diff options
| author | Leon Overweel <l.overweel@gmail.com> | 2017-03-27 17:23:02 +0200 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | GitHub <noreply@github.com> | 2017-03-27 17:23:02 +0200 |
| commit | 9d35523b9fd8e3df22558fa57eb87c5d7dbcc7fb (patch) | |
| tree | 9cd2badbb719639f8aa8ea18c58ff4950b21fc55 /README.md | |
| parent | 3764a97616f8e3a42c2bf53b7d7ec58e9c787ede (diff) | |
Clarify local development in README
Diffstat (limited to 'README.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 72 |
1 files changed, 42 insertions, 30 deletions
@@ -4,10 +4,44 @@ The OpenDC web server is the bridge between OpenDC's frontend and database. It i This document describes how to set up the web server for local development, and explains a high-level view of the web server architecture. -## Setup +## Architecture + + +The following diagram shows a high-level view of the architecture of the OpenDC web server. Squared-off colored boxes indicate packages (colors become more saturated as packages are nested); rounded-off boxes indicate individual components; dotted lines indicate control flow; and solid lines indicate data flow. + + + +The OpenDC API is implemented by the `Main Server Loop`, which is the only component in the base package. + +### Util Package + +The `Util` package handles several miscellaneous tasks: + +* `REST`: Parses SockerIO messages into `Request` objects, and calls the appropriate `API` endpoint to get a `Response` object to return to the `Main Server Loop`. +* `Param Checker`: Recursively checks whether required `Request` parameters are present and correctly typed. +* `Exceptions`: Holds definitions for exceptions used throughough the web server. +* `Database API`: Wraps SQLite functionality used by `Models` to read themselves from/ write themselves into the database. + +### API Package + +The `API` package contains the logic for the HTTP methods in each API endpoint. Packages are structured to mirror the API: the code for the endpoint `GET simulations/authorizations`, for example, would be located at the `Endpoint` inside the `authorizations` package, inside the `simulations` package (so at `api/simulations/authorizations/endpoint.py`). + +An `Endpoint` contains methods for each HTTP method it supports, which takes a request as input (such as `def GET(request):`). Typically, such a method checks whether the parameters were passed correctly (using the `Param Checker`); fetches some model from the database; checks whether the data exists and is accessible by the user who made the request; possibly modifies this data and writes it back to the database; and returns a JSON representation of the model. + +The `REST` component dynamically imports the appropriate method from the appropriate `Endpoint`, according to request it receives, and executes it. + +### Models Package + +The `Models` package contains the logic for mapping Python objects to their database representations. This involves an abstract `model` which has methods to `read`, `insert`, `update` and `delete` objects. Extensions of `model`, such as a `User` or `Simulation`, specify some metadata such as their tabular representation in the database and how they map to a JSON object, which the code in `model` uses in the database interaction methods. + +`Endpoint`s import these `Models` and use them to execute requests. + +## Setup for Local Development The following steps will guide you through setting up the OpenDC web server locally for development. To test individual endpoints, edit `static/index.html`. This guide was tested and developed on Windows 10. +### Local Setup + Make sure you have Python 2.7 installed (if not, get it [here](https://www.python.org/)), as well as pip (if not, get it [here](https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/)). Then run the following to install the requirements. ```bash @@ -50,39 +84,17 @@ Make the following replacements: In `opendc-web-server/static/index.html`, add your own `OAUTH_CLIENT_ID` in `content=""`. +### Local Development + Run the server. ```bash -python opendc-web-server/main.py config.json +cd opendc-web-server +python main.py config.json ``` -## Architecture - -The following diagram shows a high-level view of the architecture of the OpenDC web server. Squared-off colored boxes indicate packages (colors become more saturated as packages are nested); rounded-off boxes indicate individual components; dotted lines indicate control flow; and solid lines indicate data flow. - - - -The OpenDC API is implemented by the `Main Server Loop`, which is the only component in the base package. - -### Util Package +Navigate to `http://localhost:8081/web-server-test` in a web browser (Chrome recommended), and open the console to see the server's response to the query in `static/index.html`. -The `Util` package handles several miscellaneous tasks: +To try a different query, edit the `path`, `method`, and/or `parameters` in `static/index.html`. -* `REST`: Parses SockerIO messages into `Request` objects, and calls the appropriate `API` endpoint to get a `Response` object to return to the `Main Server Loop`. -* `Param Checker`: Recursively checks whether required `Request` parameters are present and correctly typed. -* `Exceptions`: Holds definitions for exceptions used throughough the web server. -* `Database API`: Wraps SQLite functionality used by `Models` to read themselves from/ write themselves into the database. - -### API Package - -The `API` package contains the logic for the HTTP methods in each API endpoint. Packages are structured to mirror the API: the code for the endpoint `GET simulations/authorizations`, for example, would be located at the `Endpoint` inside the `authorizations` package, inside the `simulations` package (so at `api/simulations/authorizations/endpoint.py`). - -An `Endpoint` contains methods for each HTTP method it supports, which takes a request as input (such as `def GET(request):`). Typically, such a method checks whether the parameters were passed correctly (using the `Param Checker`); fetches some model from the database; checks whether the data exists and is accessible by the user who made the request; possibly modifies this data and writes it back to the database; and returns a JSON representation of the model. - -The `REST` component dynamically imports the appropriate method from the appropriate `Endpoint`, according to request it receives, and executes it. - -### Models Package - -The `Models` package contains the logic for mapping Python objects to their database representations. This involves an abstract `model` which has methods to `read`, `insert`, `update` and `delete` objects. Extensions of `model`, such as a `User` or `Simulation`, specify some metadata such as their tabular representation in the database and how they map to a JSON object, which the code in `model` uses in the database interaction methods. - -`Endpoint`s import these `Models` and use them to execute requests. +When editing the web server code, restart the server (`CTRL` + `c` followed by `python main.py config.json` in the console running the server) to see the result of your changes. |
