This project is a wellness journal to create and track daily entries regarding various aspects of physical and mental health, such as fitness, hydration, sleep, and mindfulness reflection. It was built using Python and a MySQL database, giving the users the oppurtinity to create, read, delete, and update various entriees in their journal.
To run this application on a local machine, follow these steps
- Connect to a MySQL server (MySQL Workbench used during development)
- Import the wellness_journal_db.sql SQL dump file into a MySQL database.
- Ensure the following dependencies are installed:
-
Python 3.6 or above -
pip install pymysql -
pip install prettytable
- Within "MySQL Server User Login Information," view or modify the b_username and db password variables to match MySQL username and password.
- Run and execute the Application.py script.
The user interacts with the system using a CLI interaction. The user starts by entering their username and viewing their current entries. Then, they are prompted to select a date. If they date exists, they have the option to edit, read, or delete the entry, as well as its smaller components. If the entry did not exist, one was created. The user has various options to backtrack and exit the programming during its duration.
This project taught as a multitude of technical and behavioral skills. Technically, we learned how to expand upon our previous python knowledge by connecting it to a database server, giving us a more efficient way to store and interact with large amounts of data. Conceptually, we learned how to better work in a team for a large-scale project, including proper time management and communication. We approached the project wanting to take it one step at a time, but we realized that designing a large program is easier when envisioning the final product and breaking it down step by step, as opposed to working chronologically and trying to figure things out on the way. Another design we considered was having the entry table contain all components, to allow the user to view an entire entry in one view. We also contemplated having users be able to have friends and view their entries, too. However, we decided upon this design because we believe is has the simplest segregation of information while maintaining third normal form.
As busy college students, we intend to use this program to track and hold ourselves more accountable for maintaining our physical and emotional health. By logging this information more frequently, we hope to increase our self awareness mindfulness. In the future, we hope to expand by implementing a fully interactive GUI as well as implementing a weekly and/or monthly view.