Save HTML Form Into Database With Python Flask (Simple Example)

Welcome to a tutorial on how to save an HTML form into the database with Python Flask and SQLite. Just started with Python Flask and want to save a submitted form into the database? Well, it actually pretty easy – Read on for an example!

 

 

TLDR – QUICK SLIDES

Fullscreen Mode – Click Here

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

QUICK SETUP

The “usual stuff”:

• Create a virtual environment virtualenv venv.
• Activate it – venv/Scripts/activate (Windows) venv/bin/activate (Linux/Mac)
• Install required libraries – pip install flask
• For those who are new, the default Flask folders are –
  • static Public files (JS/CSS/images/videos/audio)
  • templates HTML pages

 

STEP 1) THE DATABASE

1A) DUMMY DATABASE TABLE

CREATE TABLE dummy (
  id INTEGER,
  email TEXT NOT NULL,
  txt TEXT NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY("id" AUTOINCREMENT)
);

Let us start with a dummy database to work with, just a very simple one with 3 fields.

• id Primary key, auto-increment.
• email The user email.
• txt Whatever random text/content.

 

1B) CREATE THE DATABASE

# (A) LOAD PACKAGES
import sqlite3, os
from sqlite3 import Error

# (B) DATABASE + SQL FILE
DBFILE = "dummy.db"
SQLFILE = "S1A_dummy.sql"

# (C) DELETE OLD DATABASE IF EXIST
if os.path.exists(DBFILE):
  os.remove(DBFILE)

# (D) IMPORT SQL
conn = sqlite3.connect(DBFILE)
with open(SQLFILE) as f:
  conn.executescript(f.read())
conn.commit()
conn.close()
print("Database created!")

Next, this should be self-explanatory – We read the SQL file and create the actual database itself.

 

 

STEP 2) HTML FORM

<form method="post">
  <label>Email</label>
  <input type="email" name="email" required value="jon@doe.com">
  <label>Text</label>
  <input type="text" name="txt" required value="It works!">
  <input type="submit" value="Go!">
</form>

Don’t think this needs much explanation… Just a “regular Joe” HTML form.

 

 

STEP 3) FLASK SERVER

# (A) INIT
# (A1) LOAD MODULES
from flask import Flask, render_template, request
import sqlite3
 
# (A2) FLASK SETTINGS + INIT
HOST_NAME = "localhost"
HOST_PORT = 80
app = Flask(__name__)
# app.debug = True

# (B) DUMMY PAGE
@app.route("/", methods=["GET", "POST"])
def index():
  # (B1) SAVE ON FORM SUBMIT
  if request.method == "POST":
    conn = sqlite3.connect("dummy.db")
    cursor = conn.cursor()
    cursor.execute("INSERT INTO dummy (`email`, `txt`) VALUES (?,?)", (request.values.get("email"), request.values.get("txt")))
    conn.commit()
    conn.close()
 
  # (B2) RENDER PAGE
  return render_template("S2_form.html")
  
# (C) START
if __name__ == "__main__":
  app.run(HOST_NAME, HOST_PORT)

1. Load the required modules (Flask and SQLite), plus a bunch of settings.
2. Take note of how this works.
   • (B2) When “accessed normally”, we serve the above HTML form.
   • (B1) When the form is submitted, we save it into the database.
3. Start the Flask server.

 

 

 

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EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here for the source code on GitHub gist, just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

 

A FEW MORE NOTES

Yes, saving an HTML form is that simple, but a couple of things to take note of:

• SQLite is a great tool for learning, but it is better to use a “professional database” for production servers.
• PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, or MongoDB – Pick your poison. Best to learn at least one.

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• Python Flask
• SQLite
• Jinja (HTML Template System)

 

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