Architecture of CHT Instances
Overview
Server side
CouchDB
A free and open source NoSQL database we use to store all our data, configuration, and even the application code. CouchDB is really good at replication which is the process of sending the data to another database and back again. See more at the CouchDB site.
api
A NodeJS service which runs on the server as a wrapper around CouchDB. It provides security and APIs for browsers and integrations. It also includes a custom implementation of filtered replication to allow it to support more concurrent users. See more at the Medic API site on Github.
sentinel
Another NodeJS service running on the server, sentinel performs actions called transitions every time a document in CouchDB is added or modified. Some examples are validations, generating scheduled messages, automatic responses, creating patients, and sending alerts. See more at the Medic Sentinel site on Github.
PostgreSQL
A free and open source SQL database that we use for analytics queries for display in tools like klipfolio. We created a library called couch2pg to replicate data from CouchDB into PostgreSQL. See more at the PostgreSQL site.
Client side
cht-core
cht-core is composed of the following web applications:
CHT Web Application
The CHT Web Application is used by Community Health Workers and provides a large variety of features.
View the source code in our GitHub repository.
Technology
The CHT Web Application is reactive, responsive and a single page application built with Angular and NgRx frameworks. Additionally, it uses the following technology:
| Technology | Usage |
|---|---|
| PouchDB | To implement an offline first strategy which means the data is stored on the client and all pages can load immediately regardless of whether the user has a fast connection, slow connection, or no connection at all. The data is stored in PouchDB which replicates changes back and forth in the background with the server CouchDB. |
| Enketo | To render configured xforms and help with styling and dynamic elements such as show/hide and validation rules. |
| Nools | A rules engine to compute the upcoming tasks and monthly targets of the users. |
| Ngx-Bootstrap | To integrate Bootstrap components in the Angular application. |
| Ngx-translate | To automatically translate the labels from a Angular application. Read more about how to configure translations. |
| Karma | A test runner for unit tests |
| MochaJS | A test framework to run the unit tests |
| Protractor | To run the e2e tests |
| Less | A CSS preprocessor |
Structure
The CHT Web Application has the following high level structure:
- /js: Contains the vanilla JavaScript scripts, for example: Enketo widgets, MomentJS locales, etc.
- /ts: Contains the Angular application source code which uses TypeScript.
- /actions, /effects, /reducers and /selectors: Contain the implementation for the application’s reactive state which uses NgRx framework.
- /components, /directives, /pipes, /providers and /services: Contain the reusable elements from Angular framework.
- /modals: Contains the all application’s modals components.
- /modules: Contains the application’s modules, each of them has components that are associated to the modules’ routing.
- /css: Contains the style files. It uses Less as a CSS preprocessor.
- /fonts: Contains the fonts.
- /img: Contains the static images.
App Management
App Management is an interface for non-technical administrative users to manage users and settings.
View the application source code in our GitHub repository.
Technology
App Management is a single page application built with AngularJS framework and implements Redux to manage a reactive state. Additionally, it uses the following technology:
| Technology | Usage |
|---|---|
| Angular Translate | To automatically translate the labels from a AngularJS application. Read more about how to manage translations. |
| Karma | A test runner for unit tests |
| MochaJS | A test framework to run the unit tests |
| Protractor | To run the e2e tests |
| Less | A CSS preprocessor |
Structure
- /css: Contains style files. It uses Less as a CSS preprocessor.
- /js: Contains the JavaScript code.
- /template: Contains the HTML templates that are used in the AngularJS components and directives.
medic-android
medic-android application works in the browser or wrapped in the medic-android app which allows for project branding, sets the project URL, and hides browser elements like the URL bar.
Other applications
medic-gateway
Medic Gateway is an android app for sending and receiving SMS messages. Each SMS enabled project has one gateway running. It polls an api endpoint to write incoming SMS into the CouchDB and retrieve outgoing SMS to send.
medic-collect
medic-collect is an android app based on Open Data Kit to render xforms on the phone and send reports in to medic-gateway over SMS or directly to api over mobile data.
cht-conf
cht-conf is a command line utility for uploading configuration and bulk importing of records.
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