Send1t

“Connecting people around the world!”

The purpose of this project is to make a mobile application that satisfies the basic needs of a modern communication platform. This means that it will require a user to send instant messages with other users one-on-one in real-time, as well as be able to send a message to a group of people at the same time. This Repo is the API.

The Front-End can be found here: https://github.com/MrDuise/Send1t-Client

The problem that this projects solves is my own lack of understanding in a technology I use every single day. Mobile telecommunications is something that most everyone uses, from other software such as Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and many others. It's something that is needed in every field, in almost every walk of life. But like the washing machine, most people don’t know how it works, and when it breaks, someone else needs to fix it.

The purpose of this project is to fix my lack of understanding, as I seek to better myself in the ways of modern communication while at the same time developing an exceptional mobile chat app.

Installation

To install this project insure that you have Node and NPM installed. This is an Express API and will not work without Node

1. fork the main branch, then clone the repo
2. npm install to download the dependinces
3. npm run start to start it up

This will get it running on your localhost, allowing access through Postman or some other API testing tool.

The postman collection used for testing can be found within the 'Extras' folder

Technologies and Logical System Architecture

This diagram shows the design of the logical solution of this project. A primary focus of this project is to design it in N-tier architecture, so each tier of the project, and the details of that layer, are displayed in this diagram. This diagram also serves to list the technologies used in this project and the role they played. To summarize, the project will consist of a client layer, presentation layer, business layer, and a data access layer. The problem with Javascript based projects is that data access is not enforced in any way, requiring the developer to key the data access layers in mind. The only time the general rule of n-layer was semi broken is in the web-socket connection, in which this layer directly talks to the database throught the data access layer.

Detailed Technical Design

General Technical Approach

Send1t is a MERN(Mongo, Express, React Native, Node) Stack application developed using N-layer and Model, View, Controller architecture. The back-end portion of the application was written with the JavaScript programming language, whereas the front-end of Send1t was be designed designed using simple tools such as draw.io and written using React Native. The application’s data will persist in a MongoDB database. All code will be managed in a GitHub repository so that code changes can be easily documented and tracked throughout the project’s timeline.

Key Technical Design Decisions

This application will be created in using the Spring framework. It will be designed in N-layer architecture and use a Model, View, Controller structure. This design structure was chosen because the app is mainly a create, read, update, delete (CRUD) application so the N-layer/MVC structure is an optimal solution.

The presentation layer will consist of all the viewable aspects of the application such as where users can view posts and account information. The business layer will hold all the logical actions for features such as logging in, registering, and making posts. The data access layer is responsible for reading data from the database to the business layer so that actions can be executed. This would include validating login credentials and editing posts. The data persistence layer is the database itself. All data for posts and user information will persist in the database/database persistence layer. The data will exist in a relational database using MySQL so that data can be organized in a structured format. This will make CRUD operations much simpler across the application.

Along with N-layer architecture, this application will also utilize Model, View, Controller (MVC) architecture. The models will be the container for all logic that relates to the application’s data. In this case, the user and post models. The controllers are responsible for handling all user requests and business logic of the application. This would include processing logins, registers, and making posts. Lastly, views will oversee all UI logic, including page navigation, text boxes, and buttons across the application.

Database Design

The MongoDB database will be hosted through MongoDB Atlas. This removes a complex process of transfering all the data from a local system to cloud storage. The database will be split into 3 collections, the Users, Conversations, and Messages. Each collection has a conspending schema in the APIs code that enforces a standard layout as document databases don't enforce this. The users schema contains two lists of forgien keys. One is in the array of conversations, which is used to fetch all conversations that a user is a part of. The other is related to the contacts list. This is a reference to other user documents, so that anytime they update their information, it is also set to other users. The Messages colleciton is the only other place where foregin keys are used. This key is the conversationID, and is used to link the message to a single conversation.

DevOps

Render Webhosting

https://send1t-api.onrender.com

The Send1t API is the only part of the application that is hosted. It is hosted using Render Web Service. This made delivering updates to my API much easier, as its connected to my Github repos main branch, so any major update is automaticlly built on Render. The MongoDB database is set up through MongoDB Atlas, which is hosted by AWS. This is auto scaled and I don't need to touch it, I just need my access token.

Logging

Logging exists at each HTTPs route within the API. This is handled by the logging fraemwork Morgan, which automatically records the route that the requst hit and the response code that was sent back, the time of the request, and how long the response took. This is sent to Renders internal hosting logs, from which I can download them if I so wish.

Functional Requirements

Login Requirements

Sub-Features	Actor	Description	Outcome	In Scope?	Completed?
User Authentication	User	I would like to input my username	so that I can access web site	Yes	Yes
User Authentication	User	I would like to input my password	so that I can access web site	Yes	Yes
User Authentication	System	I would like to display an error if username is incorrect	so that web site is not accessible	Yes	Yes
User Authentication	System	I would like to display an error if password is incorrect	so that web site is not accessible	Yes	Yes
User Authentication	System	I would like to display a system error if credential store is not found	so that support can debug a system issue	Yes	Yes
User Authentication	System	I would like to verify the username	so that only authorized users can have access	Yes	Yes
User Authentication	System	I would like to verify the password	so that only authorized users can have access	Yes	Yes
Social Media Integration	User	I would like to login in with Facebook	so that I can sign in without making a brand new account	No	No
Social Media Integration	user	I would like to login in with Twitter	so that I can sign in without making a brand new account	No	No
Social Media Integration	user	I would like to login with Google	so that I can sign in without making a brand new account	No	No

Register Requirements

Sub-Features	Actor	Description	Outcome	In Scope?	Completed?
Registration	User	I would like to register on web site before login	So that I have an account	Yes	Yes
	User	I would like to enter a username	So that I can make an account	Yes	Yes
	User	I would like to enter a password	So that I can make an account	Yes	Yes
	User	I would like to enter a first name	So that I can make an account	Yes	Yes
	User	I would like to enter a last name	So that I can make an account	Yes	Yes
	User	I would like to enter an email	So that I can make an account	Yes	Yes
Password Requirements	System	Verify that password has one number	So that the password meets the minimum security requirements	Yes	Yes
	System	Verify that password has 1 lower case character	So that the password meets the minimum security requirements	Yes	Yes
	System	Verify that password has 1 upper case character	So that the password meets the minimum security requirements	Yes	Yes
	System	Verify that password has min of 8 characters	So that the password meets the minimum security requirements	Yes	Yes
	System	Verify that password has max of 32 characters	So that the password meets the minimum security requirements	Yes	Yes
Email Verification	System	Verify that email has not been used and display an error if it has been taken	So that no duplicate accounts are made	Yes	Yes
User Access	System	Verify that password is linked to the username entered	So only the correct password can gain access to that account	Yes	Yes
	System	Encrypt the password	So that the password is not stored as plain text	Yes	Yes
Profile Picture	User	Register a profile picture, limited in size to 200*200 pixels	N/A	Yes	no
Minimum Requirements	System	Display the minimum requirements of the username as an error if the one entered does not match	So the user knows the entered data will not work and what they should try instead	Yes	Yes
	System	Display the minimum requirements of the password as an error if the one entered does not match	So the user knows the entered data will not work and what they should try instead	Yes	Yes
Unique Username Check	System	Verify that the entered username has not been used and display an error if it has been taken	So that every username is unique	Yes	Yes

Sending Messages Requirements

Sure! Here's the updated markdown table with sub-features based on the description:

Sub-Features	Actor	Description	Outcome	In Scope?	Completed?
Sending Messages	User	Send messages in text format to one person	Have a conversation	Yes	Yes
Sending Messages	User	Send messages in text format to more than one person	Have a group conversation	Yes	Yes
Saving Messages	System	Save user messages	Conversations can be continued at a later time	Yes	Yes
Linking Messages	System	Link saved messages to each conversation	Users can have more than one conversation at a time	Yes	Yes
Group Message Limit	System	Limit group messages to 5 people max	Prevent system overload	Yes	Yes
Starting Conversation	User	Have an icon to start a new conversation	Start a conversation with another user	Yes	Yes
Starting Conversation	User	See a list of contacts when starting a new conversation	Choose who to talk to	Yes	Yes
Conversation List	System	Display a list of the user's recent conversations from most recent to least recent	Allow users to view the most up-to-date conversations first	Yes	Yes
View Chat Log	System	Display all past messages from a conversation when the user clicks on it	Allow users to view past messages from a specific conversation	Yes	Yes
Conversation Size	System	Define conversations as messages between 2 to 5 people	Set expectations for what constitutes a conversation	Yes	Yes
Chat Log Definition	System	Define chat logs as the list of messages displayed in order from least recent to most recent	Set expectations for how messages are displayed within a conversation	Yes	Yes
Delete Conversation	User	Have the ability to delete a conversation	Allow users to remove conversations they no longer wish to keep	Yes	Yes
Delete Conversation	System	Delete a conversation when the user selects it	Remove the conversation from the user's account	Yes	Yes
Unlink Conversation	System	Unlink a conversation from the account of only the user that selected it to be deleted	Allow other users to keep the messages from the conversation if they wish to	Yes	Yes
Fully Delete	System	Fully delete a conversation only when all users have been removed from it	Ensure that the conversation is completely removed only when all users no longer have access to it	Yes	no
Notification

Account Requirements

Send1t Release 1 User Stories

Sub-Features	Actor	Description	Outcome	In Scope?	Completed?
Full Name	User	Be able to see my full name on my profile	View my details	Yes	Yes
Username	User	Be able to see my username on my profile	Check my information	Yes	Yes
Email	User	Be able to see my email on my profile	Check my information	Yes	Yes
Profile Picture	User	Be able to see my profile picture	Check my information	Yes	No
Edit Button	System	Display a button to edit the user's info	Edit account details	Yes	Yes
Tagline	User	Be able to set a tagline for my profile	Personalize my profile	Yes	Yes
Connection Status	User	Be able to see the connection status of my contacts	Check their availability	Yes	Yes

Contact Requirements

Sub-Features	Actor	Description	Outcome	In Scope?	Completed?
Add Contact	User	Ability to add a contact to the user's contact list	User has a list of people to talk to	Yes	Yes
Contact List	System	List of contacts is connected to each user profile	Contacts are associated with user profiles	Yes	Yes
View Contact(s)	User	Ability to view user's contacts	User can see their list of contacts in the app	Yes	Yes
Delete Contact	User	Ability to delete a contact from the user's list	User can remove unwanted people from their list of contacts	Yes	Yes
Contact List Order	System	Display the list of contacts in alphabetical order	User can find people in their contact list more easily	Yes	Yes
Contact's Picture	System	Display the contact's profile picture in each contact slot	User can see who the contact is by their profile picture	Yes	No
Connection Status	System	Display the contact's connection status symbol in each contact slot so that the user knows who can talk	User can see at a glance who is available to talk based on connection status symbol	Yes	Yes
Contact's Name	System	Display the contact's username in each contact slot	User can easily identify who they are talking to	Yes	Yes

Edit Profile Requirements

Sub-Features	Actor	Description	Outcome	In Scope?	Completed?
Edit Password	User	Change password to be more secure if the need arises	Password is updated	Yes	Yes
Update First Name	System	Update the first name with the new user supplied first name	First name is updated	Yes	Yes
Update Last Name	System	Update the last name with the new user supplied last name	Last name is updated	Yes	Yes
Update Email	System	Update the email with the user supplied email	Email is updated	Yes	Yes
Update Password	System	Update the password with the user supplied password	Password is updated	Yes	Yes
Save Button	System	Have a save button	User can save the changes they made to their profile	Yes	Yes
Cancel Button	System	Have a cancel button	User can cancel the changes they made to their profile without saving	Yes	Yes
Encrypt Password	System	Encrypt the updated password	New password is not stored as plain-text	Yes	Yes
Send Update Email	System	Send an email when the user's information has been updated with a message saying what was changed	User knows what was changed and when in case they did not change the information	Yes	Yes
Update Profile Picture	User	Upload a new photo for my profile picture	User's profile picture is updated	Yes	No
Crop Photo	System	Crop the photo to correct dimensions	User's photo is correctly sized	Yes	No