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Issues calling local server content with a!webContentField()

brettr
Certified Lead Developer

I currently have a standalone Appian instance hosted on AWS running on 18.1 HF A. I was trying to use the new a!webContentField() component to embed HTML files stored on the same server as my install, and received the error:

Could not display interface. Please check definition and inputs. Interface Definition: Expression evaluation error at function a!webContentField: A web content field [label=“”] has an invalid value for “source”. Source may not be an Appian user interface. Received: https://[SERVER_AND_PORT]/demo.

As soon as I changed the URL to AWS' public name instead of the SERVER_AND_PORT name, I was able to load the file successfully.

 

Calling HTML file using SERVER_AND_PORT: www.screencast.com/.../oZrit8Htlu4

Calling HTML file using AWS public DNS name: https://www.screencast.com/t/OyHoGtarEP

 

It seems that Appian sees that its base URL is being sourced, and is assuming that the content is its own. I think it may be a common use case to host content locally that can be embedded into interfaces to enhance functionality. Am I missing something, or does this component just not yet support locally hosted content?

 

Thanks in advance!

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  • +1
    Appian Employee

    Hi brettr

    Advance apologies, this isn't a great answer -
    the docs do specify that the Web Content Field displays content from "an external source".
    So, your speculation about Appian thinking that it's pulling it's own content might be close to what's going on.
    When a feature (like this one) is offered in preview mode, we can expect that it's only going to get better in future releases.  

    Keep this feedback coming, and this product team should take notice.
    Thanks,

    Rob

  • 0
    Certified Lead Developer
     in reply to Robert Shankin
    Rob,

    Thank you for the clarification. Preview Mode is a new concept to me, so I will definitely keep that in mind moving forward. Is there a more appropriate avenue to offer feedback for these components? I would love to offer any more thoughts/concerns I come across while using this component. I actually have one in mind already, specifically around size control. I am trying to implement a small widget to act almost as a banner above a section, and there is a lot of white space below it, even when setting the height to "SHORT".

    And for anyone stumbling on this post in the future, I have an idea on how to get around only allowing external content. I have not implemented this, but was going to if time permitted or I had issues using Amazon's public name. Create a new subdomain and add a corresponding virtual host to Apache. Configure the local directory in that host, and link to that from the Appian installation. I am not 100% sure this would work, but if it does I believe it could be a good workaround.
  • 0
    Appian Employee
     in reply to brettr

    Hi Brett -

    I passed the feedback along.
    When you're feeling strongly about unexpected behavior, a support ticket is your best avenue for communicating that to the product team.
    Also, I know this isn't exactly the same thing, but have you considered the use of a billboard layout for your banners?

    Thanks,
    Rob

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