gamereporter allows you to generate reports for a list of game-like objects; typically boardgames whose data can be sourced from boardgamegeek.
Many boardgame owners use the boardgamegeek database to track their games. Extracting information out of the site, in a readable or reusable format, is not always straightforward. This program allows the generation of such reports, with varying degrees of customisation.
The report.py program can be used to generate a report of game details, or
a game summary (by default, into a file called games.pdf, or games.xls).
To see the program options, run:
python report.py --help
Be aware that accessing game details from BGG can be a slow process... a report with dozens - or even hundreds! - of games will take some time to create.
A test, or "debug", run with progress display, but requiring no access to
boardgamegeek.com, with output going to a file called dummy.pdf:
python report.py -d -p -f dummy.pdf
A 'real' example, to create a detailed PF report of 5 games, while showing
progress, for an imaginary boardgamegeek user who is called shurelock,
and who is USA-based, would use:
python report.py -u shurelock -z US -c 5 -p
This would look something like:
A summary PDF report for the same user, but with metric options & no display of progress while running:
python report.py -u shurelock -c 5 -s summary
This would look something like:
A compact PDF report for the same user, but with metric options & no progress:
python report.py -u shurelock -c 5 -s compact
This would look something like:
If you know the games you want to get a report on, pass in their boardgamegeek identity numbers as a list (with a space between each number); for example:
python report.py -p -g 421 154638 986 320
An XLS report for the shurelock user, with progress displayed:
python report.py -u shurelock -c 5 -s excel -p
Creating a JSON file for the same user, with progress:
python report.py -u shurelock -c 5 -s json -p
The JSON file created can also be re-used an input (for example, you may want to first edit that file to alter the description given by boardgamegeek):
python report.py -i games.json -s compact
This approach also has the advantage that games will not have to be retrieved from boardgamegeek each time you run a report; although the game images will be.
- Access games by ID from boardgamegeek, or games linked to a user of that site
- Create different types of PDFs with details of each game accessed
- Create an XLS file with summary of each game accessed
- Create a JSON file with details of each game accessed
- Reuse the JSON file to create a report
- Provide some basic parameters (such as fonts and page sizes to be used)
The existing code can, of course, be modified to create other layouts and report on other game details.
This application assumes you are familiar with Python and its usage via the command-line. It is also assumed you are familiar with use of git.
WARNING This program has only been used and tested under Ubuntu 14.04, running Python 2.7.
Create and activate a virtualenv. Clone this application into a directory, change to that directory and run:
pip install -f requirements.txt
If you want to use the report.py program 'as is', you first need to install
the Alegreya TrueType fonts; see:
Many thanks go to the authors and developers of the following Python libraries for making it even possible to create such a reporting tool:
Also, thanks to the creator of the amazingly attractive Alegreya fonts - Juan Pablo del Peral!