INSTALLATION.md

1. Create a virtual environment using the following command:

python3 -m venv env

or

python -m venv env

2. Activate the virtual environment:

• For Windows: In Powershell terminal of the root directory

  cd env
  Scripts\activate
  

  In Command Prompt terminal of the root directory

  env\Scripts\activate
  

• For macOS/Linux:

  source env/bin/activate
  

3. Install the required libraries by running the following command:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

   This will install Flask, Flask-Login, Flask-SQLAlchemy, Flask-Migrate and all other libraries and packages.

4. Add Environment Variables:

• Create a file called .env in the root directory with these params filled

  SECRET_KEY=<bunch_of_random_characters>
  DB_NAME=database.db
  ADMIN_EMAIL=<default_admin_email>
  ADMIN_PASSWORD=<default_admin_password>
  
  # :::::::::::::::::::::::::: cloudinary
  CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=<cloudinary_cloud_name>
  CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=<cloudinary_api_key>
  CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=<cloudinary_api_secret>
  

Running the Application

To run the server, execute the following command:

```
& "C:\Users\MY PC\Documents\Projects\Flask\GroceryApp\env\Scripts\python.exe" "C:\Users\MY PC\Documents\Projects\Flask\GroceryApp\main.py"
```
or
```
python main.py
```
after activating the virtual environment (env)

This will start the Flask application and make it accessible at http://localhost:5000.

Troubleshooting

If you face any issues after editing the models.py file, you can use Flask-Migrate to update the database schema.

If you're using PowerShell, set the environment variable FLASK_APP using the following command:

bash

$env:FLASK_APP = "main"

Then, initialize the migration:

bash

flask db init

Next, generate an initial migration:

bash

flask db migrate -m "Initial migration"

Finally, apply the migration to update the database schema:

bash

flask db upgrade

This will update the database schema based on the changes in the models.

Note: Ignore any warning messages during the migration process and proceed.

Migration issues

If you encounter any migration issues while using the development server after updating the models.py file, it is recommended to delete specific folders in your project's root directory to resolve the issues.

Note: This will delete all the data in the database

Delete the following folders:

• __pycache__
• instance
• migrations

Please exercise caution when deleting these folders, as they contain important files related to migrations and database configurations.

After deleting the folders, you may need to recreate the database and perform the migration again.

It's essential to have a backup of your data before proceeding with any database-related actions.