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I am very new to both Android development & Azure Mobile Services. I have a decent knowledge of Java so Android development is not proving to be too difficult. Although, I am struggling to gain a good knowledge of working with Azure Mobile Services.

I have little knowledge of REST API's but will be able to learn quite quickly if required. My main concerns/questions are as followed:

Can I build my Android app by using Mobile Services Data & API's alone. i.e the simple table values and the basic CRUD API's?

If not, how should I approach building the application?

I want to cater for multiple column queries, table relationships (1 .. n , inheritance) and I also would like to use JSON objects as parameters for a more lightweight communication rather than passing my full Java objects.

Also, is the possibility of setting up an SSL available?

Any help would be appreciated.

GermaineJason
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1 Answers1

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thanks for trying out Azure Mobile Services. Here is a good tutorial on how to get started with Android.

To answer your questions specifically:

  • Generally a CRUD API for data storage and a custom API for arbitrary REST calls should be all you need for a straightforward app, and those are all offered in the box with Mobile Services. The one thing we don't offer today (but are considering) is support for duplex messaging (WebSocket), which you might need if you are building a realtime app or game.
  • Mobile Services does not support object trees on the client, but you can still have them in your server database. You just have to write some custom code to "flatten" the hierarchy before you send it to the client.
  • Every mobile service supports HTTPS by default. We do not currently allow you to do a custom SSL cert.
Yavor Georgiev
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  • So in relation to the HTTPS, will it be okay to send a password in plain text and then to encrypt on server side? I know you have this done in examples but I wasn't sure. Also, can I query two columns at the one time? – GermaineJason Mar 24 '14 at 23:26
  • I am not a security expert, so please make sure you think through this carefully. If you are trying to implement custom identity, the approach you suggest makes sense. Josh has an example [here](http://www.thejoyofcode.com/Exploring_custom_identity_in_Mobile_Services_Day_12_.aspx). – Yavor Georgiev Mar 24 '14 at 23:33
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    Regarding your second question... yes, you can query across multiple columns on the server as part of your query. Look at [this example](http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/documentation/articles/mobile-services-windows-store-dotnet-validate-modify-data-server-scripts/) showing how to query on two columns. Even though the query is defned on the client, it gets serialized and executed on the server. – Yavor Georgiev Mar 24 '14 at 23:36
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    When implementing either Josh's sample (http://www.thejoyofcode.com/Exploring_custom_identity_in_Mobile_Services_Day_12_.aspx) or Chris' sample (http://chrisrisner.com/Custom-Authentication-with-Azure-Mobile-Services-and-LensRocket) please be sure to update the JWT ver to 2. ("ver":2,) – Mlunes Mar 25 '14 at 14:44