Project Introduction

F3 is an abbreviation for Food and Farm Finder. It is a project of the Whatcom Python Users Group to create a Web based version of the Food and Farm Finder pamphlet available from Sustainable Connections as a PDF. The Python Web framework Django is being used. The original inspiration for the project came from a talk given by Sean Boisen at LinuxFest 2010

Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 2.5-2.7. Versions 3.0+ not supported
• Django Current release

• Database options.

  • Sqlite. Included in the above versions of Python. Default
  • Postgres. Some assembly required.
  • MySQL. Some assembly required

• geopy
• simplejson is required on Python 2.5.

General Notes

As mentioned above the project is using Django as its Web framework. Before starting the set up a general idea of the layout is in order. In the Django world the root of the site is known as the project. Within the project there are one or more applications. This repository represents the F3 project and its associated application f3_final.

Django uses a database(s) to store information. For this project the default database is Sqlite. The primary reason being that it is included with Python 2.5+. The other reasons are that it is a single file and has simple administrative needs. MySQL and Postgres have also been used. See the F3 section below for more information.

Django

• To install Django follow the instructions here install. For our purposes you only need to be concerned with the section titled 'Install Django'.

• To test that Django has been installed do:

  $ python
  Python 2.6.5 (r265:79063, Apr 16 2010, 13:09:56)
  [GCC 4.4.3] on linux2
  Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
  >>> import django
  >>>
  

• Proceed to the F3 section below.

F3 project

• This repository is the F3 project.

• Either use Git to clone the repository to your machine or use the Downloads button. If you choose the Downloads option you will be presented with a choice of having the repository rolled up into either a *.zip or *.tar.gz file.

• If you downloaded one of the compressed file formats, uncompress the archive into a suitable location. NOTE: The download process creates a unique directory name for the project. Now is good time to rename that directory to F3

• If you plan on using Sqlite as the database skip to the next step. If not, there is some housekeeping to be done. Using the appropriate database tool create a database; suggested name-f3. Also create a user with a password that has sufficient rights to administer the database. You will then need to make changes to the settings.py file in the project root(F3/):

  DATABASE_ENGINE = 'sqlite3'
  # 'postgresql_psycopg2', 'postgresql', 'mysql', 'sqlite3' or 'oracle'.
  DATABASE_NAME = os.path.join(basedir, 'f3.sqlite')
  # Or path to database file if using sqlite3.
  #DATABASE_USER = ''
  # Not used with sqlite3.
  #DATABASE_PASSWORD = ''
  # Not used with sqlite3.
  #DATABASE_HOST = ''
  # Set to empty string for localhost. Not used with sqlite3.
  #DATABASE_PORT = ''
  # Set to empty string for default. Not used with sqlite3.
  

  Note:The settings comments have been put under the SETTING for formatting purposes. In the file they will follow the SETTING. Set DATABASE_ENGINE to the appropriate one and change the DATABASE_NAME. Uncomment the other SETTING lines and fill in the information as needed.

• Change directories to the root of the project F3/. From there run:

  python manage.py syncdb
  

  This will populate the database with the application tables. Also when run the first time, it will ask to create the the Django authorization system. You want to say 'yes' to this. The script will prompt you for information and then create the authorization tables.

• Load data for project. To get the initial data into the database do:

  python manage.py loaddata f3_final
  

  At successful completion you should see something like:

  Installed XXX object(s) from Y fixture(s)
  

• Run built in Web server. Django has its own Web server that is sufficient for development work. It should not be used in production. To start the server, from the project root do:

  python manage.py runserver
  Validating models...
  
  0 errors found
  Django version 1.3 rc 1 SVN-15770, using settings 'f3.settings'
  Development server is running at http://127.0.0.1:8000/
  Quit the server with CONTROL-C.
  

• Verify site is working. In Web browser enter http://127.0.0.1:8000/f3/ You should see "this is the Hello world from f3"

• Congratulations you are up and running.

Future Use