Bernard Borg

Posted on Nov 23

Vinyl Tracker Project Overview

#pages

by: Bernard Borg,

Submitted in partial fulfillment to Codecademy Computer Science Track - Portfolio Project: Python Terminal Utility

Vinyl Tracker GitHub Repository

Summary

This is a Vinyl Record Library - a Python terminal application for managing personal vinyl collections.

Key Features:

User authentication with login system
Add, search, edit, and delete vinyl records
Sort collections by year, artist, genre, or date acquired
JSON storage for persistence
CSV import/export for data sharing and backups

STRUCTURE, CLASSES, FUNCTIONS, AND FILES

FILE STRUCTURE


├── VINYL_TRACKER
|   ├──     main.py - Entry point, login + main loop
|   ├──     auth.py - Authentication & User Manaegement (User class user creation from csv)
|   ├──     models.py - Data classes: User, Vinyl
|   ├──     collection.py - CRUD operations on vinyl records        
|   ├──     search.py - All search-related logic
|   ├──     sort_records.py - Sorting functions
|   ├──     storage_json.py - JSON save/load
|   ├──     storage_csv.py - CSV import/export
|   ├──     utils.py - Helpers: clear screen, input validation, etc.
|   ├──     user_manager.py - User creation, authentication, 
            and management
|   ├──     csv_handler.py - CSV import/export helpers

FLOW DIAGRAM

! Flow Diagram
click to view

DATA MODELS

User Class
• username (string)
• password (string)

Vinyl Class
• artist (string)
• album (string)
• year (string)
• genre (string)
• barcode (string)
• track_count (int)
• date_added (date)
• username (string) — owner of the record

ARCHITECTURE

The project follows a modular structure with separate modules for different concerns:

main.py - Entry point, login + main loop
auth.py - Authentication & User Management
models.py - Data classes: User, Vinyl
collection.py - CRUD operations on vinyl records
search.py - All search-related logic
sort_records.py - Sorting functions
storage_json.py - JSON save/load
storage_csv.py - CSV import/export
utils.py - Helpers: clear screen, input validation, etc.
csv_handler.py - CSV import/export helpers

All data is stored in lowercase for consistency and displayed in title case to users. The application provides both single-record detailed views and multi-record summary lists for efficient browsing.

PERISISTENCE

Data is persisted in JSON files, one per user. CSV import/export is also supported for sharing and backups.

KEY DATA FLOWS:

Login Flow: Main → Login → Authenticate → Find User → Load from JSON
Collection Loading: JSON files → Vinyl objects (deserialization)
Collection Saving: Vinyl objects → JSON files (serialization)
Search Flow: Search Menu → Search → Handle Results → Display/Actions
Single Record Actions: View → Edit/Delete → Save to JSON
CSV Operations: Import/Export between CSV files and collection

IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS:

The storage_json.py layer handles conversion between dictionaries and Vinyl objects
Both list_vinyls and search results lead to single_record_actions for edit/delete
The clear_screen utility is used throughout for better UX (shown with dotted lines)

VALIDATION

Validation is implemented for all user inputs to ensure data integrity and quality. All validation functions follow the same pattern:

NOTICE: THIS PROJECT IS NOT COMPLETE. IT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. AUTHENTICATION IS NOT IMPLEMENTED, AS PASSWORDS ARE JUST BEING STORED IN PLAIN TEXT. THIS IS A SECURITY RISK.

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