🚗 Vehicle Parking App - V2 (ParkingPal)

A robust, multi-user parking management system designed specifically for 4-wheeler vehicles. This application features distinct roles for administrators and regular users, real-time parking status updates, and a suite of automated backend jobs for enhanced functionality and user engagement.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Features
  • Admin Dashboard
  • User Dashboard
  • Backend Jobs
  • Performance & Caching
• Technologies Used
• Authentication
• Database Schema (Conceptual)
• Setup & Installation
• Usage
• Screenshots & Demo Video
• Contributing
• License

Introduction

The Vehicle Parking App - V2 aims to streamline the process of managing parking lots, individual parking spots, and parked vehicles. It provides a clear distinction between administrative controls and user functionalities, ensuring efficient operations and a seamless parking experience.

Features

Admin Dashboard

The administrator has comprehensive control over the parking system, allowing for efficient management of lots and monitoring of parking status.

• Login & Registration: Secure login for the administrator. The admin account is programmatically added upon initial database creation.
• Parking Lot Management:
  • Create, edit, and delete parking lots.
  • Note: Parking lots can only be deleted if all their associated parking spots are empty.
• Automated Parking Spot Creation: Parking spots are automatically generated based on the maximum number of spots defined for a lot, eliminating manual individual spot creation.
• Real-time Status Monitoring: View the current status of all parking spots (occupied/empty) and detailed information about parked vehicles when a spot is occupied.
• User Management: Access a list of all registered users within the system.
• Summary Charts: Visual summaries of parking lot and spot utilization for insightful decision-making.

GIF Placeholder: Admin Dashboard Overview.

GIF Placeholder: Creating a Parking Lot.

User Dashboard

Users can easily find and manage their parking needs with an intuitive interface.

• Login & Registration: Secure login and registration forms for new users.
• Automated Parking Allocation: Users select an available parking lot, and the system automatically allocates the first available parking spot. Users cannot manually select a specific spot.
• Parking Status Management:
  • Users can mark a parking spot as occupied once their vehicle is parked.
  • Users can mark a parking spot as released once their vehicle has moved out.
• Timestamp Recording: The application automatically records the park-in and park-out timestamps for each parking session.
• Personal Parking Summary: Users can view summary charts related to their own parking history and activity.

GIF Placeholder: User Parking Flow.

GIF Placeholder: Viewing Personal Summary (e.g., showing the user's parking history charts).

Backend Jobs

The application leverages background jobs for various automated tasks, enhancing user engagement and providing valuable insights.

a. Scheduled Job - Daily Reminders

• Purpose: To remind users who haven't visited or to alert about newly created parking lots.
• Trigger: Runs daily (time configurable by students).
• Logic: Checks if a user has not visited the app recently or if new parking lots have been added by the admin.
• Action: Sends alerts asking users to book a parking spot if required.
• Delivery: Via Google Chat Webhooks, SMS, or email.

GIF Placeholder: Daily Reminder Notification Example (e.g., a mock Google Chat/SMS/Email notification).

b. Scheduled Job - Monthly Activity Report

• Purpose: To provide users with a comprehensive summary of their parking activity.
• Trigger: Runs on the first day of every month.
• Content: Generates an HTML report including:
  • Parking spots booked per month.
  • Most used parking lot by the user.
  • Amount spent on parking for the month.
  • Any other relevant user-specific parking information.
• Delivery: Sent as an email to the user.

GIF Placeholder: Monthly Report Email.

c. User Triggered Async Job - Export as CSV

• Purpose: To allow users to download their historical parking details.
• Trigger: Initiated by the user from their dashboard.
• Content: Exports parking details in CSV format, including:
  • slot_id
  • spot_id
  • timestamps (park-in, park-out)
  • cost
  • remarks
  • And other relevant information.
• Process: Triggers a batch job in the background.
• Notification: Sends an alert to the user once the CSV export is complete and ready for download.

GIF Placeholder: CSV Export.

Performance & Caching

• Caching Strategy: Implemented caching mechanisms using Redis to store frequently accessed data, significantly improving application response times.
• Cache Expiry: Configured cache expiry policies to ensure data freshness and efficient resource utilization.
• API Performance: Focus on optimizing API endpoints for quick and reliable data retrieval and submission.

Technologies Used

This project is built upon a robust stack of mandatory frameworks and tools:

• Backend:
  • Flask: A lightweight Python web framework used for building the API.
  • SQLite: A self-contained, high-reliability, embedded, full-featured, public-domain SQL database engine.
  • Redis: An open-source, in-memory data structure store, used as a database, cache, and message broker.
  • Celery: An asynchronous task queue/job queue based on distributed message passing, used for handling background jobs.
• Frontend:
  • Vue.js: A progressive JavaScript framework for building user interfaces.
  • Bootstrap: The world's most popular front-end open source toolkit, used for HTML generation and styling.
  • Jinja2: A modern and designer-friendly templating language for Python, used only for the application's entry point (index.html).

Authentication

The application implements a robust role-based access control system to differentiate between administrators and regular users. This is achieved using JWT (JSON Web Token) based Token Authentication, ensuring secure and stateless user sessions.

Database Schema (Conceptual)

The application's data is structured across several key models to manage users, parking lots, spots, and vehicle parking events.

• User: Stores user credentials and roles.
  • id (Primary Key)
  • username
  • password_hash
  • role (e.g., 'admin', 'user')
  • email
• ParkingLot: Defines different parking areas.
  • id (Primary Key)
  • name
  • location
  • total_spots
• ParkingSpot: Represents individual parking spaces within a lot.
  • id (Primary Key)
  • lot_id (Foreign Key to ParkingLot)
  • spot_number
  • status (e.g., 'empty', 'occupied')
  • vehicle_id (Foreign Key to ParkedVehicle if occupied, nullable)
• ParkedVehicle: Records details of a vehicle currently or previously parked.
  • id (Primary Key)
  • user_id (Foreign Key to User)
  • spot_id (Foreign Key to ParkingSpot)
  • vehicle_number
  • park_in_time (Timestamp)
  • park_out_time (Timestamp, nullable)
  • cost
  • remarks

Note: The database must be created programmatically (via table creation or model code) or through a shell script. Manual database creation (e.g., using DB Browser for SQLite) is strictly prohibited.

Setup & Installation

Follow these steps to get the Vehicle Parking App - V2 up and running on your local machine.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Python 3.x
• Node.js (LTS version recommended)
• npm or Yarn (package manager for Node.js)
• Redis Server (running locally or accessible)
• Go (for MailHog setup)

1. Clone the Repository

git clone <repository_url>
cd vehicle-parking-app-v2

### 2\. Backend Setup (Flask, SQLite, Redis, Celery) on WSL

**It is highly recommended to run the backend components (Flask, Redis, Celery) within a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) environment due to dependencies and better compatibility.**

Navigate to the `backend` directory and set up the Python environment within your WSL terminal.

```bash
cd backend
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

Install the required Python packages:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Initialize and create the database (this will also add the default admin user):

# Assuming you have Flask-Migrate or similar setup, or a script for DB creation
flask db upgrade # Or run your custom database creation script

Start the Flask API server:

python3 app.py
# For production, consider Gunicorn or Waitress

Start the Redis server (if not already running on WSL):

sudo service redis-server start # Or your specific Redis start command

Start the Celery worker and beat for background jobs (in separate WSL terminals, after activating your venv):

# For worker
celery -A app.celery worker -l info
# For beat (scheduled tasks)
celery -A app.celery beat -l info

3. Mail Service Setup (MailHog) on WSL

MailHog is used for catching emails during development. It requires Go to be installed.

1. Install Go on WSL:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install golang-go

2. Install MailHog:

   go install [github.com/mailhog/MailHog@latest](https://github.com/mailhog/MailHog@latest)

3. Run MailHog:

   ~/go/bin/MailHog

   MailHog will typically run on http://localhost:8025 for the web UI and http://localhost:1025 for the SMTP server. Configure your Flask application to send emails to localhost:1025.

4. Frontend Setup (Vue.js, Bootstrap)

Navigate to the frontend directory and install Node.js dependencies.

cd ../frontend
npm install # or yarn install

Start the Vue.js development server:

npm run serve # or yarn serve

The frontend application should now be accessible, typically at http://localhost:8080.

Usage

• Admin Access: Navigate to /admin (or the configured admin route) to log in as the administrator. From here, you can manage parking lots, view user details, and monitor the system.
• User Access: Register a new user account or log in with existing credentials. Users can then find available parking, manage their parking sessions, and export their parking history.

Screenshots & Demo Video

This section will contain screenshots of the application's key features and a demo video showcasing its functionality.

• Screenshot 1: [Description of Screenshot 1]
• Screenshot 2: [Description of Screenshot 2]
• Demo Video: [Link to Demo Video]

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository and submit pull requests. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change. Read CONTRIBUTING

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.