Idea for a project

[aquila]

I'm Rafael and in my class of Electrical Installation (I'm from brazil and I don't know how it is in USA) I am doing projects,electrical installation for houses and industry,so my idea is to facilitate the process (using a friendly web or desktop app in python).

The tools to make a common project: Excel,Word,CAD,Regulamentations,Standards,Catalogs etc

The idea is to connect the steps, making a step by step app (not so simple),helping and managing the whole project

I don't know how to start ,pls any help would be nice kk

The project process summary:

- acquisition of building documents
- load forecast
- drawings in CAD
-conductor sizing,protection sizing
...

The final project is a descriptive memorial.

[sparkz_alot]

Welcome, Rafael.  You did not mention your familiarity with Python. Are you new to the language, somewhat knowledgeable, or quite the expert?  The reason I ask, is the project you describe could and most likely would become quite daunting.  For instance, here in the U.S. the electrical requirements are different for residential than for commercial, which are different than industrial.  Conductor sizing is dependent on the material used (for example: copper or aluminum). Just taking copper, for instance, it is usually 'mixed' with another metal.  So pure copper will have a different ampacity than a blend. Don't forget, building codes will also play a big role.  There are charts available online that list all the values and conditions which Python has modules you can use to grab this information and save it to a file for you.  Python also has modules (whether built-in or third party) that allow you to work with Excel or actual databases.

Do you want to present your information as a web interface, a GUI application or a simple command line?  Again, Python has the tools you need to accomplish this.

My advise would be to pick the easiest part of your project and start with that. Even if it's a simple 'menu' driven script, for example:

1. Ask user for the number of light bulbs
   
2. Ask user for the wattage of the bulbs
   
3. Return the 'safest' minimum conductor size and material possibly even the cost.
   

This would lead to the proper sizing of the breaker for this particular circuit, and so on.

In the end, you should be able to fit all the 'little' pieces into one big project.

Finally, if you run into problems along the way, that's what we are here for 

Good luck!

[aquila]

You got it! I would like to start with something simple yep,the application would have menus for each step of the project(doing all the math and the regulamentation rules operations).By the way the electrical requirements are very very similar here in Brazil man.

Do you know if Django would do the job?

I don't know if it must have a big database.
I don't know a lot of things kk

[Larz60+]

see: http://codereview.stackexchange.com/ques...calculator

[sparkz_alot]

Think of Django as a way of presenting your project to the user as a web application, just as  tkinter would be a way to present it as a GUI app.  In either case, (or the case of a command line app), the 'meat' of the project is still Python and in all probability can be done with Python's built-in library's, so I suggest you start with that, make sure all your calculations are correct and as 'error proof' as you can make it. then if you want, you can migrate to Django, tkinter or some other presentation form.

If you plan on using charts and/or graphs, you'll want to check out the third party module Matplotlib.

For databases, you can use Python's own built-in sqlite3 to something more powerful like Postgresql.