README
Help Microservice
This is a context help microservice from Pip.Services library. It provides context help to application users broken by topics and articles. Each help:
- Can be written in multiple languages
- Can include one or more blocks of content with title, text and a picture
- Supports editing lifecycle via status tracking
The microservice currently supports the following deployment options:
- Deployment platforms: Standalone Process, AWS Lambda
- External APIs: HTTP/REST, AWS Lambda
- Persistence: In-Memory, Flat Files, MongoDB
This microservice has dependencies on the following microservices:
- pip-services-attachments - to reference pictures and documents associates with help
- Download Links
- Development Help
- Configuration Help
- Deployment Help
- Client SDKs
- Communication Protocols
Contract
TODO: Rewrite documentation!
Logical contract of the microservice is presented below. For physical implementation (HTTP/REST, Thrift, Seneca, Lambda, etc.), please, refer to documentation of the specific protocol.
class HelpTypeV1 {
public static readonly Introduction = "introduction";
public static readonly NewRelease = "new release";
}
class HelpV1 implements IStringIdentifiable {
/* Identification */
public id: string;
public type: string;
public app?: string;
public version?: string;
/* Automatically managed fields */
public create_time: Date;
/* Content */
public pages: HelpPageV1[];
/* Search */
public tags?: string[];
public all_tags?: string[];
/* Status */
public status?: string;
/* Custom fields */
public custom_hdr?: any;
public custom_dat?: any;
}
class HelpPageV1 {
public title: MultiString;
public content?: MultiString;
public more_url?: string;
public color?: string;
public pic_id?: string;
public pic_url?: string;
}
class HelpStatusV1 {
public static readonly New = "new";
public static readonly Writing = "writing";
public static readonly Translating = "translating";
public static readonly Verifying = "verifying";
public static readonly Completed = "completed";
}
interface IHelpV1 {
getHelp(correlationId: string, filter: FilterParams, paging: PagingParams,
callback: (err: any, page: DataPage<HelpV1>) => void): void;
getRandomHelp(correlationId: string, filter: FilterParams,
callback: (err: any, help: HelpV1) => void): void;
getHelpById(correlationId: string, helpId: string,
callback: (err: any, help: HelpV1) => void): void;
createHelp(correlationId: string, help: HelpV1,
callback: (err: any, help: HelpV1) => void): void;
updateHelp(correlationId: string, help: HelpV1,
callback: (err: any, help: HelpV1) => void): void;
deleteHelpById(correlationId: string, helpId: string,
callback: (err: any, help: HelpV1) => void): void;
}
Download
Right now the only way to get the microservice is to check it out directly from github repository
git clone git@github.com:pip-services-content/pip-services-help-node.git
Pip.Service team is working to implement packaging and make stable releases available for your as zip downloadable archieves.
Run
Add config.yaml file to the root of the microservice folder and set configuration parameters. As the starting point you can use example configuration from config.example.yaml file.
Example of microservice configuration
---
- descriptor: "pip-services-commons:logger:console:default:1.0"
level: "trace"
- descriptor: "pip-services-help:persistence:file:default:1.0"
path: "./data/help.json"
- descriptor: "pip-services-help:controller:default:default:1.0"
- descriptor: "pip-services-attachments:client:http:default:1.0"
connection:
protocol: "http"
host: "0.0.0.0"
port: 8082
- descriptor: "pip-services-help:service:http:default:1.0"
connection:
protocol: "http"
host: "0.0.0.0"
port: 8080
For more information on the microservice configuration see Configuration Help.
Start the microservice using the command:
node run
Use
The easiest way to work with the microservice is to use client SDK. The complete list of available client SDKs for different languages is listed in the Quick Links
If you use Node.js then you should add dependency to the client SDK into package.json file of your project
{
...
"dependencies": {
....
"pip-clients-help-node": "^1.0.*",
...
}
}
Inside your code get the reference to the client SDK
var sdk = new require('pip-clients-help-node');
Define client configuration parameters that match configuration of the microservice external API
// Client configuration
var config = {
connection: {
protocol: 'http',
host: 'localhost',
port: 8080
}
};
Instantiate the client and open connection to the microservice
// Create the client instance
var client = sdk.HelpHttpClientV1(config);
// Connect to the microservice
client.open(null, function(err) {
if (err) {
console.error('Connection to the microservice failed');
console.error(err);
return;
}
// Work with the microservice
...
});
Now the client is ready to perform operations
// Create a new help
client.createHelp(
null,
{
type: 'introduction',
app: 'Test App 1',
pages: [
{
title: { en: 'Welcome to Test App 1' }
}
]
},
function (err, help) {
...
}
);
// Get a random intro help for app1
client.getRandomHelp(
null,
{
type: 'introduction',
app: 'app1'
},
function(err, help) {
...
}
);
Acknowledgements
This microservice was created and currently maintained by Sergey Seroukhov.