turf-tasker/README.md

Turf Tasker

A simple but powerful ASP.NET Core MVC application designed to track lawn care activities. This project serves as a hands-on learning exercise to explore and master the fundamentals of the ASP.NET Core MVC framework, from data modeling with Entity Framework Core to building dynamic, data-driven views.

Key Features

• Log lawn care events (Mowing, Watering, Fertilizing, etc.).
• Track mowing patterns to ensure a healthy lawn and prevent ruts.
• Dashboard homepage showing the last time key activities were performed and what the next mowing pattern should be.
• A dedicated section for general lawn care tips.
• A filterable and sortable log of all past activities.
• Clean, responsive UI using Bootstrap.

Tech Stack

• Backend: C#, ASP.NET Core 8 MVC
• Database: Entity Framework Core 8 with SQLite
• Frontend: HTML, CSS, Bootstrap 5, JavaScript (with jQuery)
• Development Environment: JetBrains Rider on Fedora Linux
• Version Control: Git with GitLab
• Containerization: Docker

How to Run

You can run this application either directly using the .NET SDK or via Docker.

Option 1: Run Natively (using .NET SDK)

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://gitlab.com/blakeridgway/turf-tasker.git
   

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd turf-tasker 
   

   (If your turf_tasker.csproj is directly in the cloned turf_tasker folder, you might skip this cd.)
3. Ensure .NET 8 SDK is installed:

   dotnet --version
   

   (Should show 8.x.x)
4. Restore dependencies:

   dotnet restore
   

5. Create/Update the database:

   dotnet ef database update
   

   This will create the turf_tasker.db SQLite file and seed initial data.
6. Run the application:

   dotnet run
   

7. Access in browser: Your application will typically run on https://localhost:5062 or a similar port, which will be displayed in the terminal output.

Option 2: Run with Docker

1. Ensure Docker is installed and running on your system.
   • Docker Installation Guide
2. Clone the repository (if you haven't already):

   git clone https://gitlab.com/blakeridgway/turf-tasker.git
   

3. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd turf_tasker 
   

4. Build the Docker image:

   docker build -t turf-tasker-app .
   

   This command builds the image and tags it as turf-tasker-app.
5. Run the Docker container:

   docker run -e "ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:80" -p 8080:80 turf-tasker-app
   

   • -e "ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:80" explicitly configures the app to listen on HTTP port 80 inside the container.
   • -p 8080:80 maps port 8080 on your host machine to port 80 inside the container.
6. Access in browser:

   http://localhost:8080