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Why NylasGroup scheduling – Control your events participation with Python
Learn how to control your events participation by creating attendance limits using group scheduling with Python
Learn how to control your events participation by creating attendance limits using group scheduling with Python
Running an event with limited capacity? You want people to sign up without the risk of them showing up only to find out the event is fully booked. Group scheduling is the ideal solution to manage event participation, and the Nylas Python SDK makes it possible.
All you need to do is create an event, specify its capacity, and inform potential participants about the available spots for them to join.
If you already have the Nylas Python SDK installed and your Python environment configured, feel free to continue with the blog.
If not, I recommend reading the post How to Send Emails with the Nylas Python SDK, where we provide a clear explanation of the basic setup.
Before proceeding further, let’s take a look at what our application will look like:
We have the title, date, and time of the event. Additionally, we can see the number of available spots, and there are fields to enter our name and email address.
After pressing submit, you’ll be registered, and a confirmation message will be sent:
Additionally, you’ll receive an invitation in your mailbox:
When registering, it’s crucial to complete all fields. Let’s ensure we have some form validation:
When there are no more available spots, the registration will fail:
With a confirmation message:
As we aim to create a web application, our best option is to use Flask, one of the most popular micro-frameworks in the Python world. To install it, run the following commands:
$ pip3 install Flask $ pip3 install Flask-session
Also, we need to install an additional package called Ice Cream. This package will help us get a better debug print output.
$ pip3 install icecream
Once installed, we’re ready to go.
As we need to create the event, we’re going to create a file called EventGenerator.py:
# Load your env variables
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv()
# Import your dependencies
from nylas import APIClient
import os
import datetime
from datetime import date
from icecream import ic
# Initialize your Nylas API client
nylas = APIClient(
os.environ.get("CLIENT_ID"),
os.environ.get("CLIENT_SECRET"),
os.environ.get("ACCESS_TOKEN"),
)
# Get today's date
today = date.today()
# Schedule start time for today at
START_TIME = int(
datetime.datetime(today.year, today.month, today.day, 11, 00, 0).strftime("%s")
)
# Schedule end time for today at
END_TIME = int(
datetime.datetime(today.year, today.month, today.day, 12, 0, 0).strftime("%s")
)
# Create the event holder
event = nylas.events.create()
# Define the event properties
event.title = "Zumba Class with Nyla"
event.location = "Nylas' Office"
event.when = {"start_time": START_TIME, "end_time": END_TIME}
event.calendar_id = os.environ.get("CALENDAR_ID")
event.capacity = 3
event.save(notify_participants=True)
if event.id:
print("Event created successfully")
ic(event)
else:
print("There was an error creating the event")
We can execute this file by typing the following in the terminal:
$ python3 EventGenerator.py
Here is the output:
We must copy the ID of the event as we’ll need it. Open up your .env file and add the following:
CLIENT_ID = "YourClientId" CLIENT_SECRET = "YourClientSecret" ACCESS_TOKEN = "YourAccessToken" CALENDAR_ID = "YourCalendarId" EVENT_ID = "YourEventId"
Now, let’s check the calendar to ensure that the event was generated successfully:
First, create a folder named GroupScheduling. Inside, create two more folders: templates and static.
Now, create a file named GroupScheduling.py with the following source code:
# Import your dependencies
from flask import Flask, render_template, json, flash, request, redirect, session
from flask_session.__init__ import Session
from nylas import APIClient
import datetime
import os
from datetime import date
from icecream import ic
# Create the app
app = Flask(__name__)
app.secret_key = b"ThisIsASecret"
app.config["SESSION_PERMANENT"] = False
app.config["SESSION_TYPE"] = "filesystem"
Session(app)
# Initialize your Nylas API client
def load_nylas():
nylas = APIClient(
os.environ.get("CLIENT_ID"),
os.environ.get("CLIENT_SECRET"),
os.environ.get("ACCESS_TOKEN"),
)
return nylas
# Read event
def read_event(nylas, id):
event = nylas.events.get(id)
return event
# Main page of our web application
@app.route("/", methods=["GET", "POST"])
def index():
# Connect to Nylas APIs
nylas = load_nylas()
# Read the event details
event = read_event(nylas, os.environ.get("EVENT_ID"))
# Return how many spaces are left and allow to sign up
capacity = event["capacity"] - len(event["participants"])
if capacity < 0:
capacity = 0
if request.method == "GET":
return render_template(
"GroupIndex.html",
title=event["title"],
day=datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(event.when["start_time"]).strftime(
"%A %d, %Y"
),
_from=datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(event.when["start_time"]).strftime(
"%H:%M %p"
),
_to=datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(event.when["end_time"]).strftime(
"%H:%M %p"
),
capacity = capacity,
)
else:
name = request.form["name"]
email = request.form["email"]
# Session variables
session["name"] = name
session["email"] = email
# Make sure all fields are filled
if not name:
flash("Name is required!")
return redirect("/")
elif not email:
flash("Email is required!")
return redirect("/")
else:
session["name"] = None
session["email"] = None
PARTICIPANTS = event["participants"]
START_TIME = event["when"]["start_time"]
END_TIME = event["when"]["end_time"]
participants_list = {"email": email, "name": name}
# Get participants and add the new one
PARTICIPANTS.append(participants_list)
event.capacity = event["capacity"]
event.when = {"start_time": START_TIME, "end_time": END_TIME}
event.participants = PARTICIPANTS
try:
# Save the event
event.save(notify_participants=True)
return render_template(
"GroupConfirmation.html",
name=name,
email=email,
title=event["title"],
)
except:
# Event is full
return render_template(
"GroupFull.html", name=name, email=email, title=event["title"]
)
if __name__ == "__main__":
app.run()
In the templates folder, we need to create four different files. Let’s start with base.html:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<script src="https://cdn.tailwindcss.com"></script>
<title>Zumba Class with Nyla</title>
</head>
<body>
<div id="container">
{% with messages = get_flashed_messages() %}
{% if messages %}
{% for message in messages %}
<div class="flash bg-green-300 border-green-600 border-b p-4 m-4 rounded grid place-items-center text-red-600 font-bold">
{{ message }}
</div>
{% endfor %}
{% endif %}
{% endwith %}
{% block content %}
{% endblock %}
</div>
</body>
</html>
Then GroupIndex.html:
{% extends 'base.html' %}
{% block content %}
<div class="bg-[#315acb] border-green-600 border-b p-4 m-4 rounded grid place-items-center">
<p class="text-6xl text-center">{{title}}</p><br>
<p class="text-4xl text-center">{{day}}</p><br>
<p class="text-4xl text-center">from {{_from}} to {{_to}}</p><br>
<img src="static/Nyla.png">
<br>
<p class="text-2xl text-center">Currently we have <b>{{capacity}}</b> available spots.</p>
<br>
<form method="post">
<label for="name"><b>Name</b></label>
<input type="text" name="name"
placeholder="Your name"
value="{% if session.name != None %} {{session.name}} {% endif %}"></input>
<br><br>
<label for="email"><b>Email</b></label>
<input type="email" name="email"
placeholder="Your email"
value="{% if session.email != None %} {{session.email}} {% endif %}"></input>
<br><br>
<button type="submit" class="block bg-blue-500 hover:bg-blue-700 text-white text-lg mx-auto py-2 px-4 rounded-full">Submit</button>
</form>
</div>
{% endblock %}
We need a confirmation page; let’s call it GroupConfirmation.html:
{% extends 'base.html' %}
{% block content %}
<div class="bg-[#315acb] border-green-600 border-b p-4 m-4 rounded grid place-items-center">
<h1 class="text-3xl">Thanks {{name}} - {{email}}</h1>
<p class="font-semibold">You have successfully registered for {{title}}</p>
<p class="font-semibold">You can now go <a href="{{url_for('index')}}" class="text-green-600">back</a></p>
</div>
{% endblock %}
Finally, let’s create GroupFull.html to inform people that the event is full:
{% extends 'base.html' %}
{% block content %}
<div class="bg-[#315acb] border-green-600 border-b p-4 m-4 rounded grid place-items-center">
<h1 class="text-3xl">Sorry {{name}} - {{email}}</h1>
<p class="font-semibold">Sadly, there's no space left for you to join {{title}}</p>
<p class="font-semibold">You can now go <a href="{{url_for('index')}}" class="text-green-600">back</a></p>
</div>
{% endblock %}
The final step is to add an image to the static folder. Here’s the one we’re using:
To run our application, simply type the following in the terminal window:
$ python3 GroupScheduling.py
The application runs on port 5000 of localhost, so open your favourite browser and navigate to the following address:
http://localhost:5000
Control group participation with Python, is a great way to manage our scheduling events.
If you want to learn more about our Calendar APIs, check out the Nylas documentation Calendar API Overview.
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Blag aka Alvaro Tejada Galindo is a Senior Developer Advocate at Nylas. He loves learning about programming and sharing knowledge with the community. When he’s not coding, he’s spending time with his wife, daughter and son. He loves Punk Music and reading all sorts of books.
