Dental Clinic API — README

This README explains how to set up and run the Dental Clinic API project on Windows and Linux / macOS for development and quick local testing.

Quick summary: This is a Django REST Framework project with multiple apps (accounts, appointments, billing, medical, operations, payroll, pharmacy). It exposes OpenAPI docs (Swagger / Redoc) and a JSON schema. The project ships with manage.py and a requirements.txt for dependencies.

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Contents

• Project overview
• Prerequisites
• Setup (Linux / macOS)
• Setup (Windows - PowerShell)
• Database options (dev vs production)
• Running migrations & creating a superuser
• Running the dev server
• API docs & importing into Postman
• Static & media files (development)
• Useful management commands
• Troubleshooting & tips

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Project overview

• Multiple Django apps: accounts, appointments, billing, medical, operations, payroll, pharmacy.
• API base: http://localhost:8000/api/ with interactive docs at /api/docs/ and /api/redoc/.

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Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+ (or the interpreter used by the project)
• git
• pip
• For production or MySQL setup: MySQL/MariaDB server and mysqlclient installed (or use psycopg2 for Postgres if preferred)

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Setup (Linux / macOS)

Open a terminal in the project root (where manage.py is):

# create & activate venv
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# upgrade pip and install requirements
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

# set environment variables (example)
export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=core.settings
export SECRET_KEY='your-secret-key'
export DEBUG=True  # set False in production

# if using MySQL, configure DATABASES in settings and export DB credentials

Then run migrations and create a user:

python manage.py migrate
python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py collectstatic --noinput  # optional (for static files)

Start the dev server:

python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000

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Setup (Windows - PowerShell)

Open PowerShell in the project root:

# create & activate venv
py -3 -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

# upgrade pip and install
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

# set env vars (temporary for current PS session)
$env:DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = 'core.settings'
$env:SECRET_KEY = 'your-secret-key'
$env:DEBUG = 'True'  # 'False' in production

# then migrate and create superuser
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

# run dev server
python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000

Note: In cmd.exe use venv\\Scripts\\activate.bat. In PowerShell you might need to adjust the execution policy to allow the activate script: Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass.

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Database: quick-dev (SQLite) vs production (MySQL/MariaDB)

• For quick local development the project can use the included db.sqlite3 (no extra config).
• For production or multi-developer environments use MySQL/MariaDB or Postgres and update DATABASES in settings.py. Ensure mysqlclient (or other DB adapter) is installed and the DB server is reachable.

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JWT & Settings

• The project is configured to use djangorestframework-simplejwt for JWT authentication. Example settings are in the repo and configure token lifetimes, algorithms, and auth classes.

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API documentation & Postman

• Open the interactive Swagger UI: http://localhost:8000/api/docs/.
• Schema (OpenAPI JSON): http://localhost:8000/api/schema/.

You can import the schema into Postman to auto-generate a collection:

1. In Postman click Import → Link and paste http://localhost:8000/api/schema/ (or upload the downloaded openapi.json).
2. Postman creates a Collection with requests based on the OpenAPI spec.

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Useful management commands

• python manage.py migrate — Apply migrations
• python manage.py createsuperuser — Create admin user
• python manage.py runserver — Run dev server
• python manage.py collectstatic — Collect static files
• python manage.py loaddata <fixture> — Load fixtures

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Troubleshooting

• If pip install -r requirements.txt fails for mysqlclient, install system-level dependencies first (e.g., sudo apt install default-libmysqlclient-dev on Debian/Ubuntu). On Windows use prebuilt wheels or use MariaDB C connector.
• If static files 404 in production: ensure collectstatic ran and nginx/your server serves the STATIC_ROOT path.
• If media uploads fail: check MEDIA_ROOT and file permissions.

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Where to look in the code

• Root manage.py and core/urls.py contain the main routing and documentation routes (/api/docs/, /api/schema/, /api/redoc/).
• Apps live under the project root (accounts/, appointments/, billing/, ...).

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License & Contact

• Add license information here if needed.
• For questions: contact the maintainer.

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Thanks for using this project — edit this README to add project-specific deploy notes.