Full Stack Trivia API

Introduction

This project is a trivia app that allows users to play a trivia game.

Users can:

See questions - both all questions and by category. Questions show the question, category and difficulty rating by default and can show/hide the answer.
Delete questions.
Add new questions.
Search for questions based on a text query string.
Play the quiz game, randomizing either all questions or within a specific category.

Backend code follows PEP8 style guidelines.

Installing Backend Dependencies

Python 3.7

Follow instructions to install the latest version of python for your platform in the python docs

Virtual Enviornment

It is generally recommended, but not required, to use a virtual environment.

python docs

PIP Dependencies

Once you have your virtual environment setup and running, install dependencies by naviging to the /backend directory and running:

pip install -r requirements.txt

This will install all of the required packages we selected within the requirements.txt file.

Key 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 handle the lightweight sqlite database. You'll primarily work in app.py and can reference models.py.
Flask-CORS is the extension we'll use to handle cross origin requests from our frontend server.

Database Setup

The database assumes an Owner 'billy'. Edit the trivia.psql file and replace 'Owner' with the name desired.

With Postgres running, restore a database using the trivia.psql file provided. From the backend folder in terminal run:

psql trivia < trivia.psql

Running the server

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

To run the server, execute:

export FLASK_APP=flaskr
export FLASK_ENV=development
flask run

Setting the FLASK_ENV variable to development will detect file changes and restart the server automatically.

Setting the FLASK_APP variable to flaskr directs flask to use the flaskr directory and the __init__.py file to find the application.

Testing

To run the tests, run

dropdb trivia_test
createdb trivia_test
psql trivia_test < trivia.psql
python test_flaskr.py

Installing Frontend Dependencies

Installing Node and NPM

This project depends on Nodejs and Node Package Manager (NPM). Before continuing, you must download and install Node (the download includes NPM) from https://nodejs.com/en/download.

Installing project dependencies

This project uses NPM to manage software dependencies. NPM Relies on the package.json file located in the frontend directory of this repository. After cloning, open your terminal and run:

npm install

Running Your Frontend in Dev Mode

The frontend app was built using create-react-app. In order to run the app in development mode use npm start. You can change the script in the package.json file.

Open http://localhost:3000 to view it in the browser. The page will reload if you make edits.

npm start

Getting Started

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/, which is set as a proxy in the frontend configuration.
Authentication: This version of the application does not require authentication or API keys.

Error Handling

Error are returned as JSON objects in the following format

{
'message':'Bad request',
'error': 400,
'success':False
}

The API will return four error types when requests fail:

Endpoint Library

Get /questions

General:
- Returns a list of question objects, success value, list of categories, total number of questions, and current catefory.
- 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

  "categories": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "type": "Science"
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "type": "Art"
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "type": "Geography"
    },
    {
      "id": 4,
      "type": "History"
    },
    {
      "id": 5,
      "type": "Entertainment"
    },
    {
      "id": 6,
      "type": "Sports"
    }
  ],
  "count": 20,
  "current_category": null,
  "questions": [
    {
      "answer": "Maya Angelou",
      "category": 4,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 5,
      "question": "Whose autobiography is entitled 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Muhammad Ali",
      "category": 4,
      "difficulty": 1,
      "id": 9,
      "question": "What boxer's original name is Cassius Clay?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Apollo 13",
      "category": 5,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 2,
      "question": "What movie earned Tom Hanks his third straight Oscar nomination, in 1996?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Tom Cruise",
      "category": 5,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 4,
      "question": "What actor did author Anne Rice first denounce, then praise in the role of her beloved Lestat?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Edward Scissorhands",
      "category": 5,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 6,
      "question": "What was the title of the 1990 fantasy directed by Tim Burton about a young man with multi-bladed appendages?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Brazil",
      "category": 6,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 10,
      "question": "Which is the only team to play in every soccer World Cup tournament?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Uruguay",
      "category": 6,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 11,
      "question": "Which country won the first ever soccer World Cup in 1930?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "George Washington Carver",
      "category": 4,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 12,
      "question": "Who invented Peanut Butter?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Lake Victoria",
      "category": 3,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 13,
      "question": "What is the largest lake in Africa?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "The Palace of Versailles",
      "category": 3,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 14,
      "question": "In which royal palace would you find the Hall of Mirrors?"
    }
  ],
  "success": true
}

GET /categories

General:
- Returns a list of categories, the count of categories, and a success value.
Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/categories

{
  "categories": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "type": "Science"
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "type": "Art"
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "type": "Geography"
    },
    {
      "id": 4,
      "type": "History"
    },
    {
      "id": 5,
      "type": "Entertainment"
    },
    {
      "id": 6,
      "type": "Sports"
    }
  ],
  "count": 6,
  "success": true
}

GET /categories/{category_id}/questions

General:
- Returns a list of questions of a given category type with the given category ID, the count of questions of the category, the current category requested, and the success value.
Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/categories/2/questions

{
  "count": 4,
  "current_category": "Art",
  "questions": [
    {
      "answer": "Escher",
      "category": 2,
      "difficulty": 1,
      "id": 16,
      "question": "Which Dutch graphic artist–initials M C was a creator of optical illusions?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Mona Lisa",
      "category": 2,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 17,
      "question": "La Giaconda is better known as what?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "One",
      "category": 2,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 18,
      "question": "How many paintings did Van Gogh sell in his lifetime?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Jackson Pollock",
      "category": 2,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 19,
      "question": "Which American artist was a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, and a leading exponent of action painting?"
    }
  ],
  "success": true
}

DELETE /questions/{question_id}

General:
- Deletes a question with the provided ID. Returns the success value, a list of all questions remaining after the delete, and a count of the questions.
Sample: curl -X DELETE http://127.0.0.1:5000/questions/2

{
  "count": 20,
  "questions": [
    {
      "answer": "Maya Angelou",
      "category": 4,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 5,
      "question": "Whose autobiography is entitled 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Muhammad Ali",
      "category": 4,
      "difficulty": 1,
      "id": 9,
      "question": "What boxer's original name is Cassius Clay?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Apollo 13",
      "category": 5,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 2,
      "question": "What movie earned Tom Hanks his third straight Oscar nomination, in 1996?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Tom Cruise",
      "category": 5,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 4,
      "question": "What actor did author Anne Rice first denounce, then praise in the role of her beloved Lestat?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Edward Scissorhands",
      "category": 5,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 6,
      "question": "What was the title of the 1990 fantasy directed by Tim Burton about a young man with multi-bladed appendages?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Brazil",
      "category": 6,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 10,
      "question": "Which is the only team to play in every soccer World Cup tournament?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Uruguay",
      "category": 6,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 11,
      "question": "Which country won the first ever soccer World Cup in 1930?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "George Washington Carver",
      "category": 4,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 12,
      "question": "Who invented Peanut Butter?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Lake Victoria",
      "category": 3,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 13,
      "question": "What is the largest lake in Africa?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "The Palace of Versailles",
      "category": 3,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 14,
      "question": "In which royal palace would you find the Hall of Mirrors?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Agra",
      "category": 3,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 15,
      "question": "The Taj Mahal is located in which Indian city?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Escher",
      "category": 2,
      "difficulty": 1,
      "id": 16,
      "question": "Which Dutch graphic artist–initials M C was a creator of optical illusions?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Mona Lisa",
      "category": 2,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 17,
      "question": "La Giaconda is better known as what?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "One",
      "category": 2,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 18,
      "question": "How many paintings did Van Gogh sell in his lifetime?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Jackson Pollock",
      "category": 2,
      "difficulty": 2,
      "id": 19,
      "question": "Which American artist was a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, and a leading exponent of action painting?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "The Liver",
      "category": 1,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 20,
      "question": "What is the heaviest organ in the human body?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Alexander Fleming",
      "category": 1,
      "difficulty": 3,
      "id": 21,
      "question": "Who discovered penicillin?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Blood",
      "category": 1,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 22,
      "question": "Hematology is a branch of medicine involving the study of what?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "Scarab",
      "category": 4,
      "difficulty": 4,
      "id": 23,
      "question": "Which dung beetle was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians?"
    },
    {
      "answer": "sdfgsd",
      "category": 1,
      "difficulty": 1,
      "id": 33,
      "question": "sdfgs"
    }
  ],
  "success": true
}

POST /questions

General:
- Creates a new question using the question, answer, difficulty and category provided if a 'question' JSON object is provided otherwise returns questions using a provided search term or returns questions using the provided category. Returns success value, count of questions, questions, and if a new question is created the new question ID is returned.
Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/questions -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"question": { "question":"Questions are hard?", "answer": "They can be!", "category": 2, "difficulty": 1} }'
Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/questions -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"category": 1}'
Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/questions -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"search":"title"}'

{
  "books": [
    {
      "author": "Neil Gaiman",
      "id": 24,
      "rating": 5,
      "title": "Neverwhere"
    }
  ],
  "created": 24,
  "success": true,
  "count": 17
}

POST /quizzes

General:
- Returns a quiz question randomly selected that is not a previously asked question, a success value, the current category, and any previous questions.
Sample: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/quizzes -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"quiz": {"previous_questions": [17, 5], "category_id": 2}}'

{
  "current_category": "",
  "previous_questions": [],
  "question": {
    "answer": "Maya Angelou",
    "category": 4,
    "difficulty": 2,
    "id": 5,
    "question": "Whose autobiography is entitled 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'?"
  },
  "success": true
}

Olb/flask-trivia