iPad WebDav Apps Without Local Storage

[Driftingashore]

Hey guys,

 

I'm trialling some iPads out, and was wondering if anybody had any good WebDav app recommendations. I've tried DataNow which I liked, but crashed after file uploads, and Readdle Documents, but to be honest, they're both a little too functional for our core needs.

 

Basically, I want a WebDav client that on opening, asks for WebDav login info - no faffing about with what kind of storage solution to set up. When I send a file back to the app, if a network connection is set up, it should upload to it, just asking where to save to. If Two Exist, it should offer a choice which to upload to, then the aforementioned dialogue. Basically, both of the clients so far just stick the document into local storage, and expect the user to upload it at some point, but I foresee users sending their documents to the app, thinking it's uploaded, and losing data.

 

Anybody know of an app like this? Am I just dreaming up problems?

 

Thanks, Ed

[Driftingashore]

Well, for the sake of anybody who has the same question: I've finally found it - WebDAV Nav+. It does have local storage, but has the option to directly upload any files sent to it.

 

It also allows you to set up connections without credentials, which, best of all, allows you to use a script to request the user's credentials, and redirect them accordingly - so you can direct users to their home folder without them entering more than their username / password - assuming you've setup the script URL as a connection first. This may well be common knowledge, but it wasn't to me, and adds a great amount of usability. Now students just have to open the app, tap "students" enter their credentials, and they're done. Simple.

 

Sean, the developer, has been immensely helpful and informative - even before I bought the app, and I can't praise him highly enough.

 

Very happy to finally have a solution!

Edited July 5, 2013 by Driftingashore

[tj2419]

Well, for the sake of anybody who has the same question: I've finally found it - WebDAV Nav+. It does have local storage, but has the option to directly upload any files sent to it.

 

It also allows you to set up connections without credentials, which, best of all, allows you to use a script to request the user's credentials, and redirect them accordingly - so you can direct users to their home folder without them entering more than their username / password - assuming you've setup the script URL as a connection first. This may well be common knowledge, but it wasn't to me, and adds a great amount of usability. Now students just have to open the app, tap "students" enter their credentials, and they're done. Simple.

 

Sean, the developer, has been immensely helpful and informative - even before I bought the app, and I can't praise him highly enough.

 

Very happy to finally have a solution!

 

Hi

 

Do you have anymore on the script you have set up? I would be very interested in this setup.

 

Thanks

[Driftingashore]

I'm not sure if it works with m/any apps other than WebDAV Nav+, but I'm happy to share. I think this is the code I used, but if it has errors I may have pasted the wrong version - I haven't tested, but any errors should be easy to spot as it's so short!

 

'YourURL' should be edited to point to the root of your WebDAV user directory, whatever that may be. Basically it's just grabbing the username, appending it to the root URL of your share, then redirecting, so all the user sees is the logon prompt and is then forwarded to their share.

 

Credit to Shawn (the developer of WebDAV Nav+) for the method.

 

if(isset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']))
{
   $username=$_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'];
   if (!$username) 
   {
       header('WWW-Authenticate: basic realm="Protected"');
       exit();
   }
   else 
   {
          $url = 'YourURL' . $username . '/';         
                  header( "Location: $url", TRUE, 302);
   }
}
else
{
       header('WWW-Authenticate: basic realm="Protected"');
       exit();
}




?>

Edited September 25, 2013 by Driftingashore

[tj2419]

Cheers I'll have a go. Where do you put the script?

 

Are all your users on the one server as we have an rm network with users balanced across three servers and different WebDAV addresses e.g. Address ending with \teachers\username or \year 7\username or \year8\username.

 

Thanks

[Mang]

Hi there - I'm not quite sure if this is what you are looking for, but we are currently running a demo of HTTP Commander Web File Manager. It allows all devices to access shares, etc on our network and integrates with AD. There is an app for both ios and android. It is basically a web application that gets installed in IIS. While it takes the place of running webdav services, you can webdav enable the app to allow clients to map drives, or use the "Send to webdav" functionality in apps like "Pages"

 

Web File Manager (Folders Share access via browser)

 

So far, it seems pretty nice

[Driftingashore]

The script can go anywhere really; it's only forwarding the client to your server, so it can be placed on any site that users will be able to access. I could tell you how to set it up with WebDav Nav+ as that's what we use, but really you just need to point your WebDAV client to the script and let the script forward them to the correct share (assuming the client supports it).

 

We're with RM too, though we're a very small school. All of our users are on one server, but because users are stored in different locations (\teachers\username or \student\username) I found the easiest solution was to set up the client with separate scripts (one for each location) so teachers would click the connection called teachers linking to teachers.php and redirecting to \teachers, students would click students and go to students.php etc. Depending how your site is spread out that may work or it may get unwieldily.

 

There may be a better way to check the user's home directory querying the AD, but I'm afraid I don't have it, as it was unnecessary for us.

 

Hope this helps