To set up and run the application, follow these steps:

1. Build and Start the Application:
   • Open your terminal.
   • Navigate to the root directory of the project.
   • To build and start all the necessary applications at once, run the following command at the beginning:

     docker-compose up --build
     

     This command builds and starts all the containers required for the application, and it needs to be run only once at the beginning.

• Open Postman.
• Import the PCCW-GLOBAL.postman_collection.json file. This file contains the API requests you will need to interact with the backend.

Before using the application, the database needs to be populated:

1. Run the FeedDB Endpoint:
   • In Postman, execute the request to {{local_url}}/api/v1/feed/feedDB.
   • This endpoint will import data from the seed.xlsx file into the database.
   • If you encounter any errors during this process, restart the PostgreSQL and API containers, and then try again.

After populating the database, you can access the application's frontend:

1. Visit the Web Application:
   • Navigate to http://localhost:3000/ in your web browser.

To see users exchanging messages:

1. Use URL Parameters for Specific Data:
   • Access http://localhost:3000/?currentUserId=1&userID1=1&userID2=3 to view messages exchanged between specified users.
   • Modify the values of currentUserId, userID1, and userID2 in the URL as needed.

• Please refer to this README for any special instructions or assumptions made during the development.
• For further queries or issues not covered here, feel free to reach out for support.