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Command Line Tool

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Dave Walker edited this page Dec 10, 2023 · 4 revisions

Overview

The repository includes the Flight Recorder Manager, a command line management tool that includes facilities to do the following:

  • Manage database users
  • Import data into the database from CSV format files
  • Export data from the database in CSV format
  • Apply database migrations
  • Look up data using the external APIs

Application Configuration

Database Location

To use the tool, first edit the "appsettings.json" file in the "FlightRecorder.Manager" folder and set the location where the database is stored:

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "FlightRecorderDB": "Data Source=<path>/flightrecorder.db"
  }
}

External API Configuration

To use the external API integration from the command line tool, make sure the API key for the external APIs has been configured, as per the details in the section on the Application Configuration File.

Building and Running the Command Line Tool

Open a terminal window, change to your working copy of the FlightRecorder.Manager project and enter the following commands to build the project and show its "usage" message:

dotnet run

The output from the "run" command should look similar to the following:

Flight Recorder Database Management 1.5.0.0

Usage:

[1] FlightRecorder.Manager add username password
[2] FlightRecorder.Manager setpassword username password
[3] FlightRecorder.Manager delete username
[4] FlightRecorder.Manager import airports|sightings csv_file_path
[5] FlightRecorder.Manager export sightings|airports|airlines|locations|manufacturers|flights csv_file_path
[6] FlightRecorder.Manager update
[7] FlightRecorder.Manager lookup flight|airport|aircraft

Note that all the examples, below, assume the application is being run from the working copy of the FlightRecorder.Manager project.

User Management

The section on using a SQLite database includes instructions on how to add users to the database.

Changing an existing user's password and deleting an existing user are similar, but require the command line arguments listed in the output, above.

Data Exchange

Import of data from CSV-format files is covered in the section on CSV Import.

Data can be exported using the syntax shown in the example output, above:

  • The "export" option is specified
  • It requires two further arguments:
    • The data to be exported, specified as one of the options listed in the example output, above
    • The path to a CSV file to export the data to

For example, the following will export all sightings in the database:

dotnet run -- export sightings my-sightings.csv

The output will look something like this:

Flight Recorder Database Management 1.5.0.0
Exporting sightings to my-sightings.csv

Migration Management

To apply the latest migrations to the database,

dotnet run -- update

The output should be similar to the following:

Flight Recorder Database Management 1.5.0.0
Applied the latest database migrations

This will also create the database if it doesn't already exist.

External API Lookup

The command line tool implements the ability to look-up data using the external APIs:

  • Flights, given a flight number
  • Airports, given an airport IATA code
  • Aircraft, given a registration number

Flight Lookup

The following provides an example of how to look up a flight using the APIs via the command line tool:

dotnet run -- lookup flight LS803

The output should look similar to the following:

Flight Recorder Database Management 1.5.0.0
Looking up flight with identifier LS803

Flight LS803:

Departure Airport = MAN
Destination Airport = BCN
Airline = Jet2

Airport Lookup

The following provides an example of how to look up a flight using the APIs via the command line tool:

dotnet run -- lookup airport LCA

The output should look similar to the following:

Flight Recorder Database Management 1.5.0.0
Looking up airport with identifier LCA

Airport LCA:

Airport = Larnarca Larnaca
Country = Cyprus

Aircraft Lookup

The following provides an example of how to look up a flight using the APIs via the command line tool:

dotnet run -- lookup aircraft G-JZHG

The output should look similar to the following:

Flight Recorder Database Management 1.5.0.0
Looking up aircraft with identifier G-JZHG

Registration G-JZHG:

Registration = G-JZHG
24-bit ICAO Address = 407031
Serial Number = 28388
Registration Date = 2016-05-06
Model = B738
Model Code = B737-85P
Type = Boeing 737-800
Production Line = Boeing 737 NG
Age = 8
Manufacturer = Boeing
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