Requesting files using API from another Wappler project

[Mr.Rubi]

When I need to work with files (display/download) in security mode, I use this method:

Access to files in a non-public folder

Create a server action that has the download file step and the needed security in front of it. On your page you can have an image tag with the src pointing to the server action.

The method works well and allows you to display/download files only to those users who have access to them.

However, I needed to access the files using the API from another project (so that I could display/download them on another project). In this scenario, the method does not work.

I am receiving an answer not in the form of a binary file, but in the form of a string:

The reason for this behavior is listed here:

How to convert the string type from an API response to an image file - ����\u0000\u0010JFIF\u0000\u0001\u0001\u0000\u0000\u0001 -

@patrick, is there a simple solution to get around this in the Wappler?

If anyone has any ideas on how to implement this, I would be grateful.

[patrick]

The API component is for JSON API endpoints, for file download use the download component or just link to the download url.

File Downloads with Server Connect

[Mr.Rubi]

Hi, Patrick. Maybe I don’t understand something, but what you’re suggesting can’t work in my case.

I will explain my problem in more detail.

I have a Project1 in which all files are stored in a non-public folder. Access to these files (display/download) is based on security rules and uses the following server actions:

It all works perfectly. In Project1, files are available only to those users who have access to them. Without access, you will not be able to view/download the file.

I have a Project2 that should give users access to the Project1 files. I cannot use the File Download component directly in Project2, because the files are not publicly available. That’s why I use the API Action component:

I get access to the right file as the task requires. However, this file is transmitted via the API not as a binary file, but as text, as I indicated in the first post.

I also tried using a File Download component that would use the API Action response as a source. However, nothing came of it:

I also assume that I will have problems when uploading files via API. I.e., I will not be able to use the Wappler to make it so that the user can upload a file from Project2 to Project1 using the API Action component on the server side (to achieve security mode). But in the community I have seen a solution that can help with this:

API File Upload Action - NodeJS & PHP [Open Source]

Yo, Wappler provides a default API Action module in Server Action to call APIs. But it does not have the option to upload files. With this custom module, we extend Wappler to have this option as well. We have provided as many options we could from the original component here. This module is available for both PHP & NodeJS server models. [image] Almost all options are explained using help texts. Please make sure to read them. Here is the full source and documentation: NodeJS: https://gitlab…

Although I haven’t tried this solution yet, I think it will help me in the task of uploading files using the API from Project2 to Project1.

So, how can I solve the problem of getting non-public files from Project1 to users from Project2?

[sid]

You can take a reference from the File Upload Action, and build out a File Download Action custom module.

1. Create a API in project1 which allows secure file download using Wappler’s download component. Security could be based on some predefined key or some DB-based token system.
2. In project2, use the Download Action to call the project1 API with an Absolute URL and secure tokens/keys.
3. The API will return a file, which you custom module can download and save to a defined path.

[Mr.Rubi]

Hi, Sid. Thank you for your answer.

Before making a custom component, I decided to try to recreate your instructions based on standard components. However, I was unable to get this algorithm to work.

That’s what I was doing.

@sid

1. Create a API in project1 which allows secure file download using Wappler’s download component. Security could be based on some predefined key or some DB-based token system.

For the test in Project1, I made a very simple API that uses a standard download component (I specify a static path in it):

If I call this API in the browser, it works correctly and the file is downloaded.

@sid

2. In project2, use the Download Action to call the project1 API with an Absolute URL and secure tokens/keys.

For the test in Project2, I also made a very simple API that uses a standard download component (I use an absolute path that points to the API of Project1):

If you call this API, an error will return:

[sid]

@Mr.Rubi

For the test in Project2, I also made a very simple API that uses a standard download component (I use an absolute path that points to the API of Project1):

Wappler’s API Action does not support File Downloads, as you have discovered.
Wappler’s File download does not support files from a remote URL… only local file path can be passed here.

Which is why I suggested you to create a custom module which would support downloading a file from remote URL and then storing it in local server, or returning the file itself as output.