Engelsystem GSoC 2016 Summary

This blog post I would like to share my work done during the GSoC period (May – August). Doing GSoC has been one of the most wonderful experience in my life.

Introduction

ENGELSYSTEM – Engelsystem is a volunteer management application for events written in PHP. It is used for coordination among different angels who want to volunteer.

END USERS FOR ENGELSYSTEM

SYSTEM ADMINS

  • It will make it easy for them to coordinate with the volunteers by the product we developed.

VOLUNTEERS /USERS

  • Those who want to volunteer finds it difficult to coordinate, contact admins. This platform helps all those who want to help.
  • Volunteers can register and can allot their shifts. A better User Interface, Integration with different Asian languages will allow the system to be used globally and in their local languages and ease for the volunteers to use.

As a part of the project I developed many new features for engelsystem. Implemented a workflow similar to wordpress, Implemented MVC model, Importing user data to database directly through script, Implemented a copy function for shifts, sending messages to entire group/ AngelType, Implemented a search for all Angels View, Date Picker for shifts, New Settings Page for admin where we can write event related information, Deployed the system on different platforms, Added Documentation, Re-factor the code, Improved the code standards, Blog Post tutorials on various technologies.

I am really happy with the outcome of the project. I learnt lot of new technologies and was improving day by day.

My initial proposal, time line of the project

My GSOC 2016 Proposal.

I have proposed a many UI changes for the system, Improving Documentation, Refactoring. All of these are done during the period. And I have implemented extra features and surpassed the proposal.

I have finished most of the proposed features before the Mid Evaluation. There was a shift in the timeline but I am very happy that the outcome was excellent. I was able to finish all the issues assigned to me on time.

What I have done to make Engelsystem better?

Overview of my contributions

Commits: 172

Additions: 87,528

Deletions: 80,555

Issue Completed: 60

Pull Requests Merged: 36

Scrum Reports: 99

Blog Posts: 15

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 13:17:53

Daily Timeline during GSOC.

Everyday we need to write a scrum report about our progress and submit it before 10 AM local time. Scrum consists of the following information.

1.What did you do yesterday? (which areas, issues you worked on, links)

2.What do you plan to do today? (which areas, issues you want to work on, links)

3.What is currently preventing you from achieving your goals? What blockers do you encounter?

I have written total of 99 scrum reports from May 10 – August 23. I have never missed a scrum report.

My Activity on Engelsystem Google Group : https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/engelsystem

Working Environment

All the issues for engelsystem are available on github. Whenever we need to implement a new feature or resolve a bug we need to make a issue and start working on it.

There are 15 milestones for the project starting from May 10 – August 28th.

For discussions we need to use slack and google groups.

Development: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/

Issues: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/

Engelsystem Features

Implemented work flow similar to wordpress.

wordpress has a famous 5 minute installation flow. We need to implement it for our project engelsystem.

Implemented the following tasks as a part of the workflow:

  • Changed engelsystem/config/config.default.php to engelsystem/config/config-sample.default.php.
  • Installation script where admin can define name and email at the beginning
  • Script to import tables directly
  • Instructions to Configure document root.
  • Documented the new flow in a blog post and in all installation readme’s

As part of flow similar to wordpress. I have created a script which directly imports the tables. Initially user need to do it through mysql.

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 11:23:28

Parent Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/161

Sub Issues:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/212
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/213
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/216

Pull Requests:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/211
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/197

Implemented script to install all the dependencies

  • To setup engelsystem on local server. User need to install LAMP, clone the repository, configure document root, create database.
  • My script allows to do that all in one command.

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 11:40:25.png

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/209

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/211

Implement MVC Model

  • Initially the code has no clear MVC model. There were code in pages which is a mix of model and controller.
  • We need to remove the pages directory and move them to controller and model.
  • There were 26 pages. Created model files and controller files for the pages. Now the code structure is in clear MVC model.

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 11:35:41

Parent Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/163

Sub Issues:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/168
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/169
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/170
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/171
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/172
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/173
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/174
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/175

Pull Request:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/176
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/178
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/185
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/192

Import user data from a spreadsheet

  • For FOSSASIA events we will be having lots of user data. If we can import the user data to engelsystem then it will very useful.
  • Implemented a script where admin just needs to browse a csv file containing data and information will be imported successfully

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 11:26:59

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/20

Pull Request:

Configuring Document Root

To avoid security issues. User need to configure Document Root. Added instruction to configure document root.

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 11:56:29

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/213

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/211

Implemented Search in All Users View

  • In All Users Page admin can view all the user information. If there are many users and admin wants to search for a particular name/field it becomes difficult.
  • I Implemented a search which makes it easy for admin to search any user.
  • We can search an user by any field like name, organisation, github username etc.

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 11:44:33

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/3

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/126

Design New Settings Page

Admin Settings Page: Here admin can enter event related information which will be shown on the login page to the all Angels and the welcome message is displayed near the registration page.

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 12:20:02

Issues:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/218
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/145

Pull Request:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/224
  • https://github.com/engelsystem/engelsystem/pull/264

Deployed Engelsystem to Heroku

  • Heroku: Heroku is a cloud application platform – it is used to build and deploy web apps.
  • We need not worry about dependencies and testing. We can directly deploy a branch to heroku and test code whenever there is a new feature or new code added.
  • An automatic test deployment for engelsystem from the development branch is http://volunteersys.herokuapp.com

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 11:30:55

Issues:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/136
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/156

Worked on Improving the Codacy Project Grade

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 19:15:09

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/158

Viewing the shifts in respective time zone

  • Initially the user views all the shifts in server timezone.
  • Shifts should be shown to the volunteers/ angels in their respective time zone to avoid confusion.
  • Now User gets an option to select a time zone and view it in the respective time zone.
  • User needs to select the timezone while registering or change it in the settings page.

Screenshot from 2016-08-23 11:46:47

Issues:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/120
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/119
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/111
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/108

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/138

Database migrations with Phinx

  • Database migrations can transform your database in many ways such as creating new tables, inserting rows, adding indexes and modifying columns.
  • It avoids the use of writing MYSQL by hand and instead offers a powerful API for creating migrations using PHP code.
  • Implemented database migrations for update.sql file.

88114b3e-4753-11e6-9afa-207e55650c1e

Issues: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/137

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/160

Sending message to entire group/AngelType

Initially admin was able to send messages to individual angels. Implemented Admin Feature where admin can send messages to entire group/ AngelType

54e62618-3866-11e6-8869-4ebde48ee964

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/13

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/116

Unit Tests for php files

Writing unit tests

I have written unit test for PHP files using PHPUnit. With PHPUnit, the most basic thing you’ll write is a test case. A test case is just a term for a class with several different tests all related to the same functionality.This is an example unit test for AngelType_model.php

cd4276d2-1e19-11e6-9a04-2f8ab4510656

fcee0612-1e19-11e6-85b7-aade025f1e9f

0b131d04-1e1a-11e6-9225-48455914e885

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/1

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/138

Localization – Viewing your site in different languages

Advantages of Localisation : It will also allow the system to be used globally on a large scale. As a part of this project I have implemented localisation in couple of languages.User can select I of the languages and the total information will be available in that language.

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/8

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/48

Admin User View : Added email and mobile fields

Added important fields to the view of users by admin. Added email and mobile fields so that admin can contact users easily.

Screenshot from 2016-05-28 13:18:27

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/11

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/38

Shifts: Map View

Viewing the shifts in map view form which makes user easy to find and sign up for shifts.

d6c77bd6-2f61-11e6-9464-60f4c098d392

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/91

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/106

Admin Feature – Create New Shift From Existing Shift

Admin can create new shift from existing shift or update the shift by selecting the shift.

Screenshot from 2016-06-18 20:29:46

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/15

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/112

Admin Features – Edit Display Message

As this system is used by different organisations for different purposes . New feature has been added where admin can change the display message in registration.

05ef86f8-3195-11e6-91a7-2f468efa0bb2

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/97

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/98

Admin Features – Date/Time Picker For Edit Shifts

Date Picker – While editing shifts also Date picker is implemented For Edit shifts view.

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/77

Pull Requests: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/106

Admin Features – Date/Time Picker For Shifts

Date Picker – Where User and admin Can easily Pick date for shifts.

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/16

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/41

Features – Register Page UI/UX

Before GSOC Design of register page doesn’t follow any pattern.

After changing the UI. Design looks like this.

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/54

Pull Request: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/pull/69

Fixed different bugs

  • Different Timestamp error for shifts.
  • Initially we were unable to view the shifts in map view form. Fixed the error.
  • Fixed Different Timestamp Error in Log Page.
  • Fixed Name Error in User Page.
  • Heroku Deployment.
  • Codacy errors and travis CI errors.
  • Content in german

Issues:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/36
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/44
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/78
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/84
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/91
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/121

Code Quality and Refactoring

Refactoring:

  • Refactoring is very important to maintain code standards.
  • After implementing MVC model all the model files have duplicate and unorganised code. Refactored the code based on table it is accessing.
  • It will make any user easily find the function and create in the respective table.

Maintaining code quality:

  • When we add new code we need to explain what a particular variable is and what are the parameters of a function.Added comments to the code and function created. It will help new developers to easily understand the code.

Issues:

  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/99
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/135
  • https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/223

Documentation

As much as we code we need to document. For good software we need to have good documentation also. Added several documentation about installation, setup, configuration, features.

Added the following Documents during May-August

Blog Posts

It’s very important for us to share our knowledge to entire world. The easiest way to do this is by blog posts.

I have written 15 blogs posts during May-August on wide variety of topics.

 

Technologies Used

PHP: Most of the code written is in PHP. I used PHP for implementing new features.

MYSQL: Tables and database are written in mysql. For any new addition or deletion of queries is done in sql.

HTML: The layout is rendered in HTML. To change the layout or add new layout style is done in html.

CSS: Bootstrap code for styling, Fonts etc.

JS: Forms, datepicker, multi select dropdown.

Phinx: For database migrations

Bash: For dependencies script.

Markdown: For Documentation.

Drupal: Coding Standards.

After GSOC

Contributing to FOSSASIA After GSOC

  • This is the beginning of my contributions to open source. There is lot more to come.
  • Will really miss Writing scrums, Discussions with mentors, issues, Pull requests, Travis CI. GSOC has been an amazing experience for me.
  • I will create new issues, allow new developers to contribute to our project. Will help them in fixing bugs. I will be continuing contributing to FOSSASIA after my gsoc to engelsystem and other projects as well.

Participate in Google Code In and Fossasia Summit.

  • I will participate in Google Code In. I would like to be a mentor for young developers if given a chance.
  • I will be conducting meetups and explain about GSOC and FOSSASIA for young developers in college.
  • I am very interested in attending summits and meeting new developers.I will surely attend the Fossasia summit in 2017 and present my work.

Special Thanks

  • I would like to Thank my mentors Mario Behling, Hong Phuc Dang, Quan Nguyen, Vu Hung Nguyen for being there to help me and guide me.
  • I have worked very hard and sincerely during this period. I have gained a lot of knowledge from you all. Yours suggestions and support have helped me a lot.
  • I would like to Thank FOSSASIA Community for giving me this opportunity and believing in me.
  • I would like to Thank Google Summer of Code for this experience.
Continue ReadingEngelsystem GSoC 2016 Summary

Final submission post: Engelsystem

This summer has been really amazing, I learnt a lot and worked crazy hours it has been a crazy yet amazing ride. I am not going to stop working on open source projects and posting the blog post.

In this post, I would like to summarize all the work that I did during this summer. Working with FOSSASIA was an amazing experience for me. I got to learn a lot during this summer. Thanks to such amazing mentors.

My project Engelsystem is an online tool for helper and shift planning on major events. It lets the user organize their helper in teams, they share in layers or let them decide when and where they want to help themselves.

GithHub Commits
GithHub Commits

 

Codacy certifications

The Project was provided an A-Grade certificate from CODACY.

Here the link to view all my GitHub contributions to the project during this summer,
https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/commits/master?author=dishantk1807

commits new 2
My GitHub Contributions (DishantK1807)

The list of issues solved and features implemented by me is provided below.

  1.    Themes

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/4

Creating new themes for Engelsystem. Two themes have been added to the system, Engelsystem color scheme-1 and Engelsystem color scheme-2.

 

  1.    Languages for Localisation

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/5

Sub-issue:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/52 [Language support-I]

Implement localization in different languages as it will make this system reach many people across the world. There 10+ International languages added to the system. The list of languages can be checked in the issue tracker

 

  1.    Added Travis-CI

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/31

Setup the Travis-CI for Engelsystem. Added a stable .travis.yml file to the system

 

  1.    Feature Request: User: Registration form

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/10

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/33 [Marking First Name and Last Name as required]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/35 [Adding more item to the Registration form]

Adding more fields to the registration form(First name, Last Name, GitHub, Facbook, Twitter, Organization)

 

  1.    Feature Request: Admin: Export database of all Angels

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/12

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/114 [Use temporary files for exporting the database]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/144 [Improve User export]
  3.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/155 [remove password hashes from the export]
  4.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/154 [Restore Frab import]

Exporting the database of the angels in the .csv format.

 

  1.    Feature Request: Admin: Shifts: Batch Deleting of Shifts

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/14

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/113 [Adding checkboxes and delete button]

Implementing batch deleting of Shifts in the shifts page allowing the admin to delete multiple shifts at once. Created checkbox for selecting the shifts to be deleted and a delete button in the Shifts page to delete the selected shifts.

 

  1.    Feature Request: User: Registration Form and Shifts [Captcha]

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/18

Sub-issues:

  1.    https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/124 [Captcha in the Registration form]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/128 [Captcha in Shifts       page]
  3.    https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/132 [Documentation for captcha]
  4.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/142 [Refining captcha code]
  5.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/148 [Removing keys and added it via config.php]
  6.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/148 [enable and disable re-Captcha]

Implementing Google re-Captcha in the Registration form and Shifts pages for enhancing the security

  1.    DB: Convert char(1) to Booleans

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/21

This issue was listed in the engelsystem/engelsystem issue tracker.

 

  1.    Bug: Disallow self-signup of shifts

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/22

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/199 [Create new Groups Page]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/201 [Providing Privileges to the new Groups Created]

Disallowing self-signup of restricted shifts when an Engel is approved for certain groups. Created a page to create new groups and provide specific privileges to them so that they won’t get Admin privileges to automatically signup for the Shifts

  1.  Feature: User: Date/time picker for Shifts

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/23

Implementing a date/time picker in the Shifts view for selecting the shifts.

  1.  Documentation: Setting up the system

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/27

Added documentation for setting up the system on the local as well as online server.

 

  1.  Feature: User : Registration Form: Check if E-mail already exist

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/39

Implement a check in the registration form to check if an Email already exists in the system.

  1.  User : Registration Form : Update database for setting email as unique

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/46

Set constraint in the registration from to set email as unique.

  1.  Solving bug

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/49

  1.  Implement database migrations

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/137

Worked in implementing database migrations for the system.

  1.  Improving code quality and documentation.

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/56

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/57 [Code and branch cleanup]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/59 [Updating documentation]
  3.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/100 [Translate comments in install.sql]
  4.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/118 [Translating comments of user_shift.php and sys_template.php]
  5.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/135 [Cleanup Project: Delete Branches, set up development branch, deploy dev branch to heroku]
  6.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/156 [Improving documentation]

 

  1.  Feature Request: Creating new Settings page for Admin

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/67

Created a separate settings page for Admin, which allows admin to change specific Admin settings

  1.  Updating settings page for User

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/89

Updating the settings page for both Admin and User to change the new fields that were added to the registration form.

  1.  Updating users_view.php

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/90

Updating the users_view.php for the changes made in the Users table.

  1.  Update user_model.php

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/88

Updating the users_model.php for the changes made in the Users table.

  1.  Adding more search options in user_model

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/94

Implementing function for search by Facebook link, GitHub link, Twitter link, Organization name.

  1.  Feature Request: Languages as profile attributes

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/102

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/103 [Updating the DB for `Users` table]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/104 [Updating the registration form]
  3.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/105 [Displaying native and other languages in the users view]
  1.  Adding forgot password link in the registration form

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/127

Adding forgot password link in the error message of the registration form, when “Email already exist” error message is displayed.

  1.  Integrate more automated testings to the system

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/141

Integrated Travis-CI, Codacy, Code climate, Circle-CI, Gemnasium to the system

  1.  Fixing errors Codacy and Circle-CI issues

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/158

  1.  Improving Code quality: Removing whitespaces, translating comments and soving CI issues

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/159

  1.  Implementing MVC model for the system

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/163

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/169 [ Implement MVC for admin free, groups and import pages]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/171 [Implement MVC for admin rooms, settings, shifts pages]
  3.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/173 [Implement MVC for guest start, stats and user atom pages]
  4.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/174 [Implement MVC for user ical, messages, myshifts pages]
  5.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/175 [Implement MVC for user news, questions, settings and shifts pages]
  6.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/186 [Implement MVC for user_shifts]
  7.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/190 [Implementing MVC for the existing controller files]

There were 26 pages. Create controller files for all of them. For the pages which accesses the SQL queries, needed to be separated them into model files. There were only model files for a few pages.

  1.  Managing different events on the same system

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/80

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/82 [Creating new table ‘Events’]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/81 [Create new Events page]
  1.  Implement an upgrade process for Engelsystem similar to WordPress

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/162

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/219 [Add enable/disable for Auto-upgrade]
  1.  Writing tests for Travis-CI

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/191

Sub-issues:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/215 [update .travis.yml for setting up the database]

Setting up the database in travis. Updated .travis.yml for setting up the database for testing.

  1.  Writing test codes for all the model files

Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/193

Sub-issue:

  1.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/194 [Write test codes for ShiftType, Shift models]
  2.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/195 [Test codes for NeededAngelType, Room, Angeltype Models]
  3.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/207 [Unit Tests for Groups, GroupPrivileges, NewsComments, News, Privileges model files]
  4.   https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/208 [Unit Tests for Questions, Settings, User AngelTypes, UserGroups, User, WelcomeMessage model files]
  1. Update Documentation
        Issue: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/227
        Updated the documentation for the code.

This kind of make me feel happy that I have around 230 commits on the master branch now and I believe that I will be working a lot more on EngelSystem to bring a lot of cool and useful feature to it. In case you have any suggestion feel free to file issues on EngelSystem Issues.

 

Continue ReadingFinal submission post: Engelsystem

Software Testing

In this post I would like to explain what is software testing and different methods, levels of software testing.

What is software testing?

Software Testing is the process of evaluating a system or its components with the intent to find whether it satisfies the specified requirements or not.

Testing is executing a system in order to identify any gaps, errors, or missing requirements in contrary to the actual requirements.

What are the Levels of software testing?

Software products are tested at four levels:
  • Unit testing
  • Integration testing
  • System testing
  • Acceptance testing

Unit testing

  • During unit testing, modules are tested in isolation. If all modules were to be tested together, it may not be easy to determine which module has the error.
  • Unit testing reduces debugging effort several folds. Programmers carry out unit testing immediately after they complete the coding of a module.

Role of Unit Testing

  • Assure minimum quality of units before integration into system
  • Focus attention on relatively small units
  • Testing forces us to read our own code – spend more time reading than writing
  • Automated tests support maintainability and extendibility

Integration testing

After different modules of a system have been coded and unit tested:
  • modules are integrated in steps according to an integration plan
  • partially integrated system is tested at each integration step.

Role of Integration Testing

  • Gain confidence in the integrity of overall system design
  • Ensure proper interaction of components

Integration Testing Strategies

  • Big-bang
  • Top-down
  • Bottom-up
  • Critical-first
  • Function-at-a-time
  • As-delivered
  • Sandwich

System Testing

  • Gain confidence in the integrity of the system as a whole
  • Ensure compliance with functional requirements
  • Ensure compliance with performance requirements

Acceptance Testing

  • Testing performed by the customer or end-user himself
  • to determine whether the system should be accepted or reject

Testing is very important step of software development. We have used unit testing for our project Engelsystem. We are developing new features. Interested Developers can work with us.

Development: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem

Issues/Bugs:https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues

Continue ReadingSoftware Testing

Working with Apache Web Server

In this article, I will examine what apache is how to setup apache for ubuntu or debian and how to view error logs for apache and how to understand what the logs contain which will be useful for web development.

What is Apache?

Apache is the most popular web server on the internet. It is used to serve more than half of all active websites.

It is fast, reliable, and secure. It can be highly customized to meet the needs of many different environments by using extensions and modules.

Installing Apache on Ubuntu and Debian

If you do not already have Apache installed, you can do so now by issuing the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2

If you visit your VPS’s IP address in a web browser, you will get the default Apache index page. We get the following output.

your_domain_name_or_ip_address
It works!
This is the default web page for this server.
The web server software is running but no content has been added, yet.

Looking into apache error.log files

In order to effectively manage a web server, it is necessary to get feedback about the activity and performance of the server as well as any problems that may be occuring. The Apache HTTP Server provides very comprehensive and flexible logging capabilities.

Error.log file

The server error log, whose name and location is set by the ErrorLog directive, is the most important log file. This is the place where Apache httpd will send diagnostic information and record any errors that it encounters in processing requests.

It is the first place to look when a problem occurs with starting the server or with the operation of the server, since it will often contain details of what went wrong and how to fix it.

Explanation of log message

There is certain information that is contained in most error log entries. For example, here is a typical message.

[Sat Aug 20 08:09:38.958885 2016] [:error] [pid 1489] [client 127.0.0.1:40810] PHP Notice:  Constant MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH already defined in /var/www/html/test/engelsystem/config/config.php on line 30, referer: http://localhost/

[Sat Aug 20 08:09:38.958885 2016] The first item in the log entry is the date and time of the message.

[:error] The second entry lists the severity of the error being reported.

[pid 1489] Indicates process Id

[client 127.0.0.1:40810] The fourth entry gives the IP address of the client that generated the error.

Fifth one is error message explaining the error.

Constant MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH already defined.

File and line number

 /var/www/html/test/engelsystem/config/config.php on line 30

Error logs are easy to understand. Using error logs we can easily figure out the problem in your server or your code and fix it.

For more information about the log files and configuration please visit Apache website Apache provides excellent documentation.

Apache log files were useful for me during web development project Engelsystem. We are developing new features. Interested developers can work with us.

Development: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem

Issues/Bugs:https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues

Continue ReadingWorking with Apache Web Server

Auto Upgrade feature in Engelsystem​

In one of my previous blog posts here, I talked about the Upgrade process of WordPress, how it works. In this blog, I am going to talk about how I implement the Auto-upgrade feature in Engelsystem.

The Upgrade process implemented in Engelsystem includes both core and child upgrades.

Methodology:

  • A Verison.txt file in included in the repository. It contains the version number of the current release of the Engelsystem.
  • Implemented a check in index.php to compare the version number in the local repository and the `fossasia/engelsystem` repository. In Engelsystem index.php is run every time when we open the System. Therefore, everytime we open Engelsystem, it automatically checks for updates.
    if ($check_autoupdate_enable == true) {
      $online_ver = file_get_contents("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fossasia/engelsystem/master/Version.txt");
      $current_ver = file_get_contents(" ./Version.txt");
      if (strcmp($current_ver, $online_ver) != 0) {
        return info('<a href="' . page_link_to("user_settings") . '">' . _('There is an Update available on GitHub! Go to settings and update') . '</a>', true);
      }
    }

    The above code compares the version number in the local server and the fossasia repository. If the version number is different a notification in displayed in the alert box the Engelsystem to the Admin, to update the system.

  • In the Settings page, Admin can update the System as shown in the screenshot below,
    Admin Settings Page
                                                                   Admin Settings Page

    The admin can click on the “Update System Now!”, to update the system to the latest version.

  • The is also an option provided in the UI to enable/disable the Auto-update feature.
  • When the version in the Version.txt on local server and fossasia repository are different, the changes the pulled to the local server using the command:
    git pull origin master , which will pull the changes from the FOSSASIA repository to the local server, and a Message will be displayed that the “System is Updated to Latest Version!” .

    After Updating
                                                                After Updating
  • Also, there is an option in the UI to check to Updates manually.

    We are developing new Features for the Engelsystem. Developers who are interested in contributing can work with us.

    Development: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem             Issues/Bugs:https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues

Continue ReadingAuto Upgrade feature in Engelsystem​

Importing database with PHP script

In this post I would like to discuss how to import tables to database directly through PHP script.

For our Project Engelsystem we need to import the tables manually by the command line or PHPMYADMIN. Now the user need not worry about the importing table. They are directly imported through the script.

Initially we used to import the tables in a sql file by source command or mysql command.

$ mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE engelsystem;

use engelsystem;

source db/install.sql;

source db/update.sql;

Script to import tables directly through PHP.

function import_tables() {
// get the database variables. 
global $DB_HOST, $DB_PASSWORD, $DB_NAME, $DB_USER;
// file names to import
 $import_install = '../db/install.sql';
 $import_update = '../db/update.sql';
 // command to import both the files.
 $command_install = 'mysql -h' .$DB_HOST .' -u' .$DB_USER .' -p' .$DB_PASSWORD .' ' .$DB_NAME .' < ' .$import_install;
 $command_update = 'mysql -h' .$DB_HOST .' -u' .$DB_USER .' -p' .$DB_PASSWORD .' ' .$DB_NAME .' < ' .$import_update;
 $output = array();
 // execute the command
 exec($command_install, $output, $worked_install);
 exec($command_update, $output, $worked_update);

// test whether they are imported successfully or not
switch ($worked_install && $worked_update) {
 case 0:
 return true;
 case 1:
 return false;
 }
}

Once we execute the above script the tables will be imported automatically. User need not import the tables manually.

In this way we can import tables using script. For more information visit about project please visit here.

Development: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem

Issues/Bugs:https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues

Continue ReadingImporting database with PHP script

Unit Testing and Travis

Tests are an important part of any software development process. We need to write test codes for any feature that we develop to check if that feature is working properly.
In this post, I am gonna talk about writing Unit tests and running those test codes.

If you are a developer, I assume you have heard about unit tests. Most of you probably even wrote one in your life. Unit testing is becoming more and more popular in software development. Let’s first talk about what Unit testing is:

What is unit testing?

Unit testing is the process through which units of source code are tested to verify if they work properly. Performing unit tests is a way to ensure that all functionalities of an application are working as they should. Unit tests inform the developer when a change in one unit interferes with the functionality of another. Modern unit testing frameworks are typically implemented using the same code used by the system under test. This enables a developer who is writing application code in a particular language to write their unit tests in that language as well.

What is a unit testing framework?

Unit testing frameworks are developed for the purpose of simplifying the process of unit-testing. Those frameworks enable the creation of Test Fixtures, which are classes that have specific attributes enabling them to be picked up by a Test Runner.

Although it is possible to perform unit tests without such a framework, the process can be difficult, complicated and very manual.

There are a lot of unit testing frameworks available. Each of the frameworks has its own merits and selecting one depends on what features are needed and the level of expertise of the development team. For my project, Engelsystem I choose PHPUnit as the testing framework.

PHPUnit

With PHPUnit, the most basic thing you’ll write is a test case. A test case is just a term for a class with several different tests all related to the same functionality. There are a few rules you’ll need to worry about when writing your cases so that they’ll work with PHPUnit:

  • The test class would extend the PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase class.
  • The test parameters will never receive any parameters.

Below is an example of a test code from my project, Engelsystem

<?php

class ShiftTypes_Model_test extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {

private $shift_id = null;

public function create_ShiftType(){
$this->shift_id = ShiftType_create('test', '1', 'test_description');
}

public function test_ShiftType_create() {
$count = count(ShiftTypes());
$this->assertNotFalse(create_ShiftType($shift_id));

// There should be one more ShiftTypes now
$this->assertEquals(count(ShiftTypes()), $count + 1);
}

public function test_ShiftType(){
$this->create_ShiftType();
$shift_type = ShiftType($this->shift_id);
$this->assertNotFalse($shift_type);
$this->assertTrue(count(ShiftTypes()) > 0);
$this->assertNotNull($shift_type);
$this->assertEquals($shift_type['name'], 'test');
$this->assertEquals(count(ShiftTypes()), 0);
$this->assertNull(ShiftTypes(-1));
}

public function teardown() {
if ($this->shift_id != null)
ShiftType_delete($this->shift_id);
}

}

?>

We can use different Assertions to test the functionality.

We are running these tests on Travis-CI

What is Travis-CI?

Travis CI is a hosted, distributed continuous integration service used to build and test software projects hosted on GitHub.

Open source projects may be tested at no charge via travis-ci.org. Private projects may be tested at the same location on a fee basis. TravisPro provides custom deployments of a proprietary version on the customer’s own hardware.

Although the source is technically free software and available piecemeal on GitHub under permissive licenses, the company notes that it is unlikely that casual users could successfully integrate it on their own platforms.

To get started with Travis-CI, visit the following link, Getting started with Travis-CI.

We are developing new feature for Engelsystem.  Developers who are interested in contributing can work with us.

Development: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem             Issues/Bugs:https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues

Continue ReadingUnit Testing and Travis

Configuring Document Root Apache2 Ubuntu

In this post I will explain how to setup document root for apache server.

Initially the document root is set to /var/www/html by default. We need to change it when we have web applications in /var/www/html/folder.

I will show an example how to configure document root for our project engelsystem. Engelsystem is downloaded to /var/www/html/ . We must make sure to point our apache2 document root to the Engelsystem directory to prevent any user from accessing anything other than the public/ directory for security reasons.

Changing apache2 document root

The default document root is set in the 000-default.conf file that is under /etc/apache2/sites-available folder.

$ cd /etc/apache2/sites-available
$ sudo nano 000-default.conf

While the file is opened change DocumentRoot /var/www/ with your new folder e.g DocumentRoot /var/www/html/engelsystem/public where your index.php file resides

Set the right Apache configuration

The configuration of the /var/www folder is under /etc/apache2/apache2.conf. Edit this file to add the configuration of your new document root.

$ sudo nano/etc/apache2/apache2.conf

Copy the following:

<Directory /var/www/>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
Require all granted
</Directory>

and change the directory path:

<Directory /var/www/html/engelsystem/public>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None
Require all granted
</Directory>

Restart Apache

Now we can view the engelsystem at localhost/ or http://[i.p.address]/

$ sudoservice apache2 restart
Continue ReadingConfiguring Document Root Apache2 Ubuntu

Installing Engelsystem in Five Minutes

Here are the instructions to install engelsystem on your local server in just five minutes.

Prerequisites

1.1 PHP 5.4.x (cgi-fcgi)

1.2 MySQL-Server 5.5+ or MariaDB

1.3 Webserver ( Apache/Nginx/lighttpd)

Step 1: Download or Clone the repository

git clone --recursive https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem.git

Download and unzip the engelsystem from here

Step 2: Create a Database and a User

Using the MySQL Client

You can create MySQL/MariaDB user and database quickly and easily by running mysql from the shell. The syntax is shown below and the dollar sign is the command prompt:

$ mysql -u adminusername -p
Enter password:
mysql> CREATE DATABASE databasename;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

Step 3: Set up config.php

Renname config/config-sample.php to config/config.php, and add your database information.

// MySQL-Connection Settings
$DB_HOST = "localhost";
$DB_USER = "username_here";
$DB_PASSWORD = "password_here";
$DB_NAME = "database_name_here";

Step 4: Upload the files and configure Document Root

Now you will need to decide where on your domain you’d like your engelsystem to appear:

Upload the engelsystem files to the desired location on your web server. For Apache server we need to upload to /var/www/html/

Now we need to configure document root. Change the document root in /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf from /var/www to /var/www/html/engelsystem/public. Now we can view engelsystem at localhost or http://[i.p.address].

Following command will change the document root from /var/www/ to /var/www/html/engelsystem/public.

$ sudo sed -i -e ‘s/DocumentRoot \/var\/www\/html/DocumentRoot \/var\/www\/html\/engelsystem\/public/g’ /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

Step 5: Run the Install Script

Point a web browser to start the installation script.

We will be redirected to install page where we need to fill in the information for installation. Once we fill the information and press install engelsystem. All the tables will be imported and we are redirected to login page.

In this way we can install engelsystem using installation script in just five minutes. For more information visit here

Development: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem

Issues/Bugs:https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues

 

 

 

 

Continue ReadingInstalling Engelsystem in Five Minutes

Creating New Groups in Engelsystem

User roles determine the access level or permissions of a person authorized (by an Administrator) to use the Engelsystem. If a user (other than admin) have access to only a specific set of pages and features that are assigned to the Group to which the user belongs.

Summary

In Engelsystem, the Privileges to specific pages and features can be set through GroupRights. There are initially 7 groups present in the Engelsystem namely:

  1. Guest
  2. Engel
  3. Shift Coordinator
  4. Team Co-ordinator
  5. Burokrat
  6. Developer
  7. Shirt Manager

Each user role is capable of everything that a less powerful role is capable of. All of these 7 groups have different Privileges assigned to them. When a user registers on Engelsystem, it is initially assigned to Group-2 i.e Engel by default, then admin can add a user to different groups according to the requirements.

Problem

There was a problem with this feature.

Bug: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues/22

If the user was added to the group with some Admin Privileges, he/she was able to sign up for restricted shifts as well.

Solution

Added a new page to Engelsystem for creating new Groups with specific privileges which can be that can be provided by the Admin to that group.

01
Create Groups page

 

New groups can be created by Admin, with default Privileges set to privileges as provided to the Engel group.These Privileges can be set while creating a group or can be edited in the GroupRights shown as follow:

02
Edit Privileges in GroupRights

The group is successfully created and can be viewed in GroupRights page, where the Admin can edit the Privileges of this and the other groups.

03
New group in GroupRights

Providing Privileges to user other than Admin is important as it ease the workload of admin, plus there’ll be other users who’ll be handling different tasks in an Event which is important in managing an Event.

We are developing new feature for Engelsystem and we will be applying this WordPress like update system toEngelsystem in the upcoming weeks. Developers who are interested in contributing can work with us.

Development: https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem             Issues/Bugs:https://github.com/fossasia/engelsystem/issues

Continue ReadingCreating New Groups in Engelsystem