Looking for a webserver as an alternative to my localhost? - json

I have an android app which successfully reads .json files from my localsever, however when the application runs on a mobile it is unable to read the files. I have had a nightmare trying to resolve the issue so I've given up.
I figured that perhaps uploading the .json files to an online web server would be an easier option. I have no previous experience with online web servers and wondered if someone could recommend a website?
I would only be using it to upload 5 .json files that are no more than 5KB and would probably only need it to be hosted online for about a month, I'm not sure if there is an alternative to a monthly subscription.

There are a lot of free web services. However, if you want to make it fast and easiest, try google sites. It gives you an evaluation time of about a month and it should be enough for you.
However, if you just want few files, you can go with any cheap web host such as bluehost and if you just want subscription on monthly basis.
You can also use amazon EC2 which provide you services on hourly basis so if you do not want to use it, just turn it off.
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/

Related

Is there a way to store images in Azure or AWS without hosting the application on their platforms?

I am currently developing a full-stack web application for the first time. It is a store that needs to give users the ability to upload "books", edit, delete, and manage them. As of now, I have a React front-end, that calls an Express API using Axios that queries a MySQL database. This currently can manage the product details, titles, and simple labels and relations.
However, I now need to store images and .json files dynamically as well. So, I have researched and need to use Azure Storage to store these images and allow access to them by the end-user. I have researched it and the client would like to use Azure storage as well.
I have gotten quite overwhelmed looking into the Azure documentation for Javascript image uploading, and every "tutorial" starts with create a web application, storage account, and app service.
All I would like to do is store images from the user in Azure storage, so that when I eventually deploy the website, the data is available to be accessed and then my front end or API can call Azure to get the images for the user. I apologize if the question is confusing or vague, I am really just overwhelmed by Azure's documentation and it seems like such a simple and common problem. Any guidance or references would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, it's quite possible. You simply create an Azure Storage account and upload your files as blobs via that account. Then they will be available publicly on the Internet, and your web application can reference them from wherever it is hosted.
It is possible as I believe it is quite a common practice to have a Content Delivery Network to deliver the images. I am not very familiar with Azure but I am with AWS and I can tell you that you can use an AWS S3 bucket to store the images and JSON. It comes with many different configuration options to allow content to be protected or open to the general internet.

Running python script on database file located in google drive

I have a database file which is located on my own google drive (private) and it's updated on a daily basis.
I wrote a python script in order to track the data from the database file, however I need to download the DB file to my pc, and then running my script locally, every single day.
I am wondering if there are any better options, so I wouldn't have to download the DB file and move it manually.
From a slight searching on the web I found that there is no way to run the script in the google drive folder (obviously due to security issues), and using google cloud platform is not a real option since it's not a free service (and as I understood there is no free trial).
Anyways, any method that would make my life easier would be happily accepted.
Sorry
That's not possible AFAIK. At least in the way you have asked the question.
It may be that you are looking for a Database hosting service, which, as a rule, are not free. I remember seeing a SQL viewer around, I don't know if it is still available and I don't think it was accessible via a local Python script.
Google Cloud Platform, as other services, do however offer a free tier of services - though this depends on how much use you need to give it and also on your location. Though this can get quite involved quite quickly. There are also various options to choose from. For example Big Query may be something you are interested in.
A Possible Workaround
I assume that the reason you don't want to download it is because it is tedious, and not because your network connection or hard drive can't handle it, if so:
The simple workaround may just be to find a way to automatically download the database via the (Google Drive API)[https://developers.google.com/drive] with your Python Script, modify it, or read it, and then upload it again if you need to. This can be done all within one script using the API. So all you would need to do is run the Python script and you wouldn't need to manually download and move it into a folder. You would also not need to worry about running over the free tier and getting billed for it.
You could even use the Google Drive Desktop software to keep the database file synced locally. Since it is local, I doubt the software would be able to block a Python script on the file system.
If you don't even want to think about it, you could set up the Python script with a CRON job or a Scheduled task if you are on Windows.

Heroku via Github, where is my JSON files updated?

This isn't exactly a question in need of help, however, I am curious as to which file is updated, when updated, when I use Heroku via Github. Would it be the one within my Github or does Heroku save those files and update them somewhere else?
All I'm trying to accomplish is edit a JSON file so I can store an integer to each player (I'm using a worker, for a discord bot). Also, yes, that seems like what I am trying to do. Anything that saves the information, doesn't require money and isn't too complex
EDIT:
This issue has been solved with the answer that Heroku simply cannot update JSON files. I have resolved it myself by moving my host onto a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. Thank you for all the answers.
When you use Heroku's GitHub Sync feature, a deployment will retrieve your code directly from GitHub.
Those files aren't saved anywhere else. A new deployment from master will take the code fresh from GitHub.
All I'm trying to accomplish is edit a JSON file so I can store an integer to each player (I'm using a worker, for a discord bot). Also, yes, that seems like what I am trying to do. Anything that saves the information, doesn't require money and isn't too complex
Heroku's filesystem is ephemeral. Any changes you save to the local filesystem will be lost when your dyno restarts, which happens frequently. If you scale your application to multiple dynos you'll also run into trouble since the ephemeral filesystems are dyno-local.
Your best bet is to use a proper client-server datastore, like PostgreSQL. Heroku provides its own Postgres service, which has a free tier. If Postgres isn't to your liking, feel free to choose something else.

How to password protect website hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS)

I wanted to create a website that would be like a dropbox of sort, which just has files that me and my organization can access. I wanted to password protect the website, just a simple username and password. I have my own domain. I have been looking all over the web to find how to do this(I am a beginner) and found that using httaccess and htpasswd would be used to secure a website similar to what is shown here: http://www.htaccesstools.com/articles/password-protection/
But I cannot seem to get it to work. I am using the s3 bucket and putting the httaccess and htpasswd file in the same folder as the index.html file. Do you know how I would get my site to have a simple password protection(thats not seen in the source code or by typing in the html)? I am not sure if I am finding the directory correctly or not to implement this password protection correctly. Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully this makes sense!
Anyone else had this issue?
Amazon AWS alone won't do it. htaccess and htpasswd are also not the right tools for what you want to do.
Get yourself a cheap hosting account with a company like hostgator or godaddy or namecheap or any other that will host your web page and give you PHP and MySQL.
You cannot accomplish what you want just using javascript/jQuery. Those languages run on the browser, but you want to store your files on a server. Therefore, you need the language that controls the server - that is usually PHP. (The other popular solution is ASP, which is by Microsoft and runs on costly and complex Microsoft servers -- PHP is free and runs on (free) Linux and is therefore what ALL of the cheap web hosting companies provide. MySQL is the (free) database that is analogous to Microsoft SQL)
Next, watch a video tutorial on creating a PHP / MySQL login system, such as the ones over at:
phpAcademy (now called codecourse, apparently)
theNewBoston.com
You need to learn more about:
PHP sessions
Ajax
jQuery
MySQL (possibly)
On a basic website, you can stick your files into directories and control who can access those directories by whether or not they are logged in.
You can determine if a visitor is "logged-in" or not by asking for a username/password and setting a session variable. Session variables are just variables that are stored on the server, rather than on a user's own computer (of course, that wouldn't work since every visitor has his own computer and your files are stored on a central server -- so that is where the security (variables) must reside, right?)
Anyway, in a weekend of video watching and trial-and-error you can probably get something cobbled together that will do what you want.

Quickbooks Sync Manager - REST service into data

We are using the Quickbooks Sync Manager to get our data onto the internet. We don't want to use the Web Connector anymore because we have been having issues with it and the applications running through it. I need to be able to read/write to the data put online by Sync Manager but I can't figure out how to get to it without going through the App center which doesn't support non SaaS applications... I just need my standalone code to get/send some data to/from Quickbooks from a web server.
Any tips on how to get started would be great. I can do REST services no problem... I just can't figure out how to connect to it.
What you're trying to do, isn't possible.
You should look through the Intuit Partner Platform FAQs:
http://docs.developer.intuit.com/0025_Intuit_Anywhere/0080_FAQ
Specifically, pay attention to this one:
Q: I want to integrate my custom (non-SaaS, single-tenant) solution
with Intuit Anywhere. Can I do this?
A: Not today, but we are
considering it.
If you're not SaaS, then you're not eligable to use the Intuit Partner Platform / Intuit Anywhere / Sync Manager.
P.S.: The Web Connector is way less troublesome and way more reliable and Sync Manager. If you're having problems with the Web Connector you should ask on the forums about that - chances are you just need to tweak your scripts so they are more reliable, and that it's not actually a Web Connector problem.