Bulletin Tools - Rust Implementation

This is a Rust rewrite of the Python church bulletin generation system. The system consists of two main binaries that work with a REST API to create and generate church bulletins.

Project Structure

• bulletin-input/ - Binary for creating bulletin data entries

  • Fetches schedule data from REST API
  • Prompts for sermon details
  • Creates bulletin records via REST API

• bulletin-generator/ - Binary for generating PDF bulletins

  • Fetches bulletin data from REST API
  • Renders HTML templates
  • Generates PDF using headless Chrome
  • Uploads PDF back via REST API

This project now uses the church-core library (https://git.rockvilletollandsda.church/RTSDA/church-core.git) which contains shared functionality including:

• Configuration management
• REST API client implementation
• Data models (Bulletin, Event, Personnel)

Data Files

The data/ directory contains:

• Quarterly schedule2021 - 2025.csv - Personnel assignments
• 2025 Offering and Sunset Times Chart.txt - Conference offering schedule and sunset times
• KJV.json - King James Version Bible text for scripture lookups

Configuration

The shared configuration is in shared/config.toml:

church_name = "Your Church Name"
# Optional contact information for templates
# contact_phone = "555-123-4567"
# contact_website = "yourchurchwebsite.org"
# contact_youtube = "youtube.com/yourchurchchannel"
# contact_address = "123 Church St, Your City, ST 12345"

This system requires a REST API backend for bulletin management. Authentication is configured via username/password in the .env file:

• BULLETIN_API_USERNAME - Your API username
• BULLETIN_API_PASSWORD - Your API password

The backend uses PASETO tokens for session management.

Usage

Building

cargo build --release

Bulletin Input

# Use upcoming Saturday (default)
cargo run --bin bulletin-input

# Specify a date
cargo run --bin bulletin-input -- --date 2025-06-21

# Use different location for sunset times
cargo run --bin bulletin-input -- --location "springfield"

Bulletin Generation

# Generate for upcoming Saturday
cargo run --bin bulletin-generator

# Specify a date
cargo run --bin bulletin-generator -- --date 2025-06-21

# Don't upload to PocketBase (local only)
cargo run --bin bulletin-generator -- --no-upload

# Custom output directory
cargo run --bin bulletin-generator -- --output-dir custom_output

Templates

The bulletin templates are located in bulletin-generator/templates/:

• bulletin_template.html - Jinja2-style template for the bulletin layout
• style.css - CSS styling for the PDF output

Dependencies

Key Rust dependencies:

• tokio - Async runtime
• reqwest - HTTP client for PocketBase API
• serde - Serialization/deserialization
• chrono - Date/time handling
• tera - Template engine
• headless_chrome - PDF generation
• csv - CSV parsing
• regex - Text parsing

Migration from Python

This Rust implementation maintains full compatibility with the original Python system:

• Uses the new REST API backend
• Processes the same data files
• Generates identical bulletin layouts
• Follows the same workflow

The main benefits of the Rust version:

• Faster execution
• Single binary deployment
• Better error handling
• Type safety
• Reduced runtime dependencies