Communicating between cordova and a python server - javascript

I've been trying to make a cordova app get information from a python server. I am relatively new to JavaScript but I've been trying to connect using sockets, but I couldn't get them to communicate and I can't use API since cordova blocks cross domain APIs.
How can I get them to communicate?

First, run two servers in the same domain. And use proxy server.
Here's an example case.
If your major app is one of Python, set proxy as:
yourdomain.com/ -> Python server
yourdomain.com/elsewhere/ -> Cordova server
Or you could set cordova app as the major app.
Second, communicate between them via HTTP or socket. It also can be done sharing a temp file or database.

The issue is that your API Server does not respond using CORS. If you can setup your python server to respond using CORS (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CORS). There would be no issues. If it will work with the chrome developer Console then it works with cordova.
If it you can not make that, I would suggest writing a Firebase Functions that becomes a man in the middle to the story.

Related

Configuring Vert.x HTTPS server to work with react-native mobile client

I have configured my Vert.x server built in Java to already handle HTTP connections properly, but I would like to add an additional layer of security through HTTPS. I use the standard fetch call to make POST requests to the server. I have searched through the Vert.x documentation already, but the only information I can find is if I use Vert.x as client code as well, but I would like to avoid that if possible. Is there a way to configure my client and server to work together to form a secure connection without having to build an encryption schema from scratch?
If I understood you correctly, you have but one VertX instance, without load balancer, and you would like to access it using HTTPS protocol.
It doesn't actually matter whether you access it through
When starting your VertX server, make sure you specify setSSL(true) and all the other arguments:
https://github.com/vert-x/vertx-examples/blob/master/src/raw/java/https/ServerExample.java#L39

How to convert node.js application into cordova

we built a node.js application for desktop and tablet. It's completely web based application. Now I am planning to implement same application as native app in android using Apache cordova.
Under project directory, we have node_modules,public,.... all client side files are in public folder. When I invoke URL in browser, from client side I am making API call to check whether user already logged or not. like this we are making API calls to my server.
As per my understanding,native app is nothing but we are storing all the client side files into device. whenever user open app will load client side files and as per work flow it will make API calls.
Theoretically I understand that much.
where I stuck :
In desktop app , I used to make API calls with URL like /api/web/shared/reject/, here we don't need to mention server address like localhost:8080/api/web/shared/reject/ that everything browser will take care. This same thing how can I make it work in cordova applications.
How cordova will know whether it is localhost or something else...
Regarding this, I Goggled but I didn't find any tutorials.
can anyone suggest me the way.
Basically, is a concept problem.
Node.js is a technology specialised in backend and some of usages like extend some services/functions, etc.
When you talk of a localhost:8080 you are talking that your node.js implementation should be in a server (Amazon, Azure, your own server, nodejitsu, etc), and the public pages or the pages that the client should consume will be added into phonegap, specifically in your www directory and the references for localhost:8080 should be changed for your server (Amazon, your own server, nodejitsu, etc), and the files on your www directory could have references (via GET or POST to retrieve the data from the server. Remember, the Crossdomain problem doesn't happens on phonegap (maybe in a local enviroment should occur).
And Phonegap is a framework to develop front-end with HTML5, jquery, CSS3 and other releated technologies.
For your specific case the node_modules should be installed in the server too, not on the phonegap project.

How to get external data in famo.us app

I need to read/write data via Service (e.g. REST). That's easy as long as the famo.us app works within/as a website, as I would host it within the same domain server where the data is hosted on. What if I translate the app into an Android app? How am I supposed to read/write to the server?
JS per se is no allowed to do a simple http request to other sites so I guess it won't work when it's translated into an Android (or iOs) app either?
This should work without a problem in Cordova as it allows cross site requests. Or you could use JSONP

how to communicate through serial port on client side using javascript?

Recently received a request to add communication to a device connected via serialport on the client's machine through my webpage.
I'd done some googling and found that node.js with node-serialport seems to be the javascript way of doing it. However, in my case, the device is actually connected to the client's machine, and not the server.
My question would be how do i implement node.js in this sense? Since the code is run at the client browser, is it possible for me to 'embed' node.js on my webpage?
Or is there any other alternative for doing this? Applet and ActiveX are out of the picture though.
Thanks
UPDATES:
Had managed to convince the client to have applet loaded from the web, so we'll be going through the applet route. Thanks all for your great info! =)
JavaScript in the browser only has access to the APIs provided by the browser: it lives in the browser sandbox where it (rightly) has no access to the client file system or other hardware.
This is different from node.js, which is a server implementation that has access to all sorts of other file system APIs.
To "break out" of the browser you must use some sort of browser extension.
You will have to create a plugin, an applet, or a client side application to get the data into the client's web browser before being sent off to your server.
You could make a small app that reads the serial port of the clients machine that creates a .js file, and then your web page includes that src of that "dynamically" created js file on the client's machine and presto your webpage gets access to the serial port in a roundabout way.
This is how GPSGate works: http://gpsgate.com/developer/gps_in_browser/
See also here: How to read from Serial port in a webpage
And a java applet based solution:
http://code.google.com/p/java-simple-serial-connector/
http://code.google.com/p/java-simple-serial-connector/wiki/jSSC_Terminal
Try app.js if you want to access node.js functions from browser.
This can only be done via Active X or a plugin like Java or Flash. Code in JavaScript is only as powerful as the APIs provided to it from the browser.
Want to sent an HTTP request to a server? JavaScript can do that (subject to the same-origin policy), because the browser has the XMLHttpRequest API. Want to query what processes are running on the operating system right now? JavaScript cannot do that, because no browser provides an API for querying the OS about what processes it is running.
No browser that I know of implements any kind of JavaScript API for performing serial port operations, so there is no way to do it without using a plugin.
However, this does not preclude the possibility of such an API existing someday: the getUserMedia function can grab data from a camera or microphone, and it could theoretically be expanded to get data from other devices as well.
Another option (other than ActiveX or Java applet with security permissions) might be Google Native Client and the Pepper API, though whether this would be sufficient to access a serial port, I do not know.
A Firefox extension can include a native XPCOM component that could access the serial port, and you might find there is already a way to access the serial port from browser chrome (which extensions are) because the security token and smartcard system supports serial readers. A Firefox extension could also be used to deliver the next solution, which requires placing a native component or application on the system.
Can you tell us what browser(s) and OS('s) are targetted here, and why ActiveX and Java are ruled out?
Others have suggested a native running proxy exposing the serial port through some protocol. You could use node for this, or python, or any other language that can create both a serial connection and a socket. To access the proxy from a browser application you would need special security permissions to be granted to the page, and then you can make your proxy an HTTP or WebSocket server. You can also serve javascript from the proxy which would grant the script HTTP and WebSocket access to it's origin server which is the proxy. Google Chrome extensions can access any destination and port with their socket client. Also, I believe a config can be set in Google Chrome to allow this for certain or every page, the same with allowing native client to be used by a webpage.
Without knowing more about your goal, I can't determine what the best solution would be.
Another option to read the serial port data is using sockjs and sockjs-client-node at the server side and sockjs-0.3.js at the client side.

How to efficiently develop client-side code for a web app without installing a local backend?

One of my team members is working only on client-side (Javascript) development for a web app with a large and complex backend.
I would like to avoid the need for him install and configure a local copy of the backend.
However, I wouldn't want him to need to push every small change to the dev server just so that he can test it.
We thought about getting the client to make the requests directly to the dev server, instead of to the same domain (the localhost) but this doesn't seem practical due to cross-domain request policies and authentication problems (cookies aren't getting sent).
What are some elegant solutions for developing clients without having a local backend?
Depending on how complicated your backend is, you might be able to create a mock backend using a lightweight web framework like Sinatra. I've had some success with this technique, but the services I've been mocking have been fairly simple. In some cases the mock backend mostly serves static JSON files.
I use Charles Proxy to map the URIs of the dev server's web services to localhost (where I run a light weight web server that serves up my static development code).

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