Technical Documentation for the Incidents Management System (IMS)

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Introduction

Overview: This technical manual provides the necessary information for setting up and managing the Incidents Management System (IMS) using Docker, which encapsulates the components of the LAMP stack.

User Manual: UserManualforIMS

URL for Start Page: http://localhost/cw2/index.php

File Structure:

• cw2/: Main application directory.

  • css/: Style sheets including style.css.
  • inc/: PHP includes and utility scripts.
  • js/: JavaScript files including script.js.
  • sql/: Database scripts including cw2.sql.
  • index.php: Landing page for the IMS.
  • other PHP files: Core application scripts.

• car.ico: Favicon for the web application.

• Docker Configuration:

• docker-compose.yml: Docker configuration for setting up the environment.

Docker Configuration:

• php-apache/: Custom PHP and Apache server configuration.
• mariadb/: MariaDB server configuration and initial SQL files.
• mariadb-data/: Persistent storage for MariaDB.
• phpmyadmin/: PHPMyAdmin interface for database management.

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System Installation

Software Dependencies:

• Docker and Docker Compose
• PHP 8.0, MariaDB 10, and Apache web server

Installation Steps:

1. Install Docker from Docker Official Website.
2. Navigate to the project directory.
3. Execute docker compose up to build and start the services.
4. Once the containers are running, access IMS at http://localhost/cw2/index.php and PHPMyAdmin at http://localhost:8081.

Initial Configuration:

• The config.php file should match the Docker MariaDB configuration for database connectivity.

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System Architecture

Code Organization:

• Directory Structure: The html/ directory hosts all web resources including HTML, PHP, CSS, and JavaScript files.
• PHP Includes: inc/ directory contains shared PHP scripts like headers and footers.
• Functions: A library of functions (functions.php) provides common operations such as database access and user authentication.
• Database Interaction: sql/ directory stores the initial database schema and scripts for the IMS.

Database Design:

• Schema: The cw2.sql file contains the database schema for the TIS.
• Data Persistence: The mariadb-data/ directory serves as the persistent storage for the MariaDB container.
• Queries: Key SQL queries for operations such as user login, record retrieval, and report generation.
  • Login: SELECT * FROM Police WHERE Police_username = $username AND Police_password = $password
  • QueryVehicle: SELECT Vehicle.*, People.* FROM Vehicle LEFT JOIN Ownership ON Vehicle.Vehicle_ID = Ownership.Vehicle_ID LEFT JOIN People ON Ownership.People_ID = People.People_ID WHERE Vehicle.Vehicle_licence LIKE $info
  • AddReport： INSERT INTO Incident (Vehicle_ID, People_ID, Incident_Date, Incident_Report, Offence_ID) VALUES ($vehicleID, $peopleID, $incidentDate, $incidentReport, $offenceID)

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Frontend and Backend Interaction

AJAX and JavaScript:

• Asynchronous data interactions are handled using native JavaScript without third-party libraries.

Security Practices:

• Use of prepared statements for database interaction to mitigate SQL injection risks.

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Maintenance and Expansion

Development Practices:

• Adherence to established PHP and web development standards.

System Extensibility:

• The modular design allows for the addition of new features with minimal impact on existing functionalities.

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Additional Information

Rebuilding the Database:

• To reset and rebuild the database from the SQL source in mariadb/, clear the mariadb-data/ directory and run docker compose up.

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Resources Used

Frameworks:

• Bootstrap: Provides the responsive UI components.

Assets:

• car.ico: Icon used across the system for visual identification.

Styles:

• mvp.css: Minimal stylesheet for attractive defaults.

External Code:

• Example code from the module and various utility functions and UI patterns adapted from online resources.