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Overview

The Product Distribution Dashboard uses environment variables to configure database connections, external data sources, frontend integration, and scheduling. The application supports multiple Spring profiles (dev and prod) with profile-specific configurations.

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Spring Profiles

The active profile is controlled by the SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE environment variable: 
SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=dev  # Development profile
SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=prod # Production profile
Default profile is dev if not specified.

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Environment Variables Reference

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Core Application

VariableRequiredDefaultDescription
SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVENodevActive Spring profile (dev/prod)
PORTNo8080Server port for the backend application

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Database Configuration (Dev Profile)

VariableRequiredDefaultDescription
SPRING_DATASOURCE_URLYes-JDBC URL for PostgreSQL database
SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAMEYes-Database username
SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORDYes-Database password
Example (Dev): 
SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL=jdbc:postgresql://postgres:5432/product_distribution_db
SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME=product_distribution
SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD=product_distribution

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Database Configuration (Prod Profile)

VariableRequiredDefaultDescription
DATABASE_HOSTYes-PostgreSQL server hostname
DATABASE_PORTYes-PostgreSQL server port
DATABASE_NAMEYes-Database name
DATABASE_USERNAMEYes-Database username
DATABASE_PASSWORDYes-Database password
Example (Prod): 
DATABASE_HOST=prod-postgres.example.com
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=product_distribution_db
DATABASE_USERNAME=prod_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=secure_password
The production profile constructs the JDBC URL as: 
jdbc:postgresql://${DATABASE_HOST}:${DATABASE_PORT}/${DATABASE_NAME}?sslmode=require&reWriteBatchedInserts=true

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Frontend Integration

VariableRequiredDefaultDescription
APP_FRONTEND_URLYes-Frontend application URL for CORS configuration
Example: 
APP_FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:4200
This variable configures CORS to allow requests from your frontend application.

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External Data Sources

VariableRequiredDefaultDescription
DATA_PRODUCTS_URLNoGitHub raw URLURL for products JSON data
DATA_STORES_URLNoGitHub raw URLURL for stores JSON data
DATA_WAREHOUSES_URLNoGitHub raw URLURL for warehouses JSON data
Defaults: 
DATA_PRODUCTS_URL=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raulHerediaHorcajo/product-distribution/main/data/current/products.json
DATA_STORES_URL=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raulHerediaHorcajo/product-distribution/main/data/current/stores.json
DATA_WAREHOUSES_URL=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raulHerediaHorcajo/product-distribution/main/data/current/warehouses.json

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Scheduler Configuration

VariableRequiredDefault (Dev)Default (Prod)Description
SCHEDULER_DISTRIBUTION_CRONNo3 * * * * *0 0 2 * * *Cron expression for distribution scheduler
Dev Profile: Runs every minute at 3 seconds past the minute (for testing) Prod Profile: Runs daily at 2:00 AM Cron Expression Format: 
second minute hour day month weekday
Examples:
  • 0 0 2 * * * - Every day at 2:00 AM
  • 0 0 */6 * * * - Every 6 hours
  • 0 30 8 * * MON-FRI - Weekdays at 8:30 AM

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Docker Compose Configuration

When running with Docker Compose, the following environment variables are configured: 
services:
  backend:
    environment:
      SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE: dev
      SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL: jdbc:postgresql://postgres:5432/product_distribution_db
      SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME: product_distribution
      SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD: product_distribution
      APP_FRONTEND_URL: http://localhost:4200

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Profile-Specific Behavior

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Development Profile

  • Simple database URL configuration via SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL
  • Frequent scheduler execution (every minute) for testing
  • No SSL requirement for database connections

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Production Profile

  • Parameterized database connection (host, port, database name)
  • SSL required for database connections (sslmode=require)
  • Batch insert optimization enabled (reWriteBatchedInserts=true)
  • HikariCP connection pooling configured
  • Hibernate batch processing enabled
  • Daily scheduler execution at 2:00 AM
  • Server binds to all interfaces (0.0.0.0)

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Warehouse Selection Strategy

The warehouse selection strategy is configured in application.properties (not an environment variable): 
distribution.strategy.warehouse-selection=distanceWithToleranceStrategy
Available strategies:
  • distanceOnlyStrategy - Orders warehouses by distance only
  • distanceWithToleranceStrategy - Considers distance tolerance and product stock
See the Strategies page for detailed information.

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Environment Setup Examples

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Local Development

export SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=dev
export SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/product_distribution_db
export SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME=product_distribution
export SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD=product_distribution
export APP_FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:4200

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Production Deployment

export SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=prod
export DATABASE_HOST=prod-db.example.com
export DATABASE_PORT=5432
export DATABASE_NAME=product_distribution_db
export DATABASE_USERNAME=prod_user
export DATABASE_PASSWORD=${SECRET_DB_PASSWORD}
export APP_FRONTEND_URL=https://dashboard.example.com
export SCHEDULER_DISTRIBUTION_CRON="0 0 2 * * *"

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Validation

The application will fail to start if required environment variables are missing. Check the logs for error messages like: 
Could not resolve placeholder 'SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL' in value "${SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL}"
This indicates a missing required environment variable for the active profile.

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