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Overview Our development team is currently trying to develop and migrate a Web application that is split in two: legacy: ASP.NET MVC 5, jQuery, old-style JS programming overall "next": Angular...
#2: Post edited
by
Alexei
·
2021-05-18T14:05:53Z (almost 3 years ago)
added more information
- ### Overview
- Our development team is currently trying to develop and migrate a Web application that is split in two:
- - legacy: ASP.NET MVC 5, jQuery, old-style JS programming overall
- - "next": Angular SPA + ASP.NET Core 5
- Each application has its own domain, but they are accessible only internally (VPN, A/D authentication).
- For entire new modules, it is simple as we develop them directly in the "next" version (the user has a unified UI).
- However, a recent request deals with important changes done to a part of an entity that affects a tab within a bigger view. As we like to push the migration to the "next" version, we thought of rewriting the entire tab in the next application:
- - use an iFrame that loads the "next" application
- - the URL provides a query parameter that makes the "next" application to hide the header, navigation, footer and some margins
- - iFrame is a temporary (several months - one year) solution until we have the time and budget to migrate the entire view
- ### Research
- iFrame seems to work with a few glitches (the content flickers a little bit when loaded), but I am wondering if we risk having big issues when using this. [Various](https://www.ostraining.com/blog/webdesign/against-using-iframes/) [articles](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/362730/are-iframes-considered-bad-practice) [do not seem](https://www.blackburnlabs.com/iframe-evil/) to favor iFrame usage. The downsides I have compiled:
- - **security risk**. In our case, both applications are accessible internally only and both require A/D authentication (Windows and Azure A/D respectively).
- - **usability issues**. Never been a focus for the application
- - **SEO**. Again, internal application, so it does not matter
- - **permalinks** - not required in our case
- - **authentication** - in some cases the iFrame might require the authentication again, but this is a known side effect since the application is already split in two
- - **communication** - communication between the iFrame content and the outer functionality is quite small (we just need to know when a save is ready to reload some information).
- - **browser support** - we only target Google Chrome and the only limitation seems to be [not allowing downloads in iFrames](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2020/04/chrome-83-deps-rems).
I cannot find any blocking issues, but most information I could find is rather old and maybe some new restrictions are in place / scheduled.
- ### Overview
- Our development team is currently trying to develop and migrate a Web application that is split in two:
- - legacy: ASP.NET MVC 5, jQuery, old-style JS programming overall
- - "next": Angular SPA + ASP.NET Core 5
- Each application has its own domain, but they are accessible only internally (VPN, A/D authentication).
- For entire new modules, it is simple as we develop them directly in the "next" version (the user has a unified UI).
- However, a recent request deals with important changes done to a part of an entity that affects a tab within a bigger view. As we like to push the migration to the "next" version, we thought of rewriting the entire tab in the next application:
- - use an iFrame that loads the "next" application
- - the URL provides a query parameter that makes the "next" application to hide the header, navigation, footer and some margins
- - iFrame is a temporary (several months - one year) solution until we have the time and budget to migrate the entire view
- ### Research
- iFrame seems to work with a few glitches (the content flickers a little bit when loaded), but I am wondering if we risk having big issues when using this. [Various](https://www.ostraining.com/blog/webdesign/against-using-iframes/) [articles](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/362730/are-iframes-considered-bad-practice) [do not seem](https://www.blackburnlabs.com/iframe-evil/) to favor iFrame usage. The downsides I have compiled:
- - **security risk**. In our case, both applications are accessible internally only and both require A/D authentication (Windows and Azure A/D respectively).
- - **usability issues**. Never been a focus for the application
- - **SEO**. Again, internal application, so it does not matter
- - **permalinks** - not required in our case
- - **authentication** - in some cases the iFrame might require the authentication again, but this is a known side effect since the application is already split in two
- - **communication** - communication between the iFrame content and the outer functionality is quite small (we just need to know when a save is ready to reload some information).
- - **browser support** - we only target Google Chrome and the only limitation seems to be [not allowing downloads in iFrames](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2020/04/chrome-83-deps-rems).
- I cannot find any blocking issues, but most information I could find is rather old and maybe some new restrictions are in place / scheduled.
- <hr>
- After further testing authentication becomes an issue because Azure A/D msal library does not play nice when user must be unauthenticated. I have used a workaround to have the user authenticated before the view containing the iframe is loaded.[]()
#1: Initial revision
by
Alexei
·
2021-05-18T07:37:55Z (almost 3 years ago)
What are the risks of using iFrame as a temporary migration step for an internal web application?
### Overview Our development team is currently trying to develop and migrate a Web application that is split in two: - legacy: ASP.NET MVC 5, jQuery, old-style JS programming overall - "next": Angular SPA + ASP.NET Core 5 Each application has its own domain, but they are accessible only internally (VPN, A/D authentication). For entire new modules, it is simple as we develop them directly in the "next" version (the user has a unified UI). However, a recent request deals with important changes done to a part of an entity that affects a tab within a bigger view. As we like to push the migration to the "next" version, we thought of rewriting the entire tab in the next application: - use an iFrame that loads the "next" application - the URL provides a query parameter that makes the "next" application to hide the header, navigation, footer and some margins - iFrame is a temporary (several months - one year) solution until we have the time and budget to migrate the entire view ### Research iFrame seems to work with a few glitches (the content flickers a little bit when loaded), but I am wondering if we risk having big issues when using this. [Various](https://www.ostraining.com/blog/webdesign/against-using-iframes/) [articles](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/362730/are-iframes-considered-bad-practice) [do not seem](https://www.blackburnlabs.com/iframe-evil/) to favor iFrame usage. The downsides I have compiled: - **security risk**. In our case, both applications are accessible internally only and both require A/D authentication (Windows and Azure A/D respectively). - **usability issues**. Never been a focus for the application - **SEO**. Again, internal application, so it does not matter - **permalinks** - not required in our case - **authentication** - in some cases the iFrame might require the authentication again, but this is a known side effect since the application is already split in two - **communication** - communication between the iFrame content and the outer functionality is quite small (we just need to know when a save is ready to reload some information). - **browser support** - we only target Google Chrome and the only limitation seems to be [not allowing downloads in iFrames](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2020/04/chrome-83-deps-rems). I cannot find any blocking issues, but most information I could find is rather old and maybe some new restrictions are in place / scheduled.