CartoDB

Introduction

CartoDB is a HTTP wrapper for a PostgreSQL + PostGIS database. It is composed of different components:

• PostgreSQL + PostGIS database: a dedicated postgresql database with geospatial functionalities
• User Interface: allows the user to create and manage tables, and their data, import new ones, or export them to files
• Pure SQL API endpoint: JSON API which allow users to run SQL queries and get their response in JSON format

Components

PostgreSQL + PostGIS database

Each CartoDB user has his own postgresql database, totally isolated from the other users databases, which extra geospatial functionalities provided by PostGIS. The users can, basically, do what they want in his database, there are no limitations.

User Interface

The UI is a front-end layer on the top of the database which helps the users to create new tables, and to manage the data from those tables. Also, the users can get the OAuth tokens to use the API from the interface.

This UI uses internally a REST API, which is only for internal use.

Also, all the import/export functionality has been externalized to a Ruby gem named cartodb-importer.

Both, UI and REST API, are implemented using Ruby on Rails.

Pure SQL API

SQL API allows the users to use their databases via HTTP requests and get a response in JSON format.

This component runs in Node.JS.

Setting-up the environment for developers

First time

• Install Ruby 1.9.2

• Install Node.JS and Npm, following these steps: https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Installation

• Install PostgreSQL, PostGIS, GDAL, and Geo.

• Install Redis from http://redis.io/download or using Homebrew.

• Python dependencies:

  • Python setup tools, install from http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools

  • Python GDAL, install from http://pypi.python.org/pypi/GDAL/

  • Python Chardet: install from http://chardet.feedparser.org/download/

  • Python ArgParse: install from http://code.google.com/p/argparse/

  • Brewery:

    $ git clone git://github.com/Stiivi/brewery.git
    $ python setup.py install
    

  • Alternatively we can use pip installer to install them all with:

    easy_install pip
    pip install -r python_requirements.txt
    

• Setup new hosts in /etc/hosts:

  # CartoDB
  127.0.0.1 api.localhost.lan developers.localhost.lan localhost.lan
  127.0.0.1 testhost.lan api.testhost.lan developers.testhost.lan
  # # # # #
  

• Clone the Node SQL API in your projects folder:

  git clone git@github.com:tokumine/cartodb-sql-api.git
  

• Clone the main repository in your projects folder:

  git clone git@github.com:Vizzuality/cartodb.git
  

• Change to cartdb/ folder and rvm will require to create a new gemset. Say yes. If not, you must create a gemset for Ruby 1.9.2:

  rvm use 1.9.2@cartodb --create
  

• Run bundle:

  bundle install --binstubs
  

• Run Redis:

  cd /tmp
  redis-server
  

• Run rake cartodb:db:setup

Every day usage

• Check if Redis is running, if not cd /tmp; redis-server

• Change to CartoDB directory

• Run rake db:reset if you want to reset your data and load the databa from seeds.rb file

• Run a Rails server in port 3000: rails s

• In a separate tab run a Rails server in port 3001 for REST API: rails s -p 3001

• In a separate tab change to Node SQL API folder and run node.js: node app.js developement

• Open your browser and go to http://localhost.lan:3000

• Enjoy