Markdown Note-taking App

This is a simple Markdown Note-taking application built in Java with Spring Boot. It allows users to upload, save, render, and check the grammar of Markdown notes.

Features

• Save Notes: Users can save notes as Markdown text, providing a title and optional tags.
• Upload Markdown Files: Supports uploading notes directly as Markdown files.
• List Notes: Provides an endpoint to list all saved notes (titles and metadata).
• Render Markdown to HTML: Renders the Markdown content of a note into HTML for display.
• Grammar Check: Integrates with the LanguageTool Plus API to check the grammar of notes.
• Search: Allows searching notes by title or content.
• Tagging and Categorization: Notes can be tagged for categorization.
• User Authentication: Basic user registration and login for note security.
• Pagination: Implemented pagination for listing notes, especially useful for a large number of notes.
• Modern UI: Enhanced user interface using Tailwind CSS for a clean and responsive design, including animations and improved UX.
• Markdown Editor: Integrated SimpleMDE Markdown editor for a better writing experience.

Technologies Used

• Java: Programming language for backend development.
• Spring Boot: Framework for building the RESTful API and application backend.
• Spring Data JPA: For database interaction and simplified data access.
• H2 Database: In-memory database for development and testing.
• Spring Security: For user authentication and authorization.
• Spring Web: For building RESTful web services.
• Thymeleaf: Template engine for server-side rendering of HTML.
• CommonMark: Library for parsing and rendering Markdown.
• LanguageTool Plus API: External API for grammar checking.
• Tailwind CSS: Utility-first CSS framework for modern UI styling.
• SimpleMDE: Markdown editor library for the frontend.
• Maven: Build automation and dependency management tool.
• Lombok: Java library to reduce boilerplate code (getters, setters, constructors, etc.).

Prerequisites

Before running the application, ensure you have the following installed:

• Java Development Kit (JDK) 17 or higher: Download from Oracle or OpenJDK.
• Maven: Download and install from Apache Maven.

Setup and Run Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [repository_url]
   cd markdown-note-app

   (Replace [repository_url] with the actual URL of your Git repository if you are using one).

2. Download SimpleMDE Files:

   You need to manually download simplemde.min.css and simplemde.min.js and place them in the src/main/resources/static/ directory. You can download them from:

   • CDNJS or
   • SimpleMDE Website

3. Build and Run the Application:

   Navigate to the project directory in your terminal and run the following Maven command:

   mvn spring-boot:run

   This will compile the project, download dependencies, and start the Spring Boot application.

4. Access the Application:

   Once the application has started, open your web browser and go to:

   http://localhost:8080/
   

   You will be redirected to the login page. You can register a new user or log in if you have already registered.

API Usage Examples

After running the application, you can use the following endpoints:

Register User:

• URL: http://localhost:8080/register (GET - to view form, POST - to submit registration)
• Method: POST
• Request Body (form data):
  • username: Desired username.
  • password: Desired password.

Login:

• URL: http://localhost:8080/login (GET - to view form, POST - to submit login)
• Method: POST
• Request Body (form data):
  • username: Your registered username.
  • password: Your password.

Save Note (Text Content):

• URL: http://localhost:8080/notes/save-text
• Method: POST
• Request Body (form data):
  • title: Title of the note.
  • content: Markdown text content of the note.
  • tags (optional): Comma-separated tags.

Save Note (File Upload):

• URL: http://localhost:8080/notes/save-file
• Method: POST
• Request Body (multipart/form-data):
  • file: Markdown file to upload.
  • title: Title of the note.
  • tags (optional): Comma-separated tags.

List Notes:

• URL: http://localhost:8080/notes
• Method: GET
• Parameters (optional):
  • page: Page number for pagination (default 0).
  • size: Number of notes per page (default 10).
  • search: Search term to filter notes by title or content.

Get Note HTML (Rendered):

• URL: http://localhost:8080/notes/{id}/html
• Method: GET
• Path Parameter:
  • {id}: ID of the note to render.

Check Grammar:

• URL: http://localhost:8080/notes/{id}/grammar-check
• Method: POST
• Path Parameter:
  • {id}: ID of the note to check grammar for.

(Note: You will need to be logged in to access the /notes/** endpoints.)