Spudify is a project for Database Management with the intention of enabling users to take control of their audio preferences. Whether that includes songs, podcast episodes, or comedy specials, users are able to access our database of carefully selected auditory media and create unlimited playlists to their heart’s content.
There are two components within this documentation:
The setup and installation involves setting up the database, editing the correct files, and starting up the application with the correct data loaded. This procedure should be simple as long as all the pre-requisites are covered.
The repository must first be cloned to ease the package dependencies and installation. Additionally, it should be noted that the development of the application was under Pycharm Professional; therefore, to properly run the application without any issues, use the recommended IDE. Pycharm Community edition is also permissible.
To clone the repository, run the following command:
$ git clone https://www.github.com/momenabdelkarim/cse-412-class-project/
For the database and application to work, the following dependencies must first be installed beforehand with the associated versions:
- PostgreSQL (v12.4+)
- Python (v3.8)
- PyQT5 (v5.15.1)
- Psychopg2 (Binary v2.8.6)
To install the two Python packages, simply enter the root directory of the project and run the following command:
$ pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt
To setup the database used within the project and ensure that the correct data is populated the steps below should be followed sequentially:
- Set Environment Variables
- Initialize Database Structure Folder
- Start the Database
- Create a User for the Database
- Populate Database
- Verify Data
The following environment variables must be set before initializing the database:
PGPORTPGHOST
If you are unsure of whether they are already defined, you can echo them appropriately. In our use case, we set the following values to each variable:
$ export PGPORT=8888
$ export PGHOST=/tmp
The PGPORT variable can be changed depending on whether that port is available to you; however, please note that certain port numbers are restricted for various purposes, so we will assume you understand not to set a used port.
The next step includes setting a path to where the data should be held locally. This is up to your own discretion. In our use case, we initialized our database to a folder in the repository called database.
$ initdb /path/to/cse-412-class-project/database/
The next step is to start the database on the port associated with PGPORT and the database root folder. The following command can be used to start the database:
pg_ctl -D /path/to/database/root/folder -o '-k /tmp' start
The /path/to/database/root/folder/ is the path set when running the command in Initialize Database Structure Folder above.
The next step is to create a user for the database in order to access it. This can be done by running the following command:
$ createdb $USER
This will create a database with the associated username, $USER.
The last step is to populate the database with the appropriate tables and data that we constructed. This is easily completed with a Makefile. The Makefile can be found under /path/to/cse-412-class-project/phase2/makefile.
There needs to be one edit made to this Makefile in order for it to work effectively. On Line 3, edit the variable MAKEFILE_PATH to be set to the path to the Makefile. This would result in the following value as shown below:
MAKEFILE_PATH = /path/to/cse-412-class-project/phase2/
With the path set, only two make targets need to be ran below:
make setup_postgres
make insert_postgres
With the above steps complete, you can verify that you are able to connnect to the database via the following command:
$ psql -d $USER
Once you are connected, you can pose the following query below with the expected results as shown:
SELECT * FROM song WHERE song.auditory_media_id = 101;
auditory_media_id | name | duration | view_count
-------------------+-----------+----------+------------
101 | Natural | 189 | 621539875
101 | Boomerang | 188 | 53977701
101 | Machine | 182 | 78769871
(3 rows)
If you obtain the following three songs and their associated attributes, then you are ready to do the Application Database Sync.
In order for the application to appropriately recognize the database, we need to make one change in regards to the files inside the handlers.py folder located under /path/to/cse-412-class-project/backend/handlers.py.
With the file open, line 8 and line 12 should be changed to appropriately match the name of your database and username. In this case, the common subsitute for both values will be the output of echo $USER.
This results in the user and database variables to be set to $USER. With this step complete, simple run the application via the driver.py file located under /path/to/cse-412-class-project/bin/driver.py using the Pycharm IDE.
Once setup is complete, the user can run the application and view the landing screen.
To view all media that is available on the application, select the "All Media" tab. This will bring up all auditory media objects - albums, podcasts, and comedy specials - that are available to the user.
To view a narrower list of auditory media based on genre or rating specifications, select the "Search" button in the lower right-hand corner. This will bring up a new window where a user can specify genre and/or rating parameters to apply to the auditory media in the "All Media" tab.
To clear a search, a user should select the "Search" button on the "All Media" tab to bring up the filter window and apply the default parameters of genre "---" and rating "0+" to view all auditory media objects available in the database.
To view a playlist, navigate to the "Playlist" tab and double click on a playlist cover to reveal underneath what items belong to that playlist.
To create a new playlist, visit the "Playlist" tab on the main window and scroll horizontally to the right. Click "Create Playlist" and give it a descriptive name.
To rename an existing playlist, right click and select "Rename Playlist" from the dropdown. A playlist name accepts only alphabetical characters and must contain no special symbols or punctuation. To delete an existing playlist, right click and select "Delete Playlist" from the dropdown. Note, this action is permanent and deleted playlists cannot be recovered.
To view auditory media details such as songs that are members of an album, episodes that belong to a podcast, or general comedy special information, double click on an auditory media to bring up the details view.
In the details view, users have the option to add an item to a playlist. See Adding to a Playlist for more information
To add a song, episode, or comedy special to a playlist, navigate to the detail window of the auditory media that contains the item you wish to add to the a playlist - see Auditory Media Details for more information - and right click on an item and select the a playlist of choice.
To remove a song, episode, or comedy special from a playlist, navigate to the playlist and right click on the item you wish to remove. Select "Remove from this playlist" from the dropdown.
To end the application, select the red exit mark in the upper left-hand corner.