https://github.com/jguida941/advising-assistance-cpp
Cross-platform course advisor that loads CSV catalogs into a shared C++ core, with both a CLI and Qt dashboard for exploring prerequisites.
https://github.com/jguida941/advising-assistance-cpp
cli course-planner cpp csv-parser education qt qt-widgets
Last synced: about 2 months ago
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Cross-platform course advisor that loads CSV catalogs into a shared C++ core, with both a CLI and Qt dashboard for exploring prerequisites.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/jguida941/advising-assistance-cpp
- Owner: jguida941
- Created: 2025-10-19T08:04:40.000Z (9 months ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2025-10-19T08:50:35.000Z (9 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-11-07T12:06:27.015Z (8 months ago)
- Topics: cli, course-planner, cpp, csv-parser, education, qt, qt-widgets
- Language: Makefile
- Homepage:
- Size: 3.24 MB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Course Advisor Dashboard
This project started as a school assignment where the goal was to build a simple C++ console application that could help academic advisors explore course prerequisites. The original rubric expected a command-line program that:
- Prompted for a CSV file name and loaded course data into a chosen data structure.
- Presented a text menu with options to:
- Load the catalog file.
- Print an alphanumeric list of Computer Science courses (including math support classes).
- Look up a specific course and display its title and prerequisite list.
- Exit the program.
- Printed the full course list in alphanumeric order.
- Printed detailed information (title and prerequisites) for any course the user requested.
- Applied standard best practices: error handling for invalid input, readable naming, and inline comments to explain the logic
## Course Advisor CLI
## Swapping Course Advisor Menu Style
## Switching to Light Mode:
## Course Advisor QT Dashboard
## Enhancements Beyond the Rubric
After completing the required CLI features, the project was extended substantially:
- **Shared Catalog Core:** Refactored all parsing, validation, and sorting logic into a reusable library so both binaries stay in sync.
- **Modernized CLI:** Kept the menu-driven console experience intact while adding a launch option for the new GUI dashboard and improving error feedback.
- **Qt Dashboard:** Built a Qt Widgets front end that mirrors the console features and adds richer interactivity:
- File→Open and Reload actions for quick catalog switching.
- Course list view with search-as-you-type support and prerequisite navigation.
- Warning panel to surface loader issues without blocking the UI.
- **CMake Targets:** Split the build into three targets for clarity—`catalog_core`, `advisor_cli`, and `advisor_gui`.
- **Terminal Themes:** Added environment-driven customization for the CLI menu (see below).
These additions maintain the spirit of the assignment while making the tool more approachable for advisors who prefer a graphical interface.
## Design Choices
- **Hashtable-backed catalog:** The core catalog stores courses in a `std::unordered_map` (`src/catalog/catalog.cpp`) so prerequisite lookups stay `O(1)` regardless of catalog size. IDs are normalized to uppercase on load, which keeps the hash keys consistent between the CLI and GUI.
- **Cached sorted view:** Alongside the hash table, the loader materializes a `std::vector` of course IDs once and reuses it for list rendering and search suggestions. This avoids resorting on every request and keeps the GUI model lightweight.
- **Load result telemetry:** The `LoadResult` struct bundles success state, warning messages, and missing prerequisites so every front end can surface the same diagnostics without re-reading the file.
- **GUI state caching:** The Qt layer retains the last-opened path and most recent `LoadResult`, enabling `Reload` and warning banners without additional disk work.
- **Build caching:** The CMake toolchain is configured for `ccache`, significantly cutting compile times as the project grows (mirrored in the GitHub Actions plan).
## Project Layout
```
final_project/
├── CMakeLists.txt
├── README.md
├── data/
│ └── CS 300 ABCU_Advising_Program_Input.csv
├── include/
│ ├── catalog/
│ │ └── catalog.hpp
│ └── gui/
│ ├── mainwindow.hpp
│ └── models.hpp
└── src/
├── catalog/
│ └── catalog.cpp
├── cli/
│ └── main_cli.cpp
└── gui/
├── main_gui.cpp
├── mainwindow.cpp
└── models.cpp
```
The sample course data now lives under `data/`, and the CLI defaults to `data/CS 300 ABCU_Advising_Program_Input.csv` when no path is supplied.
## Building and Running
This project uses CMake and requires a C++20 compiler plus Qt 6 Widgets for the GUI target.
```bash
# from the project folder, e.g. cd /Users/you/projects/final_project
# configure (creates a ./build directory containing the CMake files)
cmake -S . -B build
# build everything (drops advisor_cli and advisor_gui into ./build/)
cmake --build build
```
### Run the Console Advisor
```bash
./build/advisor_cli # run from the repo root so ./build is found
# assignment alias still available as ./build/final_project
```
From the menu you can load a catalog, list courses, inspect prerequisites, or launch the Qt dashboard (option 4). If you already loaded a CSV, option 4 forwards that file to the GUI.
### Run the Qt Dashboard Directly
```bash
./build/advisor_gui # macOS/Linux (run from the repo root)
./build/advisor_gui.exe # Windows
```
You can optionally pass a CSV path to pre-load the catalog:
```bash
./build/advisor_gui "CS 300 ABCU_Advising_Program_Input.csv"
```
## CLI Appearance Tweaks
Several environment variables control how the console menu looks:
```bash
# Disable colours entirely (assumes the binary is in ./build/ after cmake --build)
NO_COLOR=1 ./build/advisor_cli
# Force a different colour palette (dark is the default)
COURSE_ADVISOR_THEME=light ./build/advisor_cli
COURSE_ADVISOR_THEME=plain ./build/advisor_cli # keep colours off without touching NO_COLOR
# Swap the menu frame style
COURSE_ADVISOR_FRAME=unicode ./build/advisor_cli
COURSE_ADVISOR_FRAME=none ./build/advisor_cli
# Windows (PowerShell) examples — cd into the repo so build\ exists
cmd /c "cd /d C:\\path\\to\\final_project && set NO_COLOR=1 && build\\advisor_cli.exe"
powershell -Command "Set-Location C:\\path\\to\\final_project; $env:COURSE_ADVISOR_THEME='light'; .\\build\\advisor_cli.exe"
```
> If you are using an IDE-generated build directory (for example, `cmake-build-debug` in CLion), substitute that folder instead of `build/` in the commands above.
## Testing
The CLI remains the quickest way to verify behavior while iterating on the CSV parser:
1. Run `advisor_cli`.
2. Option `1` → load a catalog file.
3. Option `2` → confirm the sorted course list.
4. Option `3` → look up a few sample course IDs (valid and invalid) to check prerequisite handling.
Additional GUI validation:
- File→Open should refresh the catalog without restarting.
- Typing in the search field highlights and scrolls to matching courses.
- The warning panel appears only when the loader reports issues.