API Documentation

[peanutbother]

I am currently "reverse-engineering" the market/user web api to see if it would be worthwhile hosting / creating a server for this.

Can you provide a spec of the REST API you used?
I would be glad if I did not have to implement the API by trial and error and code lookups.
thanks!

[ipselon]

@peanutbother

Hi. Sorry for the late response. Webcodesk had used his own React components market service with REST when I published it the first time. I implemented the service using Java SpringBoot (Tomcat app server) and PostgreSQL database, and the service was hosted on AWS server. However, after some time, I decided to shut down the service because I don't see any traction and because of lack of resources.

Now I have an idea to improve Webcodesk app. I want to use types in the source code (it will let us make components and functions compatible). I want to add dynamic parameters into functions that can be changed or set up without changing the code. I want to add editor for React components props.

These changes allow me to run Webcodesk online where you can create apps combining components, functions, pages without changing the code.

So, the plan is:

• the developer implements many reusable functions with parameters (for example, ajax request with URL parameter), many reusable components, that compatible with functions and with each other by interfaces (types).
• the developer can upload the source code to the Webcodesk service.
• other users can construct their Web app using created reusable components and functions, but using different parameters and data flows logic.

As you can see, the REST interface of the Webcodesk service will dramatically change shortly...

Let me know what you think about this. Thanks in advance.

[peanutbother]

I would like to test the market feature you implemented already, so I started to mock the API but it's a very tedious task and not really worth the effort. Could you provide a scheme of how data was structured in your REST API?
I found json-server very helpful to mock and create a development REST API while it is also quite easy to implement the data into some database schemes like graphql or similar.
While in development and in beta I could provide ressources for the server to run on.

I liked your approach with structor where you used github as a data store - it wasn't perfect but I liked the idea. (git is perfect for the packages, but I would keep the registry as separate service)

we could reuse this approach and add firebase for authentication.
this would allow us to implement low cost hosting- benefit for everyone.
also with VCS it would be easier to fix bugs and it would improve open-source in general.

[peanutbother]

As for the upload/download part (file storage / data store) github would also be a good catch since it is possible to install NPM packages from git repositories.

e.g. package my-webcodesk-pack is located on say http://github.com/exampleuser/my-webcodesk-pack, it could be installable by running npm install exampleuser/my-webcodesk-pack (note the missing @)

this could also make versioning possible whereas users might want to use a specific version of a packages:

e.g. npm install exampleuser/my-webcodesk-pack@1.0.4 (@ means version tag)

[ipselon]

@peanutbother,

I would like to test the market feature you implemented already, so I started to mock the API but it's a very tedious task and not really worth the effort. Could you provide a scheme of how data was structured in your REST API?

Will it help if I published the source code of the Webcodesk service (Java, DB schema, etc.) on GitHub?

[peanutbother]

Will it help if I published the source code of the Webcodesk service (Java, DB schema, etc.) on GitHub?

This would be very helpful and maybe we could reimplement the code without much changes, which in turn would mean that we could use the market very soon again.

[ipselon]

@peanutbother,

OK, I need a couple of days to publish the code on the GitHub.

[peanutbother]

That's okay, take your time and let me know once you're finished. Thank you!

[peanutbother]

Please don't forget to link it here so I'll get notified. Thanks in advance!

[ipselon]

@peanutbother, I bring my apologies for the delay, I'm out of my office for a few days. I need a couple of days more. I'll add the comment here as soon as I publish the source code.

[ipselon]

@peanutbother,

Hi. I pushed the new repo for Webcodesk API here: https://github.com/webcodesk/webcodesk-service

Start exploring the REST endpoints from com.webcodesk.service.web.controller package.

Let me know if you have questions. We can chat in my Slack channel - give me your email, and I'll send you an invitation.