dash-tools 1.4

Plotly Dash Templating and Deployment Tools

Create, Run and Deploy Templated Plotly Dash Apps from Terminal

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About

dashtools is an open-source toolchain for Plotly Dash. With a user-friendly command line interface, creating Dash applications and deploying them to Heroku has never been quicker.

Includes user and developer-friendly app templates where generating a new app only takes seconds. In fact, it will take longer to install this tool than it will to use it!

Installation

Ready to use dashtools? Installation is easy with pip:

pip install dash-tools

Find dash-tools on PyPi

Requires:

• Heroku CLI which can be downloaded Here
• Git CLI which can be downloaded Here
• OS - Linux, MacOS, Windows currently supported

Usage Examples

A. Create an App

1. Create a Dash project in a new directory called "MyDashApp" (using your terminal or command prompt):

   Note

   "MyDashApp" can be changed to any name. However, for the purpose of this tutorial, we recommend keeping it as "MyDashApp".

   dashtools init MyDashApp
   

2. Open the default app.py file that comes with this project:

   Windows

    .\MyDashApp\src\app.py
   

   Linux and Mac OS

    ./MyDashApp/src/app.py
   

3. Replace the code in app.py with your own app code. Make sure to keep the server = app.server right after app instantiation:

4. Make sure you are in your project's root directory:

   cd MyCSVApp
   

5. Run your app to ensure it works:

   dashtools run
   

Deploy App to Web with Heroku

6. Deploy to Heroku:

   dashtools heroku --deploy
   

B. Create an App with Local CSV sheet

A common use for Dash is to display CSV data that is located inside the project folder. For this, you can use the CSV Dash-tools template to create a project with CSV data.

1. Using App template with CSV

   dashtools init MyCSVApp csv
   

2. Replace the code in app.py with your own app's code, like shown in example A above. Make sure to keep code lines 13, 26, and 27.

   • 13: server = app.server
   • 26: PATH = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent
   • 27: DATA_PATH = PATH.joinpath("data").resolve()

3. Replace the default CSV file in the data folder with your own CSV file

4. Make sure you are in your project's root directory:

   cd MyCSVApp
   

5. Run your app to ensure it works:

   dashtools run
   

Deploy App to Web with Heroku

6. Deploy to Heroku:

   dashtools heroku --deploy
   

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Templates

Templates contain boilerplate code for Dash projects, making it much easier to start with useful baseline apps.

Using Templates

Use the optional template argument with the init command:

dashtools init <appname> [template]

The following example will create a new app "MyWonderfulApp" (you can name your app anything) using the 'tabs' template (or any other template listed below):

dashtools init MyWonderfulApp tabs

To list out available templates, use the templates --list command:

dashtools templates --list

Available Templates

Click the dropdowns below to see screenshots!

Template: 'advanced'

To use this template, type: dashtools init MyFuturisticApp advanced

Advanced multi-page template. Includes examples of ClientsideCallbacks, multi-page routing, external stylesheets, header, footer, and 404 page.

Template: 'csv'

To use this template, type: dashtools init MyCSVLoaderApp csv

Example of CSV file loading. Includes the default CSV load example from Plotly.

Template: 'default'

To use this template, type: dashtools init MyAmazingApp default

Basic Dash template. See Dash Docs

Template: 'iris'

To use this template, type: dashtools init MyFantasticApp iris

Iris theme. See Faculty.ai Example

Template: 'mantine'

To use this template, type: dashtools init MyGreatApp mantine

Basic mantine template. See Dash Mantine

Template: 'multipage'

To use this template, type: dashtools init MyPristineApp multipage

New multipage theme. See Multipage Plugin

Template: 'sidebar'

To use this template, type: dashtools init MySnazzyApp sidebar

Sidebar theme. See Faculty.ai Example

Template: 'tabs'

To use this template, type: dashtools init MyBeautifulApp tabs

Tabs theme with dynamically generated content. See Faculty.ai Example

Commands

Usage:

dashtools <command> [options]

Commands and Options:

• heroku Handle Heroku deployment. Choose option:
  • --deploy Deploys the current project to Heroku
  • --update [remote name (OPTIONAL)] Push changes to existing Heroku remote
• init <app name> [template (OPTIONAL)] Create a new app
  • --dir, -d Specify alternative create location
• run Run app locally from the current directory
• templates List and create templates
  • --init <directory to convert> Creates a template from specified directory
  • --list List available templates

Other Options:

• --help, -h Display help message
• --version, -v Display version

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Running into issues? Outlined below are common errors and solutions. If you do not find an answer below, please Submit an Issue Ticket.

Common init Issues

No write permission

Problem: You receive a 'write permission' error while trying to init a new app

Solution: Please check your write permissions for the current directory. Try the init command from a different directory.

Common heroku --deploy Issues

Error when creating requirements.txt file

Problem: You encounter an error when generating a requirements.txt file

Solution: Verify that you are running the dashtools heroku --deploy command from a valid plotly dash app directory. E.g. there is a src/app.py file.

Development

See the Developer Guide for more details.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.txt file.