[Sugar-devel] Help required with webservices

[Prasoon Shukla]

Hi all

This problem has been troubling me for a bit and I'd appreciate any help on
this.

So, first, I'll describe in short what I want to achieve and then we'll
move on to the problem.

I'm making an activity which is just a lightweight version of the browser
activity. This activity is called social-help and the user can launch it
using a shortcut. The activity opens to a Discourse <http://discourse.org>
based forum.

The user has the choice to login using either facebook, google, github,
twitter or a yahoo account. Also, the user can make a standalone Discourse
account, too, the usual way.

Now, the question. I've been told a few times to use the existing
webservices mechanism to store a user's session so that the user won't need
to login every time he opens the activity. However, there is no *need* for
it, IMO. The activity, as I've mentioned already, is a web browser, of all
things, and can happily store cookies so that users will be logged in every
time they open the activity.

So, what's the use of using the webservice mechanism in such a case?

Also, if we must use a webservice for logins, there is then the question of
*which* auth system to use - there are five different OAuth systems and a
native one, too. Also, discourse doesn't provide access tokens like
facebook (say) and so, we'll need to do sometime like the PutLocker
webservice - we'll need to store a plaintext password
<https://github.com/ignaciouy/sugar-putlocker/blob/master/extensions/webservice/sugarupload/account.py#L43>.
I am against this idea, however.

So, the gist of it is this: Why use a webservice when the browser cookies
work just fine? If we do use a webservice, then what exactly will be the
mechanism underlying the whole thing (multiple OAuths and the like - how
will we manage this)?

Thanks. Looking forward to an answer.
ᐧ
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