Automation Professionals' Blob Server Module

[pturmel]

Automation Professionals is pleased to announce an alpha release of its new Blob Server Module.
Available only for Ignition v8.1, here.

The Blob Server Module provides a simple way to deliver images, PDF files, or other binary content from a database to your Perspective clients or other web applications. Without needing the WebDev module. All you need is a Named Query that has appropriate security settings and returns a single row with two columns: Content, and ContentType.

Modest documentation may be previewed here.

{ I have not decided how to price this. Won’t be much, if anything. I created it today, start to finish, in about four hours. }

[pturmel]

Note: the parameter check rejects any named query that uses a QueryString parameter. Not safe for this usage.

[pturmel]

More percolation yesterday and this morning. Now rejects execution of Update queries. (Duh!)

Also caches any rejection based on lack of the correct columns, so attempts to DoS your server by calling inappropriate queries will be short-circuited.

New module file, for Ignition v8.1 only, here. Prior file removed.

Docs updated in place.

I’ll call this one a beta. I’d appreciate reports on any failure to honor security restrictions.

[pturmel]

Ah, well. It was not actually running off Perspective security. It was looking at the gateway web interface’s user. /:

Another beta here.

(I had to make it depend on Perspective to access the correct session info–this is not going to be a general purpose tool.)

[Rusty]

Hi, Would this work for Vision too?

[pturmel]

No, but it isn’t necessary. Vision can directly call a named query and pass the resulting raw bytes to the desired front-end component. (PDF Viewer, Paintable Canvas, etc.)

Can even be the same named queries defined for the Blob Server.

[Rusty]

Hey,

That sounds great, in my case the images are already saved as blobs into a DB. Do you know where I can find guidance on how to pass that data into a paintable canvas? I can create a DB query to get to the cell containing the blob data, for example via query tag of type Dataset, but what then? How do I pass the “raw bytes” to the canvas?

Thanks

[josborn]

This topic may be of some help:

Database and Paintable Canvas Refresh

My application is visualizing images from Database. I am using Paintable Canvas to view images, but the image doesn´t refresh when I selected registers continuously from database table [Paintable%20Canvas%201] . Here is my code in Paintable Canvas: from javax.imageio import ImageIO from java.io import ByteArrayInputStream bytes = event.source.getClientProperty(“img-bytes-cached-name”) id = event.source.parent.parent.getComponent(‘Documents’).getComponent(‘Documents’).id blob = system.db.…

[pturmel]

I decided to make this a free module, like the venerable Simulation Aids.

For Ignition v8.1 only, Release v1.0.0.

FWIW, dropping the license checks reduced this to a total of 352 lines of java. It didn’t feel right charging for such a tiny thing.

As with Simulation Aids, support is here on the forum or by email, on an as-available basis.

[pturmel]

If anyone is disappointed that they can’t pay for this module, there’s always the tip jar link in my profile.

[PGriffith]

@pturmel

It didn’t feel right charging for such a tiny thing.

On the one hand…

On the other hand…

The Best Code is No Code At All

[jgooding]

Maybe our friends at IA could incorporate this in the main code (Paul could you license it to them?). My IT department gets all frustrated when they hear the WebDev module. What you are not using MS tools to develop a website? I really want to run IIS for my backend with ASP.NET.

[bkarabinchak.psi]

Thanks for a free module that solves a class of problems. I was just needing this exact sort of thing!

[pturmel]

@jgooding

Paul could you license it to them?

Paul?

Like with Simulation Aids, I release things for free as marketing for my services and skill set. And to break down resistance to installing my 3rd-party modules in general.

So, no, not at this time.

{ Not that IA can’t replicate it themselves in a trice. But they generally don’t stomp on their developers’ products. }

[bkarabinchak.psi]

@pturmel

And to break down resistance to installing my 3rd-party modules in general.

Doing Gods work. I got some people at my job using Simulation Aids and I think it has opened the doors.