The open-source RESTful API for retrieving article and other content published by The Diamondback Newspaper, powering the DBK News.
Environment variables are primarily loaded through a .env file, but can also be specified through
the command line. Command line variables take higher priority.
Variables are indicated whether or not they are necessary for development (and consequently production).
| Variable | Description | Development? |
|---|---|---|
PORT |
Port for server to listen to (default is 8080) |
true |
PRIVATE_KEY_PATH |
Path to a private key for an SSL certificate | false |
CERTIFICATE_PATH |
Path to a certificate file for an SSL certificate | false |
REDIS_HOST |
Host for a Redis database | false |
REDIS_PORT |
Port for the Redis database | false |
REDIS_PASSWORD |
Password for accessing the Redis database | false |
DB_HOST |
Hostname for a MySQL instance (for salary data) | true |
DB_PORT |
Port the MySQL instance is listening on | true |
DB_NAME |
Name of the database on the MySQL instance to access | true |
DB_USER |
Username for logging onto the MySQL instance | true |
DB_PASSWORD |
Password for logging onto the MySQL instance | true |
Since we want HTTPS enabled in production, we provide paths to our SSL certificate files.
The https module allows us to create a server with a certificate and our Express application.
HTTPS is not necessary for development purposes, but you can provide your own SSL certificate if you choose to.
Since the MySQL variables are development variables, you'll have to connect to your own MySQL database; either remotely, such as AWS RDS, or locally through MySQL Community Server.
Every table in the database should follow the name format YYYYData, and has the following fields:
| Field | Type | Null | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
Employee |
varchar |
YES | NULL |
Department |
varchar |
YES | NULL |
Division |
varchar |
YES | NULL |
Title |
varchar |
YES | NULL |
Salary |
varchar |
YES | NULL |
We use Redis in production for caching queries. For example, the front page of our news site fetches a lot of article data by hitting this API's endpoints. Having the API cache those common queries allows us to server content much quicker to our readers.
Each cached result expires after a set amount of time (in seconds), and the expiration timer depends on what the request was. For example, a featured article will be cached for 60 seconds, while a normal article for 30 seconds.
Because Redis is strictly used for caching, it is not necessary for development purposes and thus disabled. If you wish to use Redis in development, you will have to provide your own Redis configuration through environment variables (hostname, port, and password). If any of the variables for Redis configuration/authentication are missing, then the Redis client will be (loosely) mocked.
Run npm run dev, which will start the server, with environment variables imported from the .env
file.
REST endpoints are documented via Swagger UI and are
provided by the /docs endpoint when the server is running. (The / endpoint will also redirect
to the documentation).