Data Formatting & Encrypting

This file contains the information about the data formatting and encrypting process.

---

Standard Data Format

The functionality of the bot is based on the data stored in the DATA folder. The data is stored in the form of CSV and text files. And later, we have to encrypt them for security concerns (if your intention is to adding the bot to a private group, this is REQUIRED!). You can find the templates of the CSV and text files in the DATA/Templates folder. You can use those templates to add your data.

Results - results.csv

Contains the results of the students. The data is stored in the following format. S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8 are the semester results. Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4 are the year results. CGPA and OGPA are the cumulative and overall GPAs respectively.
Errors are about the missing/invalid information. This parameter can be either one of the following values.

QUICK TIP

You can also add your own error types using gpa_values.py if you want to...

• ERROR - The NIC/ID number is not registered in database.
• HOLD - The results are on hold. Only the partially calculated GPA values present.
• NEW - Calculated GPA values are based on student's current results within a batch; OGPA, CGPA and Academic Status will not represent accurate information. (Useful for a repeated/batch-missed student.)

user_id	NIC_no	s1	s2	s3	s4	s5	s6	s7	s8	Errors	Y1	Y2	Y3	Y4	cgpa	ogpa
123451	1234567890	3.623	2.66	3.11							3.41231				3.1234

Staff Info - staff_info.txt

STAFF info is stored in here. Contact information that relates to a single person written as blocks. And, each bock is seperated with a newline (new empty line). See examples given below.

# ----- Begining of the file -----

Dr. A.B. John Doe
DEAN, FACULTY OF ABC
Office: 0123456789
Email: abc@uni.com

Mr. Alex White
HEAD, DEPARTMENT OF ABC
Office: 0123456789
Email: abc@uni.com, abc@alex.com

Ms. Jane Doe
Assistant Registrar - Faculty of ABC
Direct Line: 0123456789
Office: 0123456789
Extension: 1234
Email: abc@uni.com
Fax: 0123456789

# ----- End of the file -----

Batch Data - full_batch_data.csv

Uni_reg_no	Name_with_initials	BDay	Uni_email	Email	Postal_address	District	Contact_no	Errors	Short_name
123456	A.B.C. Jane Doe	1985-01-01	janedoe@uni.com	janedoe@jane.com	123/A, ABC Road, ABC	ABCD	123456789		Jane
1234562	A.B.C. John Doe	1985-01-01	johndoe@uni.com	johndoe@jane.com	123/A, ABC Road, ABC	ABCD	123456789	Invalid ID number	John

General Resources - resources.txt

keywords	title	data
keyword1, keyword2	This text contains the title of the resource content.	Here goes the description or the URL - https://examplesite.com

File Encryption

The bot will use the encrypted files to fetch the data. After you have added the data to the CSV and text files according to above formats, you have to encrypt them using the encrypt_data.py file.

NOTE: You have to run the encrypt_data.py file from the DATA folder for that. If you are not in the DATA folder, you can use the following command to change the directory.

cd DATA

Then, run the encrypt_data.py file using the following command.

On Poetry shell:

poetry run python3 encrypt_data.py

On Linux shell:

python3 encrypt_data.py

On Windows CMD prompt:

py encrypt_data.py

WARNING

IMPORTANT:

• The key will be saved in the current folder with name format KEY_date_time.txt. Open the key file and copy the key. Use that key while configuring the environment variables.
• DO NOT run this file again, if you are updating the existing data. It will generate a new key and you have to update the environment variables again. Instead, you can use the same key to encrypt the updated data files. Open the key file and copy the key. Uncomment the key variable in the encrypt_data.py file and paste the key there. Then, run the encrypt_data.py file again.
• DO NOT share the key file or csv/txt files with anyone or commit it to a public repository (these files are already added to .gitignore file. So, you don't have to worry about it).
• [Optional] Delete the original data files after encryption. (Make backups somewhere else first! and then delete the files that having the .csv and .txt extensions.)