Welcome to the CSCI4140 Project backend. This document provides an overview of the project's structure, key components, and development process.
Below is an outline of the project's directory structure along with a description of the contents and functionality of each directory and file.
/src- contains source code/controllers- contains all controllers/commentController.js- handle the logic of comment model/itemController.js- handle the logic of item model/messageController.js- handle the logic of message model/notificationController.js- handle the logic of notification model/requestController.js- handle the logic of request model/userController.js- handle the logic of user model
/middlewares- contains all multer/multer.js- control media storage
/notification- include the json for notification/routes- contains all routes/commentRoutes.js- handle the routes of comment/itemRoutes.js- handle the routes of item/messageRoutes.js- handle the routes of message/notificationRoutes.js- handle the routes of notification/requestRoutes.js- handle the routes of request/userRoutes.js- handle the routes of user
/sequelize- includes the sequelize related files/config- saves the configuration/database.js- include the database configuration
/models- includes all models/Category.js- define the category model/Comment.js- define the comment model/Condition.js- define the condition model/Conevrsation.js- define the conversation model/index.js- holds all the models defined in the models folder/Item.js- define the item model/Message.js- define the message model/Notification.js- define the notification model/Request.js- define the request model/User.js- define the user model
/seeders- save the seed data/server.js- define the seed data
/server.js- entry file
uploads- contains the media
npm run start
The system was built using the following procedure and key components:
- Set up Development Environment - Install Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) on the machine. You can download them from the official Node.js website (https://nodejs.org). Verify the installations by running node -v and npm -v in the terminal or command prompt.
- Create a New Project - Create a new directory for the project and navigate into it using the command line. For example:
mkdir my-express-app
cd my-express-app
- Initialize a New Node.js Project - un the following command to initialize a new Node.js project and follow the prompts:
npm init
This will create a package.json file in the project directory, which will track the project's dependencies and configuration. 4. Install Express.js - Install Express.js as a dependency for the project by running the following command:
npm install express
This will download and install the latest version of Express.js and its dependencies into the project's node_modules directory. 5. Create an Express Application - Create a new file named server.js in the project directory and open it in a text editor. 6. Import Express.js and Create an Instance - In server.js, import the Express.js module and create an instance of the Express application:
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
- Define Routes - Add the following code at the end of app.js to start the Express server:
const port = 3000; // Choose a port number
app.listen(port, () => {
console.log(`Server is running on port ${port}`);
});
This will start the server and listen for incoming requests on the specified port. 8. Test the Application - Run the following command in the project directory to start the Express application:
node app.js
Open a web browser and visit http://localhost:3000 (or the chosen port number). You should see the response from the defined route. 9. Build and Extend the Application - Continue building application by adding more routes, middleware, database integration, and any other required functionality. Express.js provides a wide range of features and middleware that can help build robust web applications. 10. Deploy the Application - Deploy the Express.js application on Render.