Architecture Overview
cBioPortal consists of the following components:
- backend written in Java.
- MySQL database that the backend uses
- validator which checks file formats before importing data into the database.
- frontend built with React, Mobx and Bootstrap.
- session service for storing user saved data such as virtual studies and groups
- Mongo database which session service uses
Backend
The backend is written in Java and connects to a MySQL database to serve a REST API following the OpenAPI specification (https://www.cbioportal.org/api/). Note that the repo where this lives in (https://github.com/cBioPortal/cbioportal) also contains Java classes to import data as well as the validator.
Validator
The
validator
checks file formats before importing data into the database. There is a wrapper
script metaImport.py that validates the data and subsequently calls the
relevant Java classes to import the data.
Session Service
The session service is used for storing user saved data such as virtual studies and groups. See the tutorials section to read more about these features. Session service is a Java app that serves a REST API backed by a Mongo database. The session service is served as a proxy through the cBioPortal backend REST API. The backend is therefore the only component that needs to be able to connect to it. The frontend does not connect to it directly.
Frontend
The frontend is a single page app built with React, Mobx and Bootstrap. The data gets pulled from the backend REST API. The frontend is by default included with the backend so no extra setup is required.