Project 1 - File Sync Part 1

Due - Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The goal of this project is to build a SugarSync -style file management system that allows a user to remotely access files stored on any personal computer via a web-based interface.  You will build this project in stages.  For part 1, you will implement a web service that allows a user to login, view a list of local files, view files stored in a Google Documents account, open local files, and upload local files to a Google Documents account.  For part 2, you will add the ability to view files stored on remote computers, backup local files to remote computers, and restore deleted files from the backups created.  For part 3, you will propose and implement an extension of your choice.

This document describes the requirements of Part 1 of your project.  This portion will be built in smaller blocks, submitted as labs the first few weeks of class.

The functional requirements of Part 1 of the project are as follows:

  1. Login - The user will visit a main login page and your web service will use one of the Google Account Authentication API methods to log in.
  2. Settings - Once logged in, the user may visit a settings page that will allow him/her to set and/or change the root directory that will be exposed by the application.  In other words, if the web service receives a request to list all of a user's files, it will provide a listing of all files and directories found under the root directory.
  3. File View - The main interface of your service will be a file view that lists all files available in the root directory, and all of the files available in the user's Google Documents account.  For each file, the interface will list (at minimum) the name of the file, the size of the file, and the last time the file was modified.  You will also provide the user with an option to open a file and an option to upload a local file to the user's Google Documents account.
  4. Search - You will also provide the user with an option to search for files meeting certain criteria.  The user may search by file name (contains or matches) or by modified date.  Your service will provide the file view listing only files matching the given criteria.
Your web service will provide two ways to access each of the functions described above: an XML-based interface and an HTML-based interface. 

XML Interface

You must support GET requests for the following URLS:
 URL  Response Format
  Action
 /login  Allows user to authenticate using Google username and password.
 
 /settings     200 OK
    <Settings>
        <Root directory="/path/to/directory"/>
    </Settings> 		 
/settings?rootdir={directory}    200 OK Sets root directory to directory given.
{device_name}/xml/filelist    200 OK
    <FileList>
        <File>
            <Path>/path/to/file</Path>
            <Name>filename.ext</Name>
            <Size>file size</Size>
            <LastModified>last mod date</LastModified>
        </File>
    </FileList>   
List all files on the computer identified by device_name.  
{device_name}/xml/filelist?contains={query}      200 OK
    <FileList>
        <File>
            <Path>/path/to/file</Path>
            <Name>filename.ext</Name>
            <Size>file size</Size>
            <LastModified>last mod date</LastModified>
        </File>
    </FileList>   

List all files on the computer identified by device_name that have a file name that contains the query term.  
{device_name}/xml/filelist?matches={query}     200 OK
    <FileList>
        <File>
            <Path>/path/to/file</Path>
            <Name>filename.ext</Name>
            <Size>file size</Size>
            <LastModified>last mod date</LastModified>
        </File>
    </FileList>   
List all files on the computer identified by device_name that have a file name that match the query term exactly.  
{device_name}/xml/filelist?modifiedsince={date}     200 OK
    <FileList>
        <File>
            <Path>/path/to/file</Path>
            <Name>filename.ext</Name>
            <Size>file size</Size>
            <LastModified>last mod date</LastModified>
        </File>
    </FileList>    		List all files on the computer identified by device_name that have been modified since the date provided.  
gdocs/xml/filelist     200 OK
    <FileList>
        <File>
            <Path>/path/to/file</Path>
            <Name>filename.ext</Name>
            <Size>file size</Size>
            <LastModified>last mod date</LastModified>
        </File>
    </FileList>    		List all files in the current user's Google Documents account.
xml/gdocsupload/path/to/file/and/filename.ext     200 OK
Upload the file specified to the current user's Google Documents account.
{device_name}/xml/file/{path/to/file/and/filename.ext}     200 OK
    File Contents 		Return contents of specified file.

HTML Interface

For each /xml URL above, you will also support html/{URL} where html takes the place of xml.  The content returned in response to the HTML request will be the XML content transformed into the appropriate HTML format for viewing in a browser.

Implementation Requirements and Hints

  1. Data will be stored in an in-memory XML document.  You will have a thread that periodically traverses the root directory and updates the document, in a thread-safe manner.  An example document follows:
      1. <Database>
            <User name="username" local_rootdir="rootdir">
                <Devices>
                        <Device>
                                <Name>computer name</Name>
                                <OnlineStatus>online</OnlineStatus>
                                <FileList>
                                        <File>
                                            <Path>/path/to/file</Path>
                                            <Name>filename.ext</Name>
                                            <Deleted>yes/no</Deleted>
                                            <Size>file size</Size>
                                            <Backup> <Location>location1</Location>
                                            </Backup>
                                            <LastModified>last mod date</LastModified>
                                        </File>
                                </FileList>
                        </Device>
                </Devices>
            </User>
        </Database>
  2. Your service will be implemented using the RESTlet framework.
  3. Your service will use XSLT to transform the XML retrieved from the database into the HTML returned in response to requests for HTML content.
Note: Late project will only be considered in the case of a medical or other emergency verified by a doctor's note or the dean's office.

Due 3:30PM - Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Refer to the Submission Instructions .  In addition, make sure you do not hardcode any parameters that will change when running your program in a different environment.  For example, you should not hard code "C:\\bob's computer\my directory" as your root directory, as I will not be running your program on "bob's computer".  You may use a configuration file if you feel it is appropriate, and provide sufficient README instructions for changing necessary parameters.

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