Finance Tracker Application

This project consists of a C++ backend for managing personal finance data (using Crow C++ web framework and SQLite3) and a simple HTML/Tailwind CSS/JavaScript frontend for interaction.

Project Structure

• ./: Contains the C++ backend source files (main.cpp, FinanceDB.h, FinanceDB.cpp, helper.h, helper.cpp), CMake build files, and the run.sh script.
• ./frontend/: Contains the static HTML frontend (index.html) with Tailwind CSS via CDN and JavaScript for API calls.
• backend_server.py: A Python Flask server that serves the frontend/index.html and acts as a simple static file server for the frontend.

How to Run the Application

To get the entire application (C++ backend and HTML frontend) up and running, follow these steps:

Prerequisites

Before compiling and running, ensure you have the necessary tools and libraries installed on your system:

• CMake: For building the C++ backend. On Arch Linux, install with: sudo pacman -S cmake
• g++ (C++ Compiler): A C++17 compatible compiler.
• SQLite3 Development Libraries: On Debian/Ubuntu-based systems: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libsqlite3-dev On Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S sqlite
• Crow C++ Web Framework: Crow is primarily header-only. Ensure its dependencies are met. (The CMakeLists.txt handles finding it).
• Python 3 and Flask: For the frontend server. Install Flask: pip install Flask

Running the Application

1. Navigate to the project root directory in your terminal.

2. Make the run.sh script executable (if you haven't already):

   chmod +x run.sh

3. Execute the run.sh script:

   ./run.sh

   This script will:

   • Build the C++ backend using CMake.
   • Start the C++ backend server (on http://localhost:5000) in the background.
   • Start the Python frontend server (on http://localhost:8000) in the background.
   • Provide instructions on how to access the frontend.

4. Access the Frontend: Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8000.

   To stop both servers, simply press Ctrl+C in the terminal where run.sh is running.

C++ Backend API Endpoints

The C++ backend (running on http://localhost:5000) exposes the following API endpoints:

1. Home Route

• URL: /
• Method: GET
• Description: Provides a welcome message and links to other main endpoints.
• Response: HTML content.

2. Get All Monthly Summaries

• URL: /summary
• Method: GET
• Description: Retrieves a list of all recorded monthly summaries, including salary, limit, saving percentage, and condition.
• Response: JSON array of monthly summary objects.

  [
      {
          "month_year": "11_2025",
          "salary": 5000.0,
          "limit": 4000.0,
          "saving_percentage": 20.0,
          "condition": "Good"
      }
  ]

3. Get Expenses for a Specific Month

• URL: /expenses/<month_year> (e.g., /expenses/11_2025)
• Method: GET
• Description: Retrieves a list of detailed expense records for a specified month and year.
• Response: JSON array of expense record objects, now including id (SQLite rowid).

  [
      {
          "id": 1,
          "day_month_year": "01_11_2025_12345",
          "spent_on": "Groceries",
          "price": 150.75,
          "priority": 5
      }
  ]

4. Add or Update Monthly Summary

• URL: /summary
• Method: POST
• Description: Adds a new monthly summary or updates an existing one for the current month. Requires salary and limit.
• Request Body: JSON object.

  {
      "salary": 5000.0,
      "limit": 4000.0
  }

• Response: Success or error message (text).

5. Add New Expense

• URL: /expense
• Method: POST
• Description: Adds a new expense record for the current day. Automatically updates the priority of the spentOn item and recalculates the monthly summary if a salary is set.
• Request Body: JSON object.

  {
      "spentOn": "Dinner",
      "price": 75.50
  }

• Response: Success or error message (text).

6. Get Prioritized Expenses (Highest Frequency/Average Price)

• URL: /highest
• Method: GET
• Description: Retrieves a list of expenses grouped by spent_on, showing the average price and the number of times purchased (priority), sorted by purchase frequency in descending order.
• Response: JSON array of prioritized expense objects.

  [
      {
          "spent_on": "Coffee",
          "average_price": 4.50,
          "times_purchased": 10
      }
  ]

7. Get Expenses Sorted by Price

• URL: /sorted_by_price/<order> (e.g., /sorted_by_price/true for ascending, /sorted_by_price/false for descending)
• URL: /sorted_by_price/ (defaults to ascending)
• Method: GET
• Description: Retrieves all expense records for the current month, sorted by price in either ascending or descending order. Now includes id (SQLite rowid).
• Response: JSON array of expense record objects.

  [
      {
          "id": 2,
          "day_month_year": "01_11_2025_98765",
          "spent_on": "Bus Fare",
          "price": 2.50,
          "priority": 3
      }
  ]

8. Get Expenses within a Date Range

• URL: /range/<start_date>/<end_date> (e.g., /range/01-11-2025/15-11-2025)
• Method: GET
• Description: Retrieves expense records within a specified date range (inclusive). Dates should be in DD-MM-YYYY format. Now includes id (SQLite rowid).
• Response: JSON array of expense record objects.

  [
      {
          "id": 3,
          "day_month_year": "05_11_2025_54321",
          "spent_on": "Lunch",
          "price": 12.00,
          "priority": 2
      }
  ]

9. Get Total Spent

• URL: /total_spent
• Method: GET
• Description: Retrieves the total amount spent for the current month.
• Response: JSON object with the total amount.

  {
      "total": 1500.50
  }

10. Delete Expense by ID

• URL: /delete_expense/<id> (e.g., /delete_expense/123)
• Method: DELETE
• Description: Deletes an expense record by its unique ID (SQLite rowid).
• Response: Success or error message (text).

  Expense with ID 123 deleted successfully.
  

11. Edit Expense by ID

• URL: /edit_expense/<id> (e.g., /edit_expense/123)
• Method: PUT
• Description: Updates an existing expense record by its unique ID (SQLite rowid). Accepts optional spentOn, price, and priority fields.
• Request Body: JSON object (at least one field required).

  {
      "spentOn": "New Description",
      "price": 25.00,
      "priority": 4
  }

• Response: Success or error message (text).

  Expense with ID 123 updated successfully.