile application allowing signups/sign-ins and manipulation of data in a web database, including the creation steps for both the app and server side scripts. If there is a question to this last point, it is, can you please point me to your best resources on the subject? I fear that I have already seen them though.
The script used for the LiveCode server scripts is very similar to the direct MySQL scripts. There are only a handful of script changes required and instead of passing direct SQL statements to a database you are using URL calls.
We are currently creating a Cloud/Database academy that is covering LiveCode Server Database access in more detail. Once this is released (shortly) as you are part of the idea2app course it will be added to your LiveCode account.
Kind Regards,
Neil Roger
--
RunRev Support Team ~ http://www.runrev.com
LiveCode – Realize fast, compile-free coding
—
Re: Cloud/Web Database
Thanks Neil. I look forward to the Cloud DB Academy.