Month: December 2017

Tk — Toplevel

Toplevel widgets are non-root windows. In other words, Toplevel widgets are windows that appear outside of the application’s root window. We can use Toplevel widgets for items such as dialogs, color picker windows, or even dragging tabs into windows. Basically, anytime you need a window that isn’t part of the main application, you can use a Toplevel to create it.

Here is an example of a script that creates Toplevel windows everytime the Spawn button is clicked.

from tkinter import *

count = 0


def spawn_top_level(text):
    global count

    # Create a new window with a label
    win = Toplevel()
    Label(win, text=text, font=('Arial', 32, 'italic')).pack(expand=YES, fill=BOTH)

    count += 1


# This is the main application window
root = Tk()
Button(root,
       text='Spawn',
       command=(lambda: spawn_top_level('Top Level: {}'.format(count)))).pack()
Button(root, text='Quit', command=root.quit).pack()
root.mainloop()

The code creates Toplevel windows inside of the spawn_top_level() function. The window itself is created on line 10, and then we attach a Label to it on line 11. Notice how we pass win as the Label’s parent on line 11. This is how Tkinter knows where to attach the label. When the script is run, we get something like the screenshot below.

toplevel

Tk – GUI Composition with Classes

Since Python’s Tk widgets are classes, it is really easy to compose GUIs by using Pythons OOP capabilities. OOP works really well because we can break complex GUIs down into smaller components and then compose a larger GUI out of these components. Let’s begin with a text area control.

from tkinter import *


class TextArea(Text):
    def __init__(self, parent=None):
        Text.__init__(self, parent, width=40, height=10, border=2)
        self.pack(expand=YES, fill=BOTH, side=TOP)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    TextArea(Toplevel())
    mainloop()

This code subclasses the Text control and initializes it to what would be a reasonably sized text area control that grows and shrinks with the window. We can verify if our control is working properly by using the self-test code found in the script. Here is a screenshot of what it looks like.

textarea

It’s not much of a window, but we aren’t done composing our GUI yet either. Now let’s make some buttons that will let us load, save, and quit the application. The buttons will be arranged horizontally from left to right. This time, we are going to subclass the Frame class.

class ControlPanel(Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent=None, save=None, load=None, quit_command=exit):
        Frame.__init__(self, parent)
        Button(self, text='Save', command=save).pack(side=LEFT)
        Button(self, text='Load', command=load).pack(side=LEFT)
        Button(self, text='Exit', command=quit_command).pack(side=LEFT)
        self.pack(expand=YES, fill=BOTH, side=TOP)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    ControlPanel(Toplevel())
    mainloop()

In this example, we are using the self variable as a parent object to our 3 objects. The ControlPanel’s constructor accepts three references to functions that act as event handlers for the buttons. Inside of the constructor, we create three buttons and set their text and command attributes. Then we pack them to the left side of the layout. Finally, the frame itself is packed. Running the self-test code gives us the following window.

control_panel

The final task is to combine our controls into a single window. Once again, we are going to subclass Frame.

class TextPanel(Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent=None):
        Frame.__init__(self, parent)
        TextArea(self)
        ControlPanel(self)
        self.pack(expand=YES, fill=BOTH)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    TextPanel(Toplevel())
    mainloop()

Notice how the TextPanel class simply uses TextArea and ControlPanel. Once again, we are using composition to build up a complex GUI. The beauty of this pattern is that we can use both TextArea and ControlPanel in other GUIs. Futhermore, the TextPanel class can also get embedded into other GUIs as well.

Since all three classes have test code, we can easily see how our code is working as we develop. This is part of the reason why it’s so easy to build up GUI applications in Python using Tk or another widget toolkit. We can easily contruct GUIs using OOP and then test then instantly and independently of the application.

Here is the finished GUI followed by a complete script.

complete

from tkinter import *


class TextArea(Text):
    def __init__(self, parent=None):
        Text.__init__(self, parent, width=40, height=10, border=2)
        self.pack(expand=YES, fill=BOTH, side=TOP)


class ControlPanel(Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent=None, save=None, load=None, quit_command=exit):
        Frame.__init__(self, parent)
        Button(self, text='Save', command=save).pack(side=LEFT)
        Button(self, text='Load', command=load).pack(side=LEFT)
        Button(self, text='Exit', command=quit_command).pack(side=LEFT)
        self.pack(expand=YES, fill=BOTH, side=TOP)


class TextPanel(Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent=None):
        Frame.__init__(self, parent)
        TextArea(self)
        ControlPanel(self)
        self.pack(expand=YES, fill=BOTH)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    TextArea(Toplevel())
    ControlPanel(Toplevel())
    TextPanel(Toplevel())
    mainloop()

Tk – Themed Widgets

Since Python Tk widgets are classes, we can use inheritance to specialize widgets for our applications. A common use case is specifying themes for our widgets so that our GUI controls look consistent. In this tutorial, I’ll explain how to make themed Tk widgets.

themed_buttons.py

from tkinter import *


class ThemedFrame(Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent=None, **configs):
        Frame.__init__(self, parent, **configs)
        self.config(bg='Red', borderwidth=10)
        self.pack(expand=YES, fill=BOTH)


class ThemedButton(Button):
    def __init__(self, parent=None, **configs):
        Button.__init__(self, parent, **configs)
        self.config(font=('Arial', 32))
        self.pack()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    frame = ThemedFrame()
    ThemedButton(frame, text='Quit', command=(lambda: sys.exit()))
    frame.mainloop()

The above code makes the following window. The background is red and the button has its font set to Arial 32. All of the ThemedButtons and ThemedFrames in this application will adhere to a consistent styling.

themed_widgets

Making the ThemedFrame and ThemedButton are fairly straightforward. For ThemedFrame, we create a ThemedFrame class and have it extend Frame. Line 6 calls the Frame’s __init__ method and then we start our custom configuration on line 7. In this case, we set the frame’s background to red and give it a border that is 10 pixels thick. Then we pack the frame and set it’s expand and fill options so that the frame always resizes with the window.

ThemedButton follows the same pattern as ThemedFrame. The ThemedButton class extends Button. On line 12, we call Button’s __init__ method followed by configuration options on line 14. In this case, we set the button’s font to Arial 32. Then we call the pack() method.

The demonstration part is found on lines 18-21. We create a ThemedFrame object on line 19. It’s made the same way as a regular Frame. Line 20 makes a ThemedButton. The constructor is consistent with Button’s constructor, so we are free to pass attributes such as the text and callback handlers to the button. Finally, we call mainloop() on ThemedFrame. All of this works because ThemedButton and ThemedFrame are simply specialization of their parent classes.

Tk Event Handling

All GUI programs need a way to respond to user interactions. The Tk GUI toolkit provided in Python provides us with a number of different ways to respond to user interactions. Let’s look at a few different ways we can make buttons respond to user events.

Pass a Function

Since Python considers functions to be objects, we can just pass a function to the event handler.

def click():
    print('Clicked')

root = Tk()
Button(root, text='Click Me', command=click).pack()
root.mainloop()

Use a Lambda

Lamdas are another popular way to express event handling code.

root = Tk()
Button(root, text='Click Me', command=(lambda: print('Clicked'))).pack()
root.mainloop()

Use a Class

Many programs construct GUIs using Pythons OOP capabilities. As such, we can bind a class method to the event handler also.

class MyClass:
    def __init__(self, root):
        self.button = Button(root, text='Class', command=self.command).pack()

    def command(self):
        print('Class handler')

root = Tk()
MyClass(root)
root.mainloop()

Override the __call__ method

We can also construct classes that overload the __call__ operator. Doing so is useful when we need to pass complex information along to an event handler.

class MyCallable:
    def __init__(self):
        self.message = '__call__ handler'

    def __call__(self):
        print(self.message)

root=Tk()
Button(root, text='Callable', command=MyCallable()).pack()
root.mainloop()

Event Binding

We can also make direct calls to Tk

def print_me():
    print('binding')

root = Tk()

w = Button(root, text='Binding')
w.pack()
w.bind('<Button-1>, print_me)
root.mainloop()

Complete Program

Below is a complete program that demonstrates all of the above patterns.

import sys
from tkinter import *


def write():
    print('Function call')


class HelloClass:
    def __init__(self, root):
        self.button = Button(root, text='Class', command=self.command).pack(side=LEFT, fill=X)

    def command(self):
        print('Class handler')


class Callable:
    def __init__(self):
        self.message = '__call__ handler'

    def __call__(self):
        print(self.message)


def printMe(event):
    print('Double click to quit')


def quit(event):
    sys.exit()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    root = Tk()

    Button(root, text='Function', command=write).pack(side=LEFT, fill=X)
    Button(root, text='Lambda', command=(lambda: print('Labmda call'))).pack(side=LEFT, fill=X)
    HelloClass(root)
    Button(root, text='Callable', command=Callable()).pack(side=LEFT, fill=X)

    w = Button(root, text='Binding')
    w.pack(side=LEFT, fill=X)
    w.bind('<Button-1>', printMe)
    w.bind('<Double-1>', quit)

    root.mainloop()

Kotlin JDBC – RowSet Interface

The RowSet interface is a sub-interface of ResultSet and is used provide finer grade control over JDBC result sets. The RowSet interface has its own sub-interfaces that provide different features depending on the type of interface.

RowSet Sub-Interfavces

Interface Brief Description
JdbcRowSet A RowSet that is capable of being used as a JavaBeans component. The JdbcRowSet maintains a connection to the underlying database and makes the ResultSet scrollable and updateable.
CachedRowSet Caches rows in memory, allowing for the application to work on the ResultSet without maintaing an active connection to the database.
WebRowSet : CachedRowSet An extension of CachedRowSet, the WebRowSet provides XML capabilities
JoinRowSet : WebRowSet Extends WebRowSet to provide SQL JOIN capabilities.
FilterRowSet : WebRowSet Extends WebRowSet to provide filtering capabilities

Example Program

Below is an example program that demonstrates how to create an instance of RowSet.

pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>OCJP-DB</groupId>
    <artifactId>ocjpdb</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <properties>
        <kotlin.version>1.2.10</kotlin.version>
        <main.class>stonesoupprogramming.MainKt</main.class>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.derby</groupId>
            <artifactId>derby</artifactId>
            <version>10.14.1.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-stdlib-jre8</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-test</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <sourceDirectory>src/main/kotlin</sourceDirectory>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
                <artifactId>kotlin-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>compile</id>
                        <phase>compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                    <execution>
                        <id>test-compile</id>
                        <phase>test-compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>test-compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <jvmTarget>1.8</jvmTarget>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.6</version>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                            <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.2.1</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>java</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

EmployeesRowset.kt

package stonesoupprogramming

import javax.sql.rowset.RowSetProvider

fun main (args : Array<String>){
    val rowSet  = RowSetProvider.newFactory().createWebRowSet()

    with(rowSet){
        //Connection information
        url = "jdbc:derby:stonesoup;create=true"
        username = "admin"
        password = "pw"

        //Command to execute against the database
        command = "SELECT * FROM BURGERS.EMPLOYEES"

        //Execute the command
        execute()

        //Output XML to standard out
        writeXml(System.out)
    }
}

Explanation

This program queries a table in the database and prints the XML to the standard out. We get an instance of WebRowSet by calling createWebRowSet() on line 6. Note that if we wanted a different kind of RowSet, we would just use the corresponding method on RowSetProvider. For example, if we wanted a JdbcRowSet, we would use createJdbcRowSet() instead of createWebRowSet().

The result is a RowSet object. Once we have a RowSet object, we start by populating its properties to establish a connection to the database. In this case, we pass a JDBC connection string, a username, and a password. Next, we set the command property with a SQL string.

The SQL is executed when call the execute() method. A connection is established to the database and then the RowSet object is populated with the results. Since we are using a WebRowSet, we can write the results to XML. The example program passes System.out as the output stream and the results appear on the console.

Kotlin JDBC – Savepoints

The JDBC connection object has the ability to create SavePoint objects that are used to rollback a transaction to a specific point in time. One possible use case is providing users the ability to have “Undo” options while working in a database client program. Of course, we can also use SavePoints in Exception handlers or other areas of the program as needed.

SavePoints are used when the connection’s autoCommit property is set to false. We create a SavePoint like so

val bob = connection.setSavePoint("Bob") //Name is optional

Later on, we can pass the SavePoint to the rollback() method on the connection object.

connection.rollback(bob)

Once the connection is rollback to a SavePoint, any work performed on the conncetion after the SavePoint is lost.

Below is an example program that demonstrates using SavePoints.

pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>OCJP-DB</groupId>
    <artifactId>ocjpdb</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <properties>
        <kotlin.version>1.2.10</kotlin.version>
        <main.class>stonesoupprogramming.MainKt</main.class>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.derby</groupId>
            <artifactId>derby</artifactId>
            <version>10.14.1.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-stdlib-jre8</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-test</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <sourceDirectory>src/main/kotlin</sourceDirectory>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
                <artifactId>kotlin-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>compile</id>
                        <phase>compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                    <execution>
                        <id>test-compile</id>
                        <phase>test-compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>test-compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <jvmTarget>1.8</jvmTarget>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.6</version>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                            <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.2.1</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>java</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

Employees.kt

package stonesoupprogramming

import java.sql.Connection
import java.sql.DriverManager
import java.sql.ResultSet
import java.util.*

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    val properties = Properties()

    //Populate the properties file with user name and password
    with(properties) {
        put("user", "admin")
        put("password", "pw")
    }

    //Open a connection to the database
    DriverManager
            .getConnection("jdbc:derby:stonesoup;create=true", properties)
            .use { connection ->
                //Set autoCommit to false to manually manage transactions
                connection.autoCommit = false

                createOrTruncateTable(connection)

                //Create an updatable result set
                val rs = connection
                        .createStatement(ResultSet.TYPE_SCROLL_SENSITIVE, ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE)
                        .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")

                //Populate the table with data
                with(rs) {
                    moveToInsertRow()
                    updateInt("ID", 1);
                    updateString("NAME", "Bob")
                    insertRow()

                    val bob = connection.setSavepoint("Bob")

                    moveToInsertRow()
                    updateInt("ID", 2)
                    updateString("NAME", "Linda")
                    insertRow()

                    val linda = connection.setSavepoint("Linda")

                    moveToInsertRow()
                    updateInt("ID", 3)
                    updateString("NAME", "Tina")
                    insertRow()

                    val tina = connection.setSavepoint("Tina")

                    print("Enter Bob, Linda, or Tina => ")
                    val choice = readLine()

                    when (choice) {
                        "Bob" -> connection.rollback(bob)
                        "Linda" -> connection.rollback(linda)
                        "Tina" -> connection.rollback(tina)
                    }
                }
                //Commit the transaction
                connection.commit()


                //Read only queries are still transactions
                val rsq = connection
                        .createStatement()
                        .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")
                with(rsq) {
                    while (next()) {
                        println("${getInt("ID")}\t${getString("NAME")}")
                    }
                }
                //So we need to commit this query also even though it doesn't change anything
                connection.commit()
            }
}

private fun createOrTruncateTable(connection: Connection) {
    val metaData = connection.metaData
    if (!metaData.getTables(null, "BURGERS", "EMPLOYEES", null).next()) {
        connection
                .createStatement()
                .executeUpdate("CREATE TABLE BURGERS.EMPLOYEES (ID INT PRIMARY KEY, NAME VARCHAR(255))")
    } else {
        connection
                .createStatement()
                .executeUpdate("TRUNCATE TABLE BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")
    }
    connection.commit()
}

Explanation

Our program begins by establishing a connection, preparing a table, and creating an updatable ResultSet. We start inserting into the table beginning on line 32. Line 38 is where we create our first SavePoint, after inserting Bob into the table. Once we have the bob SavePoint established, we move on and insert Linda. Linda also gets a SavePoint (line 45), followed by Tina (line 52).

The user is present with a choice on line 55. When they enter Bob, the connection is rolled back to Bob, meaning that neither Linda or Tina are inserted into the database. When the user picks Linda, the connection is rolled back to the linda SavePoint, meaning that Bob and Linda are inserted into the database, but not Tina. If Tina is picked, then all three employees are inserted into the database. Line 64 commits the transaction and the inserts are performed into the database.

Kotlin JDBC – Rollback Transactions

JDBC has the ability rollback transactions. This example shows how to rollback a transaction in the case of an exception. Exception rollbacks are a common pattern because in many cases, committing a transaction after an error can leave the database in an inconsistent state. Let’s take a look at a short example of how to rollback a transaction.

connection.autoCommit = false

createOrTruncateTable(connection)

//Create an updatable result set
val rs = connection
         .createStatement(ResultSet.TYPE_SCROLL_SENSITIVE, ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE)
         .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")

try {
    /* Lines 32-46 omitted */

    //Commit the previous transaction (lines 32-46)
    connection.commit()

    //Now let's do an insert but have it fail
    with(rs){
        moveToInsertRow()

        updateInt("ID", 3)
        updateString("NAME", "Tina")

        insertRow()
    }
    throw Exception("Simulated")
} catch (e: Exception){
    println("Caught simulated exception. Rolling back...")

    //We can rollback the current transaction. Tina will never
    //get inserted into the database
    connection.rollback()
}

The above code fragement uses an expanded try-catch block. At the start of the code fragement, turn off autoCommit on the connection object and create an updatable ResultSet that let’s us insert rows into the database table. There is an ommitted portion of code that inserts some rows into the database.

Then we commit the first transaction. So far so good. The rows are entered cleanly into the database. Then our example continues by inserting another record into the table. Rather than committing the transaction, we instead throw an Exception to act as if something went wrong with the insertion.

The catch block found at the end of the code fragement shows what to do when an exception is thrown in the middle of a transaction. In our example, we notify the user that we are rolling back the changes. Then we call rollback() on the connection object. Rollback() resets the transaction and the program can act as if the last transaction never happened.

Complete Example

Below is a complete Kotlin program that shows the demonstration code in its entirety.

pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>OCJP-DB</groupId>
    <artifactId>ocjpdb</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <properties>
        <kotlin.version>1.2.10</kotlin.version>
        <main.class>stonesoupprogramming.MainKt</main.class>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.derby</groupId>
            <artifactId>derby</artifactId>
            <version>10.14.1.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-stdlib-jre8</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-test</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <sourceDirectory>src/main/kotlin</sourceDirectory>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
                <artifactId>kotlin-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>compile</id>
                        <phase>compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                    <execution>
                        <id>test-compile</id>
                        <phase>test-compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>test-compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <jvmTarget>1.8</jvmTarget>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.6</version>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                            <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.2.1</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>java</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

Employees.kt

package stonesoupprogramming

import java.sql.Connection
import java.sql.DriverManager
import java.sql.ResultSet
import java.util.*

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    val properties = Properties()

    //Populate the properties file with user name and password
    with(properties) {
        put("user", "admin")
        put("password", "pw")
    }

    //Open a connection to the database
    DriverManager
            .getConnection("jdbc:derby:stonesoup;create=true", properties)
            .use { connection ->
                //Set autoCommit to false to manually manage transactions
                connection.autoCommit = false

                createOrTruncateTable(connection)

                //Create an updatable result set
                val rs = connection
                        .createStatement(ResultSet.TYPE_SCROLL_SENSITIVE, ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE)
                        .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")

                try{
                    //Populate the table with data
                    with(rs) {
                        moveToInsertRow()

                        updateInt("ID", 1);
                        updateString("NAME", "Bob")

                        insertRow()
                        moveToInsertRow()

                        updateInt("ID", 2)
                        updateString("NAME", "Linda")

                        insertRow()
                    }
                    //Commit the transaction
                    connection.commit()

                    //Now let's do an insert but have it fail
                    with(rs){
                        moveToInsertRow()

                        updateInt("ID", 3)
                        updateString("NAME", "Tina")

                        insertRow()
                    }
                    throw Exception("Simulated")

                } catch (e: Exception){
                    println("Caught simulated exception. Rolling back...")

                    //We can rollback the current transaction. Tina will never
                    //get inserted into the database
                    connection.rollback()
                }


                //Read only queries are still transactions
                val rsq = connection
                        .createStatement()
                        .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")
                with(rsq) {
                    while (next()) {
                        println("${getInt("ID")}\t${getString("NAME")}")
                    }
                }
                //So we need to commit this query also even though it doesn't change anything
                connection.commit()
            }
}

private fun createOrTruncateTable(connection: Connection) {
    val metaData = connection.metaData
    if (!metaData.getTables(null, "BURGERS", "EMPLOYEES", null).next()) {
        connection
                .createStatement()
                .executeUpdate("CREATE TABLE BURGERS.EMPLOYEES (ID INT PRIMARY KEY, NAME VARCHAR(255))")
    } else {
        connection
                .createStatement()
                .executeUpdate("TRUNCATE TABLE BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")
    }
    connection.commit()
}

Kotlin JDBC – Transactions

There are plenty of situations where databases need to execute a series of SQL statements together to maintain the integrity of the data. In such situations, either all of the statements must succeed or none of them must succeed. Bank accounts are a good example.

In many cases, a customer may have a savings account and a checking account. If a customer moves money from the savings account into the checking account, then two updates are required on two tables. If the update only succeeds on the savings account but fails on the checking account, then the customer’s money will disappear. That is less than ideal for the customer, so either both the checking and savings account tables must update, or the entire operation must fail.

Grouping SQL statements together is known as a transaction. We can manually manage our transactions in JDBC by setting the autoCommit property to false on the connection object. After we set autoCommit to false, we have to make sure to call commit() on the connection object after each transaction. Below is a simple Kotlin program that demonstrates transactions.

pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>OCJP-DB</groupId>
    <artifactId>ocjpdb</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <properties>
        <kotlin.version>1.2.10</kotlin.version>
        <main.class>stonesoupprogramming.MainKt</main.class>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.derby</groupId>
            <artifactId>derby</artifactId>
            <version>10.14.1.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-stdlib-jre8</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-test</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <sourceDirectory>src/main/kotlin</sourceDirectory>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
                <artifactId>kotlin-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>compile</id>
                        <phase>compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                    <execution>
                        <id>test-compile</id>
                        <phase>test-compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>test-compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <jvmTarget>1.8</jvmTarget>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.6</version>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                            <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.2.1</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>java</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

Employees.kt

package stonesoupprogramming

import java.sql.Connection
import java.sql.DriverManager
import java.sql.ResultSet
import java.util.*

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    val properties = Properties()

    //Populate the properties file with user name and password
    with(properties) {
        put("user", "admin")
        put("password", "pw")
    }

    //Open a connection to the database
    DriverManager
            .getConnection("jdbc:derby:stonesoup;create=true", properties)
            .use { connection ->
                //Set autoCommit to false to manually manage transactions
                connection.autoCommit = false

                createOrTruncateTable(connection)

                //Create an updatable result set
                val rs = connection
                        .createStatement(ResultSet.TYPE_SCROLL_SENSITIVE, ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE)
                        .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")

                //Populate the table with data
                with(rs) {
                    moveToInsertRow()

                    updateInt("ID", 1);
                    updateString("NAME", "Bob")

                    insertRow()
                    moveToInsertRow()

                    updateInt("ID", 2)
                    updateString("NAME", "Linda")

                    insertRow()
                }
                //Commit the transation
                connection.commit()

                //Read only queries are still transactions
                val rsq = connection
                        .createStatement()
                        .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")
                with(rsq) {
                    while (next()) {
                        println("${getInt("ID")}\t${getString("NAME")}")
                    }
                }
                //So we need to commit this query also even though it doesn't change anything
                connection.commit()
            }
}

private fun createOrTruncateTable(connection: Connection) {
    val metaData = connection.metaData
    if (!metaData.getTables(null, "BURGERS", "EMPLOYEES", null).next()) {
        connection
                .createStatement()
                .executeUpdate("CREATE TABLE BURGERS.EMPLOYEES (ID INT PRIMARY KEY, NAME VARCHAR(255))")
    } else {
        connection
                .createStatement()
                .executeUpdate("TRUNCATE TABLE BURGERS.EMPLOYEES")
    }
    connection.commit()
}

Let’s begin with the explanation. We start by connecting to the database (lines 12-20), then we set the connection’s autoCommit property to false (line 22). From this point on, we are responsible for managing our database transactions. Lines 63-75 create a table for us to work on in the database. It will either make a brand new table, or truncate an existing one.

We populate our table with data on lines 27-45 by creating an updatable ResultSet object and using it’s update methods. The ResultSet will prepare SQL insert statements. However, none of the rows get inserted into the database until line 47 when we call commit() on the connection object.

It’s worth noting that we have to call commit() on read only transactions also. So on lines 50-57, we read from the database to verify the inserts were performed. However, notice that on line 59, we still call commit() even though we haven’t actually changed anything. This is because the underlying database still considers a read only statement to be a transaction.

Python – Getting Started With TK

Python has a variety of widget libraries, but TK is the one included in CPython. This post shows a very basic Python program that uses TK to create an application window with a label and a button. The application closes when the user clicks on the button.

from tkinter import *

root = Tk()

Label(root, text='Click to quit => ').pack(side=LEFT, expand=YES, fill=BOTH)
Button(root, text='Quit', command=sys.exit).pack(side=LEFT, expand=YES, fill=BOTH)

root.mainloop()

The following window appears when the application is executed.
tk

Explanation

The program starts by importing the tkinter module on line 1. This module contains the widgets (or controls) that we need to create our application window. On line 3, we create a root variable and assign it to a main (or root) window by calling the Tk() function. We are now ready to start creating our controls.

Line 5 creates a Label control. The first argument in the constructor is its parent window, so we pass in root. The text argument assigns text to the label. Next, we call the pack() method on the control. In our case, we use three optional arguments. Side is used to tell the layout manager which side the control should stick too. In our case, we want to left aling our controls so we use LEFT. The expand parameter tells the label to expand with the window, while the fill control tells the control which directions it should expand or shrink (horizontal, vertical, or both).

Line 6 creates a Button that we can click on. The root is still the main window while the text is the button’s text. The command is the action the button should execute when clicked. In our case, we are telling the application to exit because we are passing the sys.exit function to the command argument. The pack() method does the same as the Label on line 5.

Finally, we want to show the window and make the program wait for events. We do this by calling root.mainloop(). Once mainloop() executes, the script will only respond to code found in event handlers, which is command=sys.exit in our case.

Kotlin JDBC – Create a Table

We can use JDKs JDBC API to create a table in a database. We create tables by using the Statements::executeUpdate method and pass the proper SQL command along to the database. Here is an example of how to do this in Kotlin.

private fun createTable(connection: Connection) {
    //SQL statement to create a table
    val sql = """
         CREATE TABLE BURGERS.MENU (
            ID int primary key,
            ITEM varchar(255),
            PRICE float)
        """.trimMargin()
    connection.createStatement().executeUpdate(sql)
}

The first thing to do is to prepare a SQL String. Kotlin’s triple quoted strings “”” are very useful for making such Strings. Next, we enter a with() function call on the connection object and call createStatement() to get an instance of Statement. The Statement has an executeUpdate(String) method that accepts our SQL string. Once the executeUpdate() method returns, our database has a new table.

Example Program

Below is a Kotlin program that includes creating a table in the database.

pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>OCJP-DB</groupId>
    <artifactId>ocjpdb</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <properties>
        <kotlin.version>1.2.0</kotlin.version>
        <main.class>stonesoupprogramming.MainKt</main.class>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.derby</groupId>
            <artifactId>derby</artifactId>
            <version>10.14.1.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-stdlib-jre8</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-test</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <sourceDirectory>src/main/kotlin</sourceDirectory>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
                <artifactId>kotlin-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>compile</id>
                        <phase>compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                    <execution>
                        <id>test-compile</id>
                        <phase>test-compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>test-compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <jvmTarget>1.8</jvmTarget>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.6</version>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                            <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.2.1</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>java</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <configuration>
                    <mainClass>${main.class}</mainClass>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

BurgerMenu.kt

package stonesoupprogramming

import java.sql.Connection
import java.sql.DriverManager
import java.sql.ResultSet
import java.util.*

private const val SCHEMA = "BURGERS"
private const val TABLE = "MENU"

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    val properties = Properties()

    //Populate the properties file with user name and password
    with(properties) {
        put("user", "admin")
        put("password", "pw")
    }

    //Open a connection to the database
    DriverManager
            .getConnection("jdbc:derby:stonesoup;create=true", properties)
            .use { connection ->
                    prepareTable(connection)
                    insertItems(connection)
                    queryRows(connection)
                    updatePrice(connection, 6.95)

                    println("\nAfter update")
                    queryRows(connection)

                    println("\nAfter delete")
                    deleteRows(connection, listOf(1, 3, 5, 7))
                    queryRows(connection)
            }
}

fun deleteRows(connection: Connection, pks: List<Int>) {
    //Create an updatable Statement (using ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE)
    val rs = connection
            .createStatement(ResultSet.TYPE_SCROLL_SENSITIVE, ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE)
            .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.MENU WHERE ID IN (${pks.joinToString(", ")})")

    while(rs.next()){
        //Delete each row in the ResultSet
        rs.deleteRow()
    }
}

fun updatePrice(connection: Connection, price: Double) {
    val sql = "SELECT * FROM $SCHEMA.$TABLE"
    val rs = connection.createStatement(
            ResultSet.TYPE_SCROLL_SENSITIVE,
            ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE) //This is required to make the ResultSet updatable
            .executeQuery(sql)
    while(rs.next()){
        with(rs) {
            updateDouble("PRICE", price)
            updateRow()
        }
    }
}

private fun queryRows(connection: Connection) {
    val sql = "SELECT * FROM $SCHEMA.$TABLE"
    val rs = connection.createStatement().executeQuery(sql)
    while (rs.next()) {
        println("ID: ${rs.getInt("ID")}\t" +
                "PRICE: $${rs.getDouble("PRICE")}\t" +
                "NAME: ${rs.getString("ITEM")}")
    }
}

private fun insertItems(connection: Connection) {
    insertRow(connection, 1, "'New Bacon-ings'", 5.95)
    insertRow(connection, 2, "'Chorizo Your Own Adventure Burger'", 5.95)
    insertRow(connection, 3, "'Not If I Can Kelp It Burger'", 5.95)
    insertRow(connection, 4, "'The Longest Chard Burger'", 5.95)
    insertRow(connection, 5, "'Peas and Thank You Burger'", 5.95)
    insertRow(connection, 6, "'Cole came, cole slaw, cole conquered burger'", 5.95)
    insertRow(connection, 7, "'Chili Wonka Burger'", 5.95)
    insertRow(connection, 8, "'The Clear and Present Ginger Burger'", 5.95)
}

private fun insertRow(connection: Connection, id: Int, name: String, price: Double) {
    //Obtain an updatable ResultSet object (ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE)
    val resultSet = connection
            .createStatement(ResultSet.TYPE_SCROLL_SENSITIVE, ResultSet.CONCUR_UPDATABLE)
            .executeQuery("SELECT * FROM BURGERS.MENU")

    with(resultSet){
        //Move the ResultSet to the insert row
        moveToInsertRow()

        //Populate each column using the relevant update method
        updateInt("ID", id)
        updateString("ITEM", name)
        updateDouble("PRICE", price)

        //Now insert the row
        insertRow()
    }
}

private fun prepareTable(connection: Connection) {
    val metaData = connection.metaData
    val rs = metaData.getTables(null, SCHEMA, TABLE, null)

    if (!rs.next()) {
        createTable(connection)
    } else {
        truncateTable(connection)
    }
}

private fun truncateTable(connection: Connection) {
    val sql = "TRUNCATE TABLE $SCHEMA.$TABLE"
    with (connection) {
        createStatement().execute(sql)
        commit()
    }
}

private fun createTable(connection: Connection) {
    //SQL statement to create a table
    val sql = """
         CREATE TABLE BURGERS.MENU (
            ID int primary key,
            ITEM varchar(255),
            PRICE float)
        """.trimMargin()
    connection.createStatement().executeUpdate(sql)
}