DailyRecall

A web app where users can post about what they learned today.

Table of Contents

• About
• Technologies Used
• Project Structure
• Getting Started
• DailyRecall Setup Guide
• Directory Structure & Installation
• Django Backend Setup
• PostgreSQL Setup
• Migrations in Django
• Key Commands
• Workflow
• PgAdmin Database Viewing
• Conclusion

About

DailyRecall is a platform designed for users to log and share what they learned each day. The app is built with a Django backend and a React frontend, with TypeScript integration for enhanced development.

Technologies Used

• Backend: Django, Python
• Frontend: React, TypeScript
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Other Tools: PgAdmin, dotenv for environment variables

Project Structure

DailyRecall/
│
├── DailyRecall_server/
│   ├── manage.py
│   ├── settings.py
│   └── ...
├── client/
│   └── src/
│   └── public/
└── README.md

Getting started

Before setting up the project, ensure you have the following installed on your machine:

• Python 3.x
• Node.js
• PostgreSQL (version 16 or later)
• PgAdmin (should be downloaded at the same time you download Postgres)

DailyRecall Setup Guide

This guide walks you through setting up the DailyRecall project on your local machine.

1. First clone the repo and move into the folder

git clone <DailyRecall-url>
cd DailyRecall

Directory Structure & Installation

2. Navigate to the following directory (root address)

   C:\Users\<your-name>\...\DailyRecall>

3. Setup Virtual Environment:

   • Create a virtual environment:

     python -m venv envir

   • Activate the virtual environment:

     .\envir\Scripts\activate

   Note: Always keep the virtual environment activated when working on the backend to avoid package conflicts.

Django Backend Setup

4. Navigate to the server directory:

   C:\Users\<'your name'>\...\DailyRecall\DailyRecall_server>

5. Install required backend packages using the requirements.txt file:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

6. Setup Frontend:

   • First, change directory to the client folder:

     cd client

   • Install all necessary packages for React and TypeScript:

     npm install

   • Move back to the root directory:

     cd..

   Note: Always keep the virtual environment activated when working on the backend to avoid package conflicts.

PostgreSQL Setup

1. Download & Install PostgreSQL (version 16):

   • PostgreSQL Downloads
   • Make sure to save your password somewhere secure during installation, as it will be needed for future use.

2. Configure Database Connection:

   • Inside the DailyRecall_server directory, create a .env file (where the settings.py file is located).

3. Add the following parameters to the .env file:

   SECRET_KEY=<"ill give you the secret key">
   DB_NAME=DailyRecall
   DB_USER=postgres
   DB_PASSWORD=<"--your--pgadmin--password--">
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=5432
   

   Ensure that the DB_NAME matches the database name you created in PgAdmin.

4. PgAdmin Setup:

   • Create the PostgreSQL database via PgAdmin, matching the DB_NAME.
   • Team members can connect to the database via PgAdmin by creating a new server connection with shared credentials.

Migrations in Django

Django migrations help keep the database schema in sync with the models in the code.

Key Commands

1. makemigrations:

   • Purpose: Generate migration files based on changes made to models.
   • Who runs it?
     • Only the developer making model changes should run makemigrations. The resulting migration files are committed to version control.

2. migrate:

   • Purpose: Apply the changes in the migration files to the database.
   • Who runs it?
     • Every developer after pulling the latest migration files from version control should run migrate to update their local database.

Workflow

• When someone changes the models, they:

  • Run makemigrations.
  • Commit the resulting migration files to version control.

• After pulling the latest changes:

  • Every team member should run migrate to apply any new changes to their local development database.

PgAdmin Database Viewing

• Make sure that every team member has the necessary access to the shared PostgreSQL database (if working with a centralized database).
• For local databases, each member can connect to their own PostgreSQL instance via PgAdmin after running migrate to view their tables.

Conclusion

• makemigrations: Run by the person making changes to the models, and the migration files are shared via version control.
• migrate: Run by every team member to apply the changes to their database.
• PgAdmin: Team members can connect to PostgreSQL using shared credentials or individual local databases.