Python Flask Kit

The Python Flask Kit is a starter kit with util pre-implemented features for Python Flask projects that follow concepts of MVC. It uses the Jinja library to render HTML templates. This kit includes a collections of utilities, default patterns, configurations, etc. Some plugins are defined into this lib like Bootstrap 5 and other utility plugins. You can also find internationalization classes in the kit to develop a multi-cultural application. The purpose of the kit is to facilitate our development and give it to us as a base for our projects. It is not a framework, it is just a library to help us a lot!

Installation

The Python 3 is required for this project. Download or clone this repository in your project diretory and install the Python Environment and the dependencies of the project by executing the run_setup.bat file. This file will create a new Python environment in .env folder, and use pip to install the dependencies. To start the server, just execute run_flask_dev.bat, run_flask_test.bat or run_flask_prod.bat depending on the environment you want to start the application on.

Configuration

There are three config files in the /project/configs directory. Each one corresponds to a specific environment. For example, if you run the run_flask_test.bat file, the config_test.py file will be used to define the configurations.

Resources

The project is separated by areas that contains a specific type of resource. Check below some lists of the contents of the directories and a small description about the project files:

Project Files

File	Description
blueprints.py	Python flask entities register module
config.py	Configuration handler by environment
errors.py	Application error classes
handlers.py	HTTP error handlers
i18n.py	Internationalization utils
menus.py	Sidebar menus registration
processors.py	Jinja context processors

Project Directories

Directory	Description
/configs	Configuration files for each environment
/controllers	Route controllers
/enums	Enumerations
/models	Data classes
/repositories	Database management functions
/services	Business rules functions
/translations	Translation dictionaries for each idiom
/utils	Common application functions
/validators	Data validators functions

Templates Directories

Directory	Description
/admin	Templates for authenticated users
/errors	HTTP error templates
/macros	Macro templates ("DRY" concept)
/private	Owner templates
/public	Templates for no authenticated users

Static Directories

Directory	Description
/documents	Text files
/medias	Media files
/plugins	External libraries
/scripts	JS files
/styles	CSS files

Utils

The util modules have default functionalities for usage in entire of application. There are different kinds of utils that can be used for specified operation. Check the table below for more details:

Util	Definition
cookie_utils.py	Functions to work with cookies
ctrl_utils.py	Controller util functionalities
database_utils.py	Database manipulation functions
datetime_utils.py	Date and datetime functions
mail_utils.py	Mail sender functions
security_utils.py	Security and authentication routines
translation_utils.py	Internationalization functions

Blueprints

The blueprints are resources that can be registered into Python Flask Engine, such as controllers, processors, etc. The file project/blueprints.py contains a list of blueprints that will be registered automatically when the application is running. New blueprints should be put inside this list.

Context Processors

Context processors are routines that will be called before rendering the Jinja templates, in order to define some global properties to be allowed for usage on the HTML templates. These routines can be found at /project/processors.py file.

Internationalization

You can define multiple translation files in /project/translations directory. These translation files uses a Python Dictionary, where each application message has its own key, and this key will be allowed for usage on templates by a Context Processor function called inject_dictionary(). The translation dictionary will be injected to Jinja templates depending on the idiom defined in the website lang cookie, so, if the lang cookie is defined with en_us value, the en_us.py dictionary will be injected by the Context Processor. The translation dictionary keys are located in a variable called i18n. For example, you can render the welcome message in HTML file by coding:

<p>{{ i18n.general.welcome }}</p>

Layout

The layout.html file is the base file that is used to render any template of the website. All templates should extend the layout file. In layout, some macros are imported and rendered automatically. The CSS, JS and metatags are defined into the /macros/headers.html file. Any new library that need to be imported to the website should be defined into this file.

Macros

Macro is a HTML file with the contents defined inside functions. It allows developer to create common templates that could be used in different parts of the application. Some parameters can be defined for these functions to handle the macro templates dinamically. They are useful to put often used idioms into reusable functions to not repeat yourself ("DRY").

{# Alert Macro #}
{% macro alert(message, type, dismissible = true) %}
    <div class="alert alert-{{type}} {{ 'alert-dismissible' if dismissible else '' }}">
        {{message}}
        {% if dismissible %}
        <button type="button" class="btn-close" data-bs-dismiss="alert"></button>
        {% endif %}
    </div>
{% endmacro %}

{# Usage example #}
{{ alert('Hello world!', 'success') }}

Thanks

I hope this lib can help you to start any Python Flask project you want. Thanks!