Starting a Django project

  1. Install Django

    ​​​​conda install django
​​​​python -m django --version

  2. Create a project

    ​​​​mkdir project_folder
​​​​cd project_folder
​​​​django-admin startproject travelclean_gui

    Create a secret file:

    ​​​​

    You need to redo this step when cloning the repository.

    This creates a skeleton folder structure.

  3. Start the development server

    ​​​​python3 manage.py runserver

    This is always useful during development

  4. Create a new app

    ​​​​python manage.py startapp cars

    This creates a folder named "cars". The folder contains

    • models.py:
      • Models map tables in the database to Python classes
    • views.py:
      • Urls are mapped to views
      • Views return html, which is sent to the client
    • urls.py
      • mapping of urls to views (can be done in travelclean_gui/urls.py)
    • admin.py
      • for managing the admin interface
    • tests.py
      • test for the models, views, forms
    • apps.py
    • migrations
      • managed by Django

    Add the new app to "travelclean_gui/settings.py":

    ​​​​INSTALLED_APPS = [
​​​​    'polls.apps.PollsConfig',
​​​​    ...
​​​​    'cars',
​​​​]

  5. Add a superuser

    ​​​​
​​​​python manage.py createsuperuser

    The superuser has access to the admin pages. Check out http://0.0.0.0:8000/admin.

  6. Add a model (data in the database)

    cars/models.py

    ​​​​from django.db import models

​​​​class Camera(models.Model):
​​​​    # Columns in the database table are members in the class
​​​​    description = models.CharField(max_length=200)
​​​​    ip = models.GenericIPAddressField(max_length=50)

    You need to update the database to reflect the new model:

    ​​​​python manage.py makemigrations
​​​​python manage.py migrate

    This will add the table into the database. It does not contain any data, since we didn't create a camera yet.

    The easiest way to change the data is to add the model to admin:

    cars/admin.py

    ​​​​from django.contrib import admin

​​​​from .models import Camera

​​​​admin.site.register(Camera)

  7. Add a URL and view

    travelclean_gui/urls.py:

    ​​​​from django.contrib import admin
​​​​from django.urls import include, path

​​​​urlpatterns = [
​​​​    path('', include('cars.urls')),
​​​​    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
​​​​]

    cars/urls.py:

    ​​​​
​​​​from django.urls import path

​​​​from . import views

​​​​urlpatterns = [
​​​​    path('', views.index, name='index'),
​​​​]

    cars/views.py

    ​​​​from django.http import HttpResponse

​​​​def index(request):
​​​​    return HttpResponse("Hello!")
    • This view just returns text, but it's general python code, so it could be anything more complicated.
    • Django has a powerful templating system, that makes this a lot easier.

  8. Add a view to interact with the model

    cars/urls.py

    ​​​​from django.urls import path

​​​​from . import views

​​​​urlpatterns = [
​​​​    path('', views.index, name='index'),
​​​​    path('cameralist', views.CameraListView.as_view(), name='camera_list'),
​​​​    path('camera/<pk>', views.CameraDetailView.as_view(), name='camera'),
​​​​]

    cars/views.py

    ​​​​from django.shortcuts import render
​​​​from django.http import HttpResponse
​​​​from django.views import generic
​​​​
​​​​from .models import Camera


​​​​# Create your views here.

​​​​def index(request):
​​​​    return HttpResponse("Hello!")

​​​​class CameraListView(generic.ListView):
​​​​    model = Camera
​​​​    template_name = 'camera_list.html'
​​​​    
​​​​class CameraDetailView(generic.DetailView):
​​​​    model = Camera

    cars/templates/cars/camera_list.html

    ​​​​<html>  
​​​​<body>

​​​​    {% block content %}
​​​​    <h1>Camera List</h1>
​​​​       {% if camera_list %}
​​​​       <ul>
​​​​           {% for camera in camera_list %}
​​​​           <li>
​​​​              {{ camera.id }}: {{camera.description}}
​​​​           </li>
​​​​           {% endfor %}
​​​​      </ul>
​​​​      {% else %}
​​​​      <p>No cameras found</p>
​​​​      {% endif %}
​​​​   {% endblock %}
​​​​</body>
​​​​</html>

    cars/templates/cars/camera_detail.html

    ​​​​<html>
​​​​<body>

​​​​    {% block content %}
​​​​    <h1>Camera</h1>

​​​​    {{ camera.id }}: {{camera.description}} : {{camera.ip}}

​​​​    {% endblock %}
​​​​</body>
​​​​</html>

  9. Add a form for changing the data

    • In fact a view can change the data on post, but forms allow you to submit more structured data
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