CartoDB

Introduction

CartoDB is a HTTP wrapper for a PostgreSQL + PostGIS user dedicated database. Each database / user instance is owned by a user, and 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

Architecture

(under development)

The architecture behind CartoDB is a Central Server + users instances, which are user dedicated Amazon EC2 instances running CartoDB.

Central server

The purposes of Central Server are:

• manage user accounts: activation, manage payments...
• manage user instances: check the status, monit the services...
• (maybe) CartoDB documentation

User instances

Every user instance runs in a subdomain of cartodb.com, i.e.: vizzuality.cartodb.com and is totally isolated from other users. These instances run the next three different 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 (alternatively you can use brew instrall node``, but npm has to be installed following the wiki instructions)

• Install PostgreSQL, PostGIS, GDAL, and Geo.

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

• Python dependencies:

  easy_install pip # in MacOs X pip install -r python_requirements.txt

  Note: If compilation fails (it did for gdal module raising a Broken pipe error) try doing "export ARCHFLAGS='-arch i386 -arch x86_64'" first

• Setup new hosts in /etc/hosts:

  # CartoDB
  127.0.0.1 vizzuality.localhost.lan vizzuality.testhost.lan
  # # # # #
  

  The reason to use vizzuality as a subdomain is that the user in development and test environment is vizzuality

• Clone the Node SQL API in your projects folder:

  git clone git@github.com:Vizzuality/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 bin/rake cartodb:db:setup in cartodb folder

Every day usage

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

• Change to CartoDB directory

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

• Run a Rails server in port 3000: rails s

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

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

• Enjoy