Database lab — CV form + MySQL (step-by-step)

Small Node.js + Express + mysql2 project: submit a CV through the browser, save rows in MySQL, then run aggregate SQL from a separate script.

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What is MVC (here)?

MVC (Model–View–Controller) splits responsibilities:

Piece	In this project	Role
Model	Not a separate ORM; db.js + SQL	Data: tables, connections, queries
View	views/*.html	What the user sees (static HTML)
Controller	controllers/cvController.js	Glue: read HTTP input, call DB, choose which view to send
Routes	routes/cvRoutes.js	Maps URLs (GET /, POST /submit) to controller functions
Entry	server.js	Starts the app, connects the DB, mounts routes

The server file stays thin: it configures Express and starts listening; it does not contain INSERT logic.

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Project structure

database-lab/              # project root (rename your folder if you like)
├── server.js              # Entry: Express app + listen + connectDb()
├── db.js                  # MySQL: create DB, pool, CREATE TABLE
├── controllers/
│   └── cvController.js    # showForm, submitForm
├── routes/
│   └── cvRoutes.js        # GET / , POST /submit
├── views/
│   ├── index.html         # CV form
│   ├── saved.html         # After successful save (static message)
│   └── error.html         # On error (static message)
├── queries.js             # Aggregate SELECTs (run in terminal)
├── package.json
└── README.md

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Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ recommended
• MySQL 8 running locally
• A MySQL user that can create databases (e.g. root) — update password in db.js to match your machine

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Setup

1. Install dependencies

   cd database-lab   
   npm install

2. Configure MySQL credentials
   Open db.js and set user / password (two places: the first createConnection and the createPool).

3. No manual CREATE DATABASE required
   The first successful connectDb() runs CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS mycvproject and creates tables.

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Run the web app

npm start

Open http://localhost:3000, fill the form, submit.

• Success → views/saved.html
• Failure → views/error.html (details are in the terminal via console.error)

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Run aggregate queries (after you have data)

node queries.js

or

npm run queries

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Suggested learning order (how you might rebuild it)

1. npm init → package.json
2. db.js — connect, create database, pool, tables
3. views/index.html — form with method="post" and action="/submit"
4. server.js — Express, urlencoded, POST /submit with INSERTs (monolith first)
5. Split routes/cvRoutes.js + controllers/cvController.js
6. Add queries.js for reporting SQL

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Things to check
ECONNREFUSED	MySQL service not running
Access denied	Wrong user / password in db.js
Duplicate email error	Email is UNIQUE on person; use another email or clear the table in Workbench