[[TOC]]
= Simple Generic Location Tracking System =

S3 provides a simple generic location tracking system.

This is implemented in {{{models/03_sit.py}}} and {{{modules/s3/s3track.py}}} and can be applied to virtually all entities.

== Background ==

Location tracking means that an instance of an entity can have:

  - a base location
  - a current location X at time Y (a so-called "presence log" preserving all locations over time)

The tracking system provides the data model and an API to handle both cases.

== Base Location ==

The base location can be implemented for an entity by adding a field {{{location_id}}} to the table which references the {{{gis_location}}} table.

As this is a pre-defined re-usable field, simply add it to your model:

{{{
table = db.define_table(tablename,
                        ...
                        location_id(), # <= add this to give the entity a base location
                        ...)
}}}

== Presence Log ==

To capture the current location of an instance at several timepoints, you need to make your entity "trackable".

This can be done by defining {{{sit_trackable}}} as super-entity:

{{{
table = db.define_table(tablename,
                        ...
                        super_link(db.sit_trackable), # <= add the super-entity key
                        ...)

s3db.configure(table,
               super_entity=db.sit_trackable, # <= configure sit_trackable as super-entity
               ...)
}}}

There is no problem to have this together with other super-entities (the number of super-entities per table is not limited):

{{{
table = db.define_table(tablename,
                        ...
                        super_link(db.org_site),
                        super_link(db.sit_trackable),
                        ...)

s3db.configure(table,
               super_entity=(db.org_site, db.sit_trackable), # <= multiple allowed!
               ...)
}}}

== API ==

=== S3Trackable ===

The API uses a wrapper class for database records - {{{S3Trackable}}}.

You can create an S3Trackable by using the {{{s3tracker}}} function with the table and the record ID:
{{{
trackable = s3tracker(db.my_table, 1)
}}}

Instead of the table, you can specify the tablename:
{{{
trackable = s3tracker(tablename="my_table", record_id=1)
}}}

You can also specify a query:
{{{
query = (db.my_table.uuid == "9207324b-5dc6-439b-9410-8920cbaf8a34")
trackable = s3tracker(query=query)
}}}

or a record (must be a Row instance):
{{{
record = db(db.my_table.uuid == "9207324b-5dc6-439b-9410-8920cbaf8a34").select(limitby=(0, 1)).first()
trackable = s3tracker(record=record)
}}}

It is possible to specify multiple records for the same {{{S3Trackable}}}. If multiple records are specified or found, then they will be handled as '''one''' trackable object '''with multiple locations''', i.e. if you retrieve its location, you will get a list of locations back. If you update its location, all of its records will be updated the same way.

It is possible to specify a super-entity for an {{{S3Trackable}}}. In this case, the tracker will automatically find the respective records in the instance table(s) and use them instead:

{{{
trackable = s3tracker(db.pr_pentity, 1) # <= the super-entity is automatically replaced by the respective instance record (e.g. in pr_person)
}}}


=== Base Location ===

To retrieve the base location of an object, use {{{get_base_location()}}}:
{{{
base_location = s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).get_base_location()
}}}

This will return the full gis_location record(s) for the respective base location(s).

To set the base location of an object, use set_base_location():
{{{
s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).set_base_location(25) # <= use the record ID of a gis_location
}}}

Other ways to specify the location:
{{{
# Using a location record
location = db(db.gis_location.id == 25).select(limitby=(0, 1)).first()
s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).set_base_location(location)

# Using another object containing a location_id
hospital = db(db.hms_hospital.id == 3).select(limitby=(0, 1)).first()
s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).set_base_location(hospital)

# Using another trackable:
trackable = s3tracker(db.hms_hospital, 3)
s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).set_base_location(trackable)
}}}

=== Current location ===

When setting/retrieving the current location of an object, you can additionally specify a time point:
{{{
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
one_hour_ago = datetime.utcnow() - timedelta(hours=1)
location = s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).get_location(timestmp=one_hour_ago)
}}}

  NOTE: all times in the tracking system are considered to be in UTC!

To set a current location, you can use {{{set_location()}}}.
{{{
s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).set_location(25, timestmp=datetime.utcnow())
}}}

If you omit the {{{timestmp}}} parameter, then the current server time is used.

To specify the location, you have the same options in {{{set_location()}}} as in {{{set_base_location()}}}.

=== Check-in/out ===

It might be desirable to track one object together with another. For example, if a person is in a vehicle, and the vehicle's location changes, then the location of the person should change as well.

This can be achieved by using the {{{check_in()}}} and {{{check_out()}}} methods.

{{{
>>> s3tracker(db.vt_vehicle, 1).set_location(40) # <= set a current location for the vehicle
>>> s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).check_in(db.vt_vehicle, 1) # <= check in the person to the vehicle
>>> location = s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).get_location() # <= get the location of the person
>>> location.id
40
>>> s3tracker(db.vt_vehicle, 1).set_location(73) # <= set a new location for the vehicle
>>> location = s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).get_location() # <= get the location of the person
>>> location.id
73
>>> s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).check_out(db.vt_vehicle, 1) # <= check out the person from the vehicle
>>> s3tracker(db.vt_vehicle, 1).set_location(21) # <= set a new location for the vehicle
>>> location = s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).get_location() # <= get the location of the person
>>> location.id
73
}}}

When you set the location of a checked-in object explicitly using {{{set_location()}}}, then the object will automatically be checked-out from wherever it has been checked-in before.

Both {{{check_in()}}} as well as {{{check_out()}}} accept the {{{timestmp}}} parameter to set the time of the check-in/out explicitly. If omitted, then the current server time is used.

If you specify a super-entity instance to check-in to, then the respective instance record will automatically be used:
{{{
s3tracker(db.pr_person, 1).check_in(db.org_site, 4) # <= checks-in the person to the respective org_site instance, i.e. hospital or office...
}}}

=== Additional Options ===

When retrieving locations by {{{get_location()}}} or {{{get_base_location()}}}, you can specify additional parameters for the result:

  - '''_fields''' (list/tuple of {{{Field}}} instances) to select fields from {{{gis_location}}} ({{{None}}} for ALL)
  - '''_filter''' ({{{Query}}} instance) to filter the gis_location records
  - '''as_rows''' (boolean) return the result as {{{Rows}}} object (work like a DAL {{{select()}}})

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[wiki:S3 S3 Guide]

BluePrint/Tracking

DeveloperGuidelines