django-djaffar 0.1.10

An asynchronous user activity tracking API for Django.

Djaffar: asynchronous user activity tracking for Django
=======================================================

|Build Status| |PyPI version|

Want to keep track of what your users do even when they don't hit the
server? Set up Djaffar on the server and make a request to the client
API to log user activity to the database, including URI path, user name,
browser session, IP address and user agent.

Requirements
------------

- Django (1.8, 1.9, 1.10)
- Django Rest Framework (3.3, 3.4, 3.5)

Installation
------------

Install with ``pip``:

::

pip install django-djaffar

Add Djaffar to your project (typically in ``settings.py``):

.. code:: python

INSTALLED_APPS = [
...
'djaffar',
]

Specify the URL that will be used to hit Djaffar (typically in
``urls.py``):

.. code:: python

from django.conf.urls import url, include

urlpatterns = [
...
url(r'^djaffar/', include('djaffar.urls')),
]

Make sure the authentication classes you use for your users are
specified in the Django Rest Framework settings (typically in
``settings.py``):

.. code:: python

REST_FRAMEWORK = {
'DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES': (
...
'path.to.AuthenticationClass',
)
}

Run the database migration:

::

$ python manage.py migrate djaffar

Client API
----------

When sending a POST request to Djaffar to log activity, you should care
about the following properties:

+----------------+------------+-------+---------+----------+--------+
| Property name | Mandatory | Type | Format | Example | Usage |
+================+============+=======+=========+==========+========+
| ``date`` | Yes | Form | ISO | ``2016-1 | Date |
| | | data | 8601 | 2-29T07: | and |
| | | | | 35:22.57 | time |
| | | | | 1Z`` | when |
| | | | | | the |
| | | | | | log |
| | | | | | reques |
| | | | | | t |
| | | | | | is |
| | | | | | initia |
| | | | | | ted. |
+----------------+------------+-------+---------+----------+--------+
| ``path`` | No | Form | - | ``users/ | URL |
| | | data | | me/cart/ | path |
| | | | | `` | taken |
| | | | | | by the |
| | | | | | user. |
| | | | | | If not |
| | | | | | specif |
| | | | | | ied, |
| | | | | | the |
| | | | | | refere |
| | | | | | r |
| | | | | | *from |
| | | | | | the |
| | | | | | reques |
| | | | | | t |
| | | | | | header |
| | | | | | s* |
| | | | | | (not |
| | | | | | the |
| | | | | | ``refe |
| | | | | | rer`` |
| | | | | | form |
| | | | | | data |
| | | | | | proper |
| | | | | | ty) |
| | | | | | will |
| | | | | | be |
| | | | | | used |
| | | | | | in |
| | | | | | place. |
+----------------+------------+-------+---------+----------+--------+
| ``referer`` | No | Form | - | ``https: | URL of |
| | | data | | //www.go | the |
| | | | | ogle.com | page |
| | | | | /`` | the |
| | | | | | user |
| | | | | | comes |
| | | | | | from |
| | | | | | (if |
| | | | | | any). |
+----------------+------------+-------+---------+----------+--------+

Examples
~~~~~~~~

Basic log
^^^^^^^^^

Request Djaffar to log an activity with the current date:

.. code:: javascript

var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('POST', '/djaffar/log/', true);
xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
xhr.send('date=' + new Date().toISOString());

URL fragments
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If your client app relies on URL fragments for navigation, you'll need
to manually set the ``path`` parameter when you hit Djaffar:

.. code:: javascript

...
xhr.send(... + '&path=' + (window.location.href.split('#')[1] || '/'))

User authentication
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

- If you use session-based authentication, the cookie is automatically
set in the request headers by your browser.
- But if you use token-based authentication, you'll need to set the
token in the request headers, like so:

.. code:: javascript

...
xhr.setRequestHeader('Authorization', 'Bearer F2naN20HpDv4tsJC0b1OhQZVDwRiEy');
xhr.send(...)

Retrieving activity logs
------------------------

Logs are stored as instances of the ``Activity`` model (in
``djaffar.models``) and have the following properties:

+-------------------+--------------+-------------------+
| Model field name | Description | Model field type |
+===================+==============+===================+
| ``user`` | Instance of | ``ForeignKey`` |
| | the ``User`` | |
| | model if | |
| | authenticate | |
| | d, | |
| | ``None`` | |
| | otherwise | |
+-------------------+--------------+-------------------+
| ``session`` | User browser | ``ForeignKey`` |
| | session, | |
| | instance of | |
| | the | |
| | ``Session`` | |
| | model | |
+-------------------+--------------+-------------------+
| ``ip_address`` | User IP | ``CharField`` |
+-------------------+--------------+-------------------+
| ``date`` | User | ``DateTimeField`` |
| | activity | |
| | date and | |
| | time | |
+-------------------+--------------+-------------------+
| ``path`` | User | ``CharField`` |
| | activity | |
| | path | |
+-------------------+--------------+-------------------+
| ``referer`` | User | ``CharField`` |
| | activity | |
| | referer | |
+-------------------+--------------+-------------------+

.. figure:: https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/5841a8e7863eaf470b1e5d57/585d6cb3d8336749a4162b7f/c6717d6623b04b3f791718c88e9f21a1/Screen_Shot_2016-12-27_at_10.15.08.png
:alt: Accessing logs from the Django shell

Accessing logs from the Django shell

Djaffar also adds the ``SessionInfo`` model, linked to the ``Session``
model through a foreign key, with the following properties:

+--------------------+-------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Model field name | Description | Model field type |
+====================+=====================================+====================+
| ``user_agent`` | User agent of the browser session | ``CharField`` |
+--------------------+-------------------------------------+--------------------+

You can get JSON dumps of the activity logs and the session info with
Django's standard ``dumpdata`` command:

::

python manage.py dumpdata djaffar.Activity --indent=2 > djaffar-activity.json
python manage.py dumpdata djaffar.SessionInfo --indent=2 > djaffar-sessioninfo.json

Appendix
--------

About sessions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Djaffar uses `Django
sessions <https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.10/topics/http/sessions/>`__
to keep track of browser sessions when logging user activity. Depending
on settings, sessions either expire when the user closes their browser
or after a given age (see `Browser-length sessions vs. persistent
sessions <https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.10/topics/http/sessions/#browser-length-vs-persistent-sessions>`__).

Whether your app uses session-based user authentication or not, Djaffar
uses session (and the associated user agent) for two reasons:

- Allowing you to distinguish between anonymous visitors
- Allowing you to distinguish between visits by the same authenticated
user through various devices

Tests
-----

Run tests (``tests/tests.py``) against the supported versions of Python
and the required packages, as listed in ``tox.ini``:

::

tox

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:target: https://travis-ci.org/arnaudrenaud/django-djaffar
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