Details
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Type:
Task
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Status: Closed (View Workflow)
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Priority:
Major
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Resolution: Done
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Affects Version/s: None
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Fix Version/s: None
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Labels:None
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Story Points:1
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Epic Link:
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Sprint:Summer 5: 3 Aug - 14 Aug
Description
Recently we noticed a problem with how javascript code running in a Web browser can (or can't) hit localhost endpoints.
If the javascript code was loaded as part of a page that was itself loaded via https, then the Safari browser (and possibly some others) blocks the javascript code from opening URLs with http (non-secure) protocol, unless the request is being sent to a new window.
Unfortunately, this breaks AppStore, because AppStore is always using https. It also breaks our Galaxy and BAR bridge code. However, for Galaxy and BAR we can fix the problem for now by having those sites hit http endpoints on BioViz and by allowing http on the server. (See related issues.)
Philip Badzuh investigated the possibility of IGB's localhost endpoint being accessible via https, but we are not sure this would be a solution due to the impossibility 
of getting a certificate authority to sign a certificate for "localhost".
The Cytoscape App Store is working very similarly to IGB App Store in that it uses javascript to hit a localhost endpoint. Does it have the same bug in Safari, or have the Cytoscape developers identified a solution?
For this task, investigate the Cytoscape App Store code and Cytoscape code to find out: Can Cytoscape App Store install apps under Safari?
Attachments
Activity
Users could download the jar file, but they would need to know where to save it.
Could you create a short video walking us through the user experience with Cytoscape?
I'd like to see:
- User experience installing an app using Chrome browser
- and then how it looks and feels when you try to install using Safari
- and then what you do after you download the jar file (or where a user is likely to get stuck)
I have made a short video to showcase the differences in user experience for cytoscape when using google chrome and safari. Please see the video here.
Thanks for the video - it's very easy to understand the user experience for Cytoscape users now.
Moving to Closed.
In testing cytoscape on macOS in chrome, firefox, and safari, I have observed the same error in safari that we are experiencing with IGB - the cytoscape appstore is unable to communicate with the desktop application due to the same Mixed Content access control error.
When the cytoscape appstore cannot communicate with the desktop application, the 'install' button becomes a 'download' button, and users are able to download the JAR file for the app to install it manually in the desktop application. This is something that we could do as well.