Valentin-Ioan VINTILĂ (323CA)
-----------------------------
This homework implements a working web client that communicates via a REST
API. My code reimplements every .c/.h file that is provided in the lab in modern
C++ for ease of use.
File structure
==============
The files are organized as presented bellow:
> Makefile
: A complete makefile, containing all the necessary building rules, as
: well as packing and cleaning rules.
> README
: This file, a tour of the project.
> nlohmann/json.hpp
: This is the JSON library that was recommended by the homework. It
: works great for our requirements and it is fast enough!
> buffer.hpp + buffer.cpp
: These filed provide a wrapper over the basic char array buffer usually
: present in C files.
> client.cpp
: This is the brain of the operation, the client that communicates with
: the server.
> helpers.hpp + helpers.cpp
: These are C++ ports of the original helper files provided in the lab
: files.
> misc.hpp + misc.cpp
: Various functions that don't really fit anywhere else.
> requests.hpp + requests.cpp
: These files generate GET/DELETE/POST requests based on a set of
: provided parameters.
> structures.hpp + structures.cpp
: These contain the details for credentials & books.
Nlohmann - JSON parser
======================
Since the JSON format is used a lot in this project, I've decided to import
a library that already contains the necessary abstractions and conversion rules
between the JSON format and C++.
The library was installed as per their instructions:
- Go to their GitHub page (https://github.com/nlohmann/json);
- Go to releases;
- From the latest entry, download the "json.hpp" file.
The client itself
=================
The client behaves as expected - it waits for the user's input and parses it
using C++'s "string" structure.
When valid, the command is executed via a "interact_" function (for example,
the get_book is implemented using the "interact_book" function).
Other internal states are also to be remembered, such as the logged in state
(true if a user is currently logged in) and the library access state (true if
enter_library was executed).
In short, all responses are converted to JSON format and then, if an error
was received, it will be correctly outputed and interpreted. Otherwise, the
command will carry on and changes will be sent to the server.
The client was NOT tested on the automatic checker - since there have been
less than 3 days from the first post containing details about an automatic
checker, I DO NOT have enough time to figure it out. I am sorry and I hope that
the PCom team can understand the situation.