Search for legislation using the Legiscan API and add them to a collection to keep track of them!

This project is currently hosted on Firebase! You can access the project with the link in the description or visit it here.

Note: Instructions for using the application can be found at the bottom of of this document.

1. Users should be able to search for specific state legislation
2. Users should be able to collect legislation in a list
3. Users should be able to check for updates on collected Legislation

This project was made using the following technologies:

• Angular 6 - Front-end framework
• Bootstrap - For styles and responsiveness
• Firebase - Cloud FireStore: database and useraAuthentication
• Legiscan API - For retrieving legislation information

This was a project to test an the API for a website I use for my work. Rather than subscribing to the service, I wanted to see if I could make a single page application that would let a user view all the legislation they're following in one place, rather than navigating to each page page individually for updated information.

The project does what I'd hoped and lets you collect legislation and any information you may need from it. This was just to get an idea of what information can be retrieved from the API. Unfortunately, the process for finding codes for legislation across states takes some time. But with some initial setup, this could be save a lot of time in gathering that kind of information.

• Handling HTTP requests and using that to capture the information you need can be really handy! Make sure to test the API to see if it has the kind of information you need before you start planning around it!

• Getting familiar with an APIs documentation can be pretty tough! You should take some time to read through the documentation and get a general idea of what you can do! Sometimes you have to be a bit creative if the methods you find aren't exactly what you need. Learning how to combine the queries can be challenging but it's defintely worth it if you think you're close!

• Working with API keys! I've used a few other APIs that require keys and it can take some time to get them. That's the perfect time to make more plans for what you're building and checking if other APIs are available.

• The importance of initial setup. I think it should be easy for users to get started with an application. For this project, retrieving codes for each unique bill would require knowledge of the API and some digging to find what you need. For my next application, I want to make something that's easier for users to work with and wouldn't require too much knowledge for them to get started.

This project was generated with Angular CLI version 6.2.1.

Run ng serve for a dev server. Navigate to http://localhost:4200/. The app will automatically reload if you change any of the source files.

Run ng generate component component-name to generate a new component. You can also use ng generate directive|pipe|service|class|guard|interface|enum|module.

Run ng build to build the project. The build artifacts will be stored in the dist/ directory. Use the --prod flag for a production build.

Run ng test to execute the unit tests via Karma.

Run ng e2e to execute the end-to-end tests via Protractor.

To get more help on the Angular CLI use ng help or go check out the Angular CLI README.

Access the project hosted on firebase with this link. This will take you to the Legislation Search View!

You can also access this view using the Bill Search link in the navigation menu at the top. You can use this page to start searching for legislation, but you'll have to sign in or create an account to use the collecting and tracking features.

Use this test account to access the project:

Email: [email protected]
Password: testpw

Here's a list of sample identification numbers you can use to retrieve information on prior legislation with the search view:
ID: 789
ID: 794
ID: 264

In the Legislation Search view, under Bill Search, enter in one of the IDs above and its information will be displayed below, under Search Results.

In the results, there's an input field for category where you can add an optional category if it covers a specific topic you're interested in. Once you're finished, click the "Add to Collection" button. You'll then be navigated to the list view.

In the list view, you'll see each of the bills you've added to your collection with information such as the description, state, category, and action history showing where it is in the legislative process for that state!

Clicking the light blue "Edit Bill" button to the right of the Last Action for each bill will allow you to edit the Category, Action, and Action Date.

Below the Action History list, you'll see three buttons. Here's a description of what they do:

• Update Bill: Once you've checked the status then, if an update is available, you can apply that update to the listed bill and then some of the data will change.
• Check Status: Check if updates are available for the selected bill. This will check the latest information available in the API but that may not change very often. To test this feature manually, you can change the status using the light blue "Edit Bill" button next to last action for that bill by making a small change.
• Delete: Delete the bill from your collection.

Using these features, you'll be able to create a list of different legislation that you can access and maintain from a single page.