Dashborg Python SDK

Dashborg is a SDK that plugs directly into any backend service or script. With a couple lines of code you can register any running function with the Dashborg service and then build secure, modern, interactive tools on top of those functions using a simple, JavaScript free, HTML template language.

Dashborg saves you time by handling all of the tedious details of frontend app creation and deployment (hosting, end-to-end security, authentication, transport, UI libraries, JavaScript frameworks, CSS frameworks, etc.).

Dashborg works great for debugging, introspecting the running state of servers, viewing/updating configuration values, bite-sized internal tools, status pages, and reports.

Dashborg is easy to get started with. You can have your first app deployed in 5-minutes (no account/registration required). Free tier covers most simple use cases.

• Doc Site: https://docs.dashborg.net
• SDK Reference: https://docs.dashborg.net/reference/python-reference/
• Example Code: https://github.com/sawka/dashborg-examples (python directory)

Questions? Join the Dashborg Slack Channel

Dashborg Hello World

pip install dashborg-python-sdk

import dashborg
import asyncio

counter = 0

def test_fn():
    global counter
    counter += 1
    print(f"Calling TestFn counter={counter}")
    return {"message": "TestFn Output!", "counter": counter}

async def main():
    config = dashborg.Config(anon_acc=True, auto_keygen=True)
    client = await dashborg.connect_client(config)
    app = client.app_client().new_app("hello-world")
    app.set_html(file_name="hello-world.html", watch=True)
    app.runtime.handler("test-handler", test_fn, pure_handler=True)
    await client.app_client().write_app(app, connect=True)
    await client.wait_for_shutdown()
    
asyncio.run(main())

The HTML template to render your app (save as hello-world.html):

<app ui="dashborg">
  <h1>Hello World</h1>
  <div class="row xcenter">
    <d-button onclickhandler="$.output = /@app:test-handler">Run Test Handler</d-button>
    <d-stat label="Counter" bind="$.output.counter" defaultvalue="0"/>
  </div>
  <hr/>
  <d-dataview bind="$.output"/>
</app>

Run your program. A new public/private keypair will be created and used to secure your new Dashborg account. You'll also see a secure link to your new application. Click to view your application!

That's it. You've created and deployed, secure, interactive web-app that is directly calling code running on your local machine!

Adding BLOBs

Want to show an image, or add a CSV file your end users to download, here's how to do it:

    await client.global_fs_client().set_static_path("/image/myimage.jpg", file_name="./path-to-image.jpg", fileopts=dashborg.FileOpts(mimetype="image/jpeg"))
    await client.global_fs_client().set_static_path("/mydata.csv", file_name="./path-to-csv.csv", fileopts=dashborg.FileOpts(mimetype="text/csv"))

Show the image using a regular <img> tag in your HTML template. Using the path prefix "/@raw/" allows for raw http GET access to your uploaded content:

    <img src="/@raw/image/myimage.jpg" style="max-width: 500px;"/>

Download the CSV using a standard HTML download link:

    <a href="/@raw/mydata.csv" download>Download CSV</a>

Or use a Dashborg download control (defined in the standard Dashborg UI package) to make it look nice:

    <d-download path="/mydata.csv">Download CSV</d-download>

Adding Static Data

Dashborg uses JSON to transfer data between your app and the Dashborg service. You can send any static JSON-compatible data (bool, str, int, float, dict, list) to Dashborg using set_json_path(). Static data is available to apps even when there is no backend connected. For dynamic data, use a runtime handler. Here we'll set favorite color table to the path "/colors.json". We used the app_fs_client() instead of the global_fs_client(). That makes the data local to the app and is accessible at /@app/colors.json:

colors = []
colors.append({"name": "Mike", "color": "blue", "hex": "#007fff"})
colors.append({"name": "Chris", "color": "red", "hex": "#ee0000"})
colors.append({"name": "Jenny", "color": "purple", "hex": "#a020f0"})
await app.app_fs_client().set_json_path("/colors.json", colors)

Load the data into our datamodel using the <d-data> tag. Read from blob "colors", set it into the frontend data model at $.colors:

<d-data query="/@app/colors.json" output.bindpath="$.colors"/>

Show the first color name as text using <d-text>. Use the hex color to show a small color square using a background-color style (attributes and styles are dynamic when they starts with *):

<div>
    <d-text bind="$.colors[0].name"/>'s favorite color is <d-text bind="$.colors[0].color"/>:
    <div style="display: inline-block; vertical-align: bottom; width: 18px; height: 18px; background-color: *$.colors[0].hex"/>
</div>

You can loop using the built-in <d-foreach> tag (each element is bound to . inside the loop):

<ul class="ui bulleted list">
    <d-foreach bind="$.colors">
      <li class="item" style="height: 24px">
        <div class="row">
          <div><d-text bind=".name"/> - Favorite Color is <d-text bind=".color"/></div>
          <div style="width: 18px; height: 18px; background-color: * .hex"/>
        </div>
      </li>
    </d-foreach>
</ul>

Or use a Dashborg Table Control (@index is bound to the loop counter):

<d-table bind="$.colors">
   <d-col label="#" bind="@index+1"/>
   <d-col label="Name" bind=".name"/>
   <d-col label="Color" bind=".color"/>
   <d-col label="Swatch">
       <div style="width: 50px; height: 50px; background-color: * .hex"/>
   </d-col>
</d-table>

Security

All communication from your backend to the Dashborg service is done over HTTPS/gRPC. Your account is authenticated with a public/private keypair that can be auto-generated by the Dashborg SDK (AutoKeygen config setting).

The frontend is served over HTTPS, and each account is hosted on its own subdomain to prevent inter-account XSS attacks The Dashborg frontend offers pre-built authentication methods, with JWT tokens that are created from your private-key (the default for new anonymous accounts), simple passwords, or user logins.

Advanced Features

• Write your own Dashborg components to reuse among your applications
• Create staging/development zones to test your apps without affecting your production site
• Assign roles to users (and passwords), set a list of allowed roles per app per zone
• Navigate to the '/@fs' path on your Dashborg account to see all of your static data, applications, and handlers.