Database Editors

Viper provides two GUI applications for exploring and managing databases:

Tool	Purpose	Use When
cdbe.py	CommitDatabase Editor	Working with versioned data (undo/redo, sync, history)
dbe.py	Database Editor	Simple exploration without commit history

Both tools are built with PySide6 and share common components from ds_components/.

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cdbe.py - CommitDatabase Editor

Full-featured GUI for exploring and managing CommitDatabases with version history.

cdbe.py showing commit history, document browser, and database inspector.

Launch

python3 tools/cdbe.py                      # Open file dialog
python3 tools/cdbe.py project.cdb          # Open specific database

Panels

Access panels via keyboard shortcuts:

Panel	Shortcut	Description
Commits	Cmd+1	Browse commit history (DAG visualization)
Documents	Cmd+2	Browse documents by attachment
Program	Cmd+3	View Program in selected commit
Settings	Cmd+4	Configure synchronization source
Undo	Cmd+5	Undo/redo stack visualization
Sync Log	Cmd+6	Synchronization activity log
Blobs	Cmd+7	Browse blob storage
Actions	Cmd+8	Pending actions queue

Synchronization

cdbe.py supports synchronizing with a remote CommitDatabase server.

Connection Settings:

• TCP: host:port (e.g., server.local:54321)

• Unix socket: /path/to/socket

Sync Operations:

Action	Description
Fetch	Pull commits from remote server
Push	Push local commits to remote
Sync	Full sync (Fetch + Push)

Live Mode:

Enable automatic synchronization at configurable intervals:

• Live Mode: Auto-sync on timer

• Manager Mode: Auto-merge heads during live sync

Inspecting Commits

1. Open the Commits panel (Cmd+1)

2. Click a commit to select it

3. Open Commands panel (Cmd+3) to see mutations

4. Double-click a document to inspect its content

Undo/Redo

cdbe.py maintains an undo stack for local operations:

• Undo: Cmd+Z

• Redo: Cmd+Shift+Z

View the undo stack in the Undo panel (Cmd+5).

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dbe.py - Database Editor

Simplified GUI for exploring Database files (without commit history).

dbe.py showing document browser and database inspector.

Launch

python3 tools/dbe.py                       # Open file dialog
python3 tools/dbe.py project.vpr           # Open specific database

Features

Feature	Description
Document Browser	Browse documents by attachment
Blob Viewer	Inspect binary blob content
Database Inspector	View UUID, codec, definitions
Network Connection	Connect to remote Database server

When to Use dbe.py vs cdbe.py

Scenario	Tool
Explore versioned data with history	cdbe.py
Simple database inspection	dbe.py
Synchronize with remote server	cdbe.py
Debug blob storage	Either

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ds_components - Shared GUI Library

Both editors use ds_components/, a PySide6 widget library:

Component	Description
DSDocumentsCommitStore	Document browser for CommitStore
DSDocumentsDatabasing	Document browser for Database
DSCommitsDialog	Commit history panel
DSValueProgramDialog	Program viewer
DSInspectDialog	Database inspector
DSBlobsDialog	Blob storage viewer
DSSettings	User preferences management

These components can be reused in custom applications built on Viper.

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What’s Next

• Server - Running a CommitDatabase server

• dsm_util - Creating databases from DSM