Fast & Furious Cars Inc. – Car Rental Platform

Project Description

This project is a university-level web application built with PHP and PostgreSQL. It simulates an online car rental platform themed around Fast & Furious vehicles.

Features

Users:

• Create an account and log in
• Search and rent cars for selected date ranges
• View their own reservations

Administrators:

• Add, delete, hide or show cars in the system
• View cars that have been rented
• Access usage statistics for the platform

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Technologies Used

• PHP (vanilla) – Backend logic
• PostgreSQL – Database system
• HTML/CSS/JavaScript – Frontend UI and form validation
• XAMPP – Apache server environment (on Windows)

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How to Run the Project (Windows + XAMPP)

1. Prerequisites

• XAMPP: https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html
• PostgreSQL: https://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/
• A code editor (e.g., VS Code, Notepad++)

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2. Setting Up Your Environment

Install XAMPP

1. Download and install XAMPP
2. During setup, ensure Apache and PHP are selected
3. Install to the default path: C:\xampp

Install PostgreSQL

1. Download PostgreSQL from the official website
2. Install it and remember:
   • Default user: postgres
   • Default port: 5432
   • Set a secure password (e.g., postgres for development)

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3. Enable PHP's PostgreSQL Extension

1. Open C:\xampp\php\php.ini in a text editor
2. Find and uncomment these lines by removing the semicolon (;):

   extension=pgsql
   extension=pdo_pgsql
   

3. Save the file
4. Restart Apache via the XAMPP Control Panel

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4. Set Up the Project Files

1. Copy your project folder (e.g., fast_furious_cars) into:

   C:\xampp\htdocs\
   

2. Example final path:

   C:\xampp\htdocs\fast_furious_cars\index.php
   

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5. Create the PostgreSQL Database

1. Open pgAdmin or use the psql terminal
2. Create a new database:

   CREATE DATABASE fastcars;

3. Create the required tables and optionally insert data
   (Use a SQL dump file like schema.sql if available)

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6. Configure the PHP Database Connection

In your PHP scripts, such as index_scriptForm.php, ensure your PostgreSQL connection string matches:

$connection = pg_connect("host=localhost dbname=fastcars user=postgres password=postgres port=5432");

Replace the database name, user, and password as needed.

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7. Launch the Application

1. Start Apache from the XAMPP Control Panel
2. Visit the application in your web browser:

   http://localhost/fast_furious_cars/
   

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8. Test PostgreSQL Connection (Optional)

You can create a simple test file (test_pg.php) to verify the database connection:

<?php
$conn = pg_connect("host=localhost port=5432 dbname=fastcars user=postgres password=postgres");
if ($conn) {
    echo "Connected to PostgreSQL!";
} else {
    echo "Connection failed.";
}
?>

Open this file in your browser at:

http://localhost/fast_furious_cars/test_pg.php

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Project Structure

fast_furious_cars/
│
├── index.php
├── index_scriptForm.php
├── checkSession.php
├── create_uniqueID.php
├── user_selectCar.php
├── login.php
├── logout.php
├── register.php
├── admin_visualizeAllCars.php
├── style.css
├── javascript/
│   └── dateInputFormatter.js
├── schema.sql        (optional)
└── README.md

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Notes

• The default language of the website is Portuguese (lang="pt")
• Session-based logic handles user and admin roles
• Credentials and sensitive configuration should be secured for production
• Ensure PostgreSQL is running when accessing pages that query the database

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Authors

This project was developed as part of a university assignment.

Contributors:

• Silas Sequeira
• Sam-Coelho