ArtConnect Pro - Local Art Community Platform

Overview

ArtConnect Pro is a JavaFX-based management system for local art communities. It allows managing artists, artworks, exhibitions, galleries, workshops, and community members.

This project is a skeleton designed for students to practice:

1. Layered Architecture: Presentation, Service, DAO, and Model layers.
2. Database Persistence: Implementing JDBC DAOs to connect to a MySQL database.
3. JavaFX UI: Working with FXML, TableViews, and Controllers.

Project Structure

• com.project.artconnect.MainApp: Entry point.
• com.project.artconnect.model: Domain entities (POJOs/Stubs).
• com.project.artconnect.dao: Data Access Object interfaces.
• com.project.artconnect.persistence: JDBC implementations (TODO: Students implement these).
• com.project.artconnect.service: Business logic layer.
• com.project.artconnect.ui: JavaFX Controllers and FXML views.
• com.project.artconnect.util: Utility classes like ConnectionManager and ServiceProvider.

How to Run

Requirement: Java 17+ and Maven installed.

mvn clean javafx:run

The application runs "out-of-the-box" using In-Memory Services (InMemoryArtistService, etc.) located in com.project.artconnect.service.impl. This allows immediate demonstration of the UI with dummy data.

OOP-First Design (Object-Oriented Programming)

Unlike typical database-centric skeletons, ArtConnect Pro follows strict OOP best practices:

• No Explicit IDs: Model classes (Artist, Artwork, etc.) do not have id fields. In Java, an object's identity is its memory address/reference, not a numeric ID.
• Direct Object References: Relationships are modeled using direct references. For example, an Artwork object holds a reference to an Artist object, not an artistId.
• Bidirectional Links: Many relationships are bidirectional (e.g., an Artist has a List<Artwork>, and each Artwork points back to its Artist).
• No Junction Tables: Many-to-Many relationships (like Exhibitions and Artworks) are modeled using simple collections (List<Artwork>) rather than separate junction classes.

Student Tasks (The Challenge)

1. ID Discovery: Students must "discover" or create IDs at the database level. Your JDBC DAOs will need to map database IDs (Primary Keys) to Java object references during the findAll or save operations.
2. Relational Mapping: You must implement the logic to reconstruct the object graph from relational tables. When fetching an Artwork, you must also fetch/link the corresponding Artist.
3. Database Setup: Create the MySQL database and tables as per the technical requirements (including IDs and Foreign Keys that are NOT visible in the Java models).
4. JDBC Implementation: Implement the Jdbc DAO classes in com.project.artconnect.persistence.
5. Service Swap: Update ServiceProvider to use your new Jdbc DAOs.

Architecture Diagram

graph TD
    UI[JavaFX Presentation Layer] --> Service[Service Layer]
    Service --> DAO[DAO Interfaces]
    DAO --> JDBC[JDBC Persistence Implementation]
    DAO --> InMemory[InMemory Mock Implementation]
    JDBC --> DB[(MySQL Database)]

Loading

Testing Instructions

1. Launch the app and verify all 7 tabs show dummy data.
2. Search for an artist by name or filter by discipline in the Artists Tab.
3. View the "Discover" tab to see featured content dynamically generated.
4. Once you implement JDBC, swap the ServiceProvider to use your JdbcArtistDao and verify data is fetched from MySQL.