EpochCore

####Warning this project is under active development, design is subject to change

Next generation forum backend designed with performance in mind, using leveldb for speed and reduced database size. EpochCore is a forum database backend designed to be paired with the EpochTalk Frontend. Epochcore provides a forum specific interface for the EpochTalk Frontend to manage boards, posts, threads and users.

##Database Design Overview

Using LevelUp and SubLevel, the EpochCore database is split into six subsections including one toplevel db (content) and five sublevels dbs (indexes, metadata, legacy, deleted, and messages).

• Content - Contains the actual forum content such as boards, posts, and users.
• Indexes - Contains all indexing of content for fast and efficient lookups.
• Metadata - Contains all generated information in the DB such as view count and post count.
• Legacy - Contains legacy indexes that allow older urls to point to their new pages.
• Deleted - Contains data that has been purged from the content db. Purged data is stored in case it is needed in the future, no content data is ever completely deleted.
• Messages - Contains message type content such as PMs.

###Content Database

The content database is the main database which stores boards, threads, posts, and users.

Board Schema

Property	Type	Description
id	string	The board's unique identifier
name	string	The name of the board
description	string	A brief description of the board
created_at	date	Created time in epoch format
updated_at	date	Updated time in epoch format
imported_at*	date	Imported time in epoch format
parent_id	string	The parent board's id if applicable
chilren_ids	string array	An array of the board's child boards if applicable
deleted	boolean	True if board is deleted
smf.ID_BOARD*	number	SMF legacy board id
smf.ID_PARENT*	number	SMF legacy parent board id

Thread Schema

Property	Type	Description
id	string	The thread's unique identifier
board_id	string	The id of the thread's parent board
created_at	date	Created time in epoch format
updated_at	date	Updated time in epoch format
imported_at*	date	Imported time in epoch format
deleted	boolean	True if thread is deleted
smf.ID_MEMBER*	number	SMF legacy user id
smf.ID_TOPIC*	number	SMF legacy thread id
smf.ID_FIRST_MSG*	number	SMF legacy first post id

Post Schema

Property	Type	Description
id	string	The post's unique identifier
title	string	The title of the post
body	string	The body content of the post
user_id	string	The id of the post's author
thread_id	string	The id of the post's parent thread
created_at	date	Created time in epoch format
updated_at	date	Updated time in epoch format
imported_at*	date	Imported time in epoch format
deleted	boolean	True if post is deleted
version	number	The version of the post
smf.ID_MEMBER*	number	SMF legacy user id
smf.ID_TOPIC*	number	SMF legacy thread id
smf.ID_MSG*	number	SMF legacy post id

User Schema

Property	Type	Description
id	string	The user's unique identifier
username	string	The user's screenname
email	string	The user's contact email
passhash	string	Stores hashed version of user's password
created_at	date	Created time in epoch format
updated_at	date	Updated time in epoch format
imported_at*	date	Imported time in epoch format
deleted	boolean	True if user is deleted
smf.ID_MEMBER*	number	SMF legacy user id

* Note: imported_at and smf object properties are used for imported legacy SMF forum data. Currently there are future plans to support importing data from other widely used forum platforms. The smf data is stored to maintain relationships between boards, threads and posts after importing.

###Indexes Database

Stores indexes for threads, posts, and users for quick data lookups. Current indexes include the following:

• boardThread - an index which maps thread ids to their parent boards
• threadPostOrder - an index of post ordering within a thread
• username - an index that maps usernames to user ids
• email - an index that maps user emails to the user ids

###Metadata Database

This database is used to store metadata which can be derived using boards, posts, threads, and users. This allows for quick lookups of useful metadata without having to bring back complete objects.

Boards Metadata

• postCount - the number of posts excluding childboards
• threadCount - the number of threads excluding childboards
• totalPostCount - the total number of posts including childboards
• totalThreadCount - the total number of threads including childboards
• lastPostUsername - the username of the author of the last post within the board
• lastPostCreatedAt - the lasts post's creation time within the board
• lastThreadTitle - the last updated thread's title within the board
• lastThreadId - the last updated thread's id within the board

Thread Metadata

• firstPostId - the id of the threads first post
• title - the title of the threads first post
• username - the username of the thread's author
• lastPostCreatedAt - the time the last post was created
• lastPostUsername - the username of the last post's author
• viewCount - the view count of the thread
• postCount - the post count of the thread

Post Metadata

• postOrder - the order number of a post within a thread

###Legacy Database

The legacy database is used to store a mapping of legacy forum ids to their new EpochTalk ids. Currently only SMF is supported.

Storing legacy id's is useful for maintaining relationships between imported data. For example: if a post's body contains a link to another thread/board/post/user using the old forums url schema. Using the mappings in the legacy db we can ensure that legacy hyperlinks will still work within EpochTalk.

Board Legacy Data

• ID_BOARD - legacy SMF board id
• ID_PARENT - legacy SMF parent board id

Thread Legacy Data

• ID_MEMBER - legacy SMF user id
• ID_TOPIC - legacy SMF thread id
• ID_FIRST_MSG - legacy SMF first post id

Post Legacy Data

• ID_MEMBER - legacy SMF user id
• ID_TOPIC - legacy SMF thread id
• ID_MSG - legacy SMF post id

User Legacy Data

• ID_MEMBER - legacy SMF user id

###Deleted Database

The deleted database is used to store data that has been purged from the content database. The format of the data remains the same, it is simply moved to the deleted database upon purging.

Upon purging data, all data that can be derived (metadata) is removed, everything else is moved to the deleted db.

###Messages Database

The messages database is used to store private message data.

TODO...

##Data Interfaces EpochCore provides multiple interfaces to access forum related data such as boards, threads, posts, and users.

To interface with EpochCore install it as a dependency using npm or manually by cloning this repository.

var core = require('epochcore')();
// Optionally include a path to where the database should be created. Defaults to ./epoch.db
// var core = require('epochcore')(path.join('path', 'to', 'database'));

var boards = core.boards; // Allows access to board interface methods
var threads = core.threads; // Allows access to thread interface methods
var posts = core.posts; // Allows access to post interface methods
var users = core.users; // Allows access to user interface methods

The following interfaces are currently supported:

###Boards

Name	Parameters	Returns	Description
boards.create	Board object	Created board object	Used to create a new board object
boards.find	Board ID	Board object	Allows lookup of a board by its id
boards.byOldId	SMF board ID	Board object	Allows lookup of a board by its legacy SMF ID
boards.all	None	Array of all boards	Returns an array of all parent/child boards
boards.update	Modified board object	Modfied board object	Used to update a board
boards.delete	Board ID	Deleted board object	Flags a board as deleted
boards.purge	Board ID	Purged board object	Moves board to the deleted database
boards.import	Board object including SMF embedded object	Imported board object	Used to import legacy board objects

###Threads

Name	Parameters	Returns	Description
threads.create	Thread object	Created thread object	Used to create a new thread object
threads.find	Thread ID	Thread object	Allows lookup of a thread by its id
threads.byBoard	Board ID, Opts	Threads for a board	Allows lookup of threads by board id, opts can be passed in to grab a specific page or limit
threads.threadByOldId	SMF thread ID	Thread object	Allows for lookup of a thread by its legacy SMF ID
threads.update	Modified thread object	Modified thread object	Used to update a thread
threads.delete	Thread ID	Deleted thread object	Flags a thread as deleted
threads.purge	Thread ID	Purged thread object	Moves thread to the deleted database
threads.import	Thread object including SMF embedded object	Thread object	Used to import legacy thread objects

###Posts

Name	Parameters	Returns	Description
posts.insert	Post object	Created post object	Used to create a new post object
posts.find	Post ID	Post object	Allows lookup of a post by its id
posts.byThread	Thread ID, Opts	Posts for a thread	Allows lookup of posts by thread id, opts can be passed in to grab a specific page or limit
posts.postByOldId	SMF post ID	Post object	Allows for lookup of a post by its legacy SMF ID
posts.update	Modified post object	Modified post object	Used to update a post
posts.delete	Post ID	Deleted post object	Flags a post as deleted
posts.purge	Post ID	Purged post object	Moves post to the deleted database
posts.import	Post object including SMF embedded object	Post object	Used to import legacy post objects

###Users

Name	Parameters	Returns	Description
users.insert	User object	Created user object	Used to create a new user object
users.find	User ID	User object	Allows lookup of a user by their id
users.findByLegacyId	SMF user ID	User object	Allows for lookup of a user by their legacy SMF id
users.findByUsername	Username	User object	Allows for lookup of a user by their username
users.findByEmail	Email	User object	Allows for lookup of a user by their email
users.update	Modified user object	Modified user object	Used to update a user
users.delete	User ID	Deleted user object	Flags a user as deleted
users.purge	User ID	Purged user object	Moves user to the deleted database
users.import	User object including SMF embedded object	User object	Used to import legacy user objects

##TODO (Planned Changes) See our github issues flagged with the TODO Label

##License The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2014 EpochTalk

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.