GemStone Database Explorer

A Python/Flask web application for browsing and inspecting objects in a GemStone/S object database. It started as a port of maglev-database-explorer-gem, but the current app now includes a fuller browser/debugger toolset on top of gemstone-py.

Features

• Object inspectors with draggable object chips, linking arrows, eval, transaction controls, and backend-driven tabs
• Workspace windows that can evaluate code, open linked inspectors, and auto-open the debugger on halts
• Full Class Browser with dictionary/class/protocol/method panes, compile, file-out, structure editing, helper windows, and inspect actions
• Helper windows for method queries, hierarchy, and versions, including load/open/inspect flows
• Debugger windows with halted-thread summaries, stack frames, locals, thread-local storage, step/proceed/trim, and execution-point highlighting
• Symbol List Browser for users, dictionaries, entries, and value inspection
• MagLev-style custom object tabs such as Attributes for record-like objects
• Layout persistence, taskbar/task grouping, related-window actions, splitters, filters, and keyboard navigation
• About, Status Log, and Connection windows plus /healthz, /diagnostics, /connection/preflight, and support-bundle export for build/runtime visibility and diagnostics capture
• Mock and live Playwright UI suites in addition to Python route/object/session tests

Requirements

• GemStone/S 64 3.x with accessible GCI libraries
• Python 3.11+
• gemstone-py

Installation

The package is available on PyPI at python-gemstone-database-explorer 1.0.1:

python3 -m pip install python-gemstone-database-explorer

For local development:

git clone https://github.com/unicompute/python-gemstone-database-explorer
cd python-gemstone-database-explorer
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -e .

Configuration

Set the GemStone connection environment before starting the app:

Variable	Description	Example
GEMSTONE	Path to the GemStone installation	/opt/gemstone/GemStone64Bit3.7.5-arm64.Darwin
GS_USERNAME	GemStone login username	DataCurator
GS_PASSWORD	GemStone login password	swordfish
GS_STONE	Stone name	seaside
GS_STONE	Stone name	gs64stone
GS_HOST	Host running the Stone/NetLDI	localhost
GS_NETLDI	NetLDI service name or port	50377

Depending on your platform/install, you may also need the native library path exported, for example:

export GS_LIB=/opt/gemstone/product/lib

If your Stone is named seaside, set GS_STONE=seaside before starting the app. The app also accepts GS_STONE_NAME=seaside as a compatibility alias, but the underlying client library reads GS_STONE.

See docs/configuration.md for the complete environment details.

Usage

Set the connection environment, choosing the stone name that matches your local GemStone installation:

# Choose one:
export GS_STONE=seaside
# export GS_STONE=gs64stone

export GS_HOST=localhost
export GS_NETLDI=50377
export GS_USERNAME=DataCurator
export GS_PASSWORD=swordfish

.venv/bin/python-gemstone-database-explorer

For a fully explicit local run:

GEMSTONE=/Users/tariq/GemStone64Bit3.7.5-arm64.Darwin \
GS_USERNAME=DataCurator \
GS_PASSWORD=swordfish \
GS_STONE=gs64stone \
GS_HOST=localhost \
GS_NETLDI=50377 \
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/Users/tariq/GemStone64Bit3.7.5-arm64.Darwin/lib \
/Users/tariq/src/python-gemstone-database-explorer/.venv/bin/python -m gemstone_p.cli --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9292

If installed from PyPI instead of the local editable checkout:

python-gemstone-database-explorer --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9292

For local editable installs, the command is:

.venv/bin/python-gemstone-database-explorer

Options:

--host HOST    Bind host (default: 127.0.0.1)
--port PORT    Port (default: 9292)
--debug        Enable Flask debug mode

Then open http://127.0.0.1:9292/ in a browser.

If startup fails because the wrong Stone name or local monitor target is configured, use the taskbar Connection window. It shows the effective target, the local gslist -lcv probe when available, and a copyable shell fix such as export GS_STONE=seaside.

Testing

Python

.venv/bin/python -m pytest -q

UI

Install the Playwright dependency once:

npm install

Run the browser suite:

npm run test:ui

That always runs the deterministic mock-backed suite first. If GEMSTONE, GS_USERNAME, and GS_PASSWORD are present, it then runs the live GemStone suite automatically; otherwise it prints a skip message after the mock suite.

Run only the live UI suite:

export GEMSTONE=/opt/gemstone/GemStone64Bit3.7.5-arm64.Darwin
export GS_USERNAME=DataCurator
export GS_PASSWORD=swordfish

npm run test:ui:live

The live suite starts the real Flask app on 127.0.0.1:4192 and covers startup browsing, debugger flow, and a transactional Class Browser write flow that aborts its changes before the test ends.

Session Soak

For longer operational pressure against the shared session broker, run:

.venv/bin/python -m gemstone_p.session_soak --workers 8 --iterations 100 --channels 4

This is not a throughput benchmark. It is a maintenance tool for exercising channel reuse, login/logout churn, write-channel cleanup, and broken-session recovery against a real Stone.

Documentation

• Configuration
• Architecture
• API Reference
• Live UI Maintainer Notes
• Changelog

License

MIT