pdfViewer

PDF file view with upload, delete and thumbnail generation functionality

Change database and other settings in .env.example and rename it to .env (REMEMBER THAT IT IS A HIDDEN FILE)

Please run following commands:

composer install

composer dump-autoload

php artisan key:generate

php artisan storage:link

To run server run command:

php artisan serve

To create this app I chose to use Laravel because I am more familiar with it.

The app has following functions:

• Add new document
• Automatically generated thumbnail
• Every new document appears at the end of the thumbnails list
• Document name appears when hovering over thumbnail
• Document opens in full screen modal and is in browsers pdf viewer with all the options for pdf files
• Delete a document

The app uses MySQL as its database and bootstrap for frontend, the code is PSR-2 valid and this repository has StyleCI and Scrutinizer connected to it

Under the hood:

1. Routes
   • GET routes on '/' and '/documents' that opens all documents view (DocumentsController@index)
   • POST route on '/documents' that is used for document upload (DocumentsController@create)
   • DELETE route on '/documents/{document}' that is used for deleting documents (DocumentsController@destroy)
2. DocumentsController
   • ThumbnailGenerationService is passed in constructor, which allows it to be changed at will
   • In index function pagination is set and it returns all documents view with documents array
   • Create function accepts request as its argument, stores the file, creates a Document model and asks ThumbnailGeneratorService to generate the thumbnail. After that Document model is saved, put in database table 'documents' and the user is redirected to all documents view
   • Destroy function accepts Document model as its argument and deletes it, the user once again is redirected to all documents view
3. Document model
   • In document model all fillable parameters are set
   • In boot its said to delete associated files when document model is being deleted
   • Functions getDocumentUrl and getThumbnailUrl return URLs for use in blade view
4. ThumbnailGenerationService
   • It accepts Document model and files hash name
   • Both document file and target paths are being declared
   • Using Imagick package thumbnail is being generated and the settings are optimized for best quality with less file size
   • This function is made in a way that it loads only the first page of the document which is much faster than the most other already made solutions and packages available online
   • Path of thumbnail is returned for further use in DocumentsController
5. Documents view
   • I used bootstrap for styling as well my own styles that are all written at the end of the file
   • To pass the document to modal I used JQuery
   • The upload button is made in a way that if document is selected, its uploaded instantly and there are no other inputs necessary from the user
   • Documents array contents are displayed using a for loop
   • On hover over thumbnail documents original name is displayed
   • Pagination is done in DocumentsController using Laravels simplePaginate
   • Document delete function is a form with a button that calls for DocumentsController destroy function
   • Until 1200px screen width thumbnails have their original width
   • Until 992px screen width thumbnails are a little less width than original
   • Until 768px screen width thumbnails are about half of their original width
   • Until 574px screen width thumbnails are wider but only in one column
   • After 574px screen width thumbnails are resized according to screen width