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Overview

The Veterinaria ALFA Inventory System follows a classic Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture pattern, providing clear separation of concerns between data management, business logic, and user interface components.

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Architecture Pattern

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MVC Structure

The application is organized into three main packages that correspond to the MVC layers: 
src/main/java/
├── model/          # Data access and business logic
├── view/           # User interface components
├── controller/     # Application logic coordination
└── InventarioApp   # Application entry point
Purpose: Handles data persistence and database operationsKey Classes:
  • InventarioDAO.java - Data Access Object for all database operations
Responsibilities:
  • Database connection management
  • CRUD operations for products
  • Sales transaction management
  • Product reservation (apartados) handling
  • CSV export functionality
  • Expiration date validation and alerts
Purpose: Provides the graphical user interface using Java SwingKey Classes:
  • InventarioView.java - Main inventory management interface
  • AgregarMedicamentoView.java - Add new product dialog
  • EditarMedicamentoView.java - Edit existing product dialog
  • VentasView.java - Sales history interface
  • RegistrarVentaView.java - Register new sale dialog
  • EditarVentaView.java - Edit sale record dialog
  • ApartadosView.java - Reserved products interface
  • RegistrarApartadoView.java - Register product reservation dialog
  • EditarApartadoView.java - Edit reservation dialog
Responsibilities:
  • User input collection and validation
  • Data display in tables and forms
  • Event handling (button clicks, table selections)
  • Visual feedback (hover effects, color coding)
  • Dialog management
Purpose: Coordinates communication between Model and ViewKey Classes:
  • InventarioController.java - Main controller for inventory operations
Responsibilities:
  • Delegates user actions to the Model
  • Triggers View updates after data changes
  • Business logic coordination
  • Data transformation between layers

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Data Flow

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Typical User Action Flow

  1. User Interaction → User clicks a button or enters data in the View
  2. Event Handling → View captures the event and calls Controller method
  3. Business Logic → Controller validates and processes the request
  4. Data Access → Controller delegates to DAO for database operations
  5. View Update → Controller triggers View refresh to display updated data

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Component Relationships

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Application Entry Point

File: InventarioApp.java (root package) The main entry point initializes the application: 
public class InventarioApp {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
            InventarioDAO dao = new InventarioDAO();
            dao.crearBaseDeDatos(); // Initialize database
            InventarioController controller = new InventarioController(dao);
            new InventarioView(controller); // Launch main window
        });
    }
}

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Dependency Structure

  • InventarioApp creates InventarioDAO and InventarioController
  • InventarioController depends on InventarioDAO
  • View classes depend on InventarioController
  • Controller maintains reference to InventarioView for callbacks

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UI Component Architecture

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Main Window (InventarioView)

The main inventory window provides:
  • Product table with sorting and filtering
  • Search functionality
  • CRUD operations (Add, Edit, Delete)
  • Navigation to Sales and Reservations modules
  • CSV export capability
  • Expiration date alerts with color coding

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Dialog Windows

All dialog windows extend JDialog and follow a consistent pattern:
  • Modal dialogs that block parent window
  • GridBagLayout for form inputs
  • Styled buttons with hover effects
  • Input validation before submission
  • Automatic parent view refresh on success

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Visual Features

The application includes several UX enhancements:
  • Hover effects on table rows and buttons
  • Color coding for expiration dates (red for expired, light red for near expiration)
  • Multi-select support in tables
  • Real-time filtering with regex support
  • Sortable columns in all table views

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Database Connection

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Connection Management

The DAO manages a single Connection object:
  • SQLite JDBC driver: org.xerial:sqlite-jdbc:3.41.2.1
  • Database location: ./db/baseDeDatosInventario.db
  • Connection is established in constructor and reused
  • ensureConnection() method checks and recreates closed connections

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Database URL

String carpetaBD = "./db";
File folderFile = new File(carpetaBD);
if (!folderFile.exists()) {
    folderFile.mkdirs();
}
this.dbUrl = "jdbc:sqlite:" + carpetaBD + "/baseDeDatosInventario.db";
The database file is created in a db/ subdirectory relative to the application executable, making it portable and easy to locate.

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Key Design Patterns

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Data Access Object (DAO)

The InventarioDAO class encapsulates all database operations, providing a clean interface for the Controller layer.

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Observer Pattern

The Controller maintains a reference to InventarioView and calls cargarDatos() or actualizarTabla() whenever data changes, implementing a simple observer pattern.

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Model-View-Controller (MVC)

Clear separation between:
  • Model (data and persistence)
  • View (presentation and user interaction)
  • Controller (coordination and business logic)

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Technology Stack

ComponentTechnology
LanguageJava 21
UI FrameworkJava Swing
DatabaseSQLite 3
Build ToolMaven 3.13.0
Date PickerJCalendar 1.4
JDBC DriverSQLite JDBC 3.41.2.1
TestingJUnit Jupiter 5.10.0

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Build Configuration

The application can be packaged as:
  1. Standard JAR with maven-jar-plugin
  2. Fat JAR (with dependencies) using maven-shade-plugin
Main class: InventarioApp See Configuration for Maven setup details.

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