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Last edited by Porter Libby
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Setup

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This app is set up to be usable on both mobile and desktop platforms. Keep in mind that whatever machine is hosting the Node server might need to be connected to the same network that your Database is set up on.

It is possible to have the database and this tool running on the same machine, which would allow users to access the front-end of the tool from either the device running both programs, or any device connected to the same LAN as the host device.

First, the Data view will open, which can be used to select a specific set of data to view. Once a selection has been made, the user has the option to create a permalink, which can be used to return to the same query again, or export a .csv file of the data selected, which can be used with a few other processing tools. Once a selection is complete, the Graph View and Map view will light up to show the user that there is new data to be viewed.

Desktop Setup

  1. clone repository and enter parent directory
  2. Follow the format below to create a .env file.
  3. use npm install to add dependencies to node_modules folder
  4. use node index.js to start a local development server
  5. open localhost:3000 in your favorite browser!

Mobile Setup

  1. Install a UNIX terminal emulator like Termux (Android).
  2. Install some basic tools in the emulator:
    1. pkg install git
    2. pkg install nodejs
    3. pkg install nano
  3. clone the repository.
  4. Follow the format below to create a .env file.
  5. Use npm install inside the directory to install dependencies.
  6. Use node index.js to run the server.
  7. open localhost:3000 in your browser.

Format template for .env file

This file is set to be ignored in .gitignore. This is very important, as our credentials for the PSQL database should not be published into a repository. If you do not have the credentials you need to create a .env file, reach out to Porter (pelibby16@earlham.edu) or Charlie (charliep@earlham.edu).

DB_NAME=[database user name]
DB_HOST=[database host name]
DB_DATABASE=[database name]
DB_PASSWORD=[databse password]
DB_PORT=[database port]
PORT=[Webserver listen port]

Node Dependencies

  • dotenv@^8.1.0
  • ejs@ ^2.7.1
  • express@^4.17.1
  • pg@^8.7.1
  • restful-api@^0.1.8