Not strictly VFP, but...

[GriffMG]

A while ago I added QR barcodes to one of my VFP based web apps.

It's a very useful feature that enables people looking at a piece of paper
find out if it is the current version of the document in question.

Today we have nearly reached 2000 scans, but I notice that nearly all are duplicated.
The web site receives two http requests for each scan (in most cases) from different IP
addresses.

Is this an iPhone/BB thing or something else?

I wondered if it was because the iPhone were attached to a WiFi network and 3/4G at the
same time?

Any ideas?

Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are not good for you. ​

 

[DSummZZZ]

I would take a wild guess and say the it may be some sort of verification thing from the QR app itself. Maybe even something from some sort of 'analytics' they're doing. Only one radio (Wifi or cellular) would be active at a time for an internet connection from the device itself.
Even a device attached to a Wifi hotspot would only be recognized as being from the hotspot device itself, not from the hotspot device and the phone.


-Dave Summers-

Even more Fox stuff at:

http://www.davesummers.net/foxprolinks.htm

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Two identical requests?

I ask, because it's normal requesting a html page causes several more requests for images and other stuff embedded in the initial html. And as your QR code encodes something, I'd expect a decoded url would be requested, which causes an additional request once that was requested.

Even though I assume the decoding of the qr code takes place in the phone and just the decoded document url is requested, that would be the only request needed to get the document.

Is a url shortener used to keep the QR codes smaller?

Bye, Olaf.

 

[GriffMG]

Ah, I think DSummz has it, the providers of the QR scanning app have to make money too.

So, when a person scans my code, they are probably sending the same code to the scanner provider
who scans it as well and sends the data on to anyone who will pay for it.

Is this a security/ privacy problem is my next question?

Probably in some cases is the obvious answer.




Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are not good for you. ​

 

[DSummZZZ]

Is this a security/ privacy problem is my next question?

I agree.

The good news (at least to me it is) is that the permissions in the new versions of Android - 4.3 and higher, are going to be more fragmented. Instead of just either accepting or declining the app being able to access data or statuses on your phone, you'll be able to select which items you will allow the app to access. I.e., phone state, location services, contacts, ...

Story here:

http://tinyurl.com/l6od3uj

-Dave Summers-

Even more Fox stuff at:

http://www.davesummers.net/foxprolinks.htm

 

[Mike Lewis]

The good news (at least to me it is) is that the permissions in the new versions of Android - 4.3 and higher, are going to be more fragmented.

I agree that's a welcome new feature. Unfortunately, I suspect that the average user won't have a clue what it all means, and will simply leave all the settings to ON because they don't know any better. (On the other hand, maybe that doesn't matter.)

Mike


__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[Olaf Doschke]

I noticed it, too.

And what I never tried before, you can even drill into the single permissions and change the default, so you really have control. You're not only prompted, if it's okay for an app can access things or not. Of course that also means you can cut permissions down too much, so that an app can't do the thing it's meant for.

All this was never a topic for Windows or Linux or Mac apps, where anybody was trusting a developer to do whatever can be done on the PC/Mac by the permissions of the user account, and user's were using their PC as admin mostly.

Of course most users will simply accept whatever pops up to get started with the new app, as they won't want to waste time on checking each and every permission. It's a good question how this should be handled ideally between these extremes of not being asked and informed about anything at all on the one hand or being informed and asked about every little detail on the other hand.

Bye, Olaf.