TwitterSweep

TwitterSweep is a Java Spring Boot and Javascript based Application that can stream live tweets from twitter based on given search conditions.

Introduction

TwitterSweep accepts search terms from the end-user and connects to twitter via Twitter API v2 to stream live tweets from twitter that match the search terms provided by the end-user. Search terms can either be the twitter username or certain keywords that may appear in the tweets being streamed. These search terms can be easily configured using the web app which allows for easy addition or removal of search terms.

Set Up

TwitterSweep is build using the Eclipse IDE. It is primarily written in Java v11 and hence requires JDK v11 to be installed on the system. TwitterSweep is a Maven project in Eclipse and hence requires the Eclipse IDE or any capable Java Development IDE that supports Maven projects such as Apache Netbeans, IntelliJ IDEA, etc for project configuration, building and running. Since TwitterSweep is build using Spring Boot, Spring Tools 4 can also be used.

• JDK v11: https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase-jdk11-downloads.html
• Eclipse IDE: https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/installer
• Spring Tools 4: https://spring.io/tools

Installation

• Import Maven Project To Eclipse

Select File > Import
Select Existing Maven Projects under Maven
Click Next
Click Browse and browse to the root directory of the maven project where pom.xml is located
Select pom.xml and Click Finish

• Configure OAuth 2.0

TwitterSweep uses Twitter API v2 to gain access to twitter and stream tweets in realtime. This requires authentication using OAuth 2.0 which users a Bearer Token for authorization. Once an app is registered on the twitter API and a Bearer Token is received, it can be added to application.settings file under src/main/resources
The application.settings file contains a property twitter.authorization.bearer to configure the bearer token.
Add bearer token as follows twitter.authorization.bearer=$, where $ must be replaced by the bearer token.

• Configure MAX_TWEETS

The app.js file under src/main/resources/static contains a javascript constant MAX_TWEETS which accepts a positive integer that controls the maximum no. of tweets being displayed in the web app.
MAX_TWEETS>=1

• Build and Run

Once the above steps are complete, the project needs to be build and run.
Click on the Run icon or press ctrl + F11 to build and run the application.

• Open the Web App

Open any browser such as Goggle Chrome or Mozilla Firefox and type localhost:8080 in the search bar and hit Enter.

Web App Usage

• Configure Search

TwitterSweep Web App contains a search configurator which consists of two search bars which allow for addition and deletion of search terms.
The search bar on the left is used to configure twitter usernames and the one on the right is used to configure keywords.
To add a search term, simply type it in the corresponding search bar and press the Add button or hit Enter. The search term will be added and displayed below the corresponding search bar.
To remove a search term, simply hover the mouse pointer over it until X turns from blue to red and left click to remove it.

• START and STOP

TwitterSweep consists of two buttons START and STOP.
Press START to start streaming live tweets from twitter.
Press STOP to stop streaming.
NOTE: If no search terms are configured, but stream was started, then no tweets will be recieved.
Search terms can also be configured while streaming.