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Alpha Transform, sqlite, and Amazon S3

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    Alpha Transform, sqlite, and Amazon S3

    New to Transform and Amazon Web Services but not Alpha Anywhere. I am testing out Transform using a sqlite database so I went to AWS, setup an account, setup a separate user, and created a bucket with public access off. Used Alpha Anywhere to create my connection string and send my on device assets to my bucket. Now I am stuck on trying to get the database to download on my mobile device with no success. Already reviewed every video and document I could find on the matter but they do not help. How do I get this to work? Below is my code. I even tried to adjust my security settings on Amazon by using a temporary public link to the sqlite file. It did not work on Transform but it did in my browser. Any detailed steps, instructions, or comments is appreciated.

    Manifest
    Code:
    [
    {
    "url": "https://hackfin-4uaexwweq68ihb7e3xpdqe7oihhsnuse1a-s3alias.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mcm/mcm_manifest.json",
    "type": "sqlite",
    "version": 1,
    "size": 3550
    }]
    Options
    Code:
    [
    {
    "policy": {
       "download": {
       "onDemand" : true,
       "onLogin" : true
       },
       "onDemand" : {
       "checkprompt": true,
       "confirmprompt": true,
       "successprompt": true
       },
       "onLogin" : {
       "checkprompt": true,
       "confirmprompt": true,
       "successprompt": true
       }
    }
    }]
    Thanks,
    James

    #2
    Originally posted by jhackney View Post
    New to Transform and Amazon Web Services but not Alpha Anywhere. I am testing out Transform using a sqlite database so I went to AWS, setup an account, setup a separate user, and created a bucket with public access off. Used Alpha Anywhere to create my connection string and send my on device assets to my bucket. Now I am stuck on trying to get the database to download on my mobile device with no success. Already reviewed every video and document I could find on the matter but they do not help. How do I get this to work? Below is my code. I even tried to adjust my security settings on Amazon by using a temporary public link to the sqlite file. It did not work on Transform but it did in my browser. Any detailed steps, instructions, or comments is appreciated.

    Manifest
    Code:
    [
    {
    "url": "https://hackfin-4uaexwweq68ihb7e3xpdqe7oihhsnuse1a-s3alias.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mcm/mcm_manifest.json",
    "type": "sqlite",
    "version": 1,
    "size": 3550
    }]
    Options
    Code:
    [
    {
    "policy": {
    "download": {
    "onDemand" : true,
    "onLogin" : true
    },
    "onDemand" : {
    "checkprompt": true,
    "confirmprompt": true,
    "successprompt": true
    },
    "onLogin" : {
    "checkprompt": true,
    "confirmprompt": true,
    "successprompt": true
    }
    }
    }]
    Hello James!

    Your policy is **almost** there. The "onDemand" and "onLogin" options are child properties of "download". You only need to define them once. The policy you shared has onDemand and onLogin defined both inside and outside download. It also has square brackets enclosing the whole policy, which are not needed.

    Here are two versions of the policy you posted that should work. The first simply sets onDemand and onLogin to true. The second defines the prompts for both.

    onDemand and onLogin set to true:
    Code:
    {
        "policy" : {
            "download" : {
                "onDemand" : true,
                "onLogin" : true
            }
        }
    }
    With prompts:
    Code:
    {
        "policy" : {
            "download" : {
                "onDemand" : {
                    "checkprompt": true,
                    "confirmprompt": true,
                    "successprompt": true
                },
                "onLogin" : {
                    "checkprompt": true,
                    "confirmprompt": true,
                    "successprompt": true
                }
            }
        }
    }
    You may need to log out and log in for the policy updates to take in the mobile and web fillers.

    Edit: Configuring your Bucket

    You need to set your S3 bucket's ACL setting to "READ" for "All users". Assets are downloaded directly from the device, which currently requires public read access.
    Last edited by Sarah Mitchell; 05-17-2022, 10:09 AM. Reason: added bucket info
    Sarah Mitchell
    Director of Customer Success | [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com"]Alpha Software Corporation[/URL]
    [B]Get in the know! [/B] Join us for our Weekly Webinars: [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com/weekly-transform-tuesday-webinar"]TransForm Tuesday[/URL] and [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com/weekly-alpha-anywhere-overview-webinar"]Wednesday's Alpha Anywhere Demo and Q&A[/URL]
    Connect with us: [URL="https://www.instagram.com/alpha_software_corp/"]Instagram[/URL] | [URL="https://twitter.com/AlphaSoftware"]Twitter[/URL] | [URL="https://www.facebook.com/AlphaSoftware/"]Facebook[/URL] | [URL="https://www.linkedin.com/company/alpha-software"]LinkedIn[/URL] | [URL="https://www.youtube.com/user/AlphaSoftwareInc"]YouTube[/URL]

    Comment


      #3
      Sarah, thank you for your post. I made the code changes as you specified. On the configuration of the bucket and if I am understanding correctly, I need to make this a public bucket. Is this correct? Wouldn't this make the data available to anyone including people outside of my target audience? I am a little concerned by this. Outside of AWS and Alpha Anywhere, is there a way to set this up to protect this data which is likely to include sensitive intangible assets? It would be great if Alpha allowed us to store the data directly on the Transform server. I appreciate your assistance.
      Thanks,
      James

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by jhackney View Post
        Sarah, thank you for your post. I made the code changes as you specified. On the configuration of the bucket and if I am understanding correctly, I need to make this a public bucket. Is this correct? Wouldn't this make the data available to anyone including people outside of my target audience? I am a little concerned by this. Outside of AWS and Alpha Anywhere, is there a way to set this up to protect this data which is likely to include sensitive intangible assets? It would be great if Alpha allowed us to store the data directly on the Transform server. I appreciate your assistance.
        Hello James,

        Assets need to be accessible from movile devices when the data is downloaded (on login or on demand). If devices will need to acces the information from unknown locations, then you would need to configure the bucket to allow public access. If you could restrict access to download the assets while the devices are on an internal network, then you could restrict the bucket access to only permit downloads from devices located on that network.

        If you have assets that need to stay secure, you could alternatively build a Web Service to fetch the needed info from a server on-demand. The TransForm Programming Language (TPL) has provisions for calling web services. This approach requires a web connection, however.

        It would be great if Alpha allowed us to store the data directly on the Transform server.
        We agree! This is something we very much would like to do and is currently on our backlog.
        Sarah Mitchell
        Director of Customer Success | [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com"]Alpha Software Corporation[/URL]
        [B]Get in the know! [/B] Join us for our Weekly Webinars: [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com/weekly-transform-tuesday-webinar"]TransForm Tuesday[/URL] and [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com/weekly-alpha-anywhere-overview-webinar"]Wednesday's Alpha Anywhere Demo and Q&A[/URL]
        Connect with us: [URL="https://www.instagram.com/alpha_software_corp/"]Instagram[/URL] | [URL="https://twitter.com/AlphaSoftware"]Twitter[/URL] | [URL="https://www.facebook.com/AlphaSoftware/"]Facebook[/URL] | [URL="https://www.linkedin.com/company/alpha-software"]LinkedIn[/URL] | [URL="https://www.youtube.com/user/AlphaSoftwareInc"]YouTube[/URL]

        Comment


          #5
          Sarah, still having an issue. It does recognize I have an on-device asset to download but it returns an error, "1 file has issues". My sqlite database was created in Alpha Anywhere using tools and a database connection to my 3 excel tables. The manifest and db was exported to the bucket using the Transform tool available. The database file was named 'mcmdata.db'. Not sure why I am getting this issue. There is nothing unusual with my sqlite database. In case it has something to do with my buckett policy, below is the code. Any thoughts on the issue?

          Code:
          {
          "Version": "2012-10-17",
          "Statement": [
          {
          "Sid": "PublicRead",
          "Effect": "Allow",
          "Principal": "*",
          "Action": [
          "s3:GetObject",
          "s3:GetObjectVersion"
          ],
          "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::hackfin/*"
          }
          ]
          }
          Thanks,
          James

          Comment


            #6
            Hi James,

            Your ACL settings look ok. Let's review your On-device Assets manifest. Is the below snippet your manifest? If so, "https://hackfin-4uaexwweq68ihb7e3xpdqe7oihhsnuse1a-s3alias.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mcm/mcm_manifest.json" does not appear to be a SQLite database file.

            Code:
            [
                {
                    "url": "https://hackfin-4uaexwweq68ihb7e3xpdqe7oihhsnuse1a-s3alias.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mcm/mcm_manifest.json",
                    "type": "sqlite",
                    "version": 1,
                    "size": 3550
                }
            ]
            Sarah Mitchell
            Director of Customer Success | [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com"]Alpha Software Corporation[/URL]
            [B]Get in the know! [/B] Join us for our Weekly Webinars: [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com/weekly-transform-tuesday-webinar"]TransForm Tuesday[/URL] and [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com/weekly-alpha-anywhere-overview-webinar"]Wednesday's Alpha Anywhere Demo and Q&A[/URL]
            Connect with us: [URL="https://www.instagram.com/alpha_software_corp/"]Instagram[/URL] | [URL="https://twitter.com/AlphaSoftware"]Twitter[/URL] | [URL="https://www.facebook.com/AlphaSoftware/"]Facebook[/URL] | [URL="https://www.linkedin.com/company/alpha-software"]LinkedIn[/URL] | [URL="https://www.youtube.com/user/AlphaSoftwareInc"]YouTube[/URL]

            Comment


              #7
              If the URL code in your response is supposed to point to the sqlite database file, then the Alpha Anywhere "Define on-Device Data" tool has a bug in it. The URL specified in the json file sent to AWS and displayed (for copying) in the tool is pointing to the manifest file instead of the database file. Can you send this to the development team? I will change this on my Transform site manually and see if this does the trick.

              Thank you for all of your help.
              Thanks,
              James

              Comment


                #8
                In Transform I tried both of the codes below and it still does not work. On AWS I have a bucket named "Hackfin". I have a "mcmdata.db" file and manifest file inside the bucket and a folder named "mcm". If I enter the manifest json directly into Transform, should it work using the code below?

                First try (url returns an error when pasted into a browser page):
                Code:
                [
                {
                "url": "https://hackfin-4uaexwweq68ihb7e3xpdqe7oihhsnuse1a-s3alias.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mcm/mcmdata.db",
                "type": "sqlite",
                "version": 1,
                "size": 3295
                }]
                [I][B][/B][/I]


                Second Try (url downloads the db file when passed into a browser page):
                Code:
                [
                {
                "url": "https://hackfin.s3.amazonaws.com/mcm/mcmdata.db",
                "type": "sqlite",
                "version": 1
                }]
                [I][B][/B][/I]


                I really thought the second try would work since I could download it independent of Transform. For the life of me I cannot figure out what I am missing.
                Thanks,
                James

                Comment


                  #9
                  The Second code try works. Turns out, even though you can refresh definitions and update on-device data, it will not update your second try code until you logout and login again. Other than that, the tools in Alpha Anywhere do not work as intended.

                  To recap, below are the steps that will work on Amazon Web Services:
                  1. Signup for Amazon Web Services (AWS) for free. Specifically, Scalable Storage (S3).
                  2. Verify root account via email. Enable MFA for better security.
                  3. Under your root login on the top right, go to "Security Credentials".
                  4. Under Access Management and Users, create a User account separate from the root account you just created.
                  5. Click on the user name you just created.
                  6. Create an optional Group to assign to this user.
                  7. Goto Security Credentials and create an access key to access AWS. Make sure and write down the public and private key if you want to use the Alpha Anywhere tools or connect to this source.
                  8. In the upper left corner, goto "Services and then "S3".
                  9. Click "Create Bucket". After naming, uncheck the box "Unblock All Public Access" and save.
                  10. Click on the newly created bucket and goto properties.
                  11. Copy the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) assigned to the bucket.
                  12. Goto Permissions and then Bucket Policy. Paste the ARN into my code below, where indicated, and paste the revised code into the AWS policy.
                  13. Go back to Amazon S3 and select Access Points.
                  14. Create Access point for your bucket with public access blocked. No need for policy here.
                  15. Go back to access points, verify it was created, and copy the access point alias for future use.
                  Code:
                  {
                  "Version": "2012-10-17",
                     "Statement": [
                     {
                     "Sid": "PublicRead",
                     "Effect": "Allow",
                     "Principal": "*",
                     "Action": [
                        "s3:GetObject",
                        "s3:GetObjectVersion"
                     ],
                  "Resource": "PASTE-HERE/*"
                  }
                  ]
                  }
                  Here is what I did in Alpha Transform and Alpha Anywhere:
                  1. Under AA tools, create a storage connection to your bucket. When you build your connection string for Amazon, you will need both keys and the access point alias from above.
                  2. Under AA tools, more, TransForm Utilities, there is an on-device data builder that you can use to create your sqlite database from scratch or by importing your tables from another source.
                  3. In the builder, generate your manifest files, upload to S3 using your storage connection, and show manifest.
                  4. Copy the manifest json displayed.
                  5. Open AlphaTransform.
                  6. Under AT home, developer options, select define on-device assets.
                  7. Paste the manifest json into the first code block.
                  8. Go back to the Amazon S3 site and your bucket. Drill down to your database file which should have a "db" file extension.
                  9. Under properties, copy the object url for the sqlite file and paste it where indicated in the code below.
                  10. The database file should download to mobile devices.
                  Code:
                  [
                  {
                     "url": "PASTE-HERE",
                     "type": "sqlite",
                     "version": 1
                  }]
                  Thanks,
                  James

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Hi James,

                    This thread caught my because of S3.
                    Does your knowledge of S3 extend to Alpha Anywhere ?

                    Gregg
                    Gregg
                    https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Hello James,

                      Turns out, even though you can refresh definitions and update on-device data, it will not update your second try code until you logout and login again.
                      Yes. You do need to log out and log in again in the form filler app for these settings to update.

                      Other than that, the tools in Alpha Anywhere do not work as intended.
                      We'll take a look. If you could email us at [email protected] with details about how you used the Define On-device Data tool in Alpha Anywhere, that will ensure that we are testing the scenario you used.
                      Sarah Mitchell
                      Director of Customer Success | [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com"]Alpha Software Corporation[/URL]
                      [B]Get in the know! [/B] Join us for our Weekly Webinars: [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com/weekly-transform-tuesday-webinar"]TransForm Tuesday[/URL] and [URL="https://www.alphasoftware.com/weekly-alpha-anywhere-overview-webinar"]Wednesday's Alpha Anywhere Demo and Q&A[/URL]
                      Connect with us: [URL="https://www.instagram.com/alpha_software_corp/"]Instagram[/URL] | [URL="https://twitter.com/AlphaSoftware"]Twitter[/URL] | [URL="https://www.facebook.com/AlphaSoftware/"]Facebook[/URL] | [URL="https://www.linkedin.com/company/alpha-software"]LinkedIn[/URL] | [URL="https://www.youtube.com/user/AlphaSoftwareInc"]YouTube[/URL]

                      Comment


                        #12
                        madtowng, my knowledge of S3 is newbie. Been on Alpha since Windows 1 came out. I was just posting how I setup S3 for anyone trying to use Transform & S3 for the first time. The S3 help is terrible at guiding someone new to S3.
                        Thanks,
                        James

                        Comment


                          #13
                          If starting out new to sqlite databases using Alpha TransForm and to complement my instructions above, below is the code I placed in the optional section for on-demand assets.

                          Code:
                          {
                          "policy" : {
                             "download" : {
                                "onDemand" : {
                                "checkprompt": true,
                                "confirmprompt": true,
                                "successprompt": true
                                },
                                "onLogin" : {
                                "checkprompt": true,
                                "confirmprompt": true,
                                "successprompt": true
                                }
                          
                             },
                             "delete": {
                                "onDemand" : true,
                                "onLogout" : true,
                                "onNewAccount" : true
                                }
                             }
                          }
                          Thanks,
                          James

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Sarah Mitchell View Post
                            Hello James,



                            Yes. You do need to log out and log in again in the form filler app for these settings to update.



                            We'll take a look. If you could email us at [email protected] with details about how you used the Define On-device Data tool in Alpha Anywhere, that will ensure that we are testing the scenario you used.
                            I will put together a new scenario and send you the data so you can duplicate.
                            Thanks,
                            James

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Darn. I was hoping you knew about S3 and were having trouble with the Alpha software.
                              Seems despite all their money and technology, S3 is one of the worst documented technologies
                              around.
                              Gregg
                              https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

                              Comment

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