README.old

# SkillBuilder

A web application for evaluating students' professional
skills, such as teamwork and communication. The purpose
of the SkillBuilder application is to allow instructors
to assess teams of students in real-time using
research-based or custom rubrics. Instructors can email
students their results, as well as download the data
for analysis.



## SkillBuilder is implemented in three parts: ##

- A Back End Flask server.

- A Caching Redis server.

- A Front End React server.



## Setting up and running with Docker and Docker Compose: ##

- UPDATE: Using Docker and Docker Compose should become the sole
  method for running this application locally as it solves
  dependency issues across all platforms! Also makes developing
  easier as there are now only two commands to worry about.

- Follow the link for instructions on downloading Docker Desktop:
  https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/

- NOTE: If you have an intel chip with Windows OS, you will need
  to go to the following link to install Docker Desktop:
  https://docs.docker.com/desktop/install/windows-install/

- NOTE: Make sure that there are no running frontend,
  redis, or backend processes as there will be port
  conflicts. To view if you have processes running
  on important ports, run the following and expect
  no output:

      lsof -i :3000,5050,6379

  If output, there is a chance you still have processes
  running and you need to use the following command to
  kill them off:

      kill <pid>

  or optionally, send with a forced kill (not recommended as it does
  not allow the process to shut down gracefully).

      sudo kill -9 <pid>

  There is a chance that your OS has an important process
  running on one of these ports that should not be terminated.
  In that case, change the port for conflicting processes in the
  compose.yml file. Make sure that you also update changed
  ports in the frontend or backend .env and anywhere else
  needed!

  Step 1:
  After following the instructions, ensure you have Docker
  Desktop open and running.

  Step 2:
  Open a new terminal and navigate to where you have this
  repository cloned.

  Step 3:
  Run the following command to ensure you have docker running:

      docker ps

  Step 4:
  Run the following command to build the images:

      docker compose build

  NOTE: To rebuild with new changes applied and ignore cached
  build run the following:

      docker compose build --no-cache

  NOTE: To view all of the build logs instead of the default
  summary run the following:

      docker compose build --process=plain

  Step 5:
  Run the following command to run containers from the images:

      docker compose up

  Step 6:
  Open a browser with the link http://localhost:3000 to see the frontend and log in
  with one of the demo students/TAs/admins.


## REQUIREMENTS: ##

- Python 3.12 and up.

- MySQL-Server.

- Homebrew 4.2.18 and up.

- Redis 7.2.4 and up.

- Node.js v21.6.1 and up.

NOTE:

- You WILL encounter issues when running both the
Back End and Front End servers if you do NOT have
installed the REQUIRED versions of Python and
Node.js.

NOTE:

- Linux, Mac, and WSL Developers use `python3`.

- WINDOWS DEVELOPERS ARE NO LONGER SUPPORTED.


## Setting up the MySQL Environment: ##

- Run the following command to install MySQL-Server
on Linux:

      sudo apt install mysql-server

- Run the following command to install MySQL-Server
on MacOS:

      brew install mysql

- Run the following command to start MySQL-Server
on MacOS:

      brew services start mysql

- Run the following command to start MySQL-Server
in a new terminal:

      sudo mysql -u root

- Next use these commands to create an account
named skillbuilder and set the password to
"WasPogil1#"

      CREATE DATABASE account;
      CREATE USER 'skillbuilder'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'WasPogil1#';
      GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'skillbuilder'@'localhost';
      FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
      exit;

NOTE:

- The password should be changed for deployment.

- Once this is done, you can use: `setupEnv.py` as normal
to create the database. If for any reason you want to
access the database directly, run the following command:

      mysql -u skillbuilder -p

and then type the password.

## Installing requirements ##

- Follow the link for instructions on downloading Python:

  https://www.python.org/downloads/

- Follow the link for instructions on downloading Node.js:

  https://nodejs.org/en/download

- Follow the link for instructions on downloading brew:

  https://brew.sh/

- Once installed, run the following command with Homebrew
  to install redis:

      brew install redis



## Setting up the Back End environment: ##

- Follow the instructions for setting up the virtual environment:
  
  Step 1:
  Ensure you are in the BackEndFlask directory by running
  the command:

      cd BackEndFlask

  Step 2:
  Create the virtual environment by running the command:

      python3 -m venv BackEndFlaskVenv

  Step 3:
  Activate the virtual environment by running the command:

      source BackEndFlaskVenv/bin/activate

  To Deactivate the virtual environment, run the command:

      deactivate

  To Remove the virtual environment, run the command:

      rm -r BackEndFlaskVenv

- In order to setup the environment for the first time,
  you will need to be in the `/rubricapp/BackEndFlask/`
  directory and run the following command:

      python3 setupEnv.py -id

- This command will install all the requirements from
  requirements.txt, create a new database, and load
  the database with demo data.

Flag Meanings:

- `-i` install
- `-d` demo

NOTE:
- If you DO NOT run the above command with the
  `-i` and `-d` flags once, then the Back End server
  WILL NOT be initialized properly. If the Back End
  server is NOT initialized properly, then the Back
  End server WILL NOT run. IF the Back End server
  is NOT running, then the Front End server WILL NOT
  run properly either.

- In the case where you want to restart with a fresh
  new database, add the flag `-r` to reset the existing
  database. You WILL then have to rerun the command with
  the `-d` flag to load demo data.



## Setting up the Front End environment: ##
- Follow the link for instructions on downloading Node.js:

  https://nodejs.org/en/download

- In order to install the required packages you WILL need
  to be in the directory `/rubricapp/FrontEndReact/`.

- Inside the Front End React directory run the following
  command to install all the Node packages for the project:

      npm install

NOTE:
- If you run `npm install` outside of the
  `/rubricapp/FrontEndReact/` directory, it WILL cause
  issues.

- In the case where you run `npm install` outside
  of the `/rubricapp/FrontEndReact/` directory,
  simply remove the created files `package.json` and
  `package-lock.json` and the directory `node_modules`.
  Ensure that you have correctly changed the current
  working directory to `/rubricapp/FrontEndReact/`
  before attempting to run the command to install
  the Node packages.



## Running the Servers after setup: ##

NOTE:

- You WILL need to run the Back End server first,
  the Redis server second, then the Front End server
  third.

- You WILL need to run the Back End, Redis, and
  Front End servers in different terminal windows.



## Running the Back End server of the application: ##
- Use the following command for running the Back End
  server in the `/rubricapp/BackEndFlask/` directory
  during regular use:

      python3 setupEnv.py -s

Flag meaning:

- `-s` start



## Running the Redis server: ##

- Use the following command for running the Redis server:

      brew services start redis

NOTE:
- Run the following command to restart redis with
  Homebrew:

      brew services restart redis

- Run the following command to stop redis with
  Homewbrew:

      brew services stop redis



## Running the Front End server of the application: ##

- Use the following command for running the Front End
  Server in the `/rubricapp/FrontEndReact/` directory:

      npm start

- This command runs the Front End server in development mode.
  Open http://localhost:3000 or http://127.0.0.1:3000 to view
  it in your browser.

- Any changes made in the `/rubricapp/FrontEndReact/`
  directory will be caught by the running Front End
  server, thus rerendering any opened tabs in your
  browser.

- You will also be able to see any compile warnings
  and errors in the console.



## Running Pytest: ##

- For running pytests on the Back End server
  you will use the following command:

      python3 setupEnv.py -t

Flag meaning:

- `-t` test



## Running Jest tests: ##

- For running Jest tests on the Front End server
  you will use the following command:

      npm test

- This command launches the test runner in the interactive
  watch mode. Make sure the version of react is
  'react-scripts@0.3.0' or higher.

- Here is a link for learning more information about running tests:

  https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/running-tests