library dario

webnanogy/dario

SimpleXML a given XML file. Extract data and store

1. Project Details

1.1 Design Patterns:

MVC, Repository, _(*1)

• It is designed with the Repository Pattern, which allows a Controller to pass data to the Repository which in turn interfaces with the Model., _(*2)

• This is achieved by injecting a repository Dependency in the Controller, so that the repository implements its interface with the model, starting in the Controller., _(*3)

• OOP (Interfaces, Namespaces, Encapsulation, Information Hiding, properties and methods Accessibility, Static, Dynamic, etc.)., _(*4)

All this ensures the code is: - Testable (injection are mocked) - Maintainable (OOP not procedural) - Reduced code (reusable), and - Less bugs (info hiding, accessibility, encapsulation, etc), _(*5)

Note: The specifics for this Development Environment follows:, _(*6)

Virtual Box, Vagrant, Centos 7, PHP 5.6, MySQL 14.14, PHPMyAdmin, git, composer, artisan, pear, PHPStorm 2017 with XDebug, Code Sniffer (phpcs), GitHub);, _(*7)

1.2 Web Server requirements:

• PHP >= 5.6.4
• OpenSSL PHP Extension
• PDO PHP Extension
• Mbstring PHP Extension
• Tokenizer PHP Extension
• XML PHP Extension

2. Front-End Technical Details

Input: the config.XML

The blade template receives the the associative array() containing the config.XML data, _(*8)

Process:

• The Blade engine iterates, displays and attributes (custom 'data-' attributes)* this associative array data.
• JQuery stores these 'data-'* into variables.
• A JavaScript Object (class) initializes JQuery, binds/fires the button click event, and processes server response.
• JQuery asynchronously posts the data to '/create' route

Output:

• Client is notified when sending/saving ('button is disabled'), and on saved ('on success button is enabled').
• Display server response.

3. Back-End Technical Details

Input:

• The server accepts two (get/post) requests in the routes, namely 'receive' and 'create'
• Request handling logic are mapped to 2 Controller class methods respectively

Process:

• An Utility class parses the config.XML file, using the native 'simplexml_load_file()' PHP function
• 'simplexml_load_file(config.XML)' returns an associative array() containing the config.XML data (ex: 'title', 'description' ...)
• These data is persisted in the database during the click event process from the front-end

Note: This project uses the SimpleXML - PHP5’s new API for accessing the contents of XML documents., _(*9)

Output:

• The Controller returns the package view with this associative array()
• When the data is to be persisted to the db, the Controller responds to the asynchronous call appropriately

4. Framework

Laravel 5.4 (PHP v5.6)

Q: Why Laravel?, _(*10)

A: Choices! Everybody is using it and it works well. I just like the brand, though some online resources ought to be free, as is most community support, _(*11)

5. Usage

5.1 Installation:

1. Install Laravel 5.4

2. Install this package, _(*12)

   composer require webnanogy/dario

3. Run the following command inside this app's root directory, _(*13)

   composer install

4. Modify .env DB, _(*14)

   Ex: DB_CONNECTION='target DBMS'
   DB_HOST='target IP address'
   DB_PORT='target DBMS connection port'
   DB_DATABASE='target DBMS db name'
   DB_USERNAME='target DBMS user name'
   DB_PASSWORD='target DBMS user password', _(*15)

5. Change the .env file 'APP_URL' for the target server EX: APP_URL='target server app url', _(*16)

6. Migrate the package/laravel tables by running:, _(*17)

   php artisan migrate, _(*18)

7. Publish the config.XML and assets, _(*19)

   php artisan vendor:publish, _(*20)

5.2 Setup Routes

Copy the following to the apps 'routes/web.php', _(*21)

5.3 Run Laravel

Run Laravel home page and append receive EX: http.../localhost/laravel/output/public/receive, _(*22)

6. Assumptions

Given the spec, the assumptions follow:, _(*23)

Routes:

'receive' and 'create', _(*24)

The config.XML File:

The config.XML path will be defined in the .env file., _(*25)

Because it is a configuration file, I assumed that the structure will not change often ('from time to time'). So the code is strongly coupled around the given config file, and will choke with a different XML file structure., _(*26)

7. Plugins and 3rd Party Libraries:

All functionality required to fulfill most of this project's requirements was implemented with the Laravel ecosystem and PHP native functions., _(*27)

8. Coding Standards:

PSR-1/2/3/4, _(*28)

9. Scaling Considerations

• This app design is Decoupled with separate concerns for Presentation and Business logic, allowing for scalability of this package
• Decoupling also increases the lifetime since it is not tied to any technology or concrete implementations
• Packages folder structure enables future growth, such as Models, Assets and other sub-folder structures

10. Performance Considerations

• Data is posted asynchronously so the UI (User Interface) is not blocked or stalled, improving performance
• Laravel's cache design is optimal as well as the management of pool resources such as database connections and termination
• No Form here means no need to store flashed old input Session Data in the event of errors
• For PHPUnit testing performance this app does not access the model directly. So it is possible to bypass database, otherwise, would be expensive to make database calls

Credits

Dario Alfredo, _(*29)