Visual Media Capture

v4.4.1

The Visual Media Capture Block enables users to capture a photo or a video or upload an existing media file. This is useful when composing Applications such as a mobile inspection app and the user may be required to include an image when logging an issue.

Fig 1: Visual Media Capture Block

Visual Media Capture Properties

Appearance

Common Properties

The visibility property is common to most Blocks;

See the Common Properties article for more details on common appearance properties.

Capture Button Text

The text displayed on the capture button.

Behavior

Common Properties

The disabled property is common to most Blocks;

See the Common Properties article for more details on common behavior properties.

Allowed File Extensions

This allows you to specify the types of files that can be uploaded. If left blank, any file type can be uploaded.

If a file extension is listed, (for example, a .png file), the Visual Media Capture will not allow you to upload any other file except those with a .png extension.

Max File Size

This setting dictates the maximum allowable file size for uploads. If you attempt to upload a file that exceeds the maximum size, it will not be uploaded.

Provider

The supported external cloud storage providers are Azure Blob or Amazon S3.

Use Variables

Tick to use variables for the provider-related properties.

Blob Connection String

The blob connection string (applies to the Azure Blob Provider only).

Blob Container Name

The blob container name (applies to the Azure Blob Provider only).

Access Key

The Amazon S3 access key (applies to the Amazon S3 Provider only).

Secret Key

The Amazon S3 secret key (applies to the Amazon S3 Provider only).

Bucket Name

The Amazon S3 bucket name (applies to the Amazon S3 Provider only).

Region

The Amazon S3 region (applies to the Amazon S3 Provider only).

Value

Common Properties

The value property is common to most Blocks;

See the Common Properties article for more details on common value properties.

We recommend using a dynamic value property so that when you upload media files, the URLs are bound to the value property, with enclosed brackets and comma-separated.

You can utilize a stored proc to save the file URLs into a data source and view them by adding the URL as a hyperlink to a Data Grid.

// Sample code to populate the file URLs to a SQL table
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_MobileSpec_Update]  
(  
    @MobileId BIGINT,  
    @MediaArray NVARCHAR(MAX),  
    @UploadDate DATETIME2(7),  
    @UploadUser NVARCHAR(150)  
)  
AS  
BEGIN  
    SET NOCOUNT ON  
  
    IF (@MediaArray IS NOT NULL AND @MediaArray != '')  
    BEGIN  
        DECLARE @IDs TABLE (ID NVARCHAR(MAX)) -- Use NVARCHAR(MAX) to store URLs  
  
        -- Populate @IDs table with the result of dbo.SplitString function  
        INSERT INTO @IDs (ID)  
        SELECT Value FROM dbo.SplitString(@MediaArray, ',')  
  
        -- Iterate over each URL and insert into the table  
        DECLARE @ID NVARCHAR(MAX)  
  
        DECLARE cur CURSOR FOR  
        SELECT ID FROM @IDs  
  
        OPEN cur  
        FETCH NEXT FROM cur INTO @ID  
  
        WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0  
        BEGIN  
   DECLARE @LastSlashPosition INT = LEN(@ID) - CHARINDEX('/', REVERSE(@ID)) + 1  
   DECLARE @FileName NVARCHAR(MAX) = SUBSTRING(@ID, @LastSlashPosition + 1, LEN(@ID) - @LastSlashPosition)  
   SET @FileName = SUBSTRING(@FileName, CHARINDEX('/', @FileName) + 1, LEN(@FileName))  
            -- Process each URL here  
            INSERT INTO [MobileInspectionApp_AppFile] ([MobileInspectionAppId], [AppFileId], [UploadDate], [UploadUser], [URL])  
            VALUES (@MobileId, @FileName, @UploadDate, @UploadUser, @ID)  
  
            FETCH NEXT FROM cur INTO @ID  
        END  
  
        CLOSE cur  
        DEALLOCATE cur  
  
  UPDATE [MobileInspectionAppTest] SET [AppFileId] = 'Files attached' WHERE [Id] = @MobileId  
    END  
END

Validation

Common Properties

The Validation Group and Required properties are common to most Blocks;

See the Common Properties article for more details on common validation properties.

Required Message

The text of the error message that is displayed to the user when no media file has been captured or uploaded.

Fig 2: Required Message

Capture Failed Message

The text of the error message that is displayed to the user if the media capture fails for any reason.

Fig 3: Capture Failed Message