So we've got a web app at work that we're working on migrating.
The new version is based on Zend Framework, and we're gradually moving it over from this really odd little ASP classic app written in Jscript, that comes with it's own set of terminal clients that actually need to be installed on the client machine in order to work.
The reason we need the terminal clients is because we need to click on a link in a web page, and that opens up the terminal apps which log into remote systems, sometimes over two and three steps to obtain information which is sent back to the terminal client, which they then copy and paste into another application, which is processed by a perl script, and sent to the database that the first app uses.
This process is painful.
What I want to do is use ssh programmatically, to log into a remote device, in this case a router in another city, and then use telnet from there to navigate to another app that uses a series of moderately complex telnet menus (I think this is the sticking point) to navigate to the data that's needed.
There are some extremely well rounded php programmers on stack overflow, and I thought I would post here to see if anyone had solved this kind of problem before using PHP and/or Zend Framework.
When I searched for this topic on the site, I was unable to find a solution that fit the problem.
Is there a library or set of libraries I can use to do this job?
Thanks in advance for your time and attention.
I have been researching this topic for a bit, and have not tried any of these solutions myself, but here is what I have found so far in my research:
https://github.com/graze/telnet-client
https://github.com/jnorell/Net_Telnet
https://github.com/farzadghanei/POLlib
http://www.geckotribe.com/php-telnet/
Related
A friend of ours is running the Plover software for her closed caption and other reporting work. She is trying to find a way to have this post in real time on a local server for others (Hard of Hearing) to watch in real time (but not allow them to edit) from their tablets or laptops on a LAN.
This would be similar to what Stack Overflow does when editing (but over a LAN rather than on the same machine). I type in an edit box, and it prints below in real time. How is this being done? Is there a place to find this code?
I can help her get the WiFi or Blue-tooth to connect to their systems, I just don't know how to get it to push to them. The reporting machine will be running Ubuntu. If I need to install Apache, PHP for her that's fine and just guide them to a URL.
It sounds like the Plover software works at a (keyboard) device driver level, and so can be used to enter steno-to-text in any desktop application. Thus I would arrange things this way:
Put Apache on your reporting server, and set up a web application on there which shows a text box. You can use sockets (ideally) or AJAX (as a fallback) to transport your text from a browser to the server. This can then be sent out to any number of clients on a different page, probably via a database as an intermediate store. AJAX requires frequent polls and so is inefficient and slow, but on a LAN with a small number of users it would still be OK. Sockets are better but need a library to implement - take a look here at a PHP example.
Take a look at this answer to understand the different ways a browser and server can communicate (especially the section on HTML5 Websockets). Pusher is mentioned - that makes it really easy, but if you are broadcasting on a LAN it seems pointless to need the internet. I'd do it myself, for what it's worth.
If you want to stick with AJAX, jQuery, MooTools or Prototype is fine. If you want to use sockets there are several libraries that will use sockets first, and then fall back to a variety of technologies (long polling) and then finally AJAX. This will depend mostly on browser support for these various things.
I believe web sockets need a server component for which Apache is generally considered unsuitable. The first link I gave, for the Ratchet library, looks like it has its own listener component. Perhaps a good first step would be to work through the demos, so you can understand the technology and customise it for your needs?
Ive built an AngularJS application over the last several months that utilizes a MySQL database for its data. This data is fetched by Angular making calls to PHP and PHP returns JSON strings etc.
The issue is once this application is running inside node-webkit, none of the php works, so all of the content areas are empty. I assume (though the documentation on this issue is null and so i have no confirmation) this happens because Node-webkit is a client-side application framework and therefor wont run server-side languages like php. Is there a way to expand node webkit to run php and other server side languages?
I have done my best to find an answer to this question before posting, but documentation for this is nonexistent, and all of the information I have found about node-webkit talks about installing node on your server and installing npms for MySQL and having angular make calls to node. This defeats the purpose of the application entirely as it is designed so that the exe/deb/rpm/dmg can run and you can set up a database with any cloud database provider and be ready to go. Not ideal if you have to buy a vps just to run this one thing.
I have to assume this is possible in some way. i refuse to believe that everyone with an nw application hard codes all their data.
Thanks in advance
I know of four methods to accomplish this. Some of which you have preferred not to do but I am going to offer them in the hopes it helps you or someone else.
Look for an NPM that can do this for you. You should be able to do this functionality within node.js. - https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=mysql
You can host your PHP remotely. Using node-remote you can give this server the appropriate access to your NW.js project.
You can code a RESTful PHP application that your JavaScript can pass off information to.
You can use my boilerplate code to run PHP within a NW.js project. It however fires up an express.js web server internally to accomplish this. But the server is restricted to the machine and does not accept outside connections - https://github.com/baconface/php-webkit
1 and 4 both carry a risk in your case. Your project can be reversed engineered to reveal the source code and the connection information can be retrieved rather easy. So this should only be in an application on trusted machines and 2 and 3 are the ideal solutions.
Have done some research and found some stuff that may be helpful.
I would like your opinion about my approaches on this.
THE GOAL
I will develop an application in PHP (That's the only language I know and unfortunately I don't have time to learn another one right now). I want this application to be able to run offline and locally to any pc. I will use Wamp server and cakePHP framework for this.
THE PROBLEM
This application will be for sale. So I will need some activation method to prevent each app from being used in multiple computers. I don't want something complicated or very very secure. I just need something simple, to prevent non-programmers to run this app in any computer. Of course, the more secure, the better! :)
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS I AM THINKING OF
First of all, I am thinking to force users to activate their application, by going online during installation. That way they could get a unique KEY from my online database.
I found php's shell_exec command. So I am thinking, during online installation, to get the Host ID (Machine ID) of that computer, send it to my server and store it to my database next to a unique KEY. Then Machine ID and unique KEY can be stored to a php file. (Could I store it somewhere more secure? Maybe encrypt it?)
Every time the user opens the application, php will read machine ID. If not the same with the one stored in php file, an activation will be required. (Maybe could store computer's name too or some other id?)
Is that a good approach? Would it be possible?
Another approach I am thinking of, is to have a guy create a non php installation file. When run, will promp wamp installation and when installation finishes, will transfer all necessary files to wamp root folder (automatization for the user). I can only guess though this will work, as my knowledge over other languages is limited...
Could I benefit from this in validation terms? Can a non php file interact with my php application and validate it, for only one unique computer?
Any info will be very appreciated. I have just started building the application and want to know if there is a good way (or non) to secure it.
Thanks!
There is no point in all of this because if people want they can simply crack any of the copy protection methods you came up with. This also applies to any other app written in any other language. If people want to use it without permissions there are ways to do that.
There are some ways to obfuscate the code (see Is there a code obfuscator for PHP?) but these solutions are just silly because if people really want they can get the code in plain text anyways.
A better idea might be to run the app on your server and allow people to pay for it monthly, Software as a Service like Google Apps for Business.
I am looking for a way to run an executable on the server and display its UI in the browser, so that the user can interact. Is it possible? If so, please suggest some ways of how I should do this.
I think that this will have something to do with Flash, Flex, ActiveX (choose which applicable), but I am not sure and that is why I am actually asking this question.
Before you ask, "What do I need this for?", I would like to create a simple Intranet website for my local network so that my relatives can use few applications from their browsers instead of network shares or remote desktop connections.
The website will be done in PHP and running on Apache.
Any ideas, people?
This is difficult because you cannot magically transform the UI of those applications to a UI that would render in a browser. Also, your Delphi applications likely dont have any entry points for handling HTTP based requests. Even if you could provide those via PHP you'd still have to delegate them to the executable then somehow, which means your Delphi app needs to provide the full functionality via a command line interface or similar means.
EDIT came across https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO-qca9ddqg. The video shows how to run applications built with a GTK3 UI, like GIMP, in the browser. The application itself is run and maintained completely on the server. PHP does have bindings for GTK though not for GTK3, so while it's not currently possible, it is in theory.
i have a database that is written in access. the access mdb file connects via ODBC to a local mysql database. i have a bunch of sql and vba code in the access file. i dont expect the database to surpass 100mb. currently it is around 10mb. i will need to have multiple user access. (no more than 10 users at a time)
i need to convert this database from being a local one to a web server, and i need to make a web interface for it.
how do i get the current local instance of mysql database to run off a webserver? i am currently running it off wampserver 2.0. i dont have experience putting a database on a webserver.
i have an OK vb.net background. i have never done any web applications. here's a picture of the access form that i may need to replicate to work off a website:
alt text http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1025/83882488.jpg
which platform should i use as the front end to this thing?
would it be possible to just run this access file off a webserver instead of programming a new front end for it? is that not a smart idea?
thank you for your help!
If your webserver has TCP connectivity to your existing database server, and its hosted in a suitable place (eg, don't have your webserver in a datacenter connecting to a database server on your office DSL connection), then no move is required.
If you do need to move it, it's as easy as creating a backup/dump, and restoring it elsewhere.
As far as the frontend, there are MANY technologies that will do what you need (ASP.NET, PHP, Python, Ruby, Perl, Java being the most popular ones, not necessarily in that order).
Use something you are comfortable with, or that you are interested in learning (provided you have the time to do so)
Use something that runs properly on your target webserver. Really, ASP.NET is the only one that has any major issue here, as it's limited to Windows.
Access itself has no direct web-accessible version. A Google search finds some apps that claim to convert Access forms to web-based, but I will not link to any because I don't know how well they work. I'm certainly leary of anything like that, because web apps are a different breed from Windows apps. If you are going to go that route, be sure they actually generate HTML output; make sane, clean source; and offer a free trial so you can verify it actually works.
Really though, a form like that is reasonably easy to reproduce with some basic knowledge of server-side programming and some HTML.
I don't have any experience migrating access to a web-based interface, although I have heard of people going straight from access to a web page. MySql is exceptionally easy to migrate. MySQL.com has a program called mysqldump that comes with the standard install of MySQL that allows you to export your database straight to a text file that can be used then with mysqldump to import it on another server. I don't believe the WAMP server comes with the command line tools although they can be downloaded from mysql.com. However, if it has phpMyAdmin, then there is also an export feature with that as well that will generate a .sql file that can be imported to the webserver using phpMyAdmin. One thing to keep in mind though is that I have had very little success mixing and matching these methods: ie, I've never been able to get a mysqldump-created file to work with phpMyAdmin and vice versa.
Good luck!
The link will help you to export and import mySQL database
May be on Windows web server there is an opportunity to run Access files, you can check, but any way if you have some programming skills, I would say that it is not difficult to crate a php script which will query your database info and will edit.
Migrating an Access application to the web is quite difficult, because you can't translate an Access form 1:1 into a web page. Web apps are stateless, whereas Access is built around the concept of bound controls and bound datasets.
Secondly, it is impossible to easily replicate an Access subform.
Third, you lose tons of events that Access forms and controls are built around.
In general, a web page that performs the same task as an Access form will bear little or no resemblance to the Access form, simply because the methods for accomplishing the same tasks and the UI widgets available to you are so completely different.
One thing to consider is whether your users need a web application or if they just need to use your existing Access application over the Internet. If the latter is the case, Windows Terminal Server/Citrix can do the job for a lot less money, since there's no conversion needed. You do need to provision a Windows Terminal Server, set up a VPN and purchase CALs for the users, but the costs of those are going to be much less than the cost of rebuilding the app for web deployment.
It may not be an appropriate solution, but it's one that you should consider, I think.