Campusflow

A small collection of demo apps that together form a minimal campus notifications / assignments stack.

This repository contains three main pieces you can run locally:

• CampusFlow backend (Node/Express + Socket.IO) — serves frontend static pages and provides APIs and realtime alerts.
• CollegeConnect (Flask) — a lightweight service that can send/receive updates and sync with CampusFlow.
• ExternalApp (Node/Express) — a simple external assignments provider that CampusFlow can sync with.

Repository layout (important folders)

• HACK/CampusFlow_Project (2)/CampusFlow_Project/backend/ — CampusFlow backend (Node.js). Main entry: server.js.
• HACK/CollegeConnect (2)/CollegeConnect/ — Flask app (Python). Main entry: app.py.
• HACK/ExternalApp (2)/ExternalApp/ExternalApp/ — External app (Node.js). Main entry: server.js.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14+ recommended) and npm
• Python 3.8+ and pip
• A bash-compatible shell is recommended on Windows (your default is bash.exe) — the commands below use bash-style env setting.

Ports used by the services

• CampusFlow backend: 3000 (default, env PORT overrides this)
• ExternalApp: 4000
• CollegeConnect: 7000

Start the CampusFlow backend first so the other apps can reach it for syncing.

How to run (bash)

1) CampusFlow backend

Open a terminal and run:

cd "HACK/CampusFlow_Project (2)/CampusFlow_Project/backend"
npm install
# Start on default port 3000:
npm start

# Or override the port (bash):
PORT=4000 npm start

The backend will print a message like:

✅ CampusFlow Backend running on http://localhost:3000

The backend serves the frontend static files (if present) from the frontend/ directory, and exposes APIs (e.g. /api/data, /alerts, /api/announcements, /sync, /sync-external, ...).

2) ExternalApp (assignments provider)

This app has no package.json in the repo, so install the dependencies and run node server.js:

cd "HACK/ExternalApp (2)/ExternalApp/ExternalApp"
# Install the libs used by this service (run once):
npm install express multer axios

# Start the server:
node server.js

It will run on http://localhost:4000 and expose endpoints like /external-assignments and /assignments.

3) CollegeConnect (Flask)

Create and activate a virtual environment, install requirements, and run the app:

cd "HACK/CollegeConnect (2)/CollegeConnect"
python -m venv venv
# On Windows (Git Bash):
source venv/Scripts/activate
# On WSL / Linux / macOS:
# source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python app.py

The Flask app runs on http://127.0.0.1:7000 by default and is configured to sync with CampusFlow at http://127.0.0.1:3000 (see CAMPUSFLOW_SYNC_URL in app.py).

Quick verification

• CampusFlow backend: open http://localhost:3000 (or http://<host>:<PORT> you chose) and check GET /health.
• ExternalApp: GET http://localhost:4000/external-assignments should return an array (possibly empty).
• CollegeConnect: open http://127.0.0.1:7000 and try to add an update via the form or POST /add-update.

Troubleshooting

• "Port already in use" — either stop the process using the port or start the service on a different port, e.g. PORT=5000 npm start for the backend.
• Node dependency errors — run npm install in the relevant folder and ensure Node version is compatible.
• Python/Flask errors — make sure you activated the virtualenv and installed requirements.txt.
• Sync failures — ensure CampusFlow backend is running before starting CollegeConnect or ExternalApp so they can reach http://localhost:3000.

If you hit upload-related errors, look for Multer / file-size messages in the server logs — both Node apps validate file types and sizes.

Contributing

1. Create an issue describing the problem or feature.
2. Fork and create a branch for your change.
3. Submit a PR with a clear description and tests if applicable.

Notes for maintainers

• CampusFlow backend uses data.json in backend/ for persisted demo data. Back up before modifying in production.
• The backend automatically serves frontend/ if present; this makes local testing simpler.