Background processing with Python

---

Many apps need to do background processing outside of the context of a web request. This tutorial creates a web app that lets users input text to translate, and then displays a list of previous translations. The translation is done in a background process to avoid blocking the user's request.

The following diagram illustrates the translation request process.

Here is the sequence of events for how the tutorial app works:

1. Visit the web page to see a list of previous translations, stored in Firestore.
2. Request a translation of text by entering an HTML form.
3. The translation request is published to Pub/Sub.
4. A Cloud Function subscribed to that Pub/Sub topic is triggered.
5. The Cloud Function uses Cloud Translation to translate the text.
6. The Cloud Function stores the result in Firestore.

This tutorial is intended for anyone who is interested in learning about background processing with Google Cloud. No prior experience is required with Pub/Sub, Firestore, App Engine, or Cloud Functions. However, to understand all of the code, some experience with Python, JavaScript, and HTML is helpful.

Objectives

• Understand and deploy a Cloud Function.
• Understand and deploy an App Engine app.
• Try the app.

Costs

In this document, you use the following billable components of Google Cloud:

• App Engine
• Cloud Functions
• Firestore
• Pub/Sub
• Cloud Translation

To generate a cost estimate based on your projected usage, use the pricing calculator. New Google Cloud users might be eligible for a free trial.

When you finish the tasks that are described in this document, you can avoid continued billing by deleting the resources that you created. For more information, see Clean up.

Before you begin

1. Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.

2. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

3. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

4. Enable the Firestore, Cloud Functions, Pub/Sub, and Cloud Translation APIs.

   Enable the APIs

5. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

6. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

7. Enable the Firestore, Cloud Functions, Pub/Sub, and Cloud Translation APIs.

   Enable the APIs

8. In the Google Cloud console, open the app in Cloud Shell.

   Go to Cloud Shell

   Cloud Shell provides command-line access to your cloud resources directly from the browser. Open Cloud Shell in your browser and click Proceed to download the sample code and change into the app directory.

9. In Cloud Shell, configure the gcloud tool to use your Google Cloud project:

   # Configure gcloud for your project
   gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID

Understanding the Cloud Function

• The function starts by importing several dependencies like Firestore and Translation.

  import base64
  import hashlib
  import json
  
  from google.cloud import firestore
  from google.cloud import translate_v2 as translate

• The global Firestore and Translation clients are initialized so they can be reused between function invocations. That way, you don't have to initialize new clients for every function invocation, which would slow down execution.

  # Get client objects once to reuse over multiple invocations.
  xlate = translate.Client()
  db = firestore.Client()

• The Translation API translates the string to the language you selected.

  def translate_string(from_string, to_language):
      """ Translates a string to a specified language.
  
      from_string - the original string before translation
  
      to_language - the language to translate to, as a two-letter code (e.g.,
          'en' for english, 'de' for german)
  
      Returns the translated string and the code for original language
      """
      result = xlate.translate(from_string, target_language=to_language)
      return result['translatedText'], result['detectedSourceLanguage']

• The Cloud Function starts by parsing the Pub/Sub message to get the text to translate and the desired target language.

  Then, the Cloud Function translates the text and stores it in Firestore, using a transaction to make sure there are no duplicate translations.

  def document_name(message):
      """ Messages are saved in a Firestore database with document IDs generated
          from the original string and destination language. If the exact same
          translation is requested a second time, the result will overwrite the
          prior result.
  
          message - a dictionary with fields named Language and Original, and
              optionally other fields with any names
  
          Returns a unique name that is an allowed Firestore document ID
      """
      key = '{}/{}'.format(message['Language'], message['Original'])
      hashed = hashlib.sha512(key.encode()).digest()
  
      # Note that document IDs should not contain the '/' character
      name = base64.b64encode(hashed, altchars=b'+-').decode('utf-8')
      return name
  
  
  @firestore.transactional
  def update_database(transaction, message):
      name = document_name(message)
      doc_ref = db.collection('translations').document(document_id=name)
  
      try:
          doc_ref.get(transaction=transaction)
      except firestore.NotFound:
          return  # Don't replace an existing translation
  
      transaction.set(doc_ref, message)
  
  
  def translate_message(event, context):
      """ Process a pubsub message requesting a translation
      """
      message_data = base64.b64decode(event['data']).decode('utf-8')
      message = json.loads(message_data)
  
      from_string = message['Original']
      to_language = message['Language']
  
      to_string, from_language = translate_string(from_string, to_language)
  
      message['Translated'] = to_string
      message['OriginalLanguage'] = from_language
  
      transaction = db.transaction()
      update_database(transaction, message)

Deploying the Cloud Function

• In Cloud Shell, in the function directory, deploy the Cloud Function with a Pub/Sub trigger:

  gcloud functions deploy Translate --runtime=python37 \
  --entry-point=translate_message --trigger-topic=translate \
  --set-env-vars GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=YOUR_GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT
  

  where YOUR_GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT is your Google Cloud project ID.

Understanding the app

There are two main components for the web app:

• A Python HTTP server to handle web requests. The server has the following two endpoints:
  • /: Lists all of the existing translations and shows a form users can submit to request new translations.
  • /request-translation: Form submissions are sent to this endpoint, which publishes the request to Pub/Sub to be translated asynchronously.
• An HTML template that is filled in with the existing translations by the Python server.

The HTTP server

• In the app directory, main.py starts by importing dependencies, creating a Flask app, initializing Firestore and Translation clients, and defining a list of supported languages:

  import json
  import os
  
  from flask import Flask, redirect, render_template, request
  from google.cloud import firestore
  from google.cloud import pubsub
  
  
  app = Flask(__name__)
  
  # Get client objects to reuse over multiple invocations
  db = firestore.Client()
  publisher = pubsub.PublisherClient()
  
  # Keep this list of supported languages up to date
  ACCEPTABLE_LANGUAGES = ("de", "en", "es", "fr", "ja", "sw")

• The index handler (/) gets all existing translations from Firestore and fills an HTML template with the list:

  @app.route("/", methods=["GET"])
  def index():
      """The home page has a list of prior translations and a form to
      ask for a new translation.
      """
  
      doc_list = []
      docs = db.collection("translations").stream()
      for doc in docs:
          doc_list.append(doc.to_dict())
  
      return render_template("index.html", translations=doc_list)
  
  

• New translations are requested by submitting an HTML form. The request translation handler, registered at /request-translation, parses the form submission, validates the request, and publishes a message to Pub/Sub:

  @app.route("/request-translation", methods=["POST"])
  def translate():
      """Handle a request to translate a string (form field 'v') to a given
      language (form field 'lang'), by sending a PubSub message to a topic.
      """
      source_string = request.form.get("v", "")
      to_language = request.form.get("lang", "")
  
      if source_string == "":
          error_message = "Empty value"
          return error_message, 400
  
      if to_language not in ACCEPTABLE_LANGUAGES:
          error_message = "Unsupported language: {}".format(to_language)
          return error_message, 400
  
      message = {
          "Original": source_string,
          "Language": to_language,
          "Translated": "",
          "OriginalLanguage": "",
      }
  
      topic_name = "projects/{}/topics/{}".format(
          os.getenv("GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT"), "translate"
      )
      publisher.publish(
          topic=topic_name, data=json.dumps(message).encode("utf8")
      )
      return redirect("/")
  
  

The HTML template

The HTML template is the basis for the HTML page shown to the user so they can see previous translations and request new ones. The template is filled in by the HTTP server with the list of existing translations.

• The <head> element of the HTML template includes metadata, style sheets, and JavaScript for the page:

  <html>
  
  <head>
      <meta charset="UTF-8">
      <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
      <title>Translations</title>
  
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/icon?family=Material+Icons">
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://code.getmdl.io/1.3.0/material.indigo-pink.min.css">
      <script defer src="https://code.getmdl.io/1.3.0/material.min.js"></script>
      <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
      <script>
          $(document).ready(function() {
              $("#translate-form").submit(function(e) {
                  e.preventDefault();
                  // Get value, make sure it's not empty.
                  if ($("#v").val() == "") {
                      return;
                  }
                  $.ajax({
                      type: "POST",
                      url: "/request-translation",
                      data: $(this).serialize(),
                      success: function(data) {
                          // Show snackbar.
                          console.log(data);
                          var notification = document.querySelector('.mdl-js-snackbar');
                          $("#snackbar").removeClass("mdl-color--red-100");
                          $("#snackbar").addClass("mdl-color--green-100");
                          notification.MaterialSnackbar.showSnackbar({
                              message: 'Translation requested'
                          });
                      },
                      error: function(data) {
                          // Show snackbar.
                          console.log("Error requesting translation");
                          var notification = document.querySelector('.mdl-js-snackbar');
                          $("#snackbar").removeClass("mdl-color--green-100");
                          $("#snackbar").addClass("mdl-color--red-100");
                          notification.MaterialSnackbar.showSnackbar({
                              message: 'Translation request failed'
                          });
                      }
                  });
              });
          });
      </script>
      <style>
          .lang {
              width: 50px;
          }
          .translate-form {
              display: inline;
          }
      </style>
  </head>

  The page pulls in Material Design Lite (MDL) CSS and JavaScript assets. MDL lets you add a Material Design look and feel to your websites.

  The page uses JQuery to wait for the document to finish loading and set a form submission handler. Whenever the request translation form is submitted, the page does minimal form validation to check that the value isn't empty, and then sends an asynchronous request to the /request-translation endpoint.

  Finally, an MDL snackbar appears to indicate if the request was successful or if it encountered an error.

• The HTML body of the page uses an MDL layout and several MDL components to display a list of translations and a form to request additional translations:

  <body>
      <div class="mdl-layout mdl-js-layout mdl-layout--fixed-header">
          <header class="mdl-layout__header">
              <div class="mdl-layout__header-row">
                  <!-- Title -->
                  <span class="mdl-layout-title">Translate with Background Processing</span>
              </div>
          </header>
          <main class="mdl-layout__content">
              <div class="page-content">
                  <div class="mdl-grid">
                  <div class="mdl-cell mdl-cell--1-col"></div>
                      <div class="mdl-cell mdl-cell--3-col">
                          <form id="translate-form" class="translate-form">
                              <div class="mdl-textfield mdl-js-textfield mdl-textfield--floating-label">
                                  <input class="mdl-textfield__input" type="text" id="v" name="v">
                                  <label class="mdl-textfield__label" for="v">Text to translate...</label>
                              </div>
                              <select class="mdl-textfield__input lang" name="lang">
                                  <option value="de">de</option>
                                  <option value="en">en</option>
                                  <option value="es">es</option>
                                  <option value="fr">fr</option>
                                  <option value="ja">ja</option>
                                  <option value="sw">sw</option>
                              </select>
                              <button class="mdl-button mdl-js-button mdl-button--raised mdl-button--accent" type="submit"
                                  name="submit">Submit</button>
                          </form>
                      </div>
                      <div class="mdl-cell mdl-cell--8-col">
                          <table class="mdl-data-table mdl-js-data-table mdl-shadow--2dp">
                              <thead>
                                  <tr>
                                      <th class="mdl-data-table__cell--non-numeric"><strong>Original</strong></th>
                                      <th class="mdl-data-table__cell--non-numeric"><strong>Translation</strong></th>
                                  </tr>
                              </thead>
                              <tbody>
                              {% for translation in translations %}
                                  <tr>
                                      <td class="mdl-data-table__cell--non-numeric">
                                          <span class="mdl-chip mdl-color--primary">
                                              <span class="mdl-chip__text mdl-color-text--white">{{ translation['OriginalLanguage'] }} </span>
                                          </span>
                                      {{ translation['Original'] }}
                                      </td>
                                      <td class="mdl-data-table__cell--non-numeric">
                                          <span class="mdl-chip mdl-color--accent">
                                              <span class="mdl-chip__text mdl-color-text--white">{{ translation['Language'] }} </span>
                                          </span>
                                          {{ translation['Translated'] }}
                                      </td>
                                  </tr>
                              {% endfor %}
                              </tbody>
                          </table>
                          <br/>
                          <button class="mdl-button mdl-js-button mdl-button--raised" type="button" onClick="window.location.reload();">
                              Refresh
                          </button>
                      </div>
                  </div>
              </div>
              <div aria-live="assertive" aria-atomic="true" aria-relevant="text" class="mdl-snackbar mdl-js-snackbar" id="snackbar">
                  <div class="mdl-snackbar__text mdl-color-text--black"></div>
                  <button type="button" class="mdl-snackbar__action"></button>
              </div>
          </main>
      </div>
  </body>
  
  </html>

Deploying the web app

You can use the App Engine standard environment to build and deploy an app that runs reliably under heavy load and with large amounts of data.

This tutorial uses the App Engine standard environment to deploy the HTTP frontend.

The app.yaml configures the App Engine app:

runtime: python37

• From the same directory as the app.yaml file, deploy your app to the App Engine standard environment:

  gcloud app deploy

Testing the app

After you've deployed the Cloud Function and App Engine app, try requesting a translation.

1. To view the app in your browser,enter the following URL:

   https://PROJECT_ID.REGION_ID.r.appspot.com

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: Your Google Cloud project ID
   • REGION_ID: A code that App Engine assigns to your app

   There is a page with an empty list of translations and a form to request new translations.

2. In the Text to translate field, enter some text to translate, for example, Hello, World.
3. Select a language from the drop-down list that you want to translate the text to.
4. Click Submit.
5. To refresh the page, click Refresh . There is a new row in the translation list. If you don't see a translation, wait a few more seconds and try again. If you still don't see a translation, see the next section about debugging the app.

Debugging the app

If you cannot connect to your App Engine app or don't see new translations, check the following:

1. Check that the gcloud deploy commands successfully completed and didn't output any errors. If there were errors, fix them, and try deploying the Cloud Function and the App Engine app again.

2. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Logs Viewer page.

   Go to Logs Viewer page
   1. In the Recently selected resources drop-down list, click GAE Application, and then click All module_id. You see a list of requests from when you visited your app. If you don't see a list of requests, confirm you selected All module_id from the drop-down list. If you see error messages printed to the Google Cloud console, check that your app's code matches the code in the section about understanding the app.
   2. In the Recently selected resources drop-down list, click Cloud Function, and then click All function name. You see a function listed for each requested translation. If not, check that the Cloud Function and App Engine app are using the same Pub/Sub topic:
      • In the background/main.py file, check that the topic_name is "translate".
      • When you deploy the Cloud Function, be sure to include the --trigger-topic=translate flag.

Clean up

To avoid incurring charges to your Google Cloud account for the resources used in this tutorial, either delete the project that contains the resources, or keep the project and delete the individual resources.

Delete the Google Cloud project

Caution: Deleting a project has the following effects:
• Everything in the project is deleted. If you used an existing project for the tasks in this document, when you delete it, you also delete any other work you've done in the project.
• Custom project IDs are lost. When you created this project, you might have created a custom project ID that you want to use in the future. To preserve the URLs that use the project ID, such as an appspot.com URL, delete selected resources inside the project instead of deleting the whole project.
1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Manage resources page.

   Go to Manage resources

2. In the project list, select the project that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
3. In the dialog, type the project ID, and then click Shut down to delete the project.

Delete the App Engine instance

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Versions page for App Engine.

   Go to Versions

2. Select the checkbox for the non-default app version that you want to delete.
   Note: The only way you can delete the default version of your App Engine app is by deleting your project. However, you can stop the default version in the Google Cloud console. This action shuts down all instances associated with the version. You can restart these instances later if needed.

   In the App Engine standard environment, you can stop the default version only if your app has manual or basic scaling.

3. To delete the app version, click Delete.

Delete the Cloud Function

• Delete the Cloud Function you created in this tutorial:

  gcloud functions delete Translate

What's next

• Try additional Cloud Functions tutorials.
• Learn more about App Engine.
• Try Cloud Run, which lets you run stateless containers on a fully managed environment or in your own Google Kubernetes Engine cluster.