Convert JSON to Field Definitions

This program can, and probably should, be written in ES5. Put in a directory called git-convert that is part of the GitExplorer project. In short, you will have three directories in the root of the project:

client
git-convert
server

The goal is to convert the git-user.json file that we get from GitHub into one of our field-definitions.

Get Copy of JSON

First, get the JSON:

curl https://api.github.com/users/charliecalvert > git-user.json

The file ‘git-user.json’ contains the JSON you will be working with. You will need to load this with fs.readFile, as described below.

Debug Logger

If at all possible, use the debug package for logging. You will run npm init to create package.json and then add the debug module to it:

npm install debug --save

And in your code:

var debug = require('debug')('git-convert');
debug('this is a test');

At the command line, say that you want to see debug messages for git-convert. To do so, type the following into the bash shell where you are currently working:

export DEBUG='git-convert'

Now run your program and you should see: git-convert this is a test +Xms

Now at the command line turn logging off:

export DEBUG=

The command shown above sets DEBUG to an empty string, which makes our logging statements go away. You can achieve the same effect by setting DEBUG to anything but git-convert.

Except at the very end, to output your final result, don’t use console.log. Instead, use the debug module in at least 3 places.

You can read more here, but for now you need go no further than example shown above. You need not turn on any special features.:

DEBUG on NPM

I’ll accept your assignment with console.log instead of debug, but it will cost 3 points.

Promises

If at all possible, use a promise when reading the JSON file you created with your call to curl:

var fs=require("fs");

function readFile(fileName) {
    return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
        fs.readFile( /*YOUR CODE HERE*/ );
    });
}

readFile('git-user.json').then(function(text) {
    // CODE OMITTED. This is where you solve the core of the assignment.
});       

NOTE: You can learn about promises here, here and here.

I’ll accept it without the promise, but it will cost 3 points. In other words, if you just call fs.readFile with a callback instead of .then chained method, that will be okay, sort of.

Create output

You will need to iterate over the contents of the GitHub JSON file you load from disk. Remember that you are reading a text file, and JSON is an object, not a string. So you will have to do some conversion.

Then you will need to iterate over your JSON. In ES5, this is an appropriate way to get started:

for (var property in json) {
    if (json.hasOwnProperty(property)) {
      // YOUR WORK HERE
    }
}
console.log( /* LOG YOUR ARRAY OF OBJECTS */)

You’ll need an array. I call mine gitUser:

const gitUser = [];

I then iterate over the JSON returned from GitHub using for..in. In the process, I create some objects, each shaped like one entry in our field-definitions file, an example of which is shown below. As we create each object, we push the object into the array.

Print the output to the console:

console.log('export default ' + JSON.stringify(gitUser, null, 4));

Sample output might look something like this. Make sure it is valid JavaScript:

export default [
    {
        "id": "login",
        "label": "login-name",
        "type": "paragraph",
        "sample": "login-unknown"
    },
    {
        "id": "id",
        "label": "id-name",
        "type": "paragraph",
        "sample": "login-unknown"
    },
    {
        "id": "avatar_url",
        "label": "avatar_url-name",
        "type": "paragraph",
        "sample": "login-unknown"
    },
    // ETC ...
]

Why output text

Why do I have the program output text? Because this is the Linux way of doing things.

node git-convert > 'field-definitions.js'

All I really care about at this time is that you create the proper set of fields, as shown above.

Turn it in

The minimum is to create a valid field definitions file.

Extra Credit

For extra credit, I want to be able to pull your project, navigate to the GitExplorer folder, and then run the following command:

./create-field-definitions

I will expect to see the field-definitions.js copied into the src or src/assets directory of your client.

Also, allow me to run the script via NPM:

npm run create-field-definitions

For instance, a run might look a little like this:

$ npm run create-field-definitions

> lookup-server@0.0.1 create-field-definitions /home/charlie/Git/isit322-calvert-2017/GitExplorer
> ./create-field-definitions

  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100  1457  100  1457    0     0   5377      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--  5396
field-definitions.js 30ms
git-convert.js 26ms
---=======================================---
	Created field-definitions.js
---=======================================---
'git-convert/field-definitions.js' -> 'client/src/assets/./field-definitions.js'

Here is some of the scripts section from package.json:

"scripts": {
    // CODE OMITTED HERE
    "lint": "eslint .",
    "create-field-definitions": "./create-field-definitions"
  },

This is the line that allows me to run the create-field-definitions script with NPM:

"create-field-definitions": "./create-field-definitions"

Scripts

Here is the git-convert/run-all script:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

function drawLine() {
    echo -e "---=======================================---"
}

if [ ! -f "$HOME/npm/bin/jsonlint" ]; then
    drawLine
    echo -e "Please install jsonlint: npm install -g jsonlint"
    drawLine
    exit
fi

curl https://api.github.com/users/charliecalvert > git-user.json
node git-convert.js > field-definitions.js
./prettier

drawLine
echo -e "\tCreated field-definitions.js"
drawLine

The prettier script is described in the eslint assignment.

Here is the create-field-definitions script:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

GIT_CONVERT=git-convert

cd $GIT_CONVERT
./run-all
cd ..
cp -v $GIT_CONVERT/field-definitions.js client/src/assets/.

Elvenware

This is an experimental version of Elvenware.

ConvertJsonToFieldDefinitions