Create new system for users to sponsor queries

[mlissner]

I've heard from a number of organizations over the years that they want to sponsor particular queries. For example, once a week, say, they want to get the latest PACER content for a particular query on the PACER Case Locator (PCL). I've agreed with one of these organizations that this should be a free service since it gets content into our system thus furthering the FLP mission.

MoSCoW Analysis

MUST

• Allow the user to create, delete, and list periodic queries in the PCL via API request
  • [ ] Create a scraper/query tool for the PCL
  • [ ] Create an API endpoint with LIST, DELETE, and CREATE capabilities
• Allow the user to create one-time pulls of search results, allowing them to get historical search results too.
• Have a system for storing user credentials
  • [ ] Add a PACER password and PACER username field to the user profile table
• Allow users to tag anything purchased via these mechanisms with a tag of their choice.
• Have documentation of:
  • [ ] creation and deletion of PCL queries
  • [ ] When daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly queries actually run
• Allow daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly queries to be configured

SHOULD

• None

COULD

• Display the user's PCL queries in their profile
• Allow creation and deletion of PCL queries via the user profile
• Allow modification of PACER credentials via the user profile

WON'T

• Allow speeds faster than daily queries

• Use the user's CL password to encrypt their PACER credentials. This is great in concept, but it won't work for a service like this where we need to access the credentials on a regular basis without the user present.

• Use FLP's credentials and then send a bill. This is a nice way to do this because it'd avoid having to store the user's credentials. Unfortunately, it means that we'd have to have billing infrastructure, and money to spend on our PACER bills, and a lot of other messy stuff. Alas, unless this takes off and we have hundreds of sets of PACER credentials I don't suppose it's worth this complexity.

[mlissner]

First estimate is that this will be done in early Feb.