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Evergreen Quote Calculator (Functionality (Processes (After providing the…

- - - - POST: Using the POST method takes data from the HTML form of the pages, which can then be saved as a variable within the php page. Importantly, values from POST cannot be taken from page to page. POST variables will include basic information such as lawn name, length, width, etc. Eventually, this will be stored in the SESSION variable, which will be a multi dimensional array.
        
        POST cannot be taken across PHP pages - it would be inefficient to take each PHP variable across the page; instead (see below) the POST variables are stored in a larger SESSION array
        
        Note that POST is reset every time the HTML form is resubmitted; however, because the POST variables were stored as an array in the larger SESSION array, it doesn't matter
      - SESSION: These are variables that can be taken across (viewed) from every php page in application. Within the Evergreen quote calculator, the SESSION variable will be a 2 dimensional array (and array of arrays); this will allow all of the information to be viewed on the quote-view.php page.
        
        Note here, that SESSION will be used as an array (i.e. not every single variable is designated as a SESSION variable); functionally, this is a more efficient way to transfer information
        
        If each variable was stored as a SESSION variable, then each of the variables would have to be taken across. Functionally, not very efficient.
  - - - Land preparation service
      - Turf installation service
    - - Buffalo
      - Zoysia
      - Fescue
      - Bermuda
      - Ryegrass
      - Couch
      - Kikuyu
    - - Rectangle: the approximate shape of the rectangle will be the easiest and most functional shape to implement. Generally speaking, this is the most suitable shape to be used in the application, as most people's lawns will be the approximate shape of a rectangle/square/etc.
      - The formula for calculating the area of a rectangle is A=l*w; the application will retrieve values for length and width from the user, and will then use those dimensions in the calculations (this will be displayed to the user on the quote-view.php page)
  - - - Used in calculations
      - Post variables put in array
      - The POST variables will be grabbed
      - Array (full of POST variables) will then be put into the larger SESSION array
    - - For each of the arrays:
        
        Get each array value, and make as $value
        
        Output each of the values as a <td></td>
      - Then, get all of the columns, and sum them (this can be done as an array_sum()) - this will generate total costs from array
      - Output total costs in total quote table (note here, that a foreach() function is not used, as it was in the individual lawn information table
    - - A simple set of IF/THEN statements will be used, depending on the information that the user has supplied to the form. Coefficient will be used to determine the values of labour, delivery, installation, and grass costs; These coefficients will then be input into a "grand formula", which will give all of the values
      - The least efficient method here would be to recalculate the cost in every single grass variation; it is much easier to simply have "grand formula" with multiple coefficients (for delivery, installation, prep, grass, etc.), as opposed to having a formula for every single grass instance
- - - - Phone: Given that the screen of the phone is smaller, then the components of the website will have to be loaded into a smaller space; by using a proper mixture of Bootstrap (and potentially some CSS), the attributes of the application should be loaded in an orderly fashion. One of the hurdles in this project is testing the effectiveness of the application on a Phone-sized resolution. Because browsers generally fill the screen, it becomes harder to predict how a Phone will handle the application.
        
        The other solution is to simply reduce the size of the browser, by using the minimise function; then, the browser can be manipulated to the approximate size of a phone screen.
        
        One solution is to load the page into a Phone simulator (this is fairly inefficient, and doesn't work a lot of the time)
      - Laptop: because a laptop/PC/any computer that can run XAMPP web server has the ability to run the localhost web server, it becomes much easier to test the responsiveness of the application; because Phones cannot run XAMPP, it becomes harder to test the application's behaviour on it (besides, as per above, actually reducing the size of the browser).
  - - - E.g. when the "dimensions" component of the form is opened/active/hovered, then the length and the width input areas will be opened
      - E.g. when "grass type" section of the form is selected, the site could display reactive menu of grasses
- - - - Styling can be managed within Bootstrap and CSS - make sure that the navigation is kept consistent. In the case of the logo (poppins), a CSS class could be created within the style.css file; this would not be changed, and would act as the logo for the application (Evergreen logo)
      - As Evergreen is a fictional brand, it may be hard to actually make branding past the logo; if a non-fictional brand (real brand, like Earl's Turf, BrightView, etc.) was used, then the assets (images, graphics, videos, etc.) could have been used; in this case, simply try and be as consistent as possible with the Evergreen logo- this help the user to see the consistency of the application, and to see that Evergreen is the brand that they are going to eventually buy from.
      - Grey/Green styling - this must be consistent throughout the page; in order to maintain a professional, sleek look to the website, the Evergreen logo and branding must be present throughout every part of the website. This could be easily achieved by just having the logo in the navigation bar of each page of the website.
  - - - Dictate may be best added within the HTML section of the form, although it may also be added within CSS, if needed
      - JS popups are also a consideration - check that there is a way to dictate this as well. There may be browser built-ins to handle this.
      - Alternative descriptions for images may be added in the HTML component of the application, which will allow screen readers to dictate to visually impaired users
  - - - This could either be built in to the HTML form itself (on the quote-calc.php page), or it may need to stand as its own page
      - In the event that it is its own page, all the grasses will need to be laid out in a methodical fashion (there is the possibility, even, for a "portfolio" styling to be used within the application - this will give the user the ability to see different grasses individually. Carousel may even be used, with bootstrap.
- - - - One way of doing this would be to have a JS function that would allow the user to simply click on the quote-view table and then edit the attributes (this would then update the lawn array); this would be particularly difficult, given that certain JS functions would have to be learned and studied. However, this is definitely the most efficient way of completing the form modification/edit processes
      - The other possible way of doing this would be to have a GET process, where the values of the form would be loaded on a fresh php page - all of the values of the form could be loaded into the url, which would then be displayed on the page. The problem with this method is that a separate PHP page must be created.
      - Potentially, a $_SESSION['modify'] variable may be made - this could tell the quote-calc page to show a certain page state; this is slightly more efficient than using the GET method (above)
    - - The email function will have the user specify their email; from here, a PHP process will take all of the lawn array values (all values from here), and will send it as a message to the user; this may be particularly difficult, as various PHP email processes and functions may need to be studied