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Overview

The User model represents registered users in the SWL Library Management System, including both regular clients and premium users. It extends Flask-Login’s UserMixin for authentication support and includes password hashing capabilities.

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Fields

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id
Integer
required
Primary key identifier for the user
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email
String(120)
User’s email address. Unique constraint applied. Nullable to support users without email.
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document_id
String(20)
required
User’s document/ID number. Must be unique and is required for all users.
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full_name
String(100)
required
User’s full name. Required field.
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phone
String(20)
User’s phone number. Optional field.
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role
String(20)
required
User’s role in the system (e.g., ‘cliente’, ‘premium’, ‘admin’). Required field.
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program_name
String(100)
Name of the academic program or affiliation. Optional field.
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password_hash
String(255)
Hashed password for authentication. Never store plain text passwords.

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Methods

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set_password(password)

Sets the user’s password by generating a secure hash. Parameters:
  • password (str): Plain text password to hash and store
Example: 
user = User(email='user@example.com', document_id='123456')
user.set_password('secure_password_123')

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check_password(password)

Verifies a password against the stored hash. Parameters:
  • password (str): Plain text password to verify
Returns:
  • bool: True if password matches, False otherwise
Example: 
if user.check_password('attempted_password'):
    # Password is correct
    login_user(user)

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Relationships

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loans

Back reference to all loans associated with this user.
  • Type: Dynamic relationship to Loan model
  • Access: user.loans.all() or user.loans.filter_by(status='activo')

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Usage Examples

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Creating a New User

from app.models import User
from app import db

new_user = User(
    email='student@university.edu',
    document_id='1234567890',
    full_name='John Doe',
    phone='+57 300 123 4567',
    role='cliente',
    program_name='Computer Science'
)
new_user.set_password('secure_password')
db.session.add(new_user)
db.session.commit()

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User Authentication

from app.models import User
from flask_login import login_user

user = User.query.filter_by(document_id=form.document_id.data).first()
if user and user.check_password(form.password.data):
    login_user(user)
    # Redirect to dashboard

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Querying User Loans

user = User.query.get(user_id)
active_loans = user.loans.filter_by(status='activo').all()
pending_loans = user.loans.filter_by(status='pendiente').all()

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Flask-Login Integration

The User model extends UserMixin which provides:
  • is_authenticated: Property that returns True if user is authenticated
  • is_active: Property that returns True if user account is active
  • is_anonymous: Property that returns False for regular users
  • get_id(): Method that returns the user ID as a string

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Security Notes

  • Passwords are hashed using Werkzeug’s generate_password_hash
  • Never store or log plain text passwords
  • The password_hash field should never be exposed in API responses
  • Email addresses have unique constraint to prevent duplicates