Examix Project Documentation

Introduction

Examix is an examination platform that allows educators to create, distribute, and administer tests with ease. Teachers can effortlessly craft tests and evaluate their students, making the platform a convenient solution for academic testing. The frontend is designed with React for a responsive user experience, while the backend uses Nest.js to ensure scalability and effective performance.

Prerequisites

Before initiating the setup process, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

• Node.js is installed on your system.
• npm (Node Package Manager) is available for managing dependencies.
• Docker is installed for service containerization. It can be downloaded from Docker's official website.

Project Setup

Initial Setup

To install all required node packages, run the following command in the terminal:

npm install

npm install:all

Setting Up Services with Docker

Use Docker to create service containers for PostgreSQL and Redis:

docker run -d --name postgres-examix -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=yourpassword -e POSTGRES_DB=examix -p 5432:5432 postgres
docker run -d --name redis-examix -p 6379:6379 redis

Configuring .env Files

Environment variables must be configured before running the application. Create a .env file in both the client and server directories using the provided .env.example as a template.

Client Configuration

VITE_SERVER_HTTP_URL="http://localhost:4000"
VITE_SERVER_WS_URL="ws://localhost:4000"

Server Configuration

PORT=4000
SESSION_SECRET="your_secret"
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://username:password@localhost:5432/database_name?schema=public"
CACHE_URL="redis://localhost:6379"
MAIL_TRANSPORT_URL="smtps://your_email_address:[email protected]"

Database Migration

After installing all dependencies, migrate the database schema with the following Prisma command:

npm run db-migrate

Starting Development

Run the following command to start the development servers for both the client and the server:

npm run dev

Client Development

To start the client in development mode, use:

npm run dev:client

Server Development

To start the server in development mode, use:

npm run dev:server

Linting

Run the linting process for both the client and the server with:

npm run lint

Additional Commands

For a comprehensive list of available commands for development, testing, and deployment, refer to the package.json files located in the root directory, and within the client and server directories of the project.

API Documentation

Once the server is operational, you can access the full server documentation at the /api/docs endpoint.