 | Nick Ashcroft 5/9/2022 5:09:24 AM I dont have anything to recommend but Im curious if there is something out there !
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 | Pierre 5/9/2022 6:59:12 AM I am very curious about this too !
I think just as you to and has been looking for the same thing... in vain
Pierre
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| Pierre 5/9/2022 5:00:01 PM |
 | SDM IT 5/9/2022 10:58:00 PM Glad to hear the response and suggestions from you! Thank you! My complains of the Teamdesk mobile app are: - it merges the mobile alerts and create/update actions of all Teamdesk DB's into one app. - it's response to result of user action is tied to the user's role and related filter conditions, and therefore requires the developer to guess why the action fails. - The developer cannot add any explanation or guide for the end user. So in my spare time I have been surveying the no-code tools market on youtube. First I must say that after surveying I am glad to have chosen Teamdesk for my kind of applications. The no-code offerings lack the power of the backend to allow accumulation of data and constant improvements of data crunching. In surveying I have gradually condensed on the following requirements: 1) How to integrate with Teamdesk DB? It seems REST API is the way to go (I have read the Teamdesk REST API documentation a few times and am feeling reasonable confident). There are a few tools that allow this option in their free or low price subscriptions, such as Appgyver, Bubble. The others probably offer it, too, but do not state it explicitly in their marketing info. 2) How to do end-user authentication? It seems some tools do this OS-dependent. I am hoping to be able to do it independent of the OS and directly authenticate using the Teamdesk user table. 3) How to do Push Notification? This seems to be even more OS-dependent and harder to by pass. I can confine my target end-users to Android only. But even on Android I don't see a straightforward way to do it. 4) Pricing. I assume that it will take me a long time to learn and not productive, I think under $50 per month is what I am willing to pay. Thanks to Pierre for pointing to https://www.bravostudio.app I didn't see it in my earlier survey but it seems to be close to the points I listed. |
| Pierre 5/10/2022 1:19:31 AM 2) How to do end-user authentication?
May be via QR code ? Teamdesk has a function that generates them
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| Pierre 5/11/2022 12:19:28 AM I have started with ADALO Creating an app with ADALO and making it work with TeamDesk seems simple enough except for 2 issues. 1) update While ADALO can retrieve TeamDesk records very easily, I have not found a way to update records modified in ADALO to TeamDesk The structure of the UPDATE API command requires the index field (ID of the record) to be in the line of the POST command. POST http://xxxx/{{id}} where TeamDesk wants it in the payload (body) 2) Authentication My understanding is: The most elegant situation would be to have a TeamDesk API generating user-scoped token... which we don't have at the moment - it would manage the rights properly - records modified by a user in the mobile app would be marked as modified by him I would be happy if anyone would share his/her experiences with ADALO or an alternative here. kind regards, Pierre |
| SDM IT 5/11/2022 5:08:22 AM Good attempt! I really hope that Foresoft can help by identifying one or two tools that are more ready to connect. After all they are better versed with the technology.
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| Pierre 5/11/2022 5:14:36 AM On the UPDATE API call with ADALO:
- Kirill confirmed me that there is an issue (TeamDesk needs to have the index record in the payload of the API Call)
- There is a solution using INTEGROMAT (an alternative to Zappier recommended by Kirill - efficient and cheaper)
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| SDM IT 5/11/2022 8:55:43 AM Just a while ago I was contemplating another route: Using Jotform+webhook to connect to Zappier (thanks to your info I will check out if INTEGROMAT is ready for that), and then from Zappier to Teamdesk. If it works then Jotform would be sufficient for me.
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| Pierre 5/11/2022 3:19:51 PM |
| SDM IT 5/11/2022 10:24:43 PM Thanks for the advice!
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| Pierre 5/12/2022 9:33:16 AM UPDATE API
ADALO has a "special action" feature in which the API setup is more flexible and can be adapted to TeamDesk
AUTHENTICATION
I have no elegant solution and am curious to learn about new ideas on this
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| Pierre 5/12/2022 10:26:54 AM AUTHENTICATION
My best idea so far:
- The user provides it TeamDesk login and password in ADALO
- ADALO connects to Integromat or equivalent to 64 encode login:password
- ADALO connects to TeamDesk using basic authentication in the API. This is not optimal (not the best security) but works
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| SDM IT 5/16/2022 12:24:41 AM Hi Pierre!
In the past few days I have done some research and tests and have made some observations. It has taken me quite some time to learn the web technology eventhough TD has allowed me to use it without needing to understand it under the hood. I thought I would share my learning process here for comment and critique:
On the tools side I have come to the same conclusion of the Adalo+Mate (Integromat) pair being the best suited to my intended work, with the following exclusions:
1) Appgyver and Bubble. They are simply too complicated as they contain all the UI functionalities for all sizes of cloud applications. Appgyver being cost-free may seem appealing but after trying it out for one hour I decided that it would take too much time to learn.
2) Jotform. I tried the form functionality. It is easy to construct a mobile app UI. But there are a few issues which make it less appealing: a) A webhook on its internal table would generate form requests and not JSON data. This form request can be received in the TD DB but to the individual column values need to be extracted using formulas rather than directly using the Response function. b) Deploying the form requires every user to be a Jotform registered user. I don't like this as to mobile app users are accustomed to registering with they mobile numbers.
3) Adalo. There are many no-code offerings but I find Adalo the most ready for integration. At first I was focused on how to define an external data collection to read TD DB using REST API. But I found it no easy task. I realize it is better to regard the Adalo app having its own DB which is sufficient for the app's own use, and then to sync the data with the backend TD DB. Looking at it this way Adalo becomes appealing: its internal data collections are ready for API calls which TD DB can do with "Call URL" actions, and it can be connected using Zapier/Mate (Integromat). Therefore it is ready for two-way data sync.
4) Mate (Integromat). I tried Zapier first since it is better known. In comparison Mate is a bit more tediousome in the definition but eventually I was able to understand the basic. But I am confused by the terminology for a while. In Zapier I can choose webhook to transmit the Adalo data change to TD DB. But in Mate I use the HTTP action and POST to the TD Webhook endpoint. The Adalo data change did go through to TD, though.
So the above is my findings. I am not yet ready to start a new mobile app project yet as I still need to check out how to organize relational data in Adalo.
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| SDM IT 5/26/2022 8:09:27 AM Just like to share my latest experience. I gave up on Adalo after a few tries and have taken up Glide.
I find I can relate to the Glide concept faster using my own TD experience. Glide had added some strong features in the last year or so, such as its own relational DB, which has several nice column types. Of course the DB is far below the power of SQL Server but is quite good as an intermediate storage for the mobile app. It's API is also easy to connect and I can do without Integromat in between it and TD. The default user authentication is also quite straightforward. Right now the outstanding feature I wanted at the beginning is Push Notification. Until it is provided by Glide itself, I will try to do some work around.
Thanks to all for the brainstorming!
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| Pierre 6/14/2022 12:41:08 PM Hello SDM IT
I just saw your posts.
Thank you so much for sharing !
I gave up with ADALO after some performance issues.
I will try Glide as well.
Kind regards,
Pierre
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| SDM IT 6/15/2022 12:55:49 AM Hi Pierre,
Yes I have been trying Glide while paying a Pro subscription even for the leaning period. But I am staying with it because the benefit of a good mobile app that the management wants outweighs the monthly subscription.
Just to share experience further:
1) User Guide is lacking so a lot of time is wasted in trial-and-error.
2) The API can take the TD webhook and "Call URL" without issues. So I am continuing with the strategy to have the Glide app keep its intermediate data, and communicate with the TD database selectively. I think the main benefit of API here is to do away with the administration and delay of Integromat/Zapier. But if I had known it works I would have delayed the Pro subscription until I am familiar with the basic features.
3) The TD mobile alert using its mobile app is still the best, being simple to construct, so I will maximize its use.
Hope this helps. All the best!
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| SDM IT 6/24/2022 11:03:35 PM Just in case anyone is interested in the same topic, I should share the latest experience.
I had tried Glide for a full month on the Pro subscription (USD 99/month). But decided to terminate it after one month. Put simply, I have not been able to achieve the objective of building an app that can interface with the TD database, such that I don't see the prospect of continuing to build other apps. However the process did force me to think hard to understand the various TD data API features. This will help me in my next evaluation.
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| SDM IT 6/26/2022 10:07:02 PM Okay, as I plod along I realize my mistake at the outset: looking for "no-code" tools! Nothing useful comes out of that category. I should have looked for "low code" which would return something more interesting.
For anyone still interested in the topic, check out "retool".
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| SDM IT 7/10/2022 3:13:27 AM After the last comment I have tested bubble, retool and Appgyver, and have given up on all three.
Bubble charges per application and include a lot of options in the pricing scheme which actually complicates judgement.
Retool is quite ready for connection to the backend and gave me a good impression at the start. But it charges per end user, which makes me hesitate as if I create something quite useful it will become very expensive for the company.
Appgyver is free, but the visual programming is actually much more complex than what one can expect from its "no-code" promise. I gave up after struggling for a few days.
I am now testing FlutterFlow. Its most significant feature is that it allows the developer to add code snippets to accomplish actions that are not available in the standard tool set. Besides it charges per developer so the cost is more controllable.
Hope this info is useful for someone exploring the same topic.
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| SDM IT 7/21/2022 12:15:10 AM Some more experience with FlutterFlow:
FlutterFlow provides "custom code" for user to build functionalities not available in its basic features. For it to be useful, I have to learn a bit more about the "Dart language/Flutter Framework". Once I did that, I found FlutterFlow less meaningful. I might as well code the application in Flutter on VS Code.
Draftbit is similar to FlutterFlow, but uses the React Native framework of Javascript. I discarded it more quickly than FlutterFlow because I could not found how to make apk in it.
My conculsion is, for my intended use of developing mobile apps connected to TD, none of the no-code/low-code tools works or is worth subscribing for the long term. I am continuing with Flutter (not FlutterFlow). Setting up the desktop IDE is a bit complex. But once it is set up, coding and debugging appears easier and faster than drag-and-drop in online tools.
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| SDM IT 8/5/2022 7:09:27 AM |
