Laravel Appointment Booking System

A comprehensive appointment booking system built with Laravel, designed for businesses to manage employee schedules, customer bookings, and service offerings. Originally developed as a university project, it has been modernized and enhanced with AI-powered development tools.

Features

For Business Owners

• Complete business management dashboard
• Employee scheduling and roster management
• Activity/service type configuration
• Booking oversight and history tracking
• Business hours and availability settings

For Customers

• Easy appointment booking interface
• Personal booking history and management
• Service browsing and selection
• Account registration and authentication

System Features

• Dual authentication system (Business Owner & Customer)
• Calendar-based scheduling views
• Automated booking validation and conflict detection
• Timezone-aware scheduling (Australia/Melbourne)
• Responsive web interface

Authentication Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant C as Controller
    participant A as Auth Helper
    participant S as Session
    participant D as Database
    
    Note over U,D: Login Process
    U->>C: Submit login credentials
    C->>A: Validate user type (Customer/BusinessOwner)
    A->>D: Query user credentials
    D-->>A: Return user data
    A->>S: Create authenticated session
    S-->>C: Session confirmation
    C-->>U: Redirect to dashboard
    
    Note over U,D: Authorization Check
    U->>C: Access protected route
    C->>A: Check authentication
    A->>S: Verify session
    alt Session valid
        S-->>A: User authenticated
        A-->>C: Allow access
        C-->>U: Show protected content
    else Session invalid
        S-->>A: Not authenticated
        A-->>C: Deny access
        C-->>U: Redirect to login
    end

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Technology Stack

• Laravel 5.4 - PHP web framework
• PHP >= 5.6.4 - Server-side language
• Composer - Dependency management
• SQLite (development) / MySQL (production) - Database
• Blade - Server-side templating engine
• Laravel Dusk - Browser automation testing
• Laravel Mix - Asset compilation
• Bootstrap - Frontend framework

Architecture Overview

Core Models & Relationships

erDiagram
    BusinessOwner ||--o{ Employee : manages
    BusinessOwner ||--o{ Activity : defines
    BusinessOwner ||--o{ BusinessTime : sets
    Employee ||--o{ WorkingTime : has
    Employee ||--o{ Booking : handles
    Customer ||--o{ Booking : creates
    Activity ||--o{ Booking : includes
    
    BusinessOwner {
        int id PK
        string name
        string email
        string phone
        string business_name
        timestamp created_at
    }
    
    Employee {
        int id PK
        int business_owner_id FK
        string name
        string email
        string phone
        timestamp created_at
    }
    
    Customer {
        int id PK
        string name
        string email
        string phone
        timestamp created_at
    }
    
    Booking {
        int id PK
        int customer_id FK
        int employee_id FK
        int activity_id FK
        datetime start_time
        datetime end_time
        string status
        timestamp created_at
    }
    
    Activity {
        int id PK
        int business_owner_id FK
        string name
        text description
        int duration_minutes
        decimal price
    }
    
    WorkingTime {
        int id PK
        int employee_id FK
        int day_of_week
        time start_time
        time end_time
    }
    
    BusinessTime {
        int id PK
        int business_owner_id FK
        int day_of_week
        time start_time
        time end_time
    }

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System Architecture

graph TB
    subgraph "Frontend Layer"
        A[Customer Interface] 
        B[Business Owner Dashboard]
        C[Shared Components]
    end
    
    subgraph "Application Layer"
        D[Controllers]
        E[Middleware]
        F[Authentication]
    end
    
    subgraph "Business Logic"
        G[Models]
        H[Helpers]
        I[Booking Logic]
    end
    
    subgraph "Data Layer"
        J[(SQLite/MySQL)]
        K[Migrations]
        L[Seeders]
    end
    
    A --> D
    B --> D
    C --> D
    D --> E
    E --> F
    D --> G
    G --> H
    G --> I
    G --> J
    K --> J
    L --> J

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Key Features

• Custom dual authentication system
• Calendar-based scheduling interface
• Automated time conflict detection
• Employee availability matching
• Custom helper system for common utilities

Quick Start

Option 1: Dev Container (Recommended)

The fastest way to get started is using the pre-configured Dev Container that includes all dependencies.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code
• Dev Containers extension
• Docker Desktop

Setup

1. Clone and open in VS Code

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd laravel-appointment-booking-system
   code .

2. Open in Dev Container

   • VS Code will detect the Dev Container configuration
   • Click "Reopen in Container" when prompted
   • Or use Command Palette: Dev Containers: Reopen in Container

3. Automatic setup

   • The container will automatically:
     • Install PHP 7.4, Composer, Node.js 16
     • Install all PHP and Node.js dependencies
     • Create and configure .env file
     • Generate application key
     • Set up SQLite database
     • Compile frontend assets
     • Configure Apache web server

4. Start the application

   php artisan serve

5. Visit your application

   Open http://localhost:8000 in your browser

Dev Container Features

• ✅ Pre-configured PHP 7.4 with all required extensions
• ✅ Laravel-optimized VS Code extensions
• ✅ Automatic dependency installation
• ✅ Database migration and seeding
• ✅ Asset compilation
• ✅ Testing environment (PHPUnit & Dusk)
• ✅ Apache web server configuration

Option 2: Manual Installation

If you prefer to set up the environment manually:

Prerequisites

• PHP >= 5.6.4
• Composer >= 1.4.1
• Git
• Node.js & yarn (for asset compilation)

Setup Steps

1. Clone and setup

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd laravel-appointment-booking-system
   cp .env.example .env

2. Install dependencies

   composer install
   yarn install

3. Configure database

   Update your .env file:

   DB_DATABASE=/path/to/project/database/dev.database.sqlite

4. Generate application key

   php artisan key:generate

5. Start development server

   php artisan serve

6. Visit your application

   Open http://localhost:8000 in your browser

Development Workflow

Booking Process Flow

flowchart TD
    A[Customer visits booking page] --> B{User authenticated?}
    B -->|No| C[Redirect to login]
    B -->|Yes| D[Select activity/service]
    C --> E[Customer login/register]
    E --> D
    
    D --> F[Choose employee]
    F --> G[Select date and time]
    G --> H[System checks availability]
    
    H --> I{Time slot available?}
    I -->|No| J[Show alternative times]
    J --> G
    I -->|Yes| K[Display booking summary]
    
    K --> L[Customer confirms booking]
    L --> M[Create booking record]
    M --> N[Update employee schedule]
    N --> O[Send confirmation]
    O --> P[Booking complete]
    
    subgraph "Validation Logic"
        Q[Check employee working hours]
        R[Check business operating hours]
        S[Check existing bookings]
        T[Validate activity duration]
    end
    
    H --> Q
    Q --> R
    R --> S
    S --> T
    T --> I

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Asset Compilation

yarn dev        # Compile assets for development
yarn watch      # Watch files and recompile on changes  
yarn production # Compile optimized assets for production

Testing

# Unit and Integration Tests
vendor/bin/phpunit
# or
./unit.bat

# Browser Tests (Laravel Dusk)
php artisan dusk

Database Management

The application uses SQLite for development. The database file is located at:

database/dev.database.sqlite

For production deployments, configure MySQL in your .env file.

Project Structure

app/
├── Http/Controllers/     # Application controllers
├── Helpers/             # Custom utility helpers
├── *.php               # Eloquent models
resources/
├── views/
│   ├── admin/          # Business owner interface
│   ├── customer/       # Customer interface  
│   └── shared/         # Reusable components
database/
├── migrations/         # Database schema
└── seeds/             # Test data
tests/
├── Browser/           # Dusk browser tests
├── Integration/       # Integration tests
└── Unit/             # Unit tests

Deployment

Production Setup

1. Configure .env for production environment
2. Set up MySQL database
3. Run composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
4. Run yarn production
5. Configure web server (Apache/Nginx)

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Application key error:

php artisan key:generate

Database connection issues:

• Verify database file path in .env
• Ensure PHP SQLite extension is enabled
• Check file permissions on database directory

Asset compilation errors:

yarn install
yarn dev

MySQL PDO extension missing: Enable in php.ini:

extension=pdo_mysql

Contributing

This project welcomes contributions. Please ensure:

• Follow Laravel coding standards
• Write tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed

Contributors

• Johnny Huynh - Project maintainer and modernization
• Historical Contributors - Lachlan Porter, Craig Barry, Jarry Chen

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details