I have a front end Microsoft access database with forms, reports etc. and a backend access database.
I wish to run the front end on various machines, and place the backend (the data) on either a server or network attached storage.
Would I need a copy of Microsoft Access for the backend server? Or can I just connect to it using the front end and simply store it there?
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A little design question here:
The requirements for the system go as follows:
all the content is stored on the backend in a database
the client(mobile app) downloads all of the data to have a local copy for offline access
The database on the backend is quite complex and contains entities/fields which are not(at least not currently) used in the mobile client.
What is the right way to design the local database ? Do I need to create a mirror copy of the backend database on the client ? Do I need to create my own data model regardless of what is on the backend ? Should there be any similarities between the two data models at all ?
I have been working on an Angular/Ionic application and am using the OAuth.io plugin to handle a facebook login to gain a user's information. From that I derive a simple database name based on the user's firstname and their Facebook ID number.
What I am wanting to do would be to sync this local pouchDB instance to an online CouchDB instance (currently using http://iriscouch.com) for replication to a desktop app, or something similar. The piece I am missing is how to handle user authentication/authorization to be able to only read and write to their own database and no one else's as all of the code currently lives on the client side with no app server to handle any login aside from the OAuth.io plugin.
Is this possible to handle without adding an app server layer, and without manual intervention to create a user on the CouchDB instance?
Currently you can only do per-user read-write permissions in CouchDB by having an additional process on the server side (details), which would be troublesome for you since you're using IrisCouch, so you'd need a separate server somewhere to host this process.
A few alternative options are available to you right now:
Couchbase, which has per-user databases
Janus, which works using Mozilla Persona rather than Facebook ID, and isn't ready yet, but should be unveiled shortly
I am planning to build an iOS app with using DB(Ms-Sql).
However, people recommends not to access DB from Xcode.
They recommend me to use php or asp for accessing db through a webpage.
I want to know the reason.
Also I am going to use DB only for (view) select line (not insert, update nor delete).
so is it possible to access directly to db for viewing purpose only?
thank you
It's generally bad for an application (mobile, web, any client) to directly have access to any database for security issues. Clients really should not be accessing the database, which is often holding very private/secure data. It opens up vulnerabilities (i.e., sql injection attack).
A set of web services written in php or java or some back-end technology is a more secure, scalable system. These web services can connect to the database and retrieve data. Your iOS application can call the web services and receive the data..for example in the form of XML or JSON.
I have a client which want to have data from a form to an access database. I seen some odbc connector for rails but it's only old projects.
I can export/inport data in CSV but I want the simpler solution.
Do you know if there is a solution to connect Rails with Access?
Thanks!
If his access database doesnt already exist then a good solution would be to create a rails application with a MySQL database then use microsoft access as a front end to the mysql db (OBDC). Ref Access as front end to MySQL
So he can see all data from the mysql db through access and easily import the entire db to his local machine if he wanted to but it wouldn't be required.
I'm developing a simple iPhone app where users register, and sign in with their email/password. These values are stored in a remote database.
I'm using Cloudant to store this information (CouchDB is great), and have granted read-only privileges to a new user (created API key/pass). In order to communicate with Cloudant, you obviously need a URL to access it (eg https://user:pass#db.cloudant.com), which is stored in the app as a string.
Now, while I know this is pretty unsafe, I can't think of any other alternatives in order to keep the db URL safe (specifically the username/password for it). I've seen people talk about using another server to proxy through to obtain the credentials, but it seems a little awkward.
Any help or thoughts would be really appreciated!
Are you trying to make a connection from your iPhone app directly to the database? You shouldn't give your app read access to the whole remote user table / database. Sooner or later someone would find out and would have read access to your data. No matter how you try to obfuscate it, the user/password combination would need to be stored somehow in your app.
What you should do is build a web service that connects to your DB and verifies your users. The database password stays on a server. This proxy-approach is not awkward, it is the only way to keep your database logins away from your users.
One option is to create your own service in the cloud that abstracts away your storage. That also has the benefit of allowing you to change your storage without updating all your devices.
In that model, the service stores the credentials to access the storage and you implement user security in your application layer. I also wouldn't think of it as a proxy layer - that implies that it's a thin pass through. If you develop a service, you should define a web interface (rest, soap) that's agnostic to the storage. In that case, it's a service, not a proxy.
EDIT:
Typically the web service authenticates the user (don't write your own). Basic Auth with SSL is typical. Then, in that services context API, you get access to the username. From there, you do you what you need. Your storage is accessed with the one storage account that has full access to all content.
Another auth option is OAuth which allows them to authenticate with someone like google - you never get the password - just a token from google letting you know they authenticated and they are who they claim to be. For example, that's how stack overflow works.