Joomla application interaction with mobile application - php

I am currently working on a project involving a Joomla application and a Mobile application. I so far have created both applications and now I want to link the Mobile application to the same database as is used within the joomla application.
I have done some research and it seems that to directly connect to the database is not the best option due to security reasons etc... The use of a web service is recommended.
My understanding of this is this is say for example I have a "player" table in my database which consists of players to output these players via the joomla application in an XML or JSON format which can then be accessed by the mobile application and parsed.
I am curious as to how to go about creating this webservice within the joomla application/framework?

There is a lot of talk in the Joomla world about integrating this into the core in some way. There is even a web services working group, so this is going to be getting easier in the future.
In terms of something to work with, the best code that I have seen is still very sparse, but it could be a good start: https://github.com/techjoomla/Joomla-REST-API. This is by Tech Joomla. I haven't actually played with this code, but it looks to be implementing a REST api, which is probably what you want.
For more code, you may want to get in touch with the working group and see if they have beta code that you could help test and improve for your situation. http://docs.joomla.org/Web_Services_Working_Group

Related

Using wordpress and django togther

I am developing a web application using Django and python. We have also a public website where a customer can find information regarding our products. I was thinking to implement this website using WordPress or other well known php CMS, since the content may be modified by people who don't know how to code.
A user must login to access our web application. The login should be located in the public website (built using php and a CMS) along with the registration form. The user model is already implemented in the web application and therefore is not available in the CMS/php. I was thinking to include a login page written in python by means of an iframe. is it a good idea?
Is there a neat solution for this problem? Is a good idea to mix up php/cms and python/Django?
There is an opensource CMS for Django called Mezzanine. Its very elegant.
In some ways, Mezzanine resembles tools such as Wordpress that provide an intuitive interface for managing pages, blog posts, form data, store products, and other types of content. But Mezzanine is also different. Unlike many other platforms that make extensive use of modules or reusable applications, Mezzanine provides most of its functionality by default. This approach yields a more integrated and efficient platform
Follow this link to download and have a look at its features
Regarding you question Is a good idea to mix up php/cms and python/Django?, No, because Django is Python based and wordrepss is PHP based. Although you can sync data by writing different scripts that require some knowledge of both ends.
There is another option https://www.django-cms.org/
This is specially usefull if you have already a django project, because you can add to the project the CMS components, Mezzanine is a very good option too, but you have to start the project from scratch.

How would I integrate existing zend FW apps into 1 application?

An existing 8+ year old application is being migrated from a self-contained website to a webservice-oriented architecture to allow among other things, external parties access to the calculations and data within the application.
The application allows visitors to access insurance-related information, calculate price quotes and contact agents.
The original logic of the application has been extracted from the main application to a SOAP service - so far, so good.
Based on in-house knowledge of Zend FW, the choice was made to drop the legacy code with many downsides and move to a more robust and community-backed framework - Zend.
An initial Zend FW app has been built that consumes the WSDL and allows searching and displaying of customers. After that was finished we wanted to integrate external applications/modules for components such as a basic (!) cms, mass-mailings, polls etc.
As we consider those components essential for the end-product but not our own core-product, we thus want to use external applications for this.
However - looking at e.g. tomatocms and digitalus etc., they seem to require us to build our product into theirs - and we want it the other way around. CMS pages are the exception, and not the rule.
Integrating authentication among these applications seems very difficult, as each seems to want to be 'the' application.
TL;DR:
What would be the best solutions to integrate a CMS or other apps into an existing/in progress zend FW app?
I think the best solution for you is to create a structure for Modules/Plugins where you set a pattern of use and you will make your application understand these modules created following the specifications above.
With this you allow anyone to be creating or developing models desaclopados their application.
I think this is a good example with your Wordpress plugins. Anyone can create and embed its functionality within the application page, but of course you can make in its API limitations, controlling what you want.

Port Codeigniter App to PyroCMS

I'm working on a web application in Codeigniter. I'd like to integrate the functionality of my application with a CMS so that site admins can easily update the site (about pages, blog, etc). Is this easily done with PyroCMS or another Codeigniter-based CMS? Will I need to drastically restructure my existing app?
From my own experience integrating an app inside Expression Engine I can say that a CMS changes the way you usually work with CI. So be prepared to make some adjustments. Every CMS will come with it's perks and differences. It shouldn't be a big problem though.
If you want to use PyroCms take a look at this doc first:
http://www.pyrocms.com/docs/2.0/developers/creating-custom-modules
If you're looking for alternatives, there are a lot. It seems almost everyone working with CI has made it's own.
Here are a few:
http://www.ionizecms.com/
http://www.halogy.com/
http://codefight.org/
http://www.getfuelcms.com/
Also make sure you check out CI Bonfire, it's not a CMS but does help you when you start up a new project with a basic admin wrapper, which is sometimes more useful than a CMS:
http://cibonfire.com/
This was answered a year ago and answered well, but my support guy has forwarded me a few emails from users asking about this page.
When people talk about Content Management Systems they often suddenly get the idea of rigid backends where you applications have to follow specific rules. While PyroCMS certainly has a few conventions you are free to build your modules just like they are a CodeIgniter application, on the frontend or the backend.
If you want to use Models, Controllers, Views, REST API's, SOAP, whatever the hell, then you can do that.
But, we also offer some awesome tools to make building modules CRAZY-fast. Hate writing CRUD? Well don't bother. Using the Streams API you can leverage the build in "Custom Data" system we use to rock out chunks of interface for you.
Using PyroCMS for your application is certainly not "hacking it into a CMS", this is the exact use-case it was built for.
If you have an existing application, while you can't "put PyroCMS into your app" you can certainly convert your application to a module easy enough.
The simplest way of doing it is to write your models around the CMS' database. Host the CMS at a subdomain with authentication for your admins. (admin.mysite.com) or something and then use the same database to power your front-end for your site.
Is it the best approach? Probably not.
Will it work? Yes.
You will probably find it hard to expand vertically & add new features if you're relying on a 3rd party CMS for data entry & backend.

Need to Assess whether Joomla is good fit for Web Application Requirement

I have a web application that needs to be built using PHP/MySQL. The application will require documents to be generated from data in the MySQL database. Such documents will be printed and/or emailed and user will be prompted to run a daily print/email job based on business logic.
This application functionality needs to be made available to individual users such that they can upload data, have the system prompt them as to whether letters/emails are to be generated. The site also needs to be able to support a bulletin board, online live training events and will have admin area as well.
Question: Should a hybrid solution be developed such that the data management (upload functionality, and letter production) be a separate part of the site that authenticated Joomla users can access? That is, the document management functionality would exist separately from Joomla, but be called from within it via a link in the Joomla sitemap. Alternatively, should custom modules be developed from within Joomla to accomodate the document management functionality?
Thanks so much for your input!!
Joomla could do the job for you but based on the amount of things you need that differ from a normal Joomla site I would use a framework to build from instead of a CMS. I say this because it sounds like you need a lot more than just a CMS and it can be more work if you try making Joomla do things it wasn't designed to do. In my opinion Joomla is for "web sites" and not as much for "web apps". Of course those terms have overlap but it sounds like you would be better off with a Framework to go off of instead of working around Joomla to get what you want. However if the site is already done in Joomla it may be less work just to make a Joomla add-on.
Since you have to use PHP I would definitely recommend CakePHP for your framework. As for an integrated forum try looking at the links in this post. If that doesn't work for you, try out Vanilla forums (vanillaforums.org) which are very clean and may be easier to integrate into CakePHP than some of the other PHP forums.
If you decide to use CakePHP, check out Cake Forge to see if you can find anything there to make your life even easier.
If you were to use Joomla, the upload functionality and letter production would be written as a custom component. You can write the component to make sure that the current user is authenticated before generating the documents. I would not develop this as a separate application alongside Joomla; it would be easier to write it as a component.
Many forums and forum bridges are available for Joomla, so that would be something you wouldn't have to write.
I'm not sure what kind of live event support you're looking for.

Easiest way to implement an online order tracking database

I've been asked by a client to make an online tracking system for work we do for them (we will be typesetting a high volume of books for this client). Basically, it would be a database showing the books we are currently working on, with information on what stage of the project we are at, and estimated completion dates. The only people with access to this system would be us and employees of the client company.
I've worked in MySQL and PHP before; should I just go with what I know? This answer to a similar question suggests using Google Apps. I don't have any experience with Python, but happy to learn...
You're the only one using this therefore I see no reason to use Google Apps. I'm usually weary of people suggesting Google Apps, Amazon's s3, Microsoft Azure, etc. Also, you're going to be using a radically different data store. Unless you want an excuse to learn to do Google Apps and Python, I'd say go with MySQL+PHP and be done with it! In short, there aren't really any technical reasons for you to go with Google Apps here.
Sticking with what you know is always a good solution when dealing with delivering products to customers. No customer likes to be your guinea pig while you learn a new technology, although that's often how it's done. If you are comfortable with MySQL and PHP then stick with it if it satisfies your requirements, if it seems not to then look for libraries, frameworks and components written in PHP that might help you reach that goal. If you still have difficulties (unlikely given the scope of the project given) then ask questions here :) & search the web for solutions and patterns.
If all that fails and you can clearly solve your problem with another technology, then look at moving but make sure your customer is aware of how that's going to affect you timeframes.
When you've implemented this project and have some spare time, if there's a new direction you'd like to explore then use this project as your base and set to work without the stress of a deadline.
That's my 2p worth... good luck!
When developing a CRUD application such as this, you may be required to reinvent the wheel a little if starting from scratch. Many parts of your project are not unique to the project. E.g authentication, database access, form manipulation etc.
If getting things done is important to you it may be important to give your project a kick start and stop you wasting too much time.
Use a coding framework
Frameworks often have a lot of functionality ready for use straight out of the box.
Options may include Django, Ruby on Rails, Joomla, CakePHP, CodeIgniter.
Hack a tried and tested application
Open source projects are often quite easy to mould to your needs. Drupal and Joomla are CMS products which can be used in a wide variety of ways. If your book-tracking drupal module is any good, maybe you could go on to offer it as an open source plugin?
Use a currently available app in a new way
Your app seems to be tracking the status of items added to a database. How about using software designed for tracking other types of items. E.g. bug tracking software, project management to-do list software or customer relationship management software?
Well, as everyone has already said, if you already know PHP, that's got to be awfully tempting.
But it sounds simple enough that something like Django might save you a lot of time: its built-in admin interface could be used for the "update" side of the job, so all you'd need to template up is the "read" side, which is pretty easy.
I suggest you too look at Viravis.

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