README.md

Shorty

A simple URL shortening library written in Rust. The library can be used with your hosting solution to redirect users to the desired URL.

Installation

To install the crate run

cargo add --git https://github.com/waduhek/shorty

Usage

Database setup

The database used by shorty will have to be setup. So before proceeding any further, make sure you have the environment variables mentioned in sample.env available. Also make sure that the database is created in you MongoDB instance.

Now, run the following function at least once to setup the indexes and the collections required by shorty.

use shorty::setup_db;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), String> {
    setup_db().await?;
}

Shortening URLs

Now that the database is ready to go, you are ready to shorten the URLs of your choice. Call the following function to shorten a URL.

use shorty::create_url;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), &'static str> {
    let short_id = create_url("https://example.com").await?;
    println!("Shortened URL to ID: {short_id}");
    Ok(())
}

Lengthening URLs

Once shortened, you can fetch the full URL from the short ID. If the short ID was found, the function will increment the view count and return the full URL.

use shorty::get_url;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), &'static str> {
    let full_url = get_url("test_url_id").await?;

    // `full_url` will be `None` if the URL was not found.
    let full_url = full_url.unwrap();
    println!("Full URL is: {full_url}");
    Ok(())
}

CLI Usage

Cloning and Building

To use the CLI, first clone the repository using:

git clone https://github.com/waduhek/shorty.git

Then build the binary using:

cargo build --bin shorty

Running

The binary provides 2 commands viz. shorten and lengthen. shorten command requires a valid URL to shorten. Currently the only protocols accepted are HTTP and HTTPS. The lengthen command takes the short ID and returns the full URL corresponding to the short ID.

Shorten a URL using the CLI

To shorten a URL run:

cargo run -- shorten https://example.com

The short ID will be printed as the output.

Lengthen a URL using the CLI

To lengthen a URL run:

cargo run -- lengthen abcdAd321

The URL will be printed as the output. If the provided short ID was not found, not found will be printed as the output with a return code 1.