Reduced Parameter Count in getTagTidsByCids under src/topic/tags.js

[aishanid26]

P1B: Starter Task: Refactoring PR

Use this pull request template to briefly answer the questions below in one to two sentences each.
Feel free to delete this text at the top after filling out the template.

You are not permitted to use generative AI services (e.g., ChatGPT) to compose the answers.
Any such use will be treated as a violation of academic integrity.

1. Issue

Link to the associated GitHub issue:
#147

Full path to the refactored file:
src/topic/tags.js

What do you think this file does?
(Your answer does not have to be 100% correct; give a reasonable, evidence‑based guess.)
This file handles operations related to topic tags, probably used for filtering and retrieving topics by tag.

What is the scope of your refactoring within that file?
(Name specific functions/blocks/regions touched.)
I focused the function getTagTidsByCids. I reduced its parameter count from 4 (tag, cids, start, stop) to 3 (tag, cids, {start, stop}) by encapsulating 2 of its parameters into a single object.

Which Qlty‑reported issue did you address?
(Name the rule/metric and include the BEFORE value; e.g., “Cognitive Complexity 18 in render()”.)
Function with many parameters (count = 4) in getTagTidsByCids

2. Refactoring

How did the specific issue you chose impact the codebase’s maintainability?
Four separate parameters made the function slightly more difficult to read and made it difficult to track which values were required.

What changes did you make to resolve the issue?
I combined 'start' and 'stop' into a single object parameter, reducing total number of parameters from 4 to 3.

How do your changes improve maintainability? Did you consider alternatives?
The function is easier to read and less error-prone since related parameters ('start' and 'stop' ) are grouped together. I considered reducing parameter count to 1/2 but I kept some parameters separate at the end to preserve explicitness; grouping related arguments (start and stop) was cleaner.

3. Validation

How did you trigger the refactored code path from the UI?
I created a post, selected the post, selected Topic Tools and clicked on Tag Topic from the dropdown menu. I named the tag (for example, trial). From the home screen, I went to tags and clicked the tag I just created.

Attach a screenshot of the logs and UI demonstrating the trigger.
(If you refactored a public/src/ file (front-end related file), watch logging via DevTools (Ctrl+Shift+I to open and then navigate to the 'Console' tab). If you refactored a src/ file, watch logging via ./nodebb log. Include the relevant UI view. Temporary logs should be removed before final commit.)

Attach a screenshot of qlty smells --no-snippets <full/path/to/file.js> showing fewer reported issues after the changes.
Before:

After:

NOTE: MY qlty smell was removed and I triggered my codepath via the UI to print my name (my name was successfully printed). However the automated checks are not passing on Github. I just wanted to flag this in case it has any impact on the grading since everything appears to be working correctly on my local setup.