MP 4: PNG Microservice

Due Date: Completed and turned in via git before October 13, 2020 at 8:00am
Points: MP 4 is worth 25 points

Overview

Our next MP has you beginning to explore Python and beginning to work towards cloud-based services. Specifically, you will create a simple API on top of your mp2 program to create a web-based microservice that will extract a hidden GIF from a PNG image.

Initial Files

In your CS 240 directory, merge the initial starting files with the following commands:

git fetch release
git merge release/mp4 -m "Merging initial files"

Machine Problem

Complete the app.py program using the Python flask library to create a web-based service accepts a PNG file (as png in the POST data) via a HTTP POST request /extract:

  • If the PNG file has a hidden GIF image (as defined by mp2), the hidden GIF file is returned.
  • If the PNG file does not have a hidden GIF image (or is an invalid PNG file), an HTTP 500 response is returned with some useful status text.

Installing Python

If you do not already have Python installed, make sure to install the latest version of Python (ex: 3.8). Any distribution is fine; my personal favorite is miniconda. You may also need to install flask with conda install flask after installing miniconda.

Using flask

For this MP, the complete flask code is provided for you in the provided app.py:

from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)

# Route for "/" for a web-based interface to this microservice:
@app.route('/')
def index():
  return render_template("index.html")

# Extract a hidden "uiuc" GIF from a PNG image:
@app.route('/extract', methods=["POST"])
def extract_hidden_gif():
  # ...your code here...

To run this program, run:

  • python -m flask run (or python3 -m flask run on some systems, or just flask run) to launch your app.py flask server.
  • Follow the instructions on the console to view your microservice in your web browser.

Now you need to complete the extract_hidden_gif to make your microservice work! :)

Using Your MP2

As part of the extract_hidden_gif, you will need to use your mp2 png-extractGIF program. Relative to your flask server, this program should be located at ../mp2/png-extractGIF. You may want to verify that your png-extractGIF program is complete and functional by running the following commands from your mp4 directory:

  • Testing using a PNG with a hidden GIF: ../mp2/png-extractGIF sample/waf.png taylor.gif. (This should successfully save taylor.gif.)
  • Testing using a PNG without a uiuc chunk: ../mp2/png-extractGIF sample/no-uiuc-chunk.png nothing.gif. (This should run, not crash, and probably return a non-zero value from main.)

You may need to modify your MP2 program slightly to fix any bugs to ensure your program can work with your new microservice.

Useful Python Functions

There will be a few tasks you will need to complete in Python:

  • You will need to save the contents of the POST request (the .png file). I strongly recommended you save it within the temp directory in your MP4 folder with a unique file name. (The temp directory has been configured to be ignored by git via the provided .gitignore file.)

    • The contents of the data sent via POST is stored by flask in the variable request.files['png'].
    • You can find many examples of reading and writing files in Python via a search.

  • You will need to programmatically run your ../mp2/png-extractGIF program. To do this, you will likely use the python os.system function.

  • Once you have the GIF file saved, you will likely want to use flask’s send_file function to send the GIF file.

  • If anything goes wrong, you can return "Error Message", 500 to return an error (but change “Error Message” to something useful).

Testing Your Microservice

You can test your program in two different ways:

  1. By the command line, using curl to make a request to your web server: curl -f -o output.gif http://localhost:5000/extract -F "png=@sample/waf.png"

    • You can replace @sample/waf.png with another file. Ensure that you keep the @ symbol to tell curl to send the contents of the file.
    • You should inspect output.gif to ensure the extraction was successful.
    • Make sure that you get an error when sending it an invalid PNG file.
    • Make sure you also get an error when sending it a PNG file without a hidden uiuc chunk.

  2. Or, by using your web browser and visiting your flask server (ex: http://127.0.0.1:5000/).

Submit

When you have completed your program, double-check that your server runs as expected with a GIF image that has hidden data and a GIF image without hidden data. When you are ready, submit the code via the following git commands:

git add -A
git commit -m "MP submission"
git push origin master

You can verify your code was successfully submitted by viewing your git repo via the web interface here: https://github-dev.cs.illinois.edu/cs240-fa20