Answart / img-srch-abs-lyr-ms

Javascript micro-service app that, depending on route /api/imagesearch or /api/latest/imagesearch, returns a list of JSON objects w/unique image info. It uses Google's Custom Search Engine API. :pushpin:

Image Search Abstraction Layer Micro-service

An app that that returns a unique JSON object depending on the route /api/imagesearch or /api/latest/imagesearch (w/pagination). Route /api/imagesearch returns a list of objects each containing a 'url', 'snippet', 'thumbnail', and 'context'. Route /api/latest/imagesearch returns a list of objects each containing a 'term' and a 'when' date.

Data is received through Google's Custom Search Engine.

/api/imagesearch/cats:

"0": {
  "url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AZL9Sl2BC70/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "snippet": "Lolcats Funny cats 2017 - YouTube",
  "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLJFHmB-RbsTEH7IV6HdwkWXChnDDG24us-TdS_OpClDl0CYW4KGHIY54",
  "context": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZL9Sl2BC70"
},
"1": {
  "url": "http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/024/740/lolcats-funny-pictures-halp-not-for-sale.jpg",
  "snippet": "Lolcats Funny cats 2017 - YouTube",
  "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQlL11_9PbybfWKO97GPAJY14zqm2RPtcIHGBZcr_1LSas7K7o0yP43zSc",
  "context": "http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/24740-lolcats"
}

/api/latest/imagesearch:

{
  "0": {
    "term": "lolcats funny",
    "when": "2018-02-04T19:45:06.785Z"
  },
  "1": {
    "term": "abundace",
    "when": "2018-02-04T19:14:01.188Z"
  },
  "2": {
    "term": "cats",
    "when": "2018-02-05T02:04:32.799Z"
  }
};

/api/latest/imagesearch/cats:

{
  "0": {
    "term": "cats",
    "when": "2018-02-05T02:04:32.799Z"
  },
  "1": {
    "term": "cats",
    "when": "2018-02-05T02:04:36.394Z"
  },
  "2": {
    "term": "cats",
    "when": "2018-02-05T02:05:04.210Z"
  }
};

User Stories

• I can get the image URLs, alt text and page urls for a set of images relating to a given search string.
• I can paginate through the responses by adding a ?offset=2 parameter to the URL.
• I can get a list of the most recently submitted search strings.

Tech Stack and Key Packages

• Express: Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework for node
• EJS: Embedded JavaScript templates
• express-ejs-layouts: Layout support for ejs in express
• express-session: Create express session middleware with given options
• connect-flash: Flash message middleware for Connect
• body-parser: Node.js body parsing middleware
• cookie-parser: Parse Cookie header and populate req.cookies with an object keyed by the cookie names
• mongoose: MongoDB object modeling tool designed to work in an asynchronous environment
• connect-mongo: MongoDB session store for Connect and Express
• got: Simplified http requests

Getting Started

Set up Google Custom Search Engine

1. Create a Google Custom Search Engine.

• Do not specify any sites to search but instead use the "Restrict Pages using Schema.org Types" under the "Advanced options".
• For the most inclusive set, use the Schema: Thing. Make a note of the CSE ID.

2. Enable Image Search

• In your search engine settings, enable "Image search":

3. Set up Google Custom Search Engine API

• Register a new app and enable Google Custom Search Engine API here: Google Developers Console. Remember the API key.

Create your own server. I used mLab.com. Create a user on that server.

Create your own .env file in the root directory with a DB_URI which links to your server. Here is an example:

HOST=localhost
PORT=8000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://<dbuser>:<dbpassword>@<mlabdatabase>
SECRET=my-super-secret
GGL_SRCH_ENGN_ID=<customsearchengineid>
GGL_SRCH_ENGN_PUBLIC_URL=<customsearchenginpublicurl>
GGL_SRCH_ENGN_API_KEY=<customsearchengineapikey>

Install dependencies then launch app @ http://localhost:8000

$ npm install
$ npm start

Example routes:

• http://localhost:8000
• http://localhost:8000/api/imagesearch
• http://localhost:8000/api/latest/imagesearch

View app in production (if still active)

NPM Commands

Command	Description
npm install	Install dependencies in package.json
npm start	Launch app @ localhost:8000