Honeycode questions

I started to learn amazon honeycode recently, but I have some questions now. I would appreciate it if someone gives me the right answers.

  • How does the security model work in terms of having field-level security and permissions?
  • Do they provide test environments to promote objects from test to production?
  • If I want to build an app and want to have unauthenticated users, how does the licensing work for that?
  • Can I create a virtual object or entity in my app that queries another system upon request? For example, if I build a customer appointment app and want to show them their last few invoices from another system, could I call that data, display it during the session, and then release the data without tying up storage in my Honeycode environment? That way I don't have to store all the invoice history in Honeycode.
  • What are the reporting and analytics options? Is there something built-in or can I use one of the other AWS analytics tools?
  • Can I create mobile apps in the same interface that I build the web app and have it package it up so I can publish it on iOS or Android?
  • I am trying to create a task-tracking app for my team, but I need to know how the security model works in terms of having field-level security and permissions. Is this supported, and if so, how does it work?
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Hi @puma,

So glad to have you here. Sorry for the delay here, hope this helps. I'll take your questions one at a time:

How does the security model work in terms of having field-level security and permissions?

  • In Honeycode you can share a workbook or an application; out of the box you do not restrict data access at the field level. You can however build personalization by using filters and hiding fields to obscure data from certain people. You can read more about these here:
  • Sharing Workbooks & Apps
  • How to Personalize App Views

Do they provide test environments to promote objects from test to production?

  • The way to achieve a "test" environment is to have two copies of the same workbook. You can create a copy of "Task Manager" workbook, for example, to "Task Manager Copy". You try a major change there and if successful you implement it in the original/production or you make the copy the production and the deprecate the original.

If I want to build an app and want to have unauthenticated users, how does the licensing work for that?

  • At this time all the users have to be authenticated and part of your Team in order to access the Workbooks and apps in that Team. A Team is the container for Workbooks, and Workbooks are containers for tables, apps, automations.

Can I create a virtual object or entity in my app that queries another system upon request? For example, if I build a customer appointment app and want to show them their last few invoices from another system, could I call that data, display it during the session, and then release the data without tying up storage in my Honeycode environment? That way I don't have to store all the invoice history in Honeycode.

  • Right, connecting to external systems, APIs, or database is an often requested feature, so we are working hard to understand how to provide this kind of feature. There is no way at this time to poll an API from within Honeycode but you can write a separate Lambda, for example, to call the API and add/store small pieces of data and then remove it. More on this to come - stay tuned!

What are the reporting and analytics options? Is there something built-in or can I use one of the other AWS analytics tools?

  • Very good question. At this time the reporting and analytics capabilities out of the box are limited to screens you can build in the app; and you can build quite complex reports that people can see in real time. For example pivot tables, adding colors to alert or notifications if certain conditions are met. You can also use the API to pull data out, store it in a table and build reports and analytics based on that data.

Can I create mobile apps in the same interface that I build the web app and have it package it up so I can publish it on iOS or Android?

  • Currently we do not support "native" or "standalone" applications on mobile devices. Applications have to be used through the Honeycode "player" app that you download from the app stores.

I am trying to create a task-tracking app for my team, but I need to know how the security model works in terms of having field-level security and permissions. Is this supported, and if so, how does it work?

  • If you are building a Task tracking app for your team, you can start with our Simple TODO template (Simple To-Do) and add personalization or admin screens very easily. We have used Honeycode to keep track of complex milestones/deadline structures, and manage projects for cross functional teams.

Hope this helps, and always keep the questions and feature requests coming.
Cheers,
DT.

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@DanielTet Thanks so much.

Hi @DanielTet,

Do you have an example on how to PIVOT a single row of data?

Cheers.
@Radh-e0c7

Hi @Taylor I have a question with amazon honeycode.
What are the reporting and analytics options?
Is there something built-in or can I use one of the other AWS analytics tools?

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Hi @puma, as @DanielTet mentioned in his earlier reply, the reporting and analytics capabilities out-of-the-box are limited to screens you can build in the app. You can build complex reports that people can see in real-time. For example pivot tables, adding colors to alert or notifications if certain conditions are met. You can also use the API to pull data out, store it in a table, and build reports and analytics based on that data.

We've received similar feedback on reporting and analytics, and I'll add your comments to the feature request :honeybee:

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Hi @puma

We're excited to announce integrations with Zapier and Amazon AppFlow, allowing you to connect your existing workflows and data sources with your Honeycode apps, plus new Honeycode APIs. For more details check out our Release Notes - December 2, 2020 :grinning:

Happy building! :hammer_and_wrench: