US9 - Backend functionality for "Resolved" feature

[ilong4rennes]

Summary

• Implemented full backend functionality for the "Mark as Resolved" button, covering API routing, controller updates, and database changes.
• Integrated frontend changes to display the resolved status with badges in the UI.
• A linter error related to theme dependencies caused GitHub checks to fail, but local tests passed and functionality is confirmed to work. SEE DETAILED EXPLANATION IN THE SECTION BELOW
• Group TA verified that the linter issue does not impact core functionality.
• Screenshots and further details are provided below.

What

This pull request introduces the full backend functionality for the new "Mark as Resolved" button, ensuring it interacts smoothly with the system's API, routes, and controllers.

Why

Completes issue #21 and #22, completes user story 9.

How

The implementation covers the following aspects:

1. Added API Routing: Added new API endpoints for the "resolve" functionality, allowing topics to be marked as resolved or unresolved.
2. Modifed Controllers: Updated topic controllers to handle the new resolve feature. Logic added to set the isResolved field in the database and trigger relevant events when a topic is marked as resolved or unresolved.
3. Added Database Field: Updated models to accommodate the resolved field.
4. Integration with Frontend: Made necessary adjustments to integrate the new backend functionality with the frontend UI, ensuring that when a topic is marked as resolved, it reflects correctly in the user interface with the appropriate badges and status updates.

Screenshot 1: Displaying the "Mark as Resolved" button in the UI

Screenshot 2: The topic marked as resolved, displaying the badge

Screenshot 3: Backend log confirming the status update

Testing

Automated tests are added in test/topics.js, testing (1) default topic as unresolved and (2) admin(instructor) should be able to mark topic as resolved.

Problems and Explanation

A linter error related to the front-end repository and themes caused the GitHub checks to fail, despite all local tests passing. After a thorough review and investigation, our group TA confirmed that this issue does not affect the core functionality. As demonstrated in the section above, the core functionality is working as expected. In the following section, I will provide a detailed explanation of the issue and its underlying causes.

Local tests passed:

Linter issue explanation:

The following error occurred:

Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/home/runner/work/nodebb-f24-the-turtles/nodebb-f24-the-turtles/node_modules/nodebb-theme-harmony/theme.json'

This was caused by modifying the front-end theme dependency in package.json:

"nodebb-theme-harmony": "file:../nodebb-frontend-f24-the-turtles"

This change links the theme to a local repository (link) where I developed the front-end changes. This error is difficult to avoid because it stems from linking a local repository, which bypasses the usual npm installation process that ensures all necessary files like theme.json are present.

[guanjiecheng]

Great work!

Just a stylistic thing, could remove console.logs before pushing code that's ready to be merged in that way when other people pull it they aren't confused about where the logs are coming from - especially if they didn't add them themselves!

[ilong4rennes]

Just a stylistic thing, could remove console.logs before pushing code that's ready to be merged in that way when other people pull it they aren't confused about where the logs are coming from - especially if they didn't add them themselves!

Thanks for the feedback! I've removed the console.log statements.