IOT PROJECT - Smart Mailbox WebApp

To start the program

Open two terminals

- First terminal (Start the scripter)
   - cd scripts
   - node mailNotifier.js
- Second terminal (Start the server)
   - node app.js

Features

• MVC architecture with Express for routing.
• MySQL database with Sequelize ORM for data management.
• A script that sends random "mail arriving" notifications to the API.
• HTML views using EJS for dynamic content rendering.
• More features...

Project Structure

my-node-mvc-app/
│
├── config/
│   └── database.js   # MySQL database configuration
├── controllers/
│   └── mailController.js  # Mail-related logic (receiving notifications)
├── models/
│   └── User.js   # Sequelize User model
├── public/
│   └── styles.css  # Static files (CSS, images)
├── views/
│   └── index.html  # Home view
│   └── users.html  # User list view
├── routes/
│   └── index.js   # App routing
├── scripts/
│   └── mailNotifier.js   # Random notification sender script
├── app.js   # Main Express app
├── package.json
└── .env   # Environment variables (MySQL credentials)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js: Make sure Node.js is installed on your machine. Install Node.js
• MySQL: Install MySQL and set up a local database for the app.
• NPM: Ensure that you have npm or yarn installed to manage dependencies.

Installation

1. Clone the repository: TODO

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/my-node-mvc-app.git
   cd my-node-mvc-app

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Set up the database:

   • Create a MySQL database for the project.
   • Create a .env file in the root directory with the following content:

   DB_HOST=localhost
   DB_USER=root
   DB_PASSWORD=your_password
   DB_NAME=my_database
   

4. Sync the database:

   The app uses Sequelize, which will automatically create the necessary tables when the app is run.

   node app.js

   This will create your database tables and start the server.

Running the Application

To start the Express server and serve your app:

node app.js

The app will be running on http://localhost:1080.

API

The app includes an API endpoint that simulates receiving notifications when new mail arrives:

• POST /mailbox: This endpoint accepts a JSON payload and logs the notification that a new mail has arrived.

• Add the rest of the API Endpoint

Mail Notification Script

The project includes a script (mailNotifier.js) that sends random "mail arriving" notifications to the API. The script waits for a random period of time (between 1 and 5 minutes) before sending a request and repeats this process indefinitely.

How to Run the Script

1. Make sure the main Express app is running:

   node app.js

2. Open a new terminal window and run the script:

   node scripts/mailNotifier.js

This script will send a POST request every 1 to 5 minutes, simulating the arrival of mail.

Example Usage

• Mail Arrival Simulation: The mail notification script will run in the background, sending periodic notifications to the API.
• Add other usages

Technologies Used

• Node.js: Backend runtime environment.
• Express: Web framework for Node.js.
• Sequelize: ORM for MySQL database.
• EJS: Templating engine for rendering HTML views.
• Axios: For making HTTP requests to the controller API.
• MySQL: Relational database management.

Future Improvements

• Add user authentication.
• Create more detailed mail-related functionalities (viewing, archiving, etc.).
• Implement a front-end notification system for real-time mail updates.

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.