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TAdvFlickr authentication not working

VCL TMS VCL Cloud Pack
#1

Hi - I'm new to the VCL Cloud components. Trying out the Flickr component. Have specified the key and secret I set up with the Flickr API and entered these under the "App" property. But authentication does not work. if you keep "externalbrowser" to false the authentication message reports that the browser you are using is no longer supported by showing this:

sc1
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If you set externalbroswer to true you do reach the API authentication page, but after granting permission and a long delay I get browser error message 127.0.0.1 refused to connect. As far as I can tell I am not blocking port 8888.

The problem can be easily replicated via the Flickr demo, and my test program contains just a single line of my code to run "DoAuth".

I am running Delphi 11.1 on Windows 11 with latest TMS CVL Cloud components. (TAdvFlickr 1.0.4.0)

Any help greatly appreciated - thanks as always!

#2

Update - I had not set the App type on the Flickr API settings to "Desktop". Doing so changes the error that gets reported. I now see error: 127.0.0.1 took too long to respond. Perhaps Flickr API is expecting HTTPS communications. I tried setting the callback URL to https://127.0.0.1:8888 but then got error message " This site can’t provide a secure connection". I could not see a way to set up TAdvFlickr component to support HTTPS (and presumably this would require a certificate?)

No doubt I am making some very basic error!

Thanks again for any advice!

#3

Hi,

A change in the Flickr API authentication process is the cause of this issue.
It seems that any HTTP callback URL that is provided in the app configuration is automatically converted to HTTPS during the authentication process. This is causing issues for desktop applications that are using a localhost callback URL.

For example: The callback URL "http://127.0.0.1:888" is provided, but after authentication the Flickr API redirects to "https://127.0.0.1:8888" which is unavailable.
Unfortunately this is a limitation of the Flickr API service which we have no control over.
The TMS VCL Cloud Pack only supports using localhost callback URLs over HTTP.

Alternatively you might want to consider using the Google Photos REST API instead for which there are no known issues at this time.

#4

Thanks Bart - given that I just gave money to TMS to use these controls, it is a bit frustrating to see that some of them don't actually work anymore (I've seen other posts by Bruno that indicate this may affect multiple controls).I realize changes happening at the server end are beyond your control, but telling your customers which controls don't work IS within your control.

Can I suggest at a minimum that you mark which controls are no longer operational on the main TMS web page for the controls? I'd much prefer to have working controls, but if that's not possible this would be a next best. I invested multiple hours trying to get the Flickr component working yesterday, and TBH I don't want to do that again with all the other controls.

Thanks for your consideration.

#5

Hi Charlie,

Thank you for your feedback.
We do monitor changes and updates in the services that are supported in our cloud products. If necessary updates are made to ensure continued compatibility with the supported services. In some cases support for services has been discontinued if it is technically no longer possible to provide compatibility.
In this case we reached out to Flickr some time ago but we didn't receive a clear answer if this change in their authentication process is actually a feature or a bug.

We are currently investigating what the best solution would be to support HTTPS callback URLs in our cloud products.

For now, references to Flickr have been removed from the TMS VCL Cloud Pack product page to avoid any confusion.

A warning message has been added on this page as well:

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