Movie Database Application
Statement of Goals: The user can enter the name of the movie and the app will return the requested information (i.e. films, biographical information, etc.) The app retrieves the information the open-source Open Movie Database (OMDb), a free movie information database.
Functional Description: The UI will be relatively simple and self-explanatory for the user. When the application opens the user is presented with a text box (for entering the movie name) and several check boxes for the type of information requested. The user enters the name of the movie, selects from several checkboxes the data that they want returned (i.e., “Year”, “Actors”, “Director”, etc). Pressing the search button results in the information queried from the OMDb and displayed for the user.
Milestones:
- Initial UI design.
- Establish connectivity to db.
- Db responds to queries.
- Full functionality.
Technical Breakdown:
- User enters the movie title.
- getAPISearchString() converts the movie title into a OMDb search string URL.
- Creates a URL connection to the database and opens the connection.
- Creates an input stream to the data file
- Writes to the data file in JSON format for eventual parsing
API Information: The OMDb API is used to obtain movie information. Data queries via internet browser are made in this format: http://www.omdbapi.com/?t=[Movie+Title]&apikey=[users API key]. For example, a search for “Saving Private Ryan is: http://www.omdbapi.com/?t=Saving+Private+Ryan&apikey=e88d2fb1 The data is returned in JSON format. XML format is optional.