Getting Started

BACKEND SETUP

Setting up the Backend

Install Dependencies

1. Python 3.7 - Follow instructions to install the latest version of python for your platform in the python docs

2. Virtual Environment - We recommend working within a virtual environment whenever using Python for projects. This keeps your dependencies for each project separate and organized. Instructions for setting up a virual environment for your platform can be found in the python docs

3. PIP Dependencies - Once your virtual environment is setup and running, install the required dependencies by navigating to the /backend directory and running:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Key Pip Dependencies

• Flask is a lightweight backend microservices framework. Flask is required to handle requests and responses.

• SQLAlchemy is the Python SQL toolkit and ORM we'll use to handle the lightweight SQL database. You'll primarily work in app.pyand can reference models.py.

• Flask-CORS is the extension we'll use to handle cross-origin requests from our frontend server.

• jose JavaScript Object Signing and Encryption for JWTs. Useful for encoding, decoding, and verifying JWTS.

Running the server

From within the ./backend directory first ensure you are working using your created virtual environment.

Each time you open a new terminal session, run:

export FLASK_APP=api.py;

To run the server, execute:

flask run --reload

The --reload flag will detect file changes and restart the server automatically.

API Reference

Getting Started with the API

• Base URL: At present this app can only be run locally and is not hosted as a base URL. The backend app is hosted at the default, http://127.0.0.1:5000/.
• Authentication: This version of the application requires jwt authentication. Get access token by visting the domain https://127.0.0.1:5000/token with a valid username and password.

-sample: curl -X POST -u Pascal:Pascal123$ http://127.0.0.1:5000/token

{
    "token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJyb2xlcyI6Im1hbmFnZXIiLCJleHAiOjE2NjY4Nzc4Nzd9.sLPGnmYkJmGgX9aAlKflrol0Rd4cVJX0OedJuifYYds"
}

Error Handling

Errors are returned as JSON objects in the following format:

{
    "success": False, 
    "error": 400,
    "message": "bad request"
}

The API will return Six error types when requests fail:

• 400: Bad Request
• 401: Unauthorized Access
• 404: Resource Not Found
• 405: Method Not Allowed
• 422: Not Processable
• AuthError: Custom Error Class

Endpoints

GET /questions

• Public:

  • Returns a list of 10 question objects, success value, and total number of questions
  • Results are paginated in groups of 10. Include a request argument to choose page number, starting from 1.
    • Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/questions?page=2

• Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/questions

{
    "questions": [
        {
            "body": "I am having issues with creating my virtual environment",
            "created_on": "October 24, 2022 | 22:48:29",
            "id": 1,
            "tags": [
                "python",
                "programming"
            ],
            "title": "How to create a python virtual environment",
            "user_id": 13
        },
        {
            "body": "My django project is giving me this error, template does not exist. Please help me!!!",
            "created_on": "October 25, 2022 | 23:06:23",
            "id": 2,
            "tags": [
                "python",
                "django",
                "template"
            ],
            "title": "Django Template does not exit!!!",
            "user_id": 14
        }
    ],
    "success": true
}

GET /users

• Private:

  • Requires a valid jwt token.
  • Authorization token must contain the permission 'patch:drinks'.
  • Returns the logged in users token with a list of users with a shortend information about users

• Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/users

{
    "success": true,
    "token": {
        "exp": 1666877877,
        "roles": "manager"
    },
    "users": [
        {
            "first_name": "Ovie",
            "id": 5,
            "last_name": "Ovie",
            "password": "$2b$12$QJMBB4LiJ64xABx2EcoJduhUzIlSw.2V2mtVXgxPTBM39sippHpRa",
            "role": "manager",
            "username": "Ovie"
        },
        {
            "first_name": "Collins",
            "id": 9,
            "last_name": "Collins",
            "password": "$2b$12$YTHuERjqDLp4LOo7GfmPJeQizmbWwTyMLPiLW2GyepJADsBPFz9e2",
            "role": "staff",
            "username": "Collins"
        },
        {
            "first_name": "Marvelous",
            "id": 10,
            "last_name": "Marvelous",
            "password": "$2b$12$I8JivJ8NNIixB5noTUOkiO87EvrQ9fCd/ESWdGMYQCAvNnlQbcN1i",
            "role": "staff",
            "username": "Marvelous"
        },
        {
            "first_name": "Love",
            "id": 12,
            "last_name": "Love",
            "password": "$2b$12$tVfuyvA.kPobQgeCFEKZNOzJRs5tWyXvrdv36rBqz4645VXS2bhHm",
            "role": "manager",
            "username": "Love"
        },
        {
            "first_name": "Pascal",
            "id": 13,
            "last_name": "Pascal",
            "password": "$2b$12$9BhTS0DCrUINWOvVxRZl.uttuQeIPlHO/HfCXU6d3UVvfIQd9p99O",
            "role": "student",
            "username": "Pascal"
        },
        {
            "first_name": "Levi",
            "id": 14,
            "last_name": "Levi",
            "password": "$2b$12$mhSPMxdCwnIoYhuMxoUdLOuiMTb6btIOniHBY4f83/ov.1XqSZ4Se",
            "role": "student",
            "username": "Levi"
        }
    ]
}

/questions?search=gam Note: search string has no quote surrounding it