Building a database front end with Jam.py

Custom Charts or Buttons

You can add much more than links to a Jam.py interface. The most interesting objects are dynamic charts built in your browser by libraries like chart.js, as well as buttons that make server.py interact with the underlying operating system. For instance, you could add a button that sends an email message. See the Jam.py documentation for details on how to add these features. You will find some of these advanced features in the dashboard of the official demo [6] [7] [8].

Portability

A great advantage of Jam.py database interfaces is their portability. The actual SQLite database of my bookmark manager is one file, situated in the same folder where all the other files of that project live, which means if I copy the folder to another computer, I can run the bookmark manager – as long as the new computer has Python and Jam.py installed. (Actually, it is even simpler than that. The only real requirement is Python, because you can include the Jam.py package inside the same folder with the rest of the application, and move or backup everything together.)

Portability of Metadata

In some cases, you might wish to import a finished Jam.py configuration to another computer. For instance, you might wish to use an existing application as a template, or perhaps you want to test some changes to the current configuration on another computer to avoid disrupting the production system.

To export a Jam.py application, select Project in the left pane of the Builder and click the Export button. The Export button saves the admin.sqlite database that every Jam.py builder creates for its own use, plus all the other project files (CSS stylesheets, reports, custom code of your application, images…) into one ZIP archive. You can then use the Import button on another instance of Jam.py to load the complete project from the archive.

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