Database and SQLAlchemy

In this blog we will explore using programs with data, focused on Databases. We will use SQLite Database to learn more about using Programs with Data. Use Debugging through these examples to examine Objects created in Code.

  • College Board talks about ideas like

    • Program Usage. "iterative and interactive way when processing information"
    • Managing Data. "classifying data are part of the process in using programs", "data files in a Table"
    • Insight "insight and knowledge can be obtained from ... digitally represented information"
    • Filter systems. 'tools for finding information and recognizing patterns"
    • Application. "the preserve has two databases", "an employee wants to count the number of book"
  • PBL, Databases, Iterative/OOP

    • Iterative. Refers to a sequence of instructions or code being repeated until a specific end result is achieved
    • OOP. A computer programming model that organizes software design around data, or objects, rather than functions and logic
    • SQL. Structured Query Language, abbreviated as SQL, is a language used in programming, managing, and structuring data

Imports and Flask Objects

Defines and key object creations

  • Comment on where you have observed these working? Provide a defintion of purpose.
    1. Flask app object
    2. SQLAlchemy db object
"""
These imports define the key objects
"""

from flask import Flask
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy

"""
These object and definitions are used throughout the Jupyter Notebook.
"""

# Setup of key Flask object (app)
app = Flask(__name__)
# Setup SQLAlchemy object and properties for the database (db)
database = 'sqlite:///files/sqlite.db'  # path and filename of database
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS'] = False
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = database
app.config['SECRET_KEY'] = 'SECRET_KEY'
db = SQLAlchemy()


# This belongs in place where it runs once per project
db.init_app(app)

Notes

The code is creating tne environment for the DB (sqlite.db), defining the password and initializing the program.

Model Definition

Define columns, initialization, and CRUD methods for users table in sqlite.db

  • Comment on these items in the class, purpose and defintion.
    • class User
    • db.Model inheritance
    • init method
    • @property, @<column>.setter
    • create, read, update, delete methods
""" database dependencies to support sqlite examples """
import datetime
from datetime import datetime
import json

from sqlalchemy.exc import IntegrityError
from werkzeug.security import generate_password_hash, check_password_hash


''' Tutorial: https://www.sqlalchemy.org/library.html#tutorials, try to get into a Python shell and follow along '''

# Define the User class to manage actions in the 'users' table
# -- Object Relational Mapping (ORM) is the key concept of SQLAlchemy
# -- a.) db.Model is like an inner layer of the onion in ORM
# -- b.) User represents data we want to store, something that is built on db.Model
# -- c.) SQLAlchemy ORM is layer on top of SQLAlchemy Core, then SQLAlchemy engine, SQL
class User(db.Model):
    __tablename__ = 'users'  # table name is plural, class name is singular

    # Define the User schema with "vars" from object
    id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
    _name = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=False, nullable=False)
    _uid = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=True, nullable=False)
    _password = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=False, nullable=False)
    _dob = db.Column(db.Date)

    # constructor of a User object, initializes the instance variables within object (self)
    def __init__(self, name, uid, password="123qwerty", dob=datetime.today()):
        self._name = name    # variables with self prefix become part of the object, 
        self._uid = uid
        self.set_password(password)
        if isinstance(dob, str):  # not a date type     
            dob = date=datetime.today()
        self._dob = dob

    # a name getter method, extracts name from object
    @property
    def name(self):
        return self._name
    
    # a setter function, allows name to be updated after initial object creation
    @name.setter
    def name(self, name):
        self._name = name
    
    # a getter method, extracts uid from object
    @property
    def uid(self):
        return self._uid
    
    # a setter function, allows uid to be updated after initial object creation
    @uid.setter
    def uid(self, uid):
        self._uid = uid
        
    # check if uid parameter matches user id in object, return boolean
    def is_uid(self, uid):
        return self._uid == uid
    
    @property
    def password(self):
        return self._password[0:10] + "..." # because of security only show 1st characters

    # update password, this is conventional method used for setter
    def set_password(self, password):
        """Create a hashed password."""
        self._password = generate_password_hash(password, method='sha256')

    # check password parameter against stored/encrypted password
    def is_password(self, password):
        """Check against hashed password."""
        result = check_password_hash(self._password, password)
        return result
    
    # dob property is returned as string, a string represents date outside object
    @property
    def dob(self):
        dob_string = self._dob.strftime('%m-%d-%Y')
        return dob_string
    
    # dob setter, verifies date type before it is set or default to today
    @dob.setter
    def dob(self, dob):
        if isinstance(dob, str):  # not a date type     
            dob = date=datetime.today()
        self._dob = dob
    
    # age is calculated field, age is returned according to date of birth
    @property
    def age(self):
        today = datetime.today()
        return today.year - self._dob.year - ((today.month, today.day) < (self._dob.month, self._dob.day))
    
    # output content using str(object) is in human readable form
    # output content using json dumps, this is ready for API response
    def __str__(self):
        return json.dumps(self.read())

    # CRUD create/add a new record to the table
    # returns self or None on error
    def create(self):
        try:
            # creates a person object from User(db.Model) class, passes initializers
            db.session.add(self)  # add prepares to persist person object to Users table
            db.session.commit()  # SqlAlchemy "unit of work pattern" requires a manual commit
            return self
        except IntegrityError:
            db.session.remove()
            return None

    # CRUD read converts self to dictionary
    # returns dictionary
    def read(self):
        return {
            "id": self.id,
            "name": self.name,
            "uid": self.uid,
            "dob": self.dob,
            "age": self.age,
        }

    # CRUD update: updates user name, password, phone
    # returns self
    def update(self, name="", uid="", password=""):
        """only updates values with length"""
        if len(name) > 0:
            self.name = name
        if len(uid) > 0:
            self.uid = uid
        if len(password) > 0:
            self.set_password(password)
        db.session.commit()
        return self

    # CRUD delete: remove self
    # None
    def delete(self):
        db.session.delete(self)
        db.session.commit()
        return None
    

Notes

The object is defining all the methods for the DB, including functions for creating, updating, deleting, and reading the DB.

Initial Data

Uses SQLALchemy db.create_all() to initialize rows into sqlite.db

  • Comment on how these work?
    1. Create All Tables from db Object
    2. User Object Constructors
    3. Try / Except
"""Database Creation and Testing """


# Builds working data for testing
def initUsers():
    with app.app_context():
        """Create database and tables"""
        db.create_all()
        """Tester data for table"""
        u1 = User(name='Thomas Edison', uid='toby', password='123toby', dob=datetime(1847, 2, 11))
        u2 = User(name='Nikola Tesla', uid='niko', password='123niko')
        u3 = User(name='Alexander Graham Bell', uid='lex', password='123lex')
        u4 = User(name='Eli Whitney', uid='whit', password='123whit')
        u5 = User(name='Indiana Jones', uid='indi', dob=datetime(1920, 10, 21))
        u6 = User(name='Marion Ravenwood', uid='raven', dob=datetime(1921, 10, 21))


        users = [u1, u2, u3, u4, u5, u6]

        """Builds sample user/note(s) data"""
        for user in users:
            try:
                '''add user to table'''
                object = user.create()
                print(f"Created new uid {object.uid}")
            except:  # error raised if object nit created
                '''fails with bad or duplicate data'''
                print(f"Records exist uid {user.uid}, or error.")
                
initUsers()

Notes

Now the code is adding new users to the database, and checking if there are duplicate users or if the there is a database error when trying to add a new user.

Check for given Credentials in users table in sqlite.db

Use of ORM Query object and custom methods to identify user to credentials uid and password

  • Comment on purpose of following
    1. User.query.filter_by
    2. user.password
def find_by_uid(uid):
    with app.app_context():
        user = User.query.filter_by(_uid=uid).first()
    return user # returns user object

# Check credentials by finding user and verify password
def check_credentials(uid, password):
    # query email and return user record
    user = find_by_uid(uid)
    if user == None:
        return False
    if (user.is_password(password)):
        return True
    return False
        
#check_credentials("indi", "123qwerty")

Notes

The code allows for searching within the database, including finding users by their uid or by credentials. Looking at the code, the check_credentials function could be very useful for login pages.

Create a new User in table in Sqlite.db

Uses SQLALchemy and custom user.create() method to add row.

  • Comment on purpose of following
    1. user.find_by_uid() and try/except
    2. user = User(...)
    3. user.dob and try/except
    4. user.create() and try/except
def create():
    # optimize user time to see if uid exists
    uid = input("Enter your user id:")
    user = find_by_uid(uid)
    try:
        print("Found\n", user.read())
        return
    except:
        pass # keep going
    
    # request value that ensure creating valid object
    name = input("Enter your name:")
    password = input("Enter your password")
    
    # Initialize User object before date
    user = User(name=name, 
                uid=uid, 
                password=password
                )
    
    # create user.dob, fail with today as dob
    dob = input("Enter your date of birth 'YYYY-MM-DD'")
    try:
        user.dob = datetime.strptime(dob, '%Y-%m-%d').date()
    except ValueError:
        user.dob = datetime.today()
        print(f"Invalid date {dob} require YYYY-mm-dd, date defaulted to {user.dob}")
           
    # write object to database
    with app.app_context():
        try:
            object = user.create()
            print("Created\n", object.read())
        except:  # error raised if object not created
            print("Unknown error uid {uid}")
        
create()

Notes

The code allows for the checking of existing users through user input. If the user is found, then the code will allow for creating a date of birth. If not found, the code raises an error.

Reading users table in sqlite.db

Uses SQLALchemy query.all method to read data

  • Comment on purpose of following
    1. User.query.all
    2. json_ready assignment, google List Comprehension
# SQLAlchemy extracts all users from database, turns each user into JSON
def read():
    with app.app_context():
        table = User.query.all()
    json_ready = [user.read() for user in table] # "List Comprehensions", for each user add user.read() to list
    return json_ready

read()

Hacks

  • Add this Blog to you own Blogging site. In the Blog add notes and observations on each code cell.
  • Change blog to your own database.
  • Add additional CRUD
    • Add Update functionality to this blog.
    • Add Delete functionality to this blog.
""" database dependencies to support sqlite examples """
import datetime
from datetime import datetime
import json
from flask import Flask
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
from sqlalchemy.exc import IntegrityError

''' Tutorial: https://www.sqlalchemy.org/library.html#tutorials, try to get into a Python shell and follow along '''

# Setup of key Flask object (app)
app = Flask(__name__)
# Setup SQLAlchemy object and properties for the database (db)
database = 'sqlite:///files/sqlite.db'  # path and filename of database
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS'] = False
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = database
app.config['SECRET_KEY'] = 'SECRET_KEY'
db = SQLAlchemy()


# This belongs in place where it runs once per project
db.init_app(app)

# Define the User class to manage actions in the 'users' table
# -- Object Relational Mapping (ORM) is the key concept of SQLAlchemy
# -- a.) db.Model is like an inner layer of the onion in ORM
# -- b.) User represents data we want to store, something that is built on db.Model
# -- c.) SQLAlchemy ORM is layer on top of SQLAlchemy Core, then SQLAlchemy engine, SQL
class ClassDB(db.Model):
    __tablename__ = 'userClasses'  # table name is plural, class name is singular

    # Define the User schema with "vars" from object
    id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
    _username = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=False, nullable=False)
    _p1 = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=True, nullable=False)
    _p2 = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=False, nullable=False)
    _p3 = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=False, nullable=False)
    _p4 = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=False, nullable=False)
    _p5 = db.Column(db.String(255), unique=False, nullable=False)

    # constructor of a User object, initializes the instance variables within object (self)
    def __init__(self, username, p1, p2, p3, p4, p5):
        self._username = username    # variables with self prefix become part of the object, 
        self._p1 = p1
        self._p2 = p2
        self._p3 = p3
        self._p4 = p4
        self._p5 = p5

    # a name getter method, extracts name from object
    @property
    def username(self):
        return self._username
    
    # a setter function, allows name to be updated after initial object creation
    @username.setter
    def username(self, username):
        self._username = username
    
    # a getter method, extracts uid from object
    @property
    def p1(self):
        return self._p1
    # a setter function, allows uid to be updated after initial object creation
    @p1.setter
    def p1(self, p1):
        self._p1 = p1
    @property
    def p2(self):
        return self._p2
    @p2.setter
    def p2(self, p2):
        self._p2 = p2
    @property
    def p3(self):
        return self._p3
    @p3.setter
    def p3(self, p3):
        self._p3 = p3
    @property
    def p4(self):
        return self._p4
    @p4.setter
    def p4(self, p4):
        self._p4 = p4
    @property
    def p5(self):
        return self._p5
    @p5.setter
    def p5(self, p5):
        self._p5 = p5
    
    # output content using str(object) is in human readable form
    # output content using json dumps, this is ready for API response
    def __str__(self):
        return json.dumps(self.read())

    # CRUD create/add a new record to the table
    # returns self or None on error
    def create(self):
        try:
            # creates a person object from User(db.Model) class, passes initializers
            db.session.add(self)  # add prepares to persist person object to Users table
            db.session.commit()  # SqlAlchemy "unit of work pattern" requires a manual commit
            return self
        except IntegrityError:
            db.session.remove()
            return None

    # CRUD read converts self to dictionary
    # returns dictionary
    def read(self):
        return {
            "username": self.username,
            "p1": self.p1,
            "p2": self.p2,
            "p3": self.p3,
            "p4": self.p4,
            "p5": self.p5
        }

    # CRUD update: updates user name, password, phone
    # returns self
    def update(self, username="", p1="", p2="", p3="", p4="", p5=""):
        """only updates values with length"""
        if len(username) > 0:
            self.username = username
        if len(p1) > 0:
            self.p1 = p1
        if len(p2) > 0:
            self.p2 = p2
        if len(p3) > 0:
            self.p3 = p3
        if len(p4) > 0:
            self.p4 = p4
        if len(p5) > 0:
            self.p5 = p5
        db.session.commit()
        return self

    # CRUD delete: remove self
    # None
    def delete(self):
        db.session.delete(self)
        db.session.commit()
        return None
    
def find_by_username(username):
    with app.app_context():
        user = ClassDB.query.filter_by(_username=username).first()
    return user # returns user object

# Builds working data for testing
def create():
    username = input("Enter username:\n")
    p1class = input("Period 1 class:\n")
    p1teach = input("Period 1 teacher:\n")
    p2class = input("Period 2 class:\n")
    p2teach = input("Period 2 teacher:\n")
    p3class = input("Period 3 class:\n")
    p3teach = input("Period 3 teacher:\n")
    p4class = input("Period 4 class:\n")
    p4teach = input("Period 4 teacher:\n")
    p5class = input("Period 5 class:\n")
    p5teach = input("Period 5 teacher:\n")
    p1 = p1teach + ";" + p1class
    p2 = p2teach + ";" + p2class
    p3 = p3teach + ";" + p3class
    p4 = p4teach + ";" + p4class
    p5 = p5teach + ";" + p5class
    with app.app_context():
        """Create database and tables"""
        db.create_all()
        u1 = ClassDB(username=username, p1=p1, p2=p2, p3=p3, p4=p4, p5=p5)
        object = ClassDB.create(u1)
        print(f"Created new user {object.username}")

def read():
    with app.app_context():
        """Read all users"""
        users = ClassDB.query.all()
        for user in users:
            print(f"User {user.username} has {user.p1} in period 1, {user.p2} in period 2, {user.p3} in period 3, {user.p4} in period 4, and {user.p5} in period 5")

def update():
    username = input("Enter username:\n")
    if find_by_username(username):
        p1class = input("Period 1 class:\n")
        p1teach = input("Period 1 teacher:\n")
        p2class = input("Period 2 class:\n")
        p2teach = input("Period 2 teacher:\n")
        p3class = input("Period 3 class:\n")
        p3teach = input("Period 3 teacher:\n")
        p4class = input("Period 4 class:\n")
        p4teach = input("Period 4 teacher:\n")
        p5class = input("Period 5 class:\n")
        p5teach = input("Period 5 teacher:\n")
        p1 = p1teach + ";" + p1class
        p2 = p2teach + ";" + p2class
        p3 = p3teach + ";" + p3class
        p4 = p4teach + ";" + p4class
        p5 = p5teach + ";" + p5class
        with app.app_context():
            u1 = ClassDB(username=username, p1=p1, p2=p2, p3=p3, p4=p4, p5=p5)
            object = ClassDB.update(u1)
    else:
        print(f"User {username} not found")
                
def delete():
    username = input("Enter username:\n")
    if find_by_username(username):
        with app.app_context():
            user = find_by_username(username)
            object = ClassDB.delete(user)
            print(f"Deleted user {username}")
    else:
        print(f"User {username} not found")


def menu():
    method = input("Enter method: [C, R, U, D] (q to exit)\n")
    if method.lower() == 'c':
        create()
    elif method.lower() == 'r':
        read()
    elif method.lower() == 'u':
        update()
    elif method.lower() == 'd':
        delete()
    elif method.lower() == 'q': # Escape Key
        return
    else:
        print("Please enter [C, R, U, D] or q to quit") 
    menu() # recursion, repeat menu

menu()
User caliocat has teacher;period in period 1, teacher;period in period 2, teacher;period in period 3, teacher;period in period 4, and teacher;period in period 5
User dolfin has teacher;class in period 1, teacher;class in period 2, teacher;class in period 3, teacher;class in period 4, and teacher;class in period 5
Created new user new
User caliocat has teacher;period in period 1, teacher;period in period 2, teacher;period in period 3, teacher;period in period 4, and teacher;period in period 5
User dolfin has teacher;class in period 1, teacher;class in period 2, teacher;class in period 3, teacher;class in period 4, and teacher;class in period 5
User new has class;class in period 1, class;class in period 2, class;class in period 3, class;class in period 4, and class;class in period 5
Deleted user new
User caliocat has teacher;period in period 1, teacher;period in period 2, teacher;period in period 3, teacher;period in period 4, and teacher;period in period 5
User dolfin has teacher;class in period 1, teacher;class in period 2, teacher;class in period 3, teacher;class in period 4, and teacher;class in period 5
User caliocat has teacher;period in period 1, teacher;period in period 2, teacher;period in period 3, teacher;period in period 4, and teacher;period in period 5
User dolfin has teacher;class in period 1, teacher;class in period 2, teacher;class in period 3, teacher;class in period 4, and teacher;class in period 5