Sending mail (invisibly) from inside a Mac LC app

Richard Gaskin ambassador at fourthworld.com
Wed Apr 2 11:11:38 EDT 2014


Richard Miller wrote:

 > I am still looking into the PHP script option for corporate users.
 >
 > One alternative solution is to have my app pop up a notification on
 > the users desktop alerting them to the problem. This avoids the need
 > to send an email altogether. But I have been told that this solution
 > is probably not acceptable in a corporate environment.

It seems the simplest, most flexible, and most efficient option.

Email clients will vary, but every computer with Web access will be able 
to POST via HTTP.

Every business has a Web site, and a script to log incoming reports 
could be written in LC in a few minutes, and be simple enough to take 
only a few milliseconds of server time.

If the company's Web server is off-limits (as is often a good idea; I 
like to reserve public server clock cycles for the public), you could 
easily set up any spare machine in the office as an intranet server to 
handle this.  Intranets can be useful for all sorts of services - once 
you get this logging going you'll no doubt think of dozens of other ways 
pulling an old PC out of retirement for this can provide strong value to 
the company.

While it takes less than an hour to install Ubuntu Server and Apache and 
set it up as you like, if that seems daunting you could get started with 
a simple LC-based server like mchttpd.

But given the wide range of useful free tools for intranets, using 
Apache is a more flexible option.  You could still use LC as needed via 
LiveCode Server, but would also have OwnCloud and anything else your 
company could find useful available to them.

Even if you had to build a custom machine for this, the ROI is strong. 
Private servers don't need a lot of horsepower (it's mostly just reading 
files and parsing text) - you may be pleasantly surprised by how easy it 
is to assemble a cheap kit like this, and how well it performs as a 
light-duty server:
<http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=19090325&pid=4226303>

That one totals US$228, and if you shop around there are even cheaper 
options available.

Small machines like that are also pretty green - most of the recent Atom 
CPUs have a TDP of just 10 watts, costing pennies a month to have 
available as an always-on resource.

Set the BIOS to automatically reboot on power failure, plug it into your 
network, and forget about it - it's like a network appliance, always 
there for any services you put on it.

The oldest one I have in my office uses the Atom 230, one of the first 
and least powerful Atoms Intel ever made.  Yet it handles Apache, 
OwnCloud, LC Server, and a custom server built on mchttp very well.

Besides, most corporations already have intranet servers - why not use 
them effectively by hosting new services as needed?  If an intranet 
isn't managed flexibly enough to respond to the ever-changing needs of 
an organization, the problem isn't a technical one, but an opportunity 
for personnel review. ;)

A good IT team will be able to deploy secure separated spaces for new 
services easily.  After all, every successful business understands that 
the only constant is change.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
  Follow me on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/FourthWorldSys






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