VLDB-Toolkits

Paper Management Platform for VLDB

VLDB-Toolkits is a desktop application for managing academic papers and author information. This Python/Npm package provides a convenient command-line interface to download and launch the application.

Features

• Import and manage academic papers from Excel
• Track author profiles and affiliations
• Visualize paper metadata and statistics
• Export organized datasets with custom formatting
• Cross-platform desktop application (macOS, Windows, Linux)
• Simple one-command installation via pip

Installation

Quick Install

pip install vldb-toolkits

Platform Support

• macOS: Apple Silicon (ARM64) and Intel (x86_64)
• Windows: x64
• Linux: x64

Usage

Launch the Application

Simply run:

vldb-toolkits

On first run, the application binary will be automatically downloaded (~50-150 MB depending on platform). The binary is stored in ~/.vldb-toolkits/ for future use.

Command-Line Options

# Show help
vldb-toolkits --help

# Show version
vldb-toolkits --version

# Force reinstall the binary
vldb-toolkits --install

# Show binary installation path
vldb-toolkits --path

How It Works

This Python package is a lightweight wrapper (~50 KB) that:

1. Detects your operating system and architecture
2. Downloads the appropriate pre-built binary from GitHub Releases (only on first run)
3. Launches the desktop application

The actual application is built with:

• Frontend: React + TypeScript
• Backend: Tauri (Rust)
• UI: Ant Design + Fluent UI

Development

Project Structure

VLDB-Toolkits/
├── app/                    # Tauri desktop application
│   ├── src/               # React frontend
│   └── src-tauri/         # Rust backend
└── python-pip/        # Python CLI wrapper
    ├── vldb_toolkits/
    │   ├── __init__.py
    │   ├── cli.py         # CLI entry point
    │   ├── config.py      # Configuration
    │   └── downloader.py  # Binary downloader
    └── pyproject.toml

Building from Source

To build the desktop application from source:

cd app
npm install
npm run tauri:build

Publishing to PyPI

cd python-pip

# Build the package
python -m build

# Upload to PyPI
twine upload dist/*

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Internet connection (for initial binary download)

Configuration

The package stores data in:

• Binary: ~/.vldb-toolkits/bin/
• Version: ~/.vldb-toolkits/version.txt

Troubleshooting

Download Issues

If download fails, try:

vldb-toolkits --install

Permission Issues (Linux/macOS)

If the binary is not executable:

chmod +x ~/.vldb-toolkits/bin/vldb-toolkits

Manual Installation

You can also download binaries directly from GitHub Releases.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Author

Silan Hu

• Email: silan.hu@u.nus.edu
• GitHub: @Qingbolan

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Acknowledgments

Built with:

• Tauri - Desktop application framework
• React - UI library
• Ant Design - UI components
• Fluent UI - Microsoft design system