adding dotenv to requirements, switching to using .env file for the settings

Makefile

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-SHELL := /bin/bash
+#! make
 
 default: run
 
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@ setup:
 	@if [ ! -d ".venv" ]; then python3 -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt; fi
 
 run:
-	@/bin/bash -c "set -a && source config.env && set +a && .venv/bin/python octomode.py"
+	@.venv/bin/python octomode.py 

README.md

@@ -83,18 +83,15 @@ You can clone this repository to run octomode on your own computer or server.
 
 `make setup` (sets up a virtual environment and install the requirements, you only need to do this once)
 
-Then you can configure your environment.
+`nano .env` 
 
-You can do this in two ways:
-
-* by editing the `config.env` file
-* by storing the configuration settings as *environment variables* before running octomode:
+Configure your environment, save the following configuration settings as to a file called `.env`:
 
 ```
-$ export OCTOMODE_PORTNUMBER=XXX
-$ export OCTOMODE_PAD_URL=XXX
-$ export OCTOMODE_PAD_API_URL=XXX
-$ export OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY=XXX
+OCTOMODE_PORTNUMBER=XXX
+OCTOMODE_PAD_URL=XXX
+OCTOMODE_PAD_API_URL=XXX
+OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY=XXX
 ```
 
 - **OCTOMODE_PORTNUMBER**: *optional*, default: `5001`
@@ -106,7 +103,7 @@ $ export OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY=XXX
 
 `make run` (runs the Flask application)
 
-Open the application at port `5001`, for example: <http://localhost:5001> or <http://111.111.111.111:5001>.
+Open the application at port `5001`, for example: <http://localhost:5001> or <http://mydomainname.ext:5001>.
 
 ### Dependencies
 

octomode.py

@@ -14,19 +14,8 @@ import pypandoc
 # To read the Markdown metadat
 import markdown
 
-class Config(object):
-    PORTNUMBER = int(os.environ.get('OCTOMODE_PORTNUMBER', 5001))
-    PAD_URL = os.environ.get('OCTOMODE_PAD_URL', 'https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org')
-    PAD_API_URL = os.environ.get('OCTOMODE_PAD_API_URL', 'https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/api/1.2.15')
-    PAD_API_KEY = os.environ.get('OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY', '')
-
 APP = Flask(__name__)
-APP.config.from_object(Config)
-
-if APP.config.get('OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY', '') == '':
-    print("error: you must provide a value for OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY")
-    print("error: e.g. export OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY=...")
-    exit(1)
+APP.config.from_pyfile('settings.py')
 
 # ---
 

requirements.txt

@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@ pypandoc==1.7.2
 typing-extensions==4.0.1
 urllib3==1.26.8
 zipp==3.7.0
+python-dotenv==0.21.0

settings.py

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import os
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+# Load environment variables from the .env file
+load_dotenv()
+
+# Bind them to Python variables
+PORTNUMBER = int(os.environ.get('OCTOMODE_PORTNUMBER', 5001))
+PAD_URL = os.environ.get('OCTOMODE_PAD_URL', 'https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org')
+PAD_API_URL = os.environ.get('OCTOMODE_PAD_API_URL', 'https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/api/1.2.15')
+PAD_API_KEY = os.environ.get('OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY', '')
+
+# Check if API key is provided
+if not PAD_API_KEY or PAD_API_KEY == "XXX":
+    print("error: you must provide a value for OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY")
+    print("error: e.g. export OCTOMODE_PAD_API_KEY=...")
+    exit(1)