View Box files

Description

This sample use Model Derivative API to translate Box files into Viewer. The front-end will look like:

Technologies overview

1. Languages: JavaScript,
2. Forge: Viewer, Buckets-Api, Objects-Api, model-derivative
3. Technologies/frameworks: Express.js, jQuery, jstree.js, request.js, moment.js, nodemon
4. Other APIs: oAuth2, box-node-sdk

Live version

See it live at forgeboxviewer.herokuapp.com.

Industry background

As the data can be anywhere, and a very common scenario is to use generic data storage, like Box, to store personal or business files, share between employees and manage versions. With Forge you can view these files implementing a transparent viewing approach, as demonstrated in this sample. On specific cases, the Box connection can be replaced with other or with a company local storage.

Prerequisites

Working on this application touch both server and client sides.
For Basic use for presentation purposes, you will need knowledge about: Node.js, REST Api, on back-end and HTML, jQuery, Ajax on front-end.
For develop more complex application you certainly need knowledge about: Forge-SDK (Forsge-Api), Forge Derivatives-Api, JS Promises, Oauth Authentication.

Setup

For using this sample, you need an Autodesk developer credentials. Visit the Forge Developer Portal, sign up for an account, then create an app. For this new app, use http://localhost:3000/api/forge/callback/oauth as Callback URL. Finally take note of the Client ID and Client Secret.

You also need a Box Developer credentials:

1. Visit the Box Developer, for Log in or Sign up.
2. Go to Create a Box Application.
3. Select Custom App and Standard OAuth 2.0 (User Authentication)
4. For this new app, use http://localhost:3000/api/box/callback/oauth as redirect_uri.
5. Finally, take note of the client_id and client_secret, or copy them directly to your configuration

Run locally

Install NodeJS.

Clone this project or download it. It's recommended to install GitHub desktop. To clone it via command line, use the following (Terminal on MacOSX/Linux, Git Shell on Windows):

git clone https://github.com/autodesk-forge/model.derivative-nodejs-box.viewer

To run it, install the required packages, set the environment variables with your client ID & secret and finally start it. Via command line, navigate to the folder where this repository was cloned and use the following:

Mac OSX/Linux (Terminal)

npm install
export FORGE_CLIENT_ID=<<YOUR CLIENT ID FROM FORGE DEVELOPER PORTAL>>
export FORGE_CLIENT_SECRET=<<YOUR FORGE CLIENT SECRET>>
export BOX_CLIENT_ID=<<YOUR CLIENT ID FROM BOX DEVELOPER>>
export BOX_CLIENT_SECRET=<<YOUR BOX CLIENT SECRET>>
npm run dev

Windows (use Node.js command line from Start menu)

npm install
set FORGE_CLIENT_ID=<<YOUR CLIENT ID FROM FORGE DEVELOPER PORTAL>>
set FORGE_CLIENT_SECRET=<<YOUR FORGE CLIENT SECRET>>
set BOX_CLIENT_ID=<<YOUR CLIENT ID FROM BOX DEVELOPER>>
set BOX_CLIENT_SECRET=<<YOUR BOX CLIENT SECRET>>
npm run dev

Open the browser: http://localhost:3000.

Important: do not use npm start locally, this is intended for PRODUCTION only with HTTPS (SSL) secure cookies.

Deploy on Heroku

To deploy this application to Heroku, the Callback URL & redirect_uri must use your .herokuapp.com address. After clicking on the button below, at the Heroku Create New App page, set your Client ID & Secret and the correct callback URL.

Watch this video on how deploy this sample to Heroku.

Packages used

All Autodesk Forge NPM packages are included by default, see complete list of what's available at NPM website. OAuth, Model Derivative and OSS are used. Box SDK for NodeJS is box-node-sdk. Some other non-Autodesk packaged are used, including express and its session/cookie middlewares (express-session and cookie-parser) for user session handling. The front-end uses bootsrap and jquery.

Tips & tricks

For local development/testing, consider use nodemon package, which auto restart your node application after any modification on your code. To install it, use:

sudo npm install -g nodemon

Then, instead of npm run dev, use the following:

npm run nodemon

Which executes nodemon server.js --ignore www/, where the --ignore parameter indicates that the app should not restart if files under www folder are modified.

Troubleshooting

After installing Github desktop for Windows, on the Git Shell, if you see a error setting certificate verify locations error, use the following:

git config --global http.sslverify "false"

License

This sample is licensed under the terms of the MIT License. Please see the LICENSE file for full details.

Written by

Augusto Goncalves, Vadym Kuzin (Forge Partner Development)
http://forge.autodesk.com