Design Backend Comms Model for Proof of Concept

[DanBurkhardt]

Front end iOS is basically ready to be modularized and connected to backend.

Scaling down the backend as much as possible, I think the basic components are:

• Firebase DB table with a unique “group ID” (standing in for the idea of a known user group, such as students of the same class)
• Firebase functions API that accepts and stores a user’s local IP address in a table that is stored under the user’s user ID key in the group table
• Firebase API that returns an array containing everyone’s local IP but the requestor.

On the iOS side

• Create IP storage function that calls the API with the local IP
• Create another function that queries for the groups IP array
• Build function to handle response from API, iterating through the array of IPs, pinging each one two or three times, recording results.
• Some kind of object that contains the results that updates with the success or failure of each ping
• some kind of print of the result object to logs

Demo plan

• Multiple devices running same app
• Fire each one up, associate with the same group ID
• Button or timer to begin the process of discovery. Automated at a later date, manual for now.