How to stream Blue Iris alerts directly in UI3 on ANY device

jaydeel

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Just to verify something... Does this work when away from home network?
The link uses your server’s WAN address. So it depends on what you’ve entered into the Settings > Webserver tab.

Some of us leave OpenVPN running all the time when Away from Home.
 
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Glad to hear you've got it figured out.

I've always disabled the anonymous user, assigned named users, and used settings like those in the screenshot below.

View attachment 84214
The only reason I allow anonymous access when on LAN is so when a tablet or device like a TV connects to the BI server it'll automatically login without asking for any credentials. I try to keep it simple to login because I'm not the only one who views the cameras.
 
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Gotcha...
Just curious.. Advanced setting 'Authentication Required from: Non-LAN only' does not do this for you?
That's how I have it set up. Once you enable Authentication from Non-Lan only it automatically creates an anonymous account in users. Anytime a device on the local network connects to a BI stream it uses the anonymous account and whatever settings are associated with that account.
 

jaydeel

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That's how I have it set up. Once you enable Authentication from Non-Lan only it automatically creates an anonymous account in users. Anytime a device on the local network connects to a BI stream it uses the anonymous account and whatever settings are associated with that account.
D'oh! I've just read through the relevant sections in the Help pdf have been re-educated. Thanks!

When I first started using Blue Iris I vaguely recall seeing activity in the log that I did not like (or understand). I then disabled the Anonymous user account and added my LAN address range (^192.168.1.*) to the' Limit access by IP address field... Until prompted today, I had never revisited this topic!
 

jaydeel

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UPDATE (3/12/2021)... In further testing I'm finding that the %20 encoded character is being stripped from the links replaced by the value of macro '%20' in the as-received SMS Text and Email Body. I should have known better. I've queried Ken about this. I've since found in the help PDF that '%%' can be used for the percent character. I've updated the URL below.

UPDATE... @bp2008 has just added a new URL parameter streamingprofile= to UI3-143 . Details are in the screenshot below.
(Note: to use it, you will need to wait until the next Blue Iris update after v5.9.13, or manually update UI3 to v143 via the above link.)

With this new argument, you now can specify a less demanding quality setting for the playback of UI3 alerts on mobile devices,
e.g. &WAN/ui3.htm?streamingprofile=Jpeg%%20HD&maximize=1&rec=&ALERT_DB

1615403878796.png
 
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hendrick

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Would it be possible to direct to the exact offset of the alert within a clip?

Currently the URL redirects to the start of the clip, but it would be great if it could point to the source of the alert within the clip
 

jaydeel

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Would it be possible to direct to the exact offset of the alert within a clip?
It should be doing this automatically. UI3 uses JSON cmd 'clipstats' to determine the offset from the ALERT_DB.

HOWEVER... what you may be running into is that (per Ken) the alert offsets may be invalidated whenever the database is compacted (nightly at 2am unless you have changed this setting on your server). When this happens, the JSON 'clipstats' command returns the bvr clip record id with a zero offset. This is consistent with your observations.

I observed the same and in an email exchange with Ken this week he hinted that in the future he may instead use tokens and have the software automatically redirect from the tokens.

Stay tuned.

In the mean time,
1. you might consider reducing the frequency of automatic database compaction.
2. expect the URLs created per the first post to have a shelf life (for now).
 
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jaydeel

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Ken’s full explanation to my inquiry ”Do DB_ALERTs expire?”

Yes the @DB offset is a physical address in the file. If the file is compacted (which happens each night at 2am by default) this would invalidate the offset if anything in the DB file is moved.

The software automatically adjusts stored DB locators throughout. If you have this type of "external" link however, it's not guaranteed to remain valid.
 

hendrick

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For me &ALERT_DB only points to the rec location with the offset excluded, even when the database has not recently been compacted.

In Ui3 clips, when clicking the associated alert, the clip is played back at the correct offset.
 

jaydeel

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For me &ALERT_DB only points to the rec location with the offset excluded, even when the database has not recently been compacted.
All I can think is that the number returned by @ALERT_DB is somehow incorrect. You might try these two HTTP interface commands with the returned id...
  1. http:// {server_ip_and_port}/thumbs/@{id}
  2. http:// {server_ip_and_port}/file/clips/@{id}.bvr
#1 should show the database thumbnail (as shown in the clip list).
#2 should show the leading edge trigger image from the clip. Note: it may lag the actual time of the trigger as the clip must start on a key frame... it also should reflect the pre-trigger time (if configured).

Suggest you send an email to Ken.
I’ve tagged @bp2008 - perhaps he has some idea on what may be happening.
 
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When I put nothing in the text body except this
Code:
&WAN/ui3.htm?rec=&ALERT_DB&maximize=1
It doesn't send the link at all. Instead I get this
Screenshot_2022-07-21-13-21-09-31_0ce57feeccaa51fb7deed04b4dbda235.jpg

I have sms setup with Gmail email server and Verizon MMS for carrier. Anything in the BI global settings that would prevent the link from sending?
 

jaydeel

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I have sms setup with Gmail email server and Verizon MMS for carrier. Anything in the BI global settings that would prevent the link from sending?
Try wrapping the the url in HTML
<a href=“&WAN/ui3.htm?rec=&ALERT_DB&maximize=1”>UI3</a>

Better yet, migrate to Pushover for your Blue Iris messaging.
 

Neverwhere

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I have a question about the video clip link via email.

It took me a couple of days, but I have the url working using:
&LAN/ui3.htm?rec=&ALERT_DB&maximize=1
Note: using &LAN, not &WAN.

I tried to use a shorter link to the video clips by, as per above message, wrapping the the url in HTML:
<a href=“&LAN/ui3.htm?rec=&ALERT_DB&maximize=1”>UI3</a>
Doing so now shows “UI3” in the email.
However, clicking on the displayed “UI3” link in the email does nothing.

Anyone know if there is a way to make this work?
 

jaydeel

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Try these things...

1. Try right-clicking on the UI3 hyperlink and selecting "Copy link".
Then navigate to a new browser page and hit Ctrl-V to paste the link in the address bar.
Hit Enter and inspect the address bar if the page does not render correctly.
If the page does render, then try step #2.

2. This recently happened to me. I noticed that Outlook would not open hyperlinks in any email.
The cause was that the default Internet browser was, for some unknown reason, no longer registered (properly) in the operating system.
To fix this, I started at this <link>.
 

jaydeel

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Note: using &LAN, not &WAN.
This is fine. But it limits you to using the link only when reading email on a device on your LAN.

If you use OpenVPN when away from home, then you can enter your LAN address in the the WAN address box on the Settings > 'Web server' tab.
 

Neverwhere

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Try these things...

1. Try right-clicking on the UI3 hyperlink and selecting "Copy link".
Then navigate to a new browser page and hit Ctrl-V to paste the link in the address bar.
Hit Enter and inspect the address bar if the page does not render correctly.
If the page does render, then try step #2.
I was using iOS email.

I now tried Windows Live email.
Right click. Can not "copy" but can "copy shortcut". Did copy as shortcut and tried to paste in browser but nothing happend.
Left click on link opens browser window but get:
address not valid (address shown in browser is "C:\Users\Neverwhere\Desktop\%E2%80%98http://10.0.0.112:81/ui3.htm?rec=@19258389125211&maximize=1%E2%80%98
 

jaydeel

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Oh, I didn’t consider iOS mail.

Here’s what I see long-clicking a working UI3 hyperlink in iOS mail (iPad).

1666217533162.jpeg
 
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