[aerogear-dev] Push Server: Database: Storing data for an application installation (per device)

Wed Apr 17 04:39:39 EDT 2013

Hi folks!

As discussed a few times, we have the following "high-level" construct of
data (required for push):

   - PushApplication ("HR Mobile")
   - MobileApplication ("HR for iPhone", "HR for iPad", "HR for Android")
   - Installation ("Matthias uses iPhone HR", "Matthias uses Android HR",
   "Bruno uses iPad HR")

(More details here <https://gist.github.com/matzew/6012edf62d1915689a67>)
<https://gist.github.com/matzew/04346e212e317d976532#data-per-installation-per-device>Data
per installation per device

Now, thinking about what to store for an actual device gives you lot's of
choices. For instance, Helios/Orbiter stores a lot of information in the
"device" database (e.g. (current) Location Data, Locale etc).

Like you can see here:

[image: Helios Web UI
Screenshot]<https://raw.github.com/helios-framework/helios.io/assets/helios-screenshot.png>

All the information is really app specific (e.g. not every app needs to
know the current location...); (A side-note... our client SDK should be
flexible to store what ever the application requires...)
<https://gist.github.com/matzew/04346e212e317d976532#mandatory-data>Mandatory
Data

Regardless of what data is desired or not, the following is the minimum
that needs to be stored:

   - Device Token (generated by the PushNetwork (e.g. APNs, GCM) - used to
   identify the device with the actual Network, so that it can send a message
   to that device)
   - OS and Device Type (we need to store if this is an installation of the
   iPad version, the iPhone version or the Android version (to use the above
   HR example))
   - OS Version (the version, never hurts)

This is the minimum of data, required to store in our "device registration"
database;

As discussed in AEROGEAR-1101<https://issues.jboss.org/browse/AEROGEAR-1101>,
I would like to store the above "device" data, using the Picketlink IDM
(Actually the entire data base (PushApplication, MobileApplication and
Installation("device")).
<https://gist.github.com/matzew/04346e212e317d976532#user-data->User Data ?

Now... you might wonder if there isn't any user data required ..... Well,
that is also up to the application and how works.

Overall, I see the following two common application models, suppored by the
*Push Server*:

   - device has a user (a known user in an Application (e.g. Marketing)
   Databases)
   - device has *NO* user (no need to have a user for the app)

<https://gist.github.com/matzew/04346e212e317d976532#user-required>User
required

This would be an app, that requires an account, before it can be used on
the device (e.g. something twitter). For applications like that, a user is
required, otherwise hard to send a Push Notification to a specific user
(e.g. "You have new tweets") ( *Also twitter works only with a user, on
their "application backend/database"* )
<https://gist.github.com/matzew/04346e212e317d976532#no-user-concept-on-the-backend>No
User concept, on the backend

That's a (very) simple app. Think *Sports App*. The app displays "sport
news" (fetched via HTTP, when the app is opened). A installed application
can also receive "broadcasts messages".

*Scenario:* You download the app in the app store, install it, use it; When
ever the backend thinks it needs to send Notifications (eg. "New score 3:1
at Germany - Brazil"), it simply uses the token and submits the message to
the actual Push Network. For applications like this, the backend does not
need a user;
<https://gist.github.com/matzew/04346e212e317d976532#application-with-user-required>Application
with User required

Now, let's comeback to the apps, where a user is required, in the backend.
Somehow the business backend (e.g. HR system) needs to identify a certain
user (and their devices), so that it can "submit" Push Notification jobs.

Bruno, Shane (from Picketlink) and I talked already to store something like
a unique ID (e.g. user-id, login-name or user-name) in the "Device" Table
(per device):

TOKEN     |     user      |       DEVICE-TYPE    |    OS-VERSION
_________________________________________________________________________
823ssar   |  abstractj    |         Android      |     Android4.x.y.blah
1234456   |  mwessend     |         iPad         |     iOS4.0.1
ghh2712   |  mwessend     |         iPhone       |     iOS6.1.2

Doing so, we can use that "unique ID" to *bridge* between the actual
"application database" and the stored informations about the device(s),
stored in the *push-server-database*; per user!

*NOTE* Since the Push Server (and the "device database") is a standalone
server (access via HTTP / Java Library), the real (business) backend (e.g.
HR App), can than say:

*Send message X to to following users* (a list of unique user IDs would be
send to the push server, so that the Push Server submit these messages to
the actual Push-Networks (ANPs/GCM)so that Apple and Google (for
iOS/Android) can deliver the actual notification to the client/device.
<https://gist.github.com/matzew/04346e212e317d976532#client-sdk>Client SDK

Again, As said above, we should (and will) offer hooks to have a convenient
way to register the unique ID, together with the token,OS,version etc. *BUT*
 *that is not that important here... ;-)*

*
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*Thoughts?*

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-- 
Matthias Wessendorf

blog: http://matthiaswessendorf.wordpress.com/
sessions: http://www.slideshare.net/mwessendorf
twitter: http://twitter.com/mwessendorf
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