IvenTrack

IvenTrack is a lightweight, local-first inventory management application built with Flutter. It's designed for personal use, allowing users to track grocery stock, monitor expiry dates, and manage quantities entirely offline.

The primary goal of this project is to provide a fast, private, and reliable utility app with zero dependency on network services or cloud sign-in.

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✨ Key Features (MVP)

• Full Offline Usability: All data is stored locally on the device using SQLite.
• Inventory Management: Add, edit, and delete grocery items with details like category, quantity, unit, and expiry date.
• Expiry Reminders: Uses Flutter Local Notifications to schedule time-zone aware alerts for items nearing expiration.
• Image Attachments: Supports storing local device paths for item photos (image_picker).
• Consumption Insights: Basic charts show item distribution by category (fl_chart).

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🛠️ Technology Stack

Layer	Technology	Rationale
Frontend/UI	Flutter (Dart)	Cross-platform UI development.
State Management	Provider	Simple and scalable state handling for local data.
Database	SQLite (via sqflite package)	Fast, persistent, and entirely local storage solution.
Notifications	flutter_local_notifications	Schedules time-zone aware, offline alerts.
Charting	fl_chart	Provides robust, customizable charts for insights.
Image Handling	image_picker	Handles local image selection/capture.

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🏗️ Architecture and Workflow

The application follows a clean, layered architecture focused on the local database.

🔄 Data Flow

1. UI (Widgets): Triggers an action (e.g., adding an item).
2. Provider (ChangeNotifier): Receives the action, performs business logic, and notifies listeners.
3. Database Helper (DatabaseHelper): Executes the necessary CRUD operation via the sqflite package.
4. SQLite Database: Persists or retrieves data from the local file system.
5. Notifications: The Provider also calls the NotificationService to schedule an alert immediately after an item is saved or updated.

🗄️ Database Structure

The project currently uses one primary table to store all grocery item details.

Table Name	Description
groceries	Stores all core inventory data, including name, quantity, dates, and image paths.

groceries Table Schema

Column	Data Type	Description
id	INTEGER (PK)	Unique auto-incrementing item ID.
name	TEXT	Item name (e.g., "Milk").
category	TEXT	Item category (e.g., "Dairy").
quantity	REAL	Current stock level.
unit	TEXT	Unit of measure (e.g., "L", "pcs", "kg").
expiry_date	TEXT	Expiration date (stored as ISO 8601 string).
image_path	TEXT	Local file path to the item's photo (nullable).
created_at	TEXT	Date the item was first added.

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🚀 Getting Started

To run this project locally, ensure you have Flutter installed and configured.

Prerequisites

1. Flutter SDK (Stable Channel)
2. An IDE (VS Code or Android Studio)
3. JDK 11 or higher (required for recent Android development)

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [REPOSITORY_URL]

2. Fetch dependencies:

   flutter pub get

3. Fix Android Native Dependencies (Crucial for Notifications):
   • Open android/app/build.gradle and ensure the following configurations are set to handle modern Java APIs and resolve compilation issues:

     // Inside the android block:
     compileOptions {
         sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_11
         targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_11
         coreLibraryDesugaringEnabled true 
     }
     
     // Inside the dependencies block:
     dependencies {
         // Ensure this is present for desugaring:
         coreLibraryDesugaring 'com.android.tools:desugar_jdk_libs:2.0.4' 
         // ... other dependencies
     }

4. Run the app:

   flutter run

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🤝 Contribution Guide

We welcome contributions! Please check the Issues tab for tasks ranging from UI polish to new feature development.

How to Contribute

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a descriptive branch (e.g., feature/low-stock-highlight).
3. Commit your changes following a clear convention (e.g., feat: Added category chart to stats screen).
4. Open a Pull Request (PR) describing the changes and linking to the relevant issue.

Look for issues tagged good first issue or enhancement to get started!