Meeting 2017 08 17 Backend

Participants

Present: Reday, Shaz, Kai

Agenda (to discuss)

Reday: progress update on login. More discussions in issue #85 https://github.com/Vis4Sense/SenseMapExtension/issues/85

Shaz: progress update on REST API

• Local version of the API
• Hosted MongoDB on mlab
• Hosted Node.js on HEROKU

Discussion Points

User identification:

• Use email address as the ID on the client side
• Use the email address or the '_id' generated by MongoDB on the server side

REST API authentication: only the authorised user/client can access the REST API

• Use the mongo '_id' as the secret key (current choice).
• Or generate once-off secret key for each user session (maybe later).
• What about the first time before a user is added to the database?

Action Points

Login

• Integrate with SenseMap: trigger login once user presses the SenseMap icon in Chrome.
• Test
  • Try to 'simulate', i.e. send the login object returned from Google using Sinon, first.
  • Async testing in Sinon (maybe later)
• Send the user information object to the database through the REST api.

REST api

• Use the schema of user information object from the Google OAuth to store in MongoDB (store everything).
• For the login component to communicate with MongoDB through the REST API
  • Send user information to MongoDB
  • Check if user exist by email address (use 'email address' as user id); use the '_id' internally in MongoDB only.
• A way to authenticate the user when communicating with the MongoDB
  • For example, generating once-off secret key for each user session.
  • Or use the mongo id '_id' as the secret key.
  • What about the first time before a user is added to the database?
• A document or video of the REST API work so far.
• Move the Heruko nodejs code to SenseMap repository (currently in Shaz's repository)