PartsBox.io (parts manager web based tool)

[jwr]

One more question. Will you implement the ability to add an image for other parts that are not listed on Octopart, sometime in the future?

Users on paid plans can already upload part attachments: PDFs, images, CAD models, or anything else they choose. There will be a way to set one of the images as the main thumbnail.

As for the free plan, I'm not sure about this yet — perhaps, but handling a large amount of files incurs cost and overhead, and I don't want to make promises that I won't be able to keep. I'm also considering having a "Maker+" plan in the future, which would be paid, but inexpensive (on the order of several $/month), that would eliminate the overhead problem.

So, to summarize: not yet in the free plan, perhaps in the future.

[technix]

I have some general trust issue about the cloud, especially on how you are handling my data with code I cannot audit or firewall.

Are my data encrypted both at transit and in store at least unless I choose to share it? Can some government agency access my data without a warrant? (disregarding the plausibility of appealing the warrant for now?) Will the cloud go down at the moment I need it? Can it operate in an environment with a sweet mix of Windows, macOS, Linux and iOS? How are you handling my login credentials? Is there a "magical key" (aka password bypass vulnerability) in the login system? Can it work with some inventory management techniques like QR codes printed on labels or labels with embedded RFID chips? Is there any API for me to integrate this into my existing offline inventory system?

[jwr]

I have some general trust issue about the cloud, especially on how you are handling my data with code I cannot audit or firewall.

Are my data encrypted both at transit and in store at least unless I choose to share it? Can some government agency access my data without a warrant? (disregarding the plausibility of appealing the warrant for now?) Will the cloud go down at the moment I need it? Can it operate in an environment with a sweet mix of Windows, macOS, Linux and iOS? How are you handling my login credentials? Is there a "magical key" (aka password bypass vulnerability) in the login system? Can it work with some inventory management techniques like QR codes printed on labels or labels with embedded RFID chips? Is there any API for me to integrate this into my existing offline inventory system?

I'm not sure I can answer all of those, but let's try! Here's some honest answers:

> Are my data encrypted both at transit and in store at least unless I choose to share it?

In transit, yes, on disk — no.

> Can some government agency access my data without a warrant?

Of course. Government agencies can access pretty much anything they want.

> Will the cloud go down at the moment I need it?

It could, networks do go down sometimes.

> Can it operate in an environment with a sweet mix of Windows, macOS, Linux and iOS?

Yes. I develop on Mac OS and Linux, and try to test on Windows and iOS sometimes. The app is expected to work everywhere.

> How are you handling my login credentials?

SHA512 + salted bcrypt.

> Is there a "magical key" (aka password bypass vulnerability) in the login system?

Hopefully not. At least I didn't put one in.

> Can it work with some inventory management techniques like QR codes printed on labels or labels with embedded RFID chips?

I print QR codes on my labels (see https://partsbox.io/blog/how-to-organize-electronic-parts-04-2017.html), these contain URLs. As for other techniques, I'm working on implementing scanner support for processing distributor orders.

> Is there any API for me to integrate this into my existing offline inventory system?

No, although I'm considering this for the future. I like APIs and would like to offer one, but for the moment this is too costly. APIs cost time and effort to maintain, and I simply can't spare any time and effort, I'd much rather work on features.

And a general note: I can understand your concerns about storing your data on somebody else's server. I usually have the same concerns. But compromises have to be made: I could never afford to develop a multi-platform app with a local database. Also, as for government agencies, you have to estimate how much of a threat they really are and how valuable the data you'd be storing in PartsBox would be.

Hopefully I was able to clarify things :-)

[sokoloff]

One more question. Will you implement the ability to add an image for other parts that are not listed on Octopart, sometime in the future?

Users on paid plans can already upload part attachments: PDFs, images, CAD models, or anything else they choose. There will be a way to set one of the images as the main thumbnail.

As for the free plan, I'm not sure about this yet — perhaps, but handling a large amount of files incurs cost and overhead, and I don't want to make promises that I won't be able to keep. I'm also considering having a "Maker+" plan in the future, which would be paid, but inexpensive (on the order of several $/month), that would eliminate the overhead problem.

So, to summarize: not yet in the free plan, perhaps in the future.

What about an interim approach to specify an image URL (or URLs) and display them or link them in the data? That doesn't cost (much), but also doesn't guarantee the user that the link won't "rot" (unless the link is their own).

I have to say that your answers here are excellent and I poked around the demo a bit and like it!

[jwr]

What about an interim approach to specify an image URL (or URLs) and display them or link them in the data? That doesn't cost (much), but also doesn't guarantee the user that the link won't "rot" (unless the link is their own).

Yes — I did consider this approach, but there is a problem: most people will link to large images (e.g. taken with their cell phone). PartsBox will try to display them as inline thumbnails, which will require their browser to rescale the image. This is something that can happen very often (e.g. when searching, browsing through parts, etc) and can really hurt performance.

I think the only reasonable approach is to let people upload images, and then process them (scale/optimize) so that the app is fast and responsive.

And thanks for the kind words!

[^_^]

Octopart search was down just a while ago and, when adding components in partsbox it returned "Sorry, but there were no matches" instead of something like "Octopart timeout".
Besides that it seems like a great tool for hobbyist. I'm putting my components in for all day now