1 Introduction
In today’s digital age, university hostel dining halls face persistent challenges that impact
thousands of students daily. Long lineups form in the halls during peak hours, manual
payment systems create delays, and a mismatch between student preferences and meal
planning leads to food waste and dissatisfaction. DineSmart emerges as a transforma-
tive digital solution that revolutionizes hostel dining management, seamlessly bridging
the gap between student needs and administrative efficiency. Our comprehensive plat-
form integrates cutting-edge technology with practical functionality, featuring real-time
meal tracking, secure digital payments, an interactive feedback system, and sophisticated
inventory management. For students, DineSmart offers seamless queue monitoring, con-
tactless payments, and personalized meal recommendations. The platform’s sturdy design
addresses the inefficiencies of typical dining halls while promoting sustainable practices by
reducing food waste and optimizing resource use. DineSmart is a cutting-edge, scalable
solution that turns the daily struggle of dining in halls into a seamless, effective operation
by establishing a dynamic ecosystem that links students with dining administrators.
2 Description
DineSmart is a digital platform designed to revolutionize the traditional dining manage-
ment system in hostel settings. It enables students to easily manage their meals, track
consumption history, make online payments, rate meals, and provide feedback for con-
tinuous improvement. The system also empowers dining staff and managing authorities
with tools for meal planning, inventory management, and budget optimization, ensuring
a seamless and efficient operation. By digitizing processes and enhancing communication
between students and administrators, DineSmart promotes transparency, reduces manual
errors, and improves the overall dining experience.
3 Motivation
The development of DineSmart was driven by several critical challenges observed in tra-
ditional hostel dining systems:
• Time Wastage: Students consistently lose valuable academic and recreational time
waiting in lengthy queues during peak dining hours.
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• Operational Inefficiencies: Manual payment and record-keeping systems create
inefficiencies and increase the likelihood of human error.
• Resource Management: Traditional systems lack effective means to track and
optimize food inventory, leading to significant wastage.
• Communication Gap: Limited feedback mechanisms prevent dining administra-
tors from understanding and responding to student preferences and concerns.
• Need for Modernization: A digital solution can streamline operations, ensuring
convenience, transparency, and better resource utilization.
• Enhanced Dining Experience: By addressing these challenges, DineSmart aims
to improve the dining experience for students while reducing the workload on staff.
4 Application and Impact
Applications of DineSmart:
• Student Meal Management: Students can track meal history, rate meals, and
manage preferences like turning meals on/off.
• Digital Payment Integration: Simplifies payment processes, eliminating long
queues and manual errors.
• Feedback and Improvement: Collects student feedback to refine menus and
improve meal quality.
• Inventory Optimization: Tracks inventory usage and triggers restocking to re-
duce waste and ensure meal availability.
• Data-Driven Insights: Provides dining authorities with insights into meal pref-
erences, inventory management, and feedback, while allowing hall admins to review
payment details and update student information for informed decision-making.
Impact of DineSmart:
• Improved Dining Experience: Offers students greater control and transparency
over meal services, leading to higher satisfaction.
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• Cost and Resource Optimization: Ensures proper budget utilization and min-
imizes inventory waste through accurate tracking.
• Enhanced Efficiency: Automates manual processes, reducing the workload for
staff and improving system reliability.
• Scalability and Modernization: Creates a scalable system that can be adopted
by multiple hostels or dining facilities.
• Fosters Collaboration: Strengthens communication between students, staff, and
administrators, promoting a harmonious dining environment.
5 Project Overview
• Purpose: DineSmart aims to modernize the traditional hostel dining system by
digitizing meal management, payment processing, and feedback collection. The
platform streamlines dining operations, making them more efficient and reducing
common issues like food waste and time delays.
• Core Features:
– Student Features:
∗ Track meal history to monitor past meal selections and consumption pat-
terns.
∗ Rate meals and provide feedback to influence menu adjustments and im-
prove meal quality.
∗ Manage meal preferences by turning meal options on/off according to in-
dividual needs.
∗ Make secure online payments to streamline the payment process and avoid
long queues.
– Administrative Features:
∗ Dining Authority:
· Manage meal inventory and ensure resources are well-stocked while
minimizing waste.
· Update meal status (on/off) to receive meals and analyze student pref-
erences.
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· Collect and review student feedback to continuously improve meal
quality and dining experience.
· Ensure smooth operation of the dining hall by managing meal avail-
ability and addressing issues promptly.
∗ Hall Admin:
· Update student information to maintain accurate and up-to-date records.
· Assign dining manager roles to students for daily dining operations.
· Handle all payment transactions to ensure timely and efficient process-
ing of student dues.
· Oversee overall system performance and ensure administrative tasks
are completed effectively.
6 Required Technology
Frontend Development
DineSmart’s frontend ensures an interactive user experience for students, dining managers,
and admins.
• HTML: Structures the web pages.
• CSS: Styles the layout and design elements.
• ReactJS: Builds dynamic UI components for real-time updates.
• JavaScript: Handles dynamic interactions and backend communication.
Backend Development
The backend manages data flow and user requests.
• Spring Boot: A Java framework for building scalable APIs and handling core tasks
like authentication and data storage.
Database
The database stores user data, meal preferences, payments, and more.
• MySQL: A database system for secure data storage and management.
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7 E-R Diagram :
Figure 1: Entity-Relationship (E-R) Diagram of E-Hall Dining Management System
8 Changes in the ERD
• Removal of Requires Relationship Between Meal and Inventory: The re-
lationship was deemed unnecessary as meals and inventory management are inde-
pendently handled by the Dining Manager.
• Changes to Feedback : The Feedback entity’s relationship (Reviews) with Hall
was replaced by a relationship with Dining Manager. This change reflects the fact
that the Dining Manager is responsible for reviewing and responding to feedback
regarding meals, rather than the Admin. Additionally, the Rating attribute was
moved from Meal to Feedback to better align with the logical structure, as ratings
are tied to feedback, not meals. New attributes, MealType and DiningManager-
Response, were added to track feedback for lunch and dinner and store the Dining
Manager’s response.
• Password Addition: A Password attribute was added to both the Student and
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Hall entities to enhance security.
• Removal of Status Attribute from Payment Entity: The Status attribute
was removed since the presence of a valid TransactionID implies the payment has
been completed, making a separate status field redundant.
9 Relational Mapping :
Figure 2: Relational Mapping of E-Hall Dining Management System
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10 Database Implementation :
The database implementation for DineSmart focuses on organizing and managing data
effectively to support meal management, payment transactions, inventory tracking, and
feedback collection. The system uses MySQL as the database management system for its
scalability, reliability, and compatibility with the backend.
Student Entity
The student table stores information about students, including their details and prefer-
ences.
• Create Table:
Figure 3: Create Table for Student Entity
• Insert Values:
Figure 4: Insert Values into Student Table
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• Table Structure:
Figure 5: Student Table Structure
Admin Entity
The admin table stores admin details.
• Create Table:
Figure 6: Create Table for Admin Entity
• Insert Values:
Figure 7: Insert Values into Admin Table
• Table Structure:
Figure 8: Admin Table Structure
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Dining Authority Entity
The dining authority table contains the dining authority’s information.
• Create Table:
Figure 9: Create Table for Dining Authority Entity
• Insert Values:
Figure 10: Insert Values into Dining Authority Table
• Table Structure:
Figure 11: Dining Authority Table Structure
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Feedback Entity
The feedback table stores feedback from students regarding meals and services.
• Create Table:
Figure 12: Create Table for Feedback Entity
• Insert Values:
Figure 13: Insert Values into Feedback Table
• Table Structure:
Figure 14: Feedback Table Structure
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Inventory Entity
The inventory table tracks food items and available stocks.
• Create Table:
Figure 15: Create Table for Inventory Entity
• Insert Values:
Figure 16: Insert Values into Inventory Table
• Table Structure:
Figure 17: Inventory Table Structure
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Meals Entity
The meals table stores information about student meals and their status.
• Create Table:
Figure 18: Create Table for Meals Entity
• Insert Values:
Figure 19: Insert Values into Meals Table
• Table Structure:
Figure 20: Meals Table Structure
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Meal History Entity
The meal history table tracks the meal history of the students.
• Create Table:
Figure 21: Create Table for Meal History Entity
• Insert Values:
Figure 22: Insert Values into Meal History Table
• Table Structure:
Figure 23: Meal History Table Structure
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Payment Entity
The payment table tracks student payments for meals.
• Create Table:
Figure 24: Create Table for Payment Entity
• Insert Values:
Figure 25: Insert Values into Payment Table
• Table Structure:
Figure 26: Payment Table Structure
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Query 1: Retrieve the students who have not taken any meals
for the past 30 days excluding the dining manager
• SQL Query:
Figure 27: SQL Query for Query 1
• Resulting Table:
Figure 28: Table Generated for Query 1
Query 2: Retrieve Potential Dining Manager by Hall
• SQL Query:
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Figure 29: SQL Query for Query 2
• Resulting Table:
Figure 30: Table Generated for Query 2
Query 3:Retrieve the total revenue generated in every hall
• SQL Query:
Figure 31: SQL Query for Query 3
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• Resulting Table:
Figure 32: Table Generated for Query 3
Query 4: Retrieve the total count of meals served per hall
• SQL Query:
Figure 33: SQL Query for Query 4
• Resulting Table:
Figure 34: Table Generated for Query 4
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Query 5: Retrieve all students who have paid and display their
remaining dues
• SQL Query:
Figure 35: SQL Query for Query 5
• Resulting Table:
Figure 36: Table Generated for Query 5
Query 6: Retrieve the dining managers name and their corre-
sponding hall
• SQL Query:
Figure 37: SQL Query for Query 6
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• Resulting Table:
Figure 38: Table Generated for Query 6
Query 7: Calculate the average ratings of each hall grouped by
hall name
• SQL Query:
Figure 39: SQL Query for Query 7
• Resulting Table:
Figure 40: Table Generated for Query 7
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Query 8: Retrieve to find the student name and ID who gave the
most feedback grouped by hall name
• SQL Query:
Figure 41: SQL Query for Query 8
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• Resulting Table:
Figure 42: Table Generated for Query 8
Query 9: Retrieve the count of positive, negative and average
feedback grouped by hall name
• SQL Query:
Figure 43: SQL Query for Query 9
• Resulting Table:
Figure 44: Table Generated for Query 9
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Query 10: Retrieve the items needing restock grouped by hall
name
• SQL Query:
Figure 45: SQL Query for Query 10
• Resulting Table:
Figure 46: Table Generated for Query 10
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Query 11: Query to display hall name and count of low, moder-
ate, and sufficient stock statuses
• SQL Query:
Figure 47: SQL Query for Query 11
• Resulting Table:
Figure 48: Table Generated for Query 11
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Query 12: Retrieve the items which are present low in stock in
every hall
• SQL Query:
Figure 49: SQL Query for Query 12
• Resulting Table:
Figure 50: Table Generated for Query 12
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Query 13: Retrieve the count of uses and total amount grouped
by payment method
• SQL Query:
Figure 51: SQL Query for Query 13
• Resulting Table:
Figure 52: Table Generated for Query 13
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Query 14: Retrieve the information of a particular student from
the database
This query shows all students who have rated a specific meal.
• SQL Query:
Figure 53: SQL Query for Query 14
• Resulting Table:
Figure 54: Table Generated for Query 14
Query 15: Retrieve Highest-Revenue Generating Student in each
Hall
This query retrieves all students’ meal preferences along with their feedback ratings.
• SQL Query:
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Figure 55: SQL Query for Query 15
• Resulting Table:
Figure 56: Table Generated for Query 15
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Query 16: Retrieve Students with the most Meals consumed per
Hall
• SQL Query:
Figure 57: SQL Query for Query 16
• Resulting Table:
Figure 58: Table Generated for Query 16
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11 System Implementation :
11.1 For Students
Students access the system through a personalized dashboard that supports various meal
management tasks:
• Selecting Meal Preferences:: The Meal Calendar section allows students to
select the meals they wish to receive. Students must update their meal preferences
by turning the desired meal status to ”ON” no later than midnight of the preceding
day. The system automatically generates digital meal passes for the current day’s
meals that were designated as ”ON” in the student’s calendar. These passes are
displayed on the student’s dashboard for the respective day and serve as mandatory
requirements to receive meals.
Figure 59: Meal Calendar Toggle Interface
Figure 60: Digital Meal Pass Display
Figure 61: Meal Receipt Interface
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• Viewing Meal History: Students can access the ”Meal History” section to view
records of their previous meal choices, providing a clear overview of meals taken.
Figure 62: Student Meal History Dashboard
• Payment Submission: The ”Payment” section displays the total dues for the
month, calculated based on meal selections. Students can settle payments at the
end of the month by submitting a transaction ID.
Figure 63: Student Payment Portal
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11.2 For Dining Managers
The dining manager is assigned by the Hall administration, and the student selected for
this role will be exempt from meal payments for that month. The following section is
displayed on the dashboard of the student selected as the dining manager. By clicking
the ”Manage Dining” button, they can access the dedicated dashboard and other features
tailored for their role.
Figure 64: Dining Manager Meal Status Overview
• Tracking Meal Status: The ”Status” section provides dining managers with an
aggregated view of students’ meal choices, enabling precise tracking of daily meal
requirements.
Figure 65: Dining Manager Meal Status Overview
• Inventory Management: The ”Inventory” section allows dining managers to
monitor and update ingredient statuses. Inventory levels are categorized as low,
sufficient, or moderate, aiding in efficient resource management.
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Figure 66: Inventory Management Dashboard
11.3 For Admins
Administrators oversee the entire system, ensuring smooth operation and accountability.
• Managing Dining Managers: Administrators can assign a student as the Din-
ing Manager through the ”Manage Dining Manager” section. Upon selection, the
appointed student gains access to the necessary tools for meal and inventory man-
agement.
Figure 67: Dining Manager Assignment Interface
• Managing Student Records: The ”Student Records” section allows adminis-
trators to view, edit, and delete information related to all students. This ensures
that student details are kept up to date and any errors or outdated records can be
corrected efficiently.
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Figure 68: Dining Manager Assignment Interface
• Viewing Payments: The ”Payments” section enables administrators to view all
payments submitted by students. The system provides a detailed payment history,
ensuring transparency in dues collection.
Figure 69: Administrator Payment History Dashboard
12 Conclusion
The DineSmart system effectively simplifies the management of hostel dining services. By
allowing students to manage their meal preferences, track their meal history, and make
payments easily, it enhances the overall dining experience. The system also provides
administrative and dining managers with the necessary tools to monitor student activities,
manage meal plans, and maintain inventory, ensuring the smooth operation of the dining
facility. The feedback mechanism further ensures that students’ concerns are addressed,
fostering a positive environment.
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13 Future Work
In future iterations of the DineSmart system, we aim to develop a mobile app that will
allow users to access the system more easily and conveniently. Moreover, integrating
real-time notifications and alerts for students and dining managers would enhance the
system’s functionality, making meal management even more efficient.
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