Client Applications

Core Implementation

Updated: March 18, 2024

Client Architecture

Here is a schema showing the client-side architecture:

CommandLine

Handles the basic commandline arguments, creates the Manager, and depending on the argument creates a ConsoleApplication or Application.

Manager

Handles all the generic behavior of Nuxeo Drive: auto-updates, bind of an engine, declaration of different engine types, tracker.

Engine

Handles one server synchronization. It creates all the synchronization structure: QueueManager, LocalWatcher, RemoteWatcher, DAO. It can be extended to customize the behavior.

DAO

Abstraction for accessing the SQLite database. Each Engine has its own DAO and so database.

LocalWatcher

Handles the local scan on startup and then the FS events, updating the States stored in DAO, and if needed queueing the State to be processed.

RemoteWatcher

Handles the remote scan for the first synchronization and then the incremental polling from the server.

QueueManager

Handles the different types of Processor to process any remote or local modification.

RemoteFileProcessor

Specialized thread in uploading document

RemoteFolderProcessor

Specialized thread in create remote folder

LocalFileProcessor

Specialized thread in download document

LocalFolderProcessor

Specialized thread in create local folder

AdditionalProcessor

If the queue is big, some additional Processors will be launched by the QueueManager to either download or upload document.

AppUpdater

Handles the auto-update polling and the update download process.

Tracker

Used for Analytics, anonymous report of usage.

ConsoleApplication

Console behavior implementation

Application

OperatingSystem GUI handles the creation of windows, systray and message.

Translator

Loads labels translation and offers the translation service as static method.

WebDialog

Base of all Nuxeo Drive window, it is basically a WebKit view with a Drive JavaScript object mapped by the JavaScript API.

QT is heavily used in the new client. Here is a diagram of the signals/slots connections:

Nuxeo Drive Security Information

We recommend you to always have an up-to-date version of Nuxeo Drive.

Authentication Flow

Nuxeo Drive use a token-based authentication. It first authenticates the user through a server authentication page so it uses the same authentication mechanism as your Nuxeo instance.

Once the authentication is done, Nuxeo generates a token and sends it to the Drive module.

The token is stored inside the user profile Nuxeo Drive database. We recommend that you encrypt UserProfile with the OS mechanism.

File IO

Nuxeo Drive will access the following folders:

  • .nuxeo-drive, inside user profile
  • Nuxeo Drive or the root folder for synchronization
  • Nuxeo Drive application for the autoupdate mechanism

Network IO

Nuxeo Drive uses only HTTP(S) connection and doesn't bind any sockets.

The auto-update module initiates connection to the update website (community.nuxeo.com by default) at regular intervals specified in the client configuration.

Each Nuxeo Drive engine initiates HTTP connection to your Nuxeo Server based on the URL you provided. If you mapped with SSL the connection will be secured.

Required Privileges

The auto-lock feature uses the SE_DEBUG_PRIVILEGE to list every processes for the current user and their opened handlers.

The Drive process runs under user rights, so it is bound to the same restrictions on the OS and filesystem.