Code Structure & Contributions

Want to contribute to SWAT+ Editor development? Please consult with Jaclyn Tech before development begins to ensure feasibility as well as lack of conflicts or repeated efforts. General bug fixes are welcome.

As described on the home page of this documentation, there are two programming languages used in the editor: Python for all business operations, and Javascript/Typescript with Vue.js for the user interface.

Back-end Organization

Connectivity between the Vue.js front-end and Python back-end for simple database CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations are compiled into the swatplus_rest_api. The code for this is located in /src/api/rest and uses the Flask framework.

Longer-running data processing actions such as weather imports, file writing, and reading output are compiled into swatplus_api. The code for this is located in /src/api/actions. This section is reserved for any process that is too long for a simple web request that is handled in the swatplus_rest_api. For more information about using the swatplus_api in your own coding projects, read the Programmatic Access documentation.

Front-end Organization

There are multiple aspects to the front-end development. SWAT+ Editor is developed using web framework technology, so the GUI is given to the user with HTML, CSS, and Javascript. In order to compile this into a desktop application, the Electron package is used.

Connectivity to Electron is located in /src/main, while the Vue.js application resides in /src/renderer.

Pull Requests

Pull requests should target the dev branch and not the main. All changes and current developments within SWAT+ Editor reside in the dev branch, so if you target the main you may already be behind and have to resolve conflicts.