Instrument Library Filer v 1.0
Code by Matthew Raymond
Overview:
This program was written as an attempt to cut down on as much typing as possible and to make everything very clean, fast, straightforward, and accessible.
Right click on the .exe and create a shortcut on the desktop. This will be much easier than just using the .exe because you won't have random files on your desktop.
The first time the program is opened, it will create a directory and populate it with .xml files. Any time that it’s opened after than, it will read from those files. However, if one gets corrupted, the program will try to correct itself and make a new file to replace the old one.
If there are no employees in the system, an "Add Employees" window will open. This first employee must be an admin. You cannot create a non-admin employee until you have at least one admin. To create an employee, simply type in the employee's first and last name and click "Add" to add them. If the user is an admin, you will be prompted to add a password. You can add as many as you want, and then click "Enter" to continue.
A new "Select" window pops up and prompts you to choose a user from the list. You can select one, or click "Other User" if you don't want fields autofilled for you.
To add an instrument, simply click "Add Item" and follow the prompts on screen. This data can be displayed by clicking on an instrument in the list and looking to the right of the filter buttons
You can use the tabs on the right of the instrument list to filter out only one type of instrument, and you can use the search bar at the top in order to search for specific instruments by name/id/etc. using regular expressions ("," for each instrument and "+" to search for more than one criteria for each instrument).
In order to check in/out the instrument, click the appropriate button on the bottom left and follow the prompts on screen. If you have the appropriate card reader, this is where you will be able to use it to enter the student's ID number.
When a student checks something in or out, they automatically get added to the system and their information will autocompleted the next time their ID is entered into this window.
A note can be added to the transaction by clicking "Add Note".
At any point, "Save Changes" can be clicked in order to save the current information to the disk.
If the instrument goes missing for whatever reason, this status can be updated by clicking the "Missing Status" button, which will set the status from found to missing, or vice versa.
To delete an item, click the "Delete Item" button, and select items from the checked list. To select/deselect all, click "All".
In order to view a log of all of the transactions that have taken place for the highlighted instrument, click "Check In/Out Log". All of this data is editable if you double-click the text in the cell. All of these edits are automatically saved to RAM, but you have to click the save button to permanently save them.
To export a .csv file containing all of the instruments data and the instruments' check in/out information, click "Export .csv File", which will export a file to your data directory.
To add employees or change the current working employee, simply click those buttons on the top right.
To restore from a backup, click "Import Backup" and and select a backup to restore from. Only admin accounts can restore from backups.
To see data about students, instruments, and employees, select "Analytics". You will be taken to a window that displays that information. Once there you can see information about the general dataset in the graph at the top left, and individual datasets will be in the graph at the bottom left. You can change the individual dataset by selecting one from the list int the middle/right of the screen, and you change change the general dataset by selecting one of the radio buttons marked "Student", "Employee", or "Instrument". By using the calendars to the right, you can select the date range that you want the data to be selected from.
To see information about individual students, select "Student Data". Double- clicking a student pulls up a window that lists their transaction history.
This program was built to run with an IdTech IDMB-334112B MiniMag II Magstrip Reader. When our student ID cards are swiped, the swipe returns numbers in the format ";00xxxxxxx=yyyy?" where x's are the ID number and y's are irrelevant chars. As of now, the only field in which this works is the field marked “Student ID” in the check out/in winform. This code could be slightly modified to work with other card readers, but I would need to do some research in order to support others. It doesn’t really matter though, as you can type in the information by hand anyway.
Additionally, this program has built in support for TaoTronics USB Barcode Scanner 0878130. Click on the search button on the main winform and scan a barcode in order to search the library for that instrument.
Furthermore, the email domains are hard-coded in and are specific to my school, but with some very basic programming skills someone would be able to alter them to work wit whatever email domains.
- Fixed crash when opening check in/out log and list is empty
- Fixed a bug that caused .csv files to print checkout dates in reverse order
- Fixed the bug that let you delete your own account
- Fixed the fatal error when searching an empty database
- Fixed the fatal error for pressing backspace in an empty search bar
- Fixed the bug that allowed people to check out an instrument that's out or return one that not
- Some regular expressions: and (+), or (,)
- Live search update(search will return strings that have the search criteria as a substring)
- Basic password verification for employees
- Admin account is prompted if there are no accounts
- Admin creates new employee accounts with password (saved in a SHA256 hashed version for security)
- Admin only events, like restoring from backups, adding and deleting instruments, and adding and deleting employees
- A guest account can be used by not logging in, which only lets you view data
- Manually restore from backup, which can be chosen via file explorer
- .csv files can be exported anywhere via the file explorer
- Added "N/A" autofill for the "bow" entry if the instrument category doesn't have bows (this can be manually changed)
- Added Basic analytics to tell what day of the week is the most trafficked
- .XML files are now encrypted via Rijndael Cypher to keep personal records and library data secure
- Added a display to show what students have checked out things, and what things they've checked outs
- Broke up the checkout note into multiple lines if it's too long for one line
- Corrected null entry bugs
- Corrected user entry bugs
- Streamlined window movement
- Ensure that id number is as long as it should be (first entry and log edit)
- Automatic backup every other week (must be opened every other week for this
to work)
- Import last backup in case of catastrophic failure
- Barcode scanner support
- Edit saved instrument data
- Revamp instrument sorting (instead of a different list for every section)
- .csv file importing
- More robust and extensive error handling
- Automatically sort instruments by instrument ID
- Record of past transaction notes kept (old notes are kept for filing purposes)
- Analytical tools to improve scheduling and resource allocation (potentially
via graphs)
- Most common time of day for instrument check ins/outs
- Most common day of the week to check out/in instruments
- Fluctuation of transaction by week
- Support for more card reader types
- Potentially enabling it to access the school’s database of ID numbers so that you don’t ever need to type in student information
- Record time of checkout
- Prevention of accidental duplications in student database (i.e. multiple ID#’s being assigned the same name)
- Programmatic colors on filters to know what's pushed and what isn't
- Music folder icon:
- Artist: shaunkleyn
- License: Free for non-commercial use.
- Source: iconarchive.com/show/phlat-blue-folders-icons-by-shaunkleyn/Music-icon.html