thechart/MODULAR_MEDICINE_SYSTEM.md

Modular Medicine System

The MedTracker application now features a modular medicine system that allows users to dynamically add, edit, and remove medicines without modifying the source code.

Features

✨ Dynamic Medicine Management

• Add new medicines through the UI or programmatically
• Edit existing medicines - change names, dosages, colors, etc.
• Remove medicines - clean up unused medications
• Automatic UI updates - all interface elements update automatically

🎛️ Medicine Configuration

Each medicine has the following configurable properties:

• Key: Internal identifier (e.g., "bupropion")
• Display Name: User-friendly name (e.g., "Bupropion")
• Dosage Info: Dosage information (e.g., "150/300 mg")
• Quick Doses: Common dose amounts for quick selection
• Color: Hex color for graph display (e.g., "#FF6B6B")
• Default Enabled: Whether to show in graphs by default

📁 Configuration Storage

• Medicines are stored in medicines.json
• Automatically created with default medicines on first run
• Human-readable JSON format for easy manual editing

Usage

Through the UI

1. Open Medicine Manager:

   • Launch the application
   • Go to Tools → Manage Medicines...

2. Add a Medicine:

   • Click "Add Medicine"
   • Fill in the required fields:
     • Key (alphanumeric, underscores, hyphens only)
     • Display Name
     • Dosage Info
     • Quick Doses (comma-separated)
     • Graph Color (hex format, e.g., #FF6B6B)
     • Default Enabled checkbox
   • Click "Save"

3. Edit a Medicine:

   • Select a medicine from the list
   • Click "Edit Medicine"
   • Modify the fields as needed
   • Click "Save"

4. Remove a Medicine:

   • Select a medicine from the list
   • Click "Remove Medicine"
   • Confirm the removal

Programmatically

from medicine_manager import MedicineManager, Medicine

# Initialize manager
medicine_manager = MedicineManager()

# Add a new medicine
new_medicine = Medicine(
    key="sertraline",
    display_name="Sertraline",
    dosage_info="50mg",
    quick_doses=["25", "50", "100"],
    color="#9B59B6",
    default_enabled=False
)

medicine_manager.add_medicine(new_medicine)

Manual Configuration

Edit medicines.json directly:

{
  "medicines": [
    {
      "key": "your_medicine",
      "display_name": "Your Medicine",
      "dosage_info": "25mg",
      "quick_doses": ["25", "50"],
      "color": "#FF6B6B",
      "default_enabled": false
    }
  ]
}

What Updates Automatically

When you add, edit, or remove medicines, the following components update automatically:

🖥️ User Interface

• Input Form: Medicine checkboxes in the main form
• Data Table: Column headers and display
• Edit Windows: Medicine fields and dose tracking
• Graph Controls: Toggle buttons for medicines

📊 Data Management

• CSV Headers: Automatically include new medicine columns
• Data Loading: Dynamic column type detection
• Data Entry: Medicine data is stored with appropriate columns

📈 Graphing

• Toggle Controls: Show/hide medicines in graphs
• Color Coding: Each medicine uses its configured color
• Legend: Medicine names and information in graph legends

Default Medicines

The system comes with these default medicines:

Medicine	Dosage	Default Graph	Color
Bupropion	150/300 mg	✅	Red (#FF6B6B)
Hydroxyzine	25 mg	❌	Teal (#4ECDC4)
Gabapentin	100 mg	❌	Blue (#45B7D1)
Propranolol	10 mg	✅	Green (#96CEB4)
Quetiapine	25 mg	❌	Yellow (#FFEAA7)

Technical Details

Architecture

• MedicineManager: Core class handling medicine CRUD operations
• Medicine: Data class representing individual medicines
• Dynamic UI: Components rebuild themselves when medicines change
• Backward Compatibility: Existing data continues to work

Files Involved

• src/medicine_manager.py - Core medicine management
• src/medicine_management_window.py - UI for managing medicines
• medicines.json - Configuration storage
• Updated: main.py, ui_manager.py, data_manager.py, graph_manager.py

CSV Data Format

The CSV structure adapts automatically:

date,depression,anxiety,sleep,appetite,medicine1,medicine1_doses,medicine2,medicine2_doses,...,note

Migration Notes

Existing Data

• Existing CSV files continue to work
• Old medicine columns are preserved
• New medicines get empty columns for existing entries

Backward Compatibility

• Hard-coded medicine references have been replaced with dynamic loading
• All existing functionality is preserved
• No data loss during updates

Examples

See these example scripts:

• add_medicine_example.py - Shows how to add medicines programmatically
• test_medicine_system.py - Comprehensive system test

Troubleshooting

Medicine Not Appearing

1. Check medicines.json file exists and is valid JSON
2. Restart the application after manual JSON edits
3. Check logs for any loading errors

CSV Issues

1. Backup your data before adding/removing medicines
2. New medicines will have empty data for existing entries
3. Removed medicine data is preserved but not displayed

Color Issues

1. Colors must be in hex format: #RRGGBB
2. Ensure colors are visually distinct
3. Default color #DDA0DD is used for invalid colors

Development

To extend the system:

1. Add new properties to the Medicine dataclass
2. Update the UI forms to handle new properties
3. Modify the JSON serialization if needed
4. Update the medicine management window