Web, python, and command-line interfaces for managing a chemical inventory.

Commands
========

The web interface (:file:`bin/chem_web.py`) is a web-daemon using
CherryPy.  Standard command for starting the daemon::

    $ bin/chem_web.py -a 192.168.1.2 -p 55555

Standard command for stopping the daemon::

    $ bin/chem_web.py --stop

From the command line, you can validate CAS#s (and possibly other fields) with::

    $ bin/chem_db.py -f example/inventory.db -V


Database format
===============

:mod:`chemdb.db.text` provides the python interface to this format.
The basic idea was to produce and use files which were
M$-Excel-compatible, since future users might not want to maintain the
ChemDB interface.  A brief example :file:`inventory.db` file is
included in the examples directory.

* Tab-delimited ('\t') fields
* Endline-delimited ('\n') records
* The first line is the header (starts with a pound sign '#').
* The header should be a tab-delimited list of short field names.
* If the second line also begins with a pound sign,
  it contains a tab-delimiteded list of long field names.
* Blank lines are ignored.

The fields H, F, R, and S are the NFPA Health, Fire, Reactivity, and
Special Hazards (NFPA diamond).

* Blue: Health Hazard
   0  Hazard no greater than ordinary material
   1  May cause irritation; minimal residual injury
   2  Intense or prolonged exposure may cause incapacitation;
      Residual injury may occur if not treated
   3  Exposure could cause serious injury even if treated
   4  Exposure may cause death
* Red: Fire Hazard
   0  Will not burn
   1  Must be preheated for ignition; flashpoint above 200°F (93°C)
   2  Must be moderately heated for ignition, flashpoint above 100°F (38°C)
   3  Ignition may occur under most ambient conditions,
      Flashpoint below 100°F (38°C)
   4  Extremely flammable and will readily disperse through air under standard
      conditions, flashpoint below 73°F (23°C)
* Reactivity hazards:
   0  Stable
   1  May become unstable at elevated temperatures and pressures.
      May be mildly water reactive
   2  Unstable; may undergo violent decomposition, but will not detonate.
      May form explosive mixtures with water
   3  Detonates with strong ignition source
   4  Readily detonates
* Special Hazards have the following codes:
   * OX   strong oxidizer
   * -W-  water reactive
   * SA   simple ascphyxiants
          (The only gases for which this symbol is permitted are nitrogen, helium,
           neon, argon, krypton, and xenon..)
* Unofficial Special Hazard codes:
   * ACID  acid
   * ALK   base
   * COR   corrosive
   * BIO   Biohazard
   * POI   Poison
   * CRY   Cyrogenic


Contents
========

    AUTHORS               (list of authors contributing code to ChemDB)
    bin                   (executibles)
    |-- chem_db.py        (command line interface)
    `-- chem_web.py       (web interface)
    chemdb                (python package)
    contrib               (useful but non-critical utilities)
    `-- ssl               (SSL key/certificate generation)
    COPYING               (GNU GPLv3 license)
    DEPENDENCIES          (description of software dependencies)
    example               (example data for demonstrations and testing)
    |-- inventory.db      (example inventory database)
    `-- static            (example directory for statically served content)
        `-- MSDS          (example MSDS storage location)
            `-- 0.html    (dummy MSDS for acetic acid)
    README                (this file)
    template
    |-- doc               (LaTeX source for PDF generation)
    `-- web               (Jinja2 templates for HTML generation)
    update_copyright.py   (script automating copyright blurb maintenance)


Generated files and directories
-------------------------------

============  =======================================================================
backup        store database file snapshots from every change
chem_web.pid  store the Process ID (PID) for a daemonized chem_web.py process
chem_web.log  log chem_web activity (maintained between runs, so remove periodically)
============  =======================================================================

TODO
====

Security
--------
I can create my own self-signed certificate.
Protects against eavesdropping, but not man-in-the-middle attacks.
Solution for now: hide from external world, trust everyone inside, backup before any change.


History
=======

The original web fron-end was based on Adam Bachman's simplewiki.py_.

.. simplewiki.py: http://bachman.infogami.com/another_simple_wiki


License
=======

ChemDB is released under the GNU General Public License version 3.
See :file:`COPYING` for details.