Allow adding spots. Convert timestamps in the API to UNIX seconds. #2

core/utils.py

@@ -150,9 +150,7 @@ def infer_mode_from_frequency(freq):
 
 
 # Convert objects to serialisable things. Used by JSON serialiser as a default when it encounters unserializable things.
-# Converts datetimes to ISO.
+# Just converts objects to dict. Try to avoid doing anything clever here when serialising spots, because we also need
-# Anything else it tries to convert to a dict.
+# to receive spots without complex handling.
 def serialize_everything(obj):
-    if isinstance(obj, datetime):
-        return obj.isoformat()
     return obj.__dict__

data/spot.py

@@ -57,12 +57,16 @@ class Spot:
     freq: float = None
     # Band, defined by the frequency, e.g. "40m" or "70cm"
     band: str = None
-    # Time of the spot
+    # Time of the spot, UTC seconds since UNIX epoch
-    time: datetime = None
+    time: float = None
-    # Time that this software received the spot. This is used with the "since_received" call to our API to receive all
+    # Time of the spot, ISO 8601
-    # data that is new to us, even if by a quirk of the API it might be older than the list time the client polled the
+    time_iso: str = None
-    # API.
+    # Time that this software received the spot, UTC seconds since UNIX epoch. This is used with the "since_received"
-    received_time: datetime = datetime.now(pytz.UTC)
+    # call to our API to receive all data that is new to us, even if by a quirk of the API it might be older than the
+    # list time the client polled the API.
+    received_time: float = None
+    # Time that this software received the spot, ISO 8601
+    received_time_iso: str = None
     # Comment left by the spotter, if any
     comment: str = None
     # Special Interest Group (SIG), e.g. outdoor activity programme such as POTA
@@ -96,9 +100,20 @@ class Spot:
         # Always create a GUID
         self.guid = str(uuid.uuid4())
 
-        # If we somehow don't have a time, set it to some far past value so it sorts at the bottom of the list
+        # If we somehow don't have a spot time, set it to zero so it sorts off the bottom of any list but
+        # clients can still reliably parse it as a number.
         if not self.time:
-            self.time = datetime.min
+            self.time = 0
+
+        # If we don't have a received time, this has just been received so set that to "now"
+        if not self.received_time:
+            self.received_time = datetime.now(pytz.UTC).timestamp()
+
+        # Fill in ISO versions of times, in case the client prefers that
+        if self.time and not self.time_iso:
+            self.time_iso = datetime.fromtimestamp(self.time, pytz.UTC).isoformat()
+        if self.received_time and not self.received_time_iso:
+            self.received_time_iso = datetime.fromtimestamp(self.received_time, pytz.UTC).isoformat()
 
         # Clean up DX call if it has an SSID or -# from RBN
         if self.dx_call and "-" in self.dx_call:

providers/aprsis.py

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class APRSIS(Provider):
                     latitude=data["latitude"] if "latitude" in data else None,
                     longitude=data["longitude"] if "longitude" in data else None,
                     icon="tower-cell",
-                    time=datetime.now(pytz.UTC)) # APRS-IS spots are live so we can assume spot time is "now"
+                    time=datetime.now(pytz.UTC).timestamp()) # APRS-IS spots are live so we can assume spot time is "now"
 
         # Add to our list
         self.submit(spot)

providers/dxcluster.py

@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ class DXCluster(Provider):
                                     freq=float(match.group(2)) * 1000,
                                     comment=match.group(4).strip(),
                                     icon="desktop",
-                                    time=spot_datetime)
+                                    time=spot_datetime.timestamp())
 
                         # Add to our list
                         self.submit(spot)

providers/gma.py

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class GMA(HTTPProvider):
                         sig_refs=[source_spot["REF"]],
                         sig_refs_names=[source_spot["NAME"]],
                         time=datetime.strptime(source_spot["DATE"] + source_spot["TIME"], "%Y%m%d%H%M").replace(
-                            tzinfo=pytz.UTC),
+                            tzinfo=pytz.UTC).timestamp(),
                         latitude=float(source_spot["LAT"]) if (source_spot["LAT"] != "") else None,
                         # Seen GMA spots with no lat/lon
                         longitude=float(source_spot["LON"]) if (source_spot["LON"] != "") else None)

providers/hema.py

@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class HEMA(HTTPProvider):
                                 sig_refs=[spot_items[3].upper()],
                                 sig_refs_names=[spot_items[4]],
                                 icon="mound",
-                                time=datetime.strptime(spot_items[0], "%d/%m/%Y %H:%M").replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC),
+                                time=datetime.strptime(spot_items[0], "%d/%m/%Y %H:%M").replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC).timestamp(),
                                 latitude=float(spot_items[7]),
                                 longitude=float(spot_items[8]))
 

providers/parksnpeaks.py

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class ParksNPeaks(HTTPProvider):
                         sig=source_spot["actClass"],
                         sig_refs=[source_spot["actSiteID"]],
                         icon="question", # todo determine from actClass
-                        time=datetime.strptime(source_spot["actTime"], "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S").replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC))
+                        time=datetime.strptime(source_spot["actTime"], "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S").replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC).timestamp())
 
             # If this is POTA, SOTA or WWFF data we already have it through other means, so ignore.
             if spot.sig not in ["POTA", "SOTA", "WWFF"]:

providers/pota.py

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class POTA(HTTPProvider):
                         sig_refs=[source_spot["reference"]],
                         sig_refs_names=[source_spot["name"]],
                         icon="tree",
-                        time=datetime.strptime(source_spot["spotTime"], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S").replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC),
+                        time=datetime.strptime(source_spot["spotTime"], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S").replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC).timestamp(),
                         grid=source_spot["grid6"],
                         latitude=source_spot["latitude"],
                         longitude=source_spot["longitude"])

providers/provider.py

@@ -35,12 +35,12 @@ class Provider:
     # subclasses on receiving spots.
     def submit_batch(self, spots):
         for spot in spots:
-            if spot.time > self.last_spot_time:
+            if datetime.fromtimestamp(spot.time, pytz.UTC) > self.last_spot_time:
                 # Fill in any blanks
                 spot.infer_missing()
                 # Add to the list
                 self.spots.add(spot.guid, spot, expire=MAX_SPOT_AGE)
-        self.last_spot_time = max(map(lambda s: s.time, spots))
+        self.last_spot_time = datetime.fromtimestamp(max(map(lambda s: s.time, spots)), pytz.UTC)
 
     # Submit a single spot retrieved from the provider. This will be added to the list regardless of its age. Spots
     # passing the check will also have their infer_missing() method called to complete their data set. This is called by
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class Provider:
         spot.infer_missing()
         # Add to the list
         self.spots.add(spot.guid, spot, expire=MAX_SPOT_AGE)
-        self.last_spot_time = spot.time
+        self.last_spot_time = datetime.fromtimestamp(spot.time, pytz.UTC)
 
     # Stop any threads and prepare for application shutdown
     def stop(self):

providers/rbn.py

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class RBN(Provider):
                                     freq=float(match.group(2)) * 1000,
                                     comment=match.group(4).strip(),
                                     icon="tower-cell",
-                                    time=spot_datetime)
+                                    time=spot_datetime.timestamp())
 
                         # Add to our list
                         self.submit(spot)

providers/sota.py

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class SOTA(HTTPProvider):
                             sig_refs=[source_spot["summitCode"]],
                             sig_refs_names=[source_spot["summitName"]],
                             icon="mountain-sun",
-                            time=datetime.fromisoformat(source_spot["timeStamp"]),
+                            time=datetime.fromisoformat(source_spot["timeStamp"]).timestamp(),
                             activation_score=source_spot["points"])
 
                 # SOTA doesn't give summit lat/lon/grid in the main call, so we need another separate call for this

providers/wwbota.py

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class WWBOTA(HTTPProvider):
                         sig_refs=refs,
                         sig_refs_names=ref_names,
                         icon="radiation",
-                        time=datetime.fromisoformat(source_spot["time"]),
+                        time=datetime.fromisoformat(source_spot["time"]).timestamp(),
                         # WWBOTA spots can contain multiple references for bunkers being activated simultaneously. For
                         # now, we will just pick the first one to use as our grid, latitude and longitude.
                         grid=source_spot["references"][0]["locator"],

providers/wwff.py

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class WWFF(HTTPProvider):
                         sig_refs=[source_spot["reference"]],
                         sig_refs_names=[source_spot["reference_name"]],
                         icon="seedling",
-                        time=datetime.fromtimestamp(source_spot["spot_time"], tz=pytz.UTC),
+                        time=datetime.fromtimestamp(source_spot["spot_time"], tz=pytz.UTC).timestamp(),
                         latitude=source_spot["latitude"],
                         longitude=source_spot["longitude"])
 

server/webserver.py

@@ -87,10 +87,11 @@ class WebServer:
             response.content_type = 'application/json'
             response.set_header('Cache-Control', 'no-store')
             return json.dumps("OK", default=serialize_everything)
-        except Exception:
+        except Exception as e:
+            logging.error(e)
             response.content_type = 'application/json'
             response.status = 422
-                return json.dumps("An error occurred parsing your spot. Check it is compliant with the API.", default=serialize_everything)
+            return json.dumps("An error occurred parsing your spot: " + str(e), default=serialize_everything)
 
     # Serve a templated page
     def serve_template(self, template_name):

webassets/apidocs/openapi.yml

@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ paths:
       operationId: spot
       parameters:
         - name: spot
-          description: The spot data to post
+          description: The spot data to post. The structure must contain at least "time" and "dx_call" to be accepted.
           required: true
           schema:
             type:
@@ -487,13 +487,13 @@ components:
             - Unknown
           example: 40m
         time:
-          type: string
+          type: number
-          description: Time of the spot, ISO 8601 format
+          description: Time of the spot, UTC seconds since UNIX epoch
-          example: 2025-09-28T19:12:41Z
+          example: 1759579508
         received_time:
-          type: string
+          type: number
-          description: Time that this software received the spot, ISO 8601 format. This is used with the "since_received" call to our API to receive all data that is new to us, even if by a quirk of the API it might be older than the list time the client polled the API.
+          description: Time that this software received the spot, UTC seconds since UNIX epoch. This is used with the "since_received" call to our API to receive all data that is new to us, even if by a quirk of the API it might be older than the list time the client polled the API.
-          example: 2025-09-28T19:12:41Z
+          example: 1759579508
         comment:
           type: string
           description: Comment left by the spotter, if any

webassets/js/code.js

@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ function updateTable() {
         }
 
         // Format a UTC time for display
-        var time = moment.utc(s["time"], moment.ISO_8601);
+        var time = moment.unix(s["time"]).utc();
         var time_formatted = time.format("HH:mm")
 
         // Format dx country