Joel Montes de Oca wrote: > Hello everyone, > > About me: > > This is the first time I post to Tutor@Python.org. > > I am brand spanking new to Python. I can create simple application, gone > through a few tutorials and watched the Google Python 2 day class on > Youtube. (List of classes: http://goo.gl/Ud5rg) > > Just yesterday I figured out how to load up a GUI made in Glade and pass > singles around and what not. Huge accomplishment for me since > documentation is a bit shaky for noobs like me. :) > > I have some programming knowledge. I learned (self tough) VB when I was > in middle school and then did a intro to C++ in college. Of course > mentioning that is trivial since I haven't done any programming for > about 5 years or so.. But I do know basic concepts. Just need a little > push in the right direction.. > > -------------------------------------- > > I think I know how to design my application but I would like to put it > on here for you guys to review and provide me with feedback/suggestions > as to the best way to go about it. > > -------------------------------------- > > The application: > > I want to build a simple application that keeps track of items borrowers > check out. So the end user types in the names of /borrowers/ and also > types in a list of /items/. Then the end user checks out the /items/ to > the /borrowers/. > > The category that my application would fall under is close to > /collection management tools/. Here's a list of a few other applications > that do something like what I am aiming for: > http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-open-source-collection-manager-apps/ > > In addition to the application keeping track of who has what, I would > like to code the date the items are out, which borrowers have not > borrowed anything in the last month, and so on. That said, I need to > setup some kind of database like file. I don't want to have a database > server though. > > The reason I want to build a new tool is because: > > A) I want to play around with Python > B) My friend needs the application to be simple and geared to his > needs without too many extra bells & whistles > > > -------------------------------------- > > > My method: > > I was thinking of using the lxmal module to construct a XML file to > read/write all the information. > > I figured this was the easiest way to do what I need since the > information is setup as a tree. (Easy to think about and see) Example: > > <app> > <borrowers> > > <user>John Doe</user> > > <checked out> Item1:Item2:||2011/4/2</checked out> > > <user>Mary Doe</user> > > <checked out> Item3||2011/7/22</checked out> > > </borrowers> > <objects> > > <item>Item1</item> > > <createdOn>2011/2/1</createdOn> > > <checked_out_times>32</checked_out_times> > > <item>Item2</item> > > <createdOn>2011/2/1</createdOn> > > <checked_out_times>22</checked_out_times> > > <item>Item3</item> > > <createdOn>2011/2/1</createdOn> > > <checked_out_times>1</checked_out_times> > </objects> > </app> > > The application will not be used in an enterprise kind of environment. > The application is meant to hold about 80 borrowers and about 100 items > and that's about it. > > Is this a good way to go about my project? Is there a better & easier way? > > I don't want to trade off "better" with "easy". Someone once suggested > on Freenode #Python that I should use a sql database. I don't remember > the name of it. It was something like lightsql or something like that. > That particular database didn't use a server end. I guess it spit out a > txt database or something... This might be a good time to mention I know > very little about database construction or sql commands. > > Anyhow, I am looking forward to hearing opinion's and suggestions.
Well, using sqlite http://docs.python.org/library/sqlite3.html may be both better and easier than lxml, but for the tiny amount of data you are planning to handle you can also make do with a few of Python's lists and dicts, and use pickle http://docs.python.org/library/pickle.html to save the data when you're done. It won't get easier than that. _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
