I have a private server that I am using just fine. On the Blynk Android app I am logged into that private server.
I saw a QR code I wanted to import, but when I do, I get an error:
Can't clone project. Server url is invalid. URL: blynk-cloud.com
If I log into the Blynk public server and scan the QR code, I get a different error that I don’t have enough energy (apparently this cloned project requires more than the default amount of energy which comes with the free account). The reason I run my private server is so I can have complex projects without the energy limitations.
Here is the QR code:
I know blynk-cloud.com is a valid URL - it’s Blynk’s public server.
Shouldn’t I be able to scan a QR code – which has reference to Blynk’s cloud server – into my private server project?
When you’ve configured the app to point to your local server, scanning the QR code will try to find that project definition on your local server and it doesn’t exist there. For it to work, your local server would need to store an up-to-date copy of every project for every Blynk user in the world - which is obviously not possible/allowable.
When you change the app configuration to point to the Blynk Cloud server it is able to find the project, but as you’ve discovered you need however much energy is required for the project in your Blynk Cloud account before the project can be used.
Buy some Blynk energy and help to keep the nice guys at Blynk HQ in coffee.
I always thought the QR only held the specs for the widget layout and settings. I know reading a Local Server QR will work on the Cloud, but alas not the other way around.
@Steven_Christensen as mentioned, Cloud Server energy in not really that expensive to double/triple the energy for just this type of purpose… temporary use of Cloud accounts to test others project layout.
At least then you can see how the widgets are set and manually replicate them in a few minutes on your Local Server, then recycle the project on the cloud until next time.
Well, the URL for that QR code is:
blynk://token/clone/44d0a5b4ff594ec796db0472b854e81a?server=blynk-cloud.com&port=443
and the bit in bold looks like an auth code to me.
If I try: https://blynk-cloud.com/44d0a5b4ff594ec796db0472b854e81a/project
I get an Invalid Project message, but that might because of Geo DNS issues or because the API doesn’t work on these clone auth codes (probably the latter, as it looks like they live in a /clone folder.
If I scan the QR code I get a project that looks like this:
which has its own auth code (that I guess I shouldn’t share here).
The project requires 3,500 units of energy.
So, I think the way that it works is that the Blynk server holds a definition of the project against a special type of auth code. When that auth code is requested used by the app a new project with a unique auth code is generated and the widgets are copied (cloned ) from the definition file into the new project. That project is linked to your individual Blynk account. Other Blynk users scanning the same QR code will get their own unique auth code for their copy of the project.
Why would it do that? The QR code clearly has the proper server indicated in it. It should go to that server to get the details of the project.
If the project is relatively simple, it can be embedded totally in the QR code and is able to be loaded in the app regardless of the server it was cloned from or the server you are logged in to. Those QR codes are sometimes the big ones.
But for the complex projects, it is “hosted” on the server as indicated by the QR code. So I would expect that if the server were publicly accessible (like blynk-cloud.com is), the QR code should work regardless of what server my local app is pointing to.
What that means in reality is that if I have a complex project (where the QR code is compressed into the token type), I am unable to share it unless the other person is logged on my same server. That kind of negates the usefulness of cloning/sharing if I am running my own server.
I had not trouble pulling this into my local server (logged in / scanned the code). It created the project, gave me a new auth and i was ready to input my code. I used an IOS device though.
Wonder if there was an “iOSTokens” flag in the project under the notification widget that gets trapped there, making it buckle on the androids.
If you want i can save mine and repost for you without the notify widget, to see if it works.
I think it was just an older QR code… The devs did make some changes last year for better compatibility and allowing larger projects, and possibly as said, allowing for “full data” encapsulation.
) from the definition file into the new project. That project is linked to your individual Blynk account. Other Blynk users scanning the same QR code will get their own unique auth code for their copy of the project.
