Restaurant Menu Management System

A Ruby on Rails application for managing restaurant menus with a JSON import feature. This project was built as an interview assignment demonstrating a robust backend API with proper testing and documentation.

Table of Contents

• Features
• System Requirements
• Project Setup
• Data Models
• API Endpoints
• JSON Import Tool
• Running Tests
• Development Approach

Features

The application provides the following features:

• Level 1: Basic Menu Management

  • CRUD operations for Menu and MenuItem objects
  • Proper relationship modeling
  • Well-tested API endpoints

• Level 2: Multiple Menus Per Restaurant

  • Restaurant model with multiple menus
  • Unique MenuItem names across the system
  • Menu items can appear on multiple menus with different prices

• Level 3: JSON Import Tool

  • HTTP endpoint for importing restaurant data from JSON files
  • Command line tool for imports via rake task
  • Comprehensive logging and error handling
  • Support for different JSON structures

System Requirements

• Ruby 3.4.x
• Rails 8.0.x
• PostgreSQL 17+
• Node.js 22+ (for React frontend)
• Yarn or npm

Project Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/fhmurakami/popmenu_project.git
   cd popmenu_project

2. Install dependencies

   bundle install
   yarn install # or npm install

3. Set up the database

   rails db:create
   rails db:migrate
   rails db:seed # optional - seeds the database with sample data

4. Start the application

   # Start Rails server
   rails server # or bin/dev

   The application will be available at http://localhost:3000

Data Models

The application has the following data models:

• Restaurant

  • Has many Menus
  • Attributes: name, address, phone, website, description.

• Menu

  • Belongs to a Restaurant
  • Has many MenuItems through MenuEntries
  • Attributes: name.

• MenuItem

  • Has many Menus through MenuEntries
  • Attributes: name.

• MenuEntry (Join model)

  • Belongs to a Menu
  • Belongs to a MenuItem
  • Attributes: price, description, category, dietary restrictions, ingredients.

Entity-Relationship Diagram

Restaurant ──┐
             │
             │ has_many
             │
             ▼
            Menu ◄────┐
             │        │
             │ has_many │
             │        │
             ▼        │
        MenuEntry     │
             │        │
             │ belongs_to
             │        │
             ▼        │
         MenuItem ────┘

API Endpoints

Restaurants

• GET /api/v1/restaurants - List all restaurants
• GET /api/v1/restaurants/:id - Get a specific restaurant
• POST /api/v1/restaurants - Create a new restaurant
• PUT /api/v1/restaurants/:id - Update a restaurant
• DELETE /api/v1/restaurants/:id - Delete a restaurant

Menus

• GET /api/v1/restaurants/:restaurant_id/menus - List all menus for a restaurant
• GET /api/v1/restaurants/:restaurant_id/menus/:id - Get a specific menu
• POST /api/v1/restaurants/:restaurant_id/menus - Create a new menu
• PUT /api/v1/restaurants/:restaurant_id/menus/:id - Update a menu
• DELETE /api/v1/restaurants/:restaurant_id/menus/:id - Delete a menu

Menu Items

• GET /api/v1/menu_items - List all menu items
• GET /api/v1/menu_items/:id - Get a specific menu item
• POST /api/v1/menu_items - Create a new menu item
• PUT /api/v1/menu_items/:id - Update a menu item
• DELETE /api/v1/menu_items/:id - Delete a menu item

Menu Items for a Specific Menu

• GET /api/v1/menus/:menu_id/menu_items - List all menu items for a menu

Import

• POST /api/v1/restaurant_imports - Import restaurant data from a JSON file

JSON Import Tool

The application features a tool for importing restaurant data from JSON files.

Expected JSON Format

{
	"restaurants": [
		{
			"name": "Restaurant Name",
			"menus": [
				{
					"name": "Menu Name",
					"menu_items": [
						{ "name": "Item Name", "price": 9.0 },
						{ "name": "Another Item", "price": 5.0 }
					]
				}
			]
		}
	]
}

The tool also supports dishes instead of menu_items for flexibility.

Import Methods

1. HTTP API Endpoint

You can upload a JSON file via the API:

curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
  -F "file=@path/to/restaurant_data.json" \
  http://localhost:3000/api/v1/restaurant_imports

The response will include success status and detailed logs for each imported item.

2. Rake Task

You can also import using a rake task:

rake import:restaurants[path/to/restaurant_data.json]

This will display logs in the console and set the exit code based on success/failure.

Import Process

The import process:

1. Parses the JSON file
2. Creates or finds restaurants by name
3. For each restaurant, creates or finds menus by name
4. For each menu, processes menu items:
   • Finds or creates menu items by name (ensuring uniqueness)
   • Creates menu entries with the appropriate prices
5. Logs each step and any errors
6. Returns a comprehensive report

Running Tests

The project has comprehensive test coverage using RSpec:

# Run all tests
bundle exec rspec

# Run specific test files
bundle exec rspec spec/models/restaurant_spec.rb
bundle exec rspec spec/services/restaurant_import_service_spec.rb

Development Approach

This project was developed following an iterative approach, tackling one level at a time as per the requirements. Each level was completed with proper testing before moving on to the next.

Key Design Decisions

1. Service Object Pattern - Used for complex operations like the JSON import process
2. Comprehensive Logging - Detailed logging for import operations
3. Error Handling - Robust error handling for API endpoints and import operations
4. Transaction Support - Database transactions to ensure data integrity
5. Test-Driven Development - Extensive test coverage for all features

Assumptions

• Menu item names are globally unique across the system
• The same menu item can have different prices on different menus
• Import operations should be idempotent (can be run multiple times with the same data)
• JSON format might have variations (like "dishes" vs "menu_items") that should be handled gracefully