Library Book Ordering Application

To find out about this project and the members behind it, please watch over at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpE9dG1jXHk

To get the project running

Activate virtual environment

Make sure virtualenv is installed:

pip install virtualenv

Create virtual environment (if you don't have a venv folder):

python -m venv ./venv

Run virtual environment:

cd library-book-ordering
source venv/bin/activate

Run virtual environment in Windows 10 (if the above doesn't work):

py -m venv env
.\env\Scripts\activate

If that doesn't work try:

.\venv\Scripts\activate

Note: (venv) should be at the start of each line in the terminal.

Install dependencies

In terminal with virtual environment (venv) running:

cd library-book-ordering
pip install -r requirements.txt
cd library-book-ordering/frontend
npm install

Run the dev server

In terminal with virtual environment running:

cd library-book-ordering
python manage.py runserver

Note: this runs the Django server (and will run the front-end stuff).

In a second terminal:

cd library-book-ordering/frontend
npm run dev

Note: this watches for changes to the React folders and recompiles the bundled JavaScript file (Webpack/Babel).

Accessing the development server

In the virtual environment terminal, there should be the following:

Month DD, YYYY - HH:MM:SS
Django version X.X.X, using settings 'library_book_ordering.settings'
Starting development server at **http://127.0.0.1:8000/**
...

You should either click or copy and paste the above highlighted link. Afterwards, you will be met wit a login screen to which the superuser details are shown below.

Development Info

To update the database after table changes in models.py

cd library-book-ordering
python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

To run Django tests

python manage.py test

Superuser

• Username: user
• Email: user@email.com
• Password: pass

Folder Structure

API

The internal API. Connects to the database and requests data from Google Books. Hosted at http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/

• admin.py -> admin view settings
• models.py -> database settings
• serializers.py -> api json settings
• tests -> Python unit tests
• urls.py -> api endpoints
• views.py -> api server logic

Frontend

The frontend UI hosted at http://127.0.0.1:8000/

• src -> React source folder
  • components -> React components (almost everything goes here!)
  • index.js -> React entry point (this shouldn't be changed)
• static -> frontend static files
  • css -> css files (to override Bootstrap)
  • frontend -> bundled JavaScript file (this shouldn't be changed)
  • images -> static images for frontend
• templates -> frontend html templates
• babel.config.json -> babel settings (JavaScript transpiler)
• package.json -> npm settings (Node modules and scripts)
• tests.py -> Python unit tests
• urls.py -> frontend endpoints
• views.py -> frontend server logic
• webpack.config.js -> webpack settings (JavaScript bundler)

Django Project Settings

• settings.py -> main project settings
• urls.py -> main project urls (these shouldn't be changed)

Other files

• db.sqlite3 -> this shouldn't need to be changed directly (see models.py)
• manage.py -> Django manager (used to access Django commands)
• requirements.txt -> Python required packages file
• venv -> virtual environment folder

Troubleshooting

• Issues with downloading and running the Python Environment on Windows click here
• Issues with the webpack configurations and DefinePlugin values click here
• CSS Files causing an error with webpack click here