I am building a suite of apps that rely on each other's data.
I wanted to put this shared data repository in the Documents library folder.
However, when I attempt to submit the app to the Windows 8 store, I am denied access to that folder location.
I have a developer account which does not qualify for DocumentLibrary access.
I was told that because I am not a company, I do not qualify for a company account.
How can I share application data with my other apps when offline?
Yes, one of the differences between company/individual accounts is access to the Document Library (full list of differences here).
If offline is a requirement, one option is SQLLite. See Tim's post on it here.
If online is sufficient, Windows Azure Mobile Services is pretty awesome for throwing up a quick and easy database backend. More details here.
Windows Store apps run in a sandboxed environment, isolated from each other, therefore they can't easily share their data.
If having a custom online service that both apps can connect to for sharing data between them is not enough, then you'll need the user to select a folder (from both apps) where the shared data will be stored. This way you'll be able to access it.
First use FolderPicker for the user to select the folder:
var picker = new FolderPicker();
picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".sqldb");
var folder = await picker.PickSingleFolderAsync();
Then add the folder to FutureAccessList so that you'll keep the access to it even after the app gets restarted:
var token = StorageApplicationPermissions.FutureAccessList.Add(folder);
You need to store the token so that you can load it next time. LocalSettings would be a suitable location. When your app is run again, you first read the token and with it regain access to the selected folder:
var folder = await StorageApplicationPermissions.FutureAccessList.GetFolderAsync(token);
I know this is not a perfect solution since it needs user intervention to setup everything correctly, but I think it's the only way to make such data sharing between apps possible. Even so, you might have a hard time certifying the app with this functionality.
Related
I am trying to implement a hardware busy light to show my Microsoft Teams presence so that my family to not enter the room I have the office while I am in a meeting. I am looking to implement something similar to:
https://www.eliostruyf.com/diy-building-busy-light-show-microsoft-teams-presence
https://blog.jongallant.com/2014/12/beakn-v0-1-diy-lync-status-light/ (older acticle - similar idea).
The only problem I have with this setup is that I cannot get the MS Teams status.
The best way to go is by using MS Graph Presence API but my problem is that this is a company account and I don't have (and there is no way I could have) and app in the main subscription granted with the required scope: Presence.Read.
So I tried different ideas but none worked in the end:
check local running processes
check if MS Teams exposes any local API
check if there is a CLI available
This seems a simple idea, I mean, I see the status right there now while I am typing this message, I could as well do an app that gets a screenshot of the taskbar and extract the status from the icon, but is that really the only option I have?
I think I found something interesting for you.
Go to
C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Teams
you'll find a file called logs.txt
In this file you see if your current state changed
(current state: Available -> DoNotDisturb)
I would write a script with php or VB (depends on your skills) that read that logs.txt file like every minute and check for the last "current state" line.
What those posts are doing (certainly the first one, I didn't check the 2nd one) is calling the Microsoft Graph, which has a "presence" endpoint to get a user's status. There's actually even a specific "/me" endpoint, to get your own personal preference (less access rights needed). See more about this here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/api/presence-get?view=graph-rest-1.0&tabs=http
In order for this to work, as you've mentioned, you do need to have an Azure AD App registration. However, importantly, this will only require "delegated" permission (i.e. only permission from the single user, you, to access just data for that single user, you). As a result, you can use "delegated" and not "Application" permissions, which means that it does -not- require Admin consent for the tenant.
It -does- require and Azure Add Application though, at the risk of stating the obvious. While you don't have tenant admin rights, you need to see if you have Azure rights, just to create an application (you might have this anyway as a developer in your org). If you don't even have this, you can sign up for an M365 Developer account, and use that tenant. Importantly - the application does't have to be in the same tenant. If it's not, it's just a simple multi-tenant app, like any 3rd party Azure AD-backed application is.
When store owner installs my app I save access tokens into database for later use. Having access tokens from store is huge security responsibility because anybody with these tokens can modify stores from any domain/address, there is no ip or domain lock.
What method could I use to make this more secure? I was thinking to save tokens offline and then upload it only when needed (in case I need to make some global updates for all stores), then delete it again. In case when merchant access app configuration within admin, I would just save it into session. Is there any better method?
Good question.
I save them in a database as well but I encode them with a separate key from the Shopify App password. That way even if someone have access to the database because of some backdoor entrance he won't be able to use them. That said if someone have access to the code he will be able to figure out how to decrypt it since he will have access to the key.
That said I make sure that each and every request is authenticated before I show any response from the server. Since I'm using NodeJS as the back-end I make sure that there are no global variables that can be accessed or modified from different stores. Everything is neatly scoped in separated functions so that the session is scoped for the current store and no other ones will be able to dirty the other store session.
In addition I make sure that there is a webhook that fires when the client uninstall his app in order to clear my database from any information regrading his store.
I know some people are using sessions for this ( online method ) but they pose other problems that I didn't like so I stuck with a database ( offline ) since that is the quicker way to access the App instead of multiply redirects in order to save the session.
As for proposals I can give you a few tips that I learn on my way while building a few basic Apps. ( I'm not an expert on the subject by any means )
don't rely on any cookies when it comes to sensible information
authenticate every request that comes from the front-end
don't trust the user and validate any input that comes from the front-end
don't over-complicate your setup, while it's good to have high security it's bad if it makes your app slow for the user and you lose customers
look to other ready to use popular solutions that can guide you to the correct path
don't get greedy with the App scopes, only request the scopes that you need for you app
remember to clean up after yourself when it's possible but don't over do it ( too many Apps modify the code of customers and break it only to prevent any way to clean it afterwards ) Example use the ScriptTag API instead of a liquid snippet using the Asset API. If you have to use the Asset API add only the parts that you know that won't break a site. Creating a variable is ok if you are using var if the site supports IE11 creating a variable using const or let is not OK or using vanilla JS is OK but using jQuery without knowing for sure that the site has it installed globally is not OK.
More insights on the matter can be seen here:
https://help.shopify.com/en/api/getting-started/authentication/oauth/api-access-modes
https://community.shopify.com/c/Shopify-APIs-SDKs/Best-way-to-store-shops-that-have-installed-my-app-and-their/m-p/402972
I upgraded Postman to 6.2.5. It allows Teams for free user. Ok, so I created Team and started new collection within it.
On collection level I specified Authorization as OAuth 2.0, generated new Access token (using the button Get New Access Token) so it is now in Available Tokens. I don't know if the tokens are shared with other team members (I haven't invited them yet). But there is a hint
Heads up! These parameters hold sensitive data. To keep this data secure while working in a collaborative environment, we recommend using variables.
I know the variables but don't know how to employ them in this scenario. What is the correct way to setup OAuth 2.0 Authorization in collaborative environment? (I would like to keep it on Collection level so it could be inherited down the structure of folders and requests.)
Here's what they mean by that:
Source: https://learning.getpostman.com/docs/postman/team_library/sharing/#sharing-environments
1) In addition to the standard way to share an environment, Postman Pro
and Enterprise users can also share an environment with their team.
2) From the gear icon in the upper right corner of the Postman app,
select "Manage Environments", and click the orange Share button next
to the environment you want to share. You will have one last
opportunity to hide any sensitive values like passwords and access
tokens before sharing the environment. When someone else imports the
environment, or accesses the shared template, they can input their own
personal information within their own version of the template.
environment
3) Click the Share button to complete the process.
4) Go to the Team Library to view the full list of shared team environments.
Where you have your long access token like: "a1dfgz51dgs5dg1s21gdsdg" you'll write {{accessToken}} as it will become an environment variable.
I've been creating an extension for VSTS, and so far i have stored some data in documents in collections (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vsts/extend/develop/data-storage).
The problem I have now, is that I need to GET these documents somehow from an external application. I have looked into: https://github.com/Microsoft/vsts-auth-samples/tree/master/ClientLibraryConsoleAppSample to get the authorization done, but then I am unable to get the documents. If I try to access through the REST API I have issues authorizing myself(without the personal access token provided. The application is supposed to work for every user, and i cannot get and use every user's personal access token. This is not feasible for 350+ people) as well as I am unable to get the REST API working. The documentation on all of this is severely lacking.
Anyone able to help?
The documentation is lacking, because the Data Storage is isolated for the extension and there is no easy way to access the data from outside of the extension. If you need external access, you also need to store your data externally. Azure storage or in a TFVC/Git repo under the VSTS account.
As for per-user storage access, that's also isolated and would indeed require either a account owner token or a user specific Oauth or PAT token.
I have found the solution. The documentation states that there are 2 ways of working with the documents/collections. REST API and their VSS wrappers. The url required to get all documents in a certain collection is as follows:
https://{account}.extmgmt.visualstudio.com/_apis/ExtensionManagement/InstalledExtensions/{publisherName}/{extensionName}/Data/Scopes/Default/Current/Collections/{collectionName}/Documents/{documentName}.
Using this in a browser works just fine. All that needs to be done in order to use this with an external application is authorization.
If you use sdk methods from docs like VSS.getService(VSS.ServiceIds.ExtensionData) you can view (easiest in dev tool in browser) the request.
Its look like:
https://extmgmt.dev.azure.com/{organization}/_apis/ExtensionManagement/InstalledExtensions/{publisher id}/{extension id}/Data/Scopes/Default/Current/Collections/{collections (by default 'MyCollection')}/Documents
I have been following your project for quite some time now and am intrigued by the functionality of gunDB where it doesn't require a database in between and keeps security in check.
However, I've got some questions about GunDB which I've been thinking about for quite some time now before I can give Gun a go with a project I'm currently working on. In this project it is necessary that data is safe but should also be shareable once a group has been setup. The project is a mobile app project and ata is mostly stored on the device in a SQLite database.
I have been looking into Gun as it allows for better usage of the app in sense of collaboration. The questions I have, however, are:
User authentication
How is user authentication handled through private keys? So how can a user "register" with, for example, a username and password to login to the service.
For authentication I am currently using Firebase where it is possible to use username/password authentication and I would like to know how Gun approaches this case and how it's implemented.
Data storage
In the documentation and on the website it's stated that data is stored locally with every client and can be stored on a "node" or server using either a local hard drive or the Amazon S3 storage option.
What I am curious about is what data is actually stored at the client? Is this only the data he/she has access to or is this a copy of the whole dataset where the client can only access whatever he/she is granted to have access to?
Maintaining your data
When I've got a production system running with a lot of data, how will I be able to manage my data flows and/or help out my clients with issues they have in the system?
In other words, how can I make sure I can keep up with the system if I want to throw in an update and/or service my clients with data issues.
My main concern is the ability to synchronize their local storage correctly.
Those are all my questions for now.
Thank you very much in advance for providing some clarity on these subjects.
Best regards,
(Answered by Mark Nadal on Github: https://github.com/amark/gun/issues/398#issuecomment-320418285)
#sleever great to hear from you! Thanks for finally jumping into the discussion! :D
User Authentication,
this is currently in alpha. If you haven't already seen these links, check them out:
https://github.com/amark/gun/wiki/auth
http://gun.js.org/explainers/data/security.html
https://github.com/amark/gun/blob/master/sea.js#L23-L43
https://github.com/BrockAtkinson/login-riot-gun
If you have already, would love to either (A) get you to alpha test and help push things forward or (B) hear any specific questions you have about it. This thread is also a more at length discussion about alternative security API ideas: #321 .
Data storage.
Browser peers by default store the data that they subscribe to, not the full data set. You could ask it to store everything, but the browser wouldn't like that. Meanwhile NodeJS peers, especially if hooked up to S3 or others, would store all data and act as a backup.
Does this make data insecure? No, encryption should keep it secure, even if anybody/everybody stores it, the encryption makes it safe. (See [insert link to (1)] for more information).
Maintenance.
You would service your customers by deploying an update to your app code. It would not be ideal for your customers if you could meddle with their data directly. If they wanted you to do that, my recommendation would be that they change their password, give the new password to you, and you login and make any necessary changes. Why? Because if you have admin access to their data, their privacy is fundamentally violated.