NAME

Database::BI - Web-based Business Intelligence viewer for flat data files

VERSION

0.005.2

DESCRIPTION

Database::BI is a self-contained Mojolicious web application that reads arbitrary flat data files (CSV, PSV, SQLite, XML, etc.) via Database::Abstraction and presents them as styled, sortable, reorderable HTML tables. It has no persistent database of its own, it reads arbitrary data files (CSV, PSV, SQLite, XML etc) presents each file as a styled, sortable, exportable HTML table.

Users navigate to pick a file, open the filesystem browser to navigate anywhere on disk, drag-and-drop files to upload, join multiple tables in memory, apply server-side filters, and export results as CSV, SQLite, or JSON. A D3.js line graph view plots any numeric column.

Key features:

• File picker - the home page scans data_dir and shows a card for every supported file. Recently opened filesystem files appear in a "Recently opened" section powered by localStorage.
• Filesystem browser - /browse lets the user navigate the entire filesystem and open any supported data file, not just files in data_dir.
• Column sort and reorder - clicking a header sorts the table; headers are draggable to reorder. Both settings are persisted in localStorage by column name and survive page reloads.
• Left join - the "Merge data / Filter results" panel on any table view lets the user join one or more additional tables on a shared key. Every left row is kept; right-table columns are appended for matching rows.
• Result filters - the same panel lets the user add filter conditions (column / operator / value) that are applied server-side after all joins. Operators: eq, ne, contains, starts, lt, le, gt, ge, empty, notempty. Active filters are shown as chips in the toolbar with a one-click "Clear" link.
• Drag-and-drop upload - any supported data file can be dropped directly onto the application. On the home page the file is opened immediately; when the join panel is open the dropped file populates the right-table path field.
• Export - the toolbar on any view offers an export panel that writes the current logical view (after joins and filters) to a chosen filesystem path as CSV (.csv) or SQLite (.sql).

SYNOPSIS

Start the development server (restarts automatically when you edit a file):

morbo script/database-bi

Start the production server:

hypnotoad script/database-bi

Use a different data directory:

# In database_bi.conf (create this file in the same folder as script/):
{ data_dir => '/home/user/data' }

Change the language used for templates:

# In database_bi.conf:
{ data_dir => 'data', language => 'fr', platform => 'web' }
# Then create templates/web/fr/ and put your French .html.tt files there.

Run the test suite to verify everything is working:

make test

Generate the Makefile for the first time or after editing Makefile.PL:

perl Makefile.PL

ROUTES

• GET /

  Scans data_dir, renders a card grid of available tables.

• GET /view/:table

  Opens the named table from data_dir. Accepts ?f=col:op:val (repeatable) to pre-filter results.

• GET /browse

  Filesystem navigator. Accepts ?path= to set the starting directory (defaults to $HOME).

• GET /open

  Opens any supported file by absolute path (?path=). Accepts ?f= filters.

• GET /join

  Performs one or more left joins and renders the merged table. Parameters:

    l=<spec>               left table: "table:name" or "path:/abs/path"
    j=<spec>|<lk>|<rk>    join step (repeatable): right-spec, left key, right key
    f=<col>:<op>:<val>     result filter (repeatable)
  

• GET /api/columns

  Returns { "columns": [...] } for a table (?table=name) or file (?path=/abs/path). Used by the join UI to populate the right-key dropdown without a page reload.

• GET /export

  Exports the current logical view (same l=, j=, f= parameters as /join) as a file download. Additional parameter:

    format=csv      (default) - RFC 4180 CSV; UTF-8; CRLF line endings
    format=sqlite   - SQLite 3 database with a single table named "data"
  

  The download filename is derived from the left table label with non-alphanumeric characters replaced by underscores.

• POST /export

  Writes the current logical view to a chosen filesystem path. Body params: l=, j=, f= (same as GET), plus dir= (target directory) and filename= (name including extension; extension determines format: .csv or .sql). Returns JSON { saved: "/abs/path" } or { error: "..." }.

• GET /api/dirs

  Returns a JSON directory listing (subdirectories only) for the export panel's inline directory browser. Accepts ?path= (defaults to $HOME). Returns { path, parent, dirs: [{name, path}] }.

• GET /api/stat

  Returns filesystem metadata for a file path (?path=). Returns { exists, path, mtime, size }. If the file does not exist, exists is false and the remaining fields are absent (HTTP 200). Returns HTTP 400 when path is missing.

• POST /upload

  Accepts a multipart file upload (field name: file), validates the extension, saves to a managed .uploads/ subdirectory under the app home, and returns JSON { url, path }.

• GET /import

  Fetches an HTML table from a public URL (?url=) and renders it as a data grid. An optional ?t= parameter (zero-based integer) selects which HTML table on the page to display when the page contains multiple tables.

• GET /combine

  Stacks rows from two or more tables vertically (UNION ALL) into a unified view. All columns from all sources appear as headers; cells are blank where a source file lacks a column. Parameters:

    l=<spec>               left table: "table:name" or "path:/abs/path"
    c=<spec>               additional table to stack (repeatable)
    f=<col>:<op>:<val>     result filter applied after combining (repeatable)
  

CONFIGURATION

Place a database_bi.conf file in the application root to override defaults:

{
    data_dir => 'data',   # directory scanned for data files on the home page
    platform => 'web',    # VWF template dimension
    language => 'en',     # VWF template dimension
}

COMMON PITFALLS

• The configuration file is optional but must be valid Perl if present

  database_bi.conf is loaded by Mojolicious::Plugin::Config, which evaluates it as a Perl data structure. If the file exists but contains a syntax error, the application will refuse to start. If the file does not exist, built-in defaults are used and no error occurs. The file must return a hashref:

    # database_bi.conf -- correct
    { data_dir => 'data', platform => 'web', language => 'en' }
  
    # WRONG -- missing braces
    data_dir => 'data'
  

• data_dir is relative to the application home directory, not the process cwd

  Setting data_dir => 'data' looks for a folder called data/ in the same directory as the script/database-bi launcher, regardless of where you run the server from. An absolute path works on any system:

    { data_dir => '/var/db/mydata' }
  

• The download_dir default is computed once at startup

  When the application starts, it picks the export directory in this order: ~/Downloads (if it exists), then $HOME, then the system temp directory. This value is fixed for the life of the process. Renaming or creating ~/Downloads after the server starts has no effect. To force a different default, set it before starting:

    { data_dir => 'data' }   # and create ~/Downloads before starting the server
  

• Adding a new language requires a template directory, not just a config change

  Setting language => 'de' in database_bi.conf tells the controller to look for templates in templates/web/de/. If that directory does not exist, the controller automatically falls back to the default language. To add German support: (1) create templates/web/de/, (2) copy and translate the .html.tt files from templates/web/en/, then (3) set the config.

• Supported data file extensions are: csv, db, sql, xml, psv

  The application calls Database::Abstraction which recognises exactly these five extensions. A file called inventory.sqlite is not recognised -- it must be renamed to inventory.sql. A file called data.xlsx (Excel) is also not supported; export it as CSV first.

• The open_table helper lowercases the table name

  When the router matches GET /view/Sales or GET /view/SALES, the table name is lowercased to sales before being passed to the helper. The data file on disk must therefore also be lowercase (sales.csv, not Sales.csv).

LIMITATIONS

• Only read operations on data files are supported. Write-back (editing cell values in the browser and saving them to the data file) is not implemented.
• The left-join engine (Dashboard::_left_join) is an in-memory O(n*m) hash join. It is suitable for BI files that fit comfortably in RAM. For very large files, replace the open_table helper body with a Database::Join instance (Phase 2) without changing the controller.
• On startup, Database::BI automatically evicts upload subdirectories whose modification time is older than 24 hours. Uploads created during the current or recent server sessions are preserved. Users may also trigger an immediate full purge (regardless of age) via the "Clear upload cache" button, which posts to POST /uploads/clear.
• Sub::Protected/:Protected enforcement relies on the CHECK compilation phase. When a module is loaded dynamically at test time (e.g. via Test::Mojo-new(...)>), the CHECK phase has already passed and the "Too late to run CHECK block" warning is emitted -- the access restriction is not enforced in that test context. This does not affect production (morbo/hypnotoad) deployments where modules are compiled on startup. Unlike the former Sub::Private approach, Sub::Protected does not delete stash entries, so OO dispatch $self->_method() works correctly in production without any special workarounds.

SEE ALSO

• Test Dashboard

REPOSITORY

https://github.com/nigelhorne/Database-BI

SUPPORT

This module is provided as-is without any warranty.

AUTHOR

Nigel Horne <njh@nigelhorne.com>

LICENCE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2026 Nigel Horne.

Usage is subject to the GPL2 licence terms. If you use it, please let me know.