LiveCode Forums.

I am working on an app and my client asked if it could reside on their website. How would one go about doing something like that?

Tom

Hi Tom,

app for Mac, Win, iOS or Android?
Whatever, an app is also just a file on a server, ZIP the stuff and you are done.


Best

Klaus

trags3 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 19, 2021 6:25 pm

I am working on an app and my client asked if it could reside on their website. How would one go about doing something like that?

I would say it depends. IF Klaus didn't nail it already, and you really meant you want to store the stack on the server and distribute the exe. so that it uses the stack on the server as part (or all) of the main application, you would use code similar to "go url "the address of the stack" or, possibly "start using stack ..."

As an example, put this into the messagebox of the IDE

go url "http://tactilemedia.com/blog/bezier"

In this case, the location of the stack your using makes little to no difference.

trags3 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 19, 2021 6:25 pm

I am working on an app and my client asked if it could reside on their website. How would one go about doing something like that?

Is the client asking to have your desktop or mobile app downloadable from a web site, or to rewrite the native application so it can run within the confines of a web browser window?

Run within the confines....
Thanks

trags3 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:46 pm

Run within the confines....

The web and the desktop as such vastly different creatures that there is no easy way to transform a native app into a web app.

LC offers an HTML export tool, but in my view it's best seen as experimental, for the reasons I outline here, which also include a description of the scope of difficulty inherent in attempting such a thing:
viewtopic.php?f=120&t=25210&p=190586#p190586

Neither xCode nor Visual Studio attempt it, and I know of very few tools that do, and none that provide excellent results on both sides.

Can you tell us about the audience for this app, and a bit about what it does?

For far more use cases than it's currently used in, the "streaming apps" option I outline briefly at the bottom of the link I posted can be an excellent solution, more or less what Adobe and Microsoft are focusing on with their top consumer products, offering the best of web connectivity with a native desktop user experience.

Hi Richard,
The App I am writing is relatively simple. I have a number of screens that accept data into fields. When all the screens are completed (maybe 8 to 10) I populate a form. I then print the form to a PDF file that can then either be printed out or emailed.
If the App can be downloaded to a Windows or Mac computer from a website that would be ideal. I assume I would need 2 different downloads, an exe file and a Mac app. I just am not sure that works. The download you sent a link to works great on my Mac. Haven't tried on Windows.
I would think I probably need to do something to make the "print to PDF" function work.

Tom

trags3 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 19, 2021 9:39 pm

Hi Richard,
The App I am writing is relatively simple. I have a number of screens that accept data into fields. When all the screens are completed (maybe 8 to 10) I populate a form. I then print the form to a PDF file that can then either be printed out or emailed.
If the App can be downloaded to a Windows or Mac computer from a website that would be ideal. I assume I would need 2 different downloads, an exe file and a Mac app. I just am not sure that works. The download you sent a link to works great on my Mac. Haven't tried on Windows.

Determining which version to download based on platform is easily solvable.

But streaming apps are best used in scenarios like the big companies use them for, dedicated workhorse apps people rely on daily. For a one-time visit to fill out a form that wouldn't be a strong solution.

Forms are so easy to make in HTML why not do it in HTML? If you need PDF output the Submit button could call a LiveCode Server routinee to parse the form data into a card and generate a PDF from that.

I would think I probably need to do something to make the "print to PDF" function work.

What issues have you run into LC's print to PDF?

Hi Richard,
I really haven't had any issues with the print to PDF. I just understand that some REV files need to be in a place that is available to the file using it.I have never done anything with Web stuff before so I'm not sure what potholes I might hit.
My friend has a fillable PDF that she emails out to people to fill out. Her issue is that often she needs to send it to some of her competitors. It is a pretty complicated form with LOTS of input and requires occasional changes probably due to Govt regulations being changed. What her competitors do is take her PDF, edit it and use it. I suggested an app that generates the PDF with a kind of "Watermark" that would at least make the file more difficult to edit. On this forum it was suggested to me to use the snapshot command to make each page a photo before saving as a PDF. She then asked if the App could be hosted on her website and due to my ignorance regarding anything web related I said I would look into it.

That is the whole story.
I appreciate ALL the help of which I have been the recipient.

You have helped me many times over the few years I have dabbled in LC.

Thanks
Tom

The dark side of the web...or competitors !

Okay, this is almost - if not - a copyright matter..along with a technical chalenge.
Yes pdf are practical....but for competitors too

The problem is that onces a document is downloaded...its hard if not impossible to avoid unwanted sharing after that.

So, lets say she put the file on an ftp server, first she could get a reasonable ftpS server with login credential for her members only.
(does not eliminate the sharing problems once downloaded but at least restrict/control the free access to others.)

a) there are specialized *paid* ftp servers services where one can upload files and manage all access restrictions.
in fact a Livecode hosting could be a great case for that - including the sharing type case along with the added feature to build the whole (pdf) form eventually...

b) I beleive LC could add an extra feature which is :
"adding a discreet serial number on each published PDF form".
This auto generated serial could be associated by client login in...
After few download checks, she might be able to spot, which contact is leaking her proprietary PDF **as soon as she get hands on an unfair copy**.
She could choose to loose that client if that can get her rid of the competitors.

All in all, if she can - rather - have her customers accessing an online form or App,
** this would also offer two majors Pros;
1) the highest access control to her owned form !
2) plus an Auto gathering of all datas typed in a dashboard which could be interesting to save her quite some time.

So it mostly comes down to
1) her customer's tech knowledge/access..and
2) the price she is ready to put in every month.

else... I dont see how you could protect any digital PDF form onces its gone in the wild,
If someone is given the acces to the electronic file, there is enough free tools out there to remove any watermark or even break some password with some effort !
I dont mean to be negativ about a shared document method...just informativ about some Cons of its use.

my 2 (Copyrighted) cents

Thanks Livme!
I already approached my client re: Copyright! She said it isn't worth the $ to hire attys to go after the pirates.
I'm thinking of having 2 versions of the app. Both identical except when she needs to send to one of her competitors the stack will be converted to pictures and then printed to PDF. The other version will be just a straight PDF.

Thanks for your copyrighted advice!

Tom

I had suggested a PDF where the pages were just images made from export snapshot.
But I didn't know there was a requirement that the PDF be editable.
So image-only PDFs won't work.

Maybe the whole idea of sending editable PDFs to your client's clients is flawed as it opens up the possibility that competitors will simply copy the PDF.
Maybe the end clients should just fill out the form on a webpage then have the server generate the edited, image-only PDF for downloading.
That is to say, keep the editing in a controlled, secure environment rather than out in the wild.

Jim Lambert

Hi Jim
Sorry I took so long to reply.
We have decided that we will use the Image for the PDF ONLY when we need to send to competitors (which is only some of the time).
Normally the regular PDF will be sent. There is some Cut and Paste required when the PDF is returned and filled out. There are literally 100's of fields that might contain input data, so this is turning into a lot of work.
Thanks for the Picture idea that will work for us.

Tom

Thanks for the Picture idea that will work for us.

You're most welcome! Glad to help.

Jim Lambert