Supplier Manager Web Application

This project is a supplier management system focused on managing suppliers, orders, and communication between suppliers and the manager.

The project uses:

• React with Redux Toolkit + Persist for state management
• Node.js with Express backend
• JWT for authentication
• MongoDB as the database

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Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the NodeJS folder with the following variables (replace the values with your own secret keys):

DB_CONNECTION_STRING="your_mongodb_connection_string_here"
JWT_SECRET="your_jwt_secret_key_here"
OWNER_NAME="your_owner_name_here"
HASHED_PASSWORD="your_hashed_password_here"

Important: Do not commit your actual secret keys or connection strings to the repository.
Use a .gitignore file to exclude .env files from being pushed to GitHub.

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Setup and Running the Project

Install dependencies:

Open your terminal and run:

# Client (React)
cd client
npm install

# Go back to project root
cd ..

# Server (Node.js)
cd server
npm install

# Go back to project root
cd ..

Run the project:

Open two terminal windows or tabs, and run:

# Start backend server
cd server
node index.js   # or use nodemon if installed

# In another terminal window/tab, start frontend React app
cd client
npm run dev

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Usage

Open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000 to access the React frontend, which communicates with the backend server on its configured port.

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Recommendations

• Consider adding a .env.example file without sensitive values to show required environment variables.
• Use nodemon for automatic server restarts during development.
• Make sure to add .env files to .gitignore to keep secrets safe.