Aakalan - Student Management System

A comprehensive GUI-based offline application built entirely in C for complete student lifecycle management

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✨ Features

🔐 Security & Authentication

• Secure Login System with email/password authentication
• SHA-256 password hashing with unique salt per user
• SQL injection prevention using prepared statements
• Session management with secure user context

👥 Student Management

• Multi-class support - manage multiple classes simultaneously
• Add, edit, delete, and search student records
• Detailed student profiles with roll number, name, email, and class
• Real-time student list with TreeView display
• Bulk operations support

📚 Assignment Tracking

• Create and manage assignments with title, subject, and due dates
• Track submissions per student with submission status
• Quality assessment - rate work quality (Excellent, Good, Average, Poor)
• Subject categorization - organize by subject areas
• Due date tracking - monitor deadlines and late submissions
• Per-student submission details with quality ratings

📅 Attendance Management

• Daily attendance tracking - mark Present/Absent for each student
• Date-based views - review attendance by specific dates
• Class-wise attendance - separate records per class
• Attendance history - view past attendance records
• Bulk marking - efficient attendance entry

📊 Reports & Analytics

• Student performance reports
• Assignment submission statistics
• Attendance summaries by student and class
• Export capabilities (planned)

💾 Data Management

• Offline operation - all data stored locally in SQLite
• Automatic database initialization
• Data persistence across sessions
• Portable deployment - run from USB drive or any location

🎨 User Interface

• Clean modern GUI built with GTK 3
• Responsive layout that adapts to window size
• Intuitive navigation with clear menu structure
• Real-time updates - UI refreshes automatically
• Custom application icon - branded identity

Technology Stack

• Language: C (C11 standard)
• GUI Framework: GTK 3
• Database: SQLite 3
• Security: OpenSSL (SHA-256 hashing)

Prerequisites

Before building this project, you need to install the following dependencies:

Windows (MSYS2/MinGW)

1. Install MSYS2 from https://www.msys2.org/

2. Open MSYS2 MinGW 64-bit terminal and run:

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gtk3
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-sqlite3
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-openssl
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-pkg-config
pacman -S make

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install libgtk-3-dev
sudo apt-get install libsqlite3-dev
sudo apt-get install libssl-dev
sudo apt-get install pkg-config

Linux (Fedora/RHEL)

sudo dnf install gcc make
sudo dnf install gtk3-devel
sudo dnf install sqlite-devel
sudo dnf install openssl-devel
sudo dnf install pkg-config

Building the Project

1. Clone or extract the project to your desired location

2. Navigate to the project directory:

cd "C Final Prokect"

3. Build the project:

make

4. Run the application:

make run

Or run directly:

./build/assignment_tracker.exe  # Windows
./build/assignment_tracker      # Linux

Project Structure

C Final Prokect/
├── include/           # Header files
│   ├── common.h       # Common definitions and utilities
│   ├── database.h     # Database operations
│   ├── security.h     # Password hashing and security
│   ├── validation.h   # Input validation functions
│   ├── ui_login.h     # Login screen
│   ├── ui_dashboard.h # Main dashboard
│   ├── ui_students.h  # Student management
│   ├── ui_assignments.h # Assignment tracking
│   ├── ui_attendance.h  # Attendance management
│   └── ui_reports.h   # Reports and analytics
├── src/               # Source files
│   ├── main.c         # Application entry point
│   ├── common.c       # Common utilities implementation
│   ├── database.c     # Database operations
│   ├── security.c     # Security functions
│   ├── validation.c   # Validation functions
│   ├── ui_login.c     # Login UI
│   ├── ui_dashboard.c # Dashboard UI
│   ├── ui_students.c  # Student management UI
│   ├── ui_assignments.c # Assignment tracking UI
│   ├── ui_attendance.c  # Attendance UI
│   └── ui_reports.c   # Reports UI
├── build/             # Compiled output
├── data/              # Database storage
│   └── assignment_tracker.db # SQLite database (created on first run)
├── Makefile           # Build configuration
└── README.md          # This file

🚀 Quick Start

Portable Version (Windows)

1. Download or extract the Aakalan folder
2. Double-click Start.bat or Aakalan.exe
3. No installation required - runs immediately!

From Source

1. Build the project: make
2. Run: make run or ./build/assignment_tracker

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📖 Usage Guide

🔑 First Time Setup

1. Launch the application
2. Click "Don't have an account? Register"
3. Fill in your details:
   • Name (minimum 3 characters)
   • Valid email address
   • Strong password (8+ characters, uppercase, lowercase, digit, special character)
4. Click "Register"
5. Login with your newly created credentials

👨‍🎓 Managing Students

1. From the dashboard, click "Student Management"
2. Add new student:
   • Enter Roll Number (unique identifier)
   • Enter student Name
   • Enter Email address
   • Select or enter Class name
   • Click "Add Student"
3. Edit existing student:
   • Click on a student in the list
   • Details populate in the form
   • Modify fields as needed
   • Click "Update Student"
4. Delete student: Select student → Click "Delete Student"
5. Search: Use the search box to filter students by name/roll

📝 Creating & Managing Assignments

1. From the dashboard, click "Assignment Tracking"
2. Create new assignment:
   • Enter Assignment Title
   • Enter Subject name
   • Select Due Date from calendar
   • Click "Create Assignment"
3. Track submissions:
   • Select an assignment from the list
   • View all students and their submission status
   • Mark submissions with quality ratings:
     • ✅ Excellent - Outstanding work
     • 👍 Good - Above average quality
     • 📝 Average - Meets requirements
     • ❌ Poor - Needs improvement
4. Monitor deadlines: Assignments show due dates for tracking

✅ Marking Attendance

1. From the dashboard, click "Attendance Management"
2. Select date from the calendar picker
3. Mark attendance for each student:
   • Click "Present" for attending students
   • Click "Absent" for non-attending students
4. Review past attendance:
   • Change the date to view historical records
   • Attendance automatically loads for selected date
5. Class filtering: Attendance is tracked per class

🔒 Security Features

• 🔐 Password Security:

  • SHA-256 hashing algorithm
  • Unique random salt per user
  • Passwords never stored in plain text
  • Minimum complexity requirements enforced

• 🛡️ SQL Injection Prevention:

  • All database queries use prepared statements
  • Parameterized inputs for all user data
  • No direct string concatenation in queries

• ✅ Input Validation:

  • Email format validation with regex
  • Password strength requirements (8+ chars, mixed case, numbers, special chars)
  • Name length validation (3-50 characters)
  • Roll number uniqueness checks
  • SQL-safe character filtering

• 👤 Session Management:

  • Secure user session context
  • User ID propagated throughout application
  • Automatic logout on window close

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🗄️ Database Schema

Tables

users

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY) - Unique user identifier
• name (TEXT NOT NULL) - User's full name
• email (TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL) - Login email
• password_hash (TEXT NOT NULL) - SHA-256 hashed password
• salt (TEXT NOT NULL) - Random salt for hashing
• created_at (DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP) - Account creation time

students

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY) - Student ID
• user_id (INTEGER) - Foreign key to users table
• roll_number (TEXT NOT NULL) - Student roll number
• name (TEXT NOT NULL) - Student name
• email (TEXT) - Student email
• class (TEXT) - Class/section name
• created_at (DATETIME) - Record creation timestamp

assignments

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY) - Assignment ID
• user_id (INTEGER) - Foreign key to users table
• title (TEXT NOT NULL) - Assignment title
• subject (TEXT NOT NULL) - Subject area
• due_date (DATE NOT NULL) - Submission deadline
• created_at (DATETIME) - Assignment creation time

assignment_submissions

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY) - Submission ID
• assignment_id (INTEGER) - Foreign key to assignments
• student_id (INTEGER) - Foreign key to students
• submission_status (TEXT) - Submitted/Not Submitted
• quality (TEXT) - Excellent/Good/Average/Poor
• submitted_at (DATETIME) - Submission timestamp

attendance

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY) - Attendance record ID
• student_id (INTEGER) - Foreign key to students
• date (DATE NOT NULL) - Attendance date
• status (TEXT NOT NULL) - Present/Absent
• class (TEXT) - Class name
• marked_at (DATETIME) - Record creation time

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Troubleshooting

Build Errors

Error: gtk/gtk.h not found

• Make sure GTK 3 development packages are installed
• Verify pkg-config is working: pkg-config --cflags gtk+-3.0

Error: sqlite3.h not found

• Install SQLite development packages
• Check with: pkg-config --libs sqlite3

Error: openssl/sha.h not found

• Install OpenSSL development packages

Runtime Errors

Database initialization failed

• Ensure the data/ directory exists
• Check write permissions

Window doesn't appear

• Verify GTK runtime libraries are in your PATH
• On Windows, make sure MSYS2 MinGW bin directory is in PATH

🔧 Development Notes

Architecture

• Modular Design: Clear separation of concerns across modules
• MVC-like Pattern: UI, business logic, and data access separated
• Event-Driven: GTK signal/callback architecture
• Database Abstraction: Centralized database operations

Code Organization

• Header Files (include/): Interface definitions and declarations
• Source Files (src/): Implementation of all modules
• Single Responsibility: Each module handles one domain area
• Reusable Components: Common utilities shared across modules

Best Practices Applied

• ✅ Const-correctness for function parameters
• ✅ Proper memory management with cleanup functions
• ✅ Error handling for all database/file operations
• ✅ Input validation before processing
• ✅ Prepared statements for SQL queries
• ✅ Meaningful variable and function names
• ✅ Comprehensive comments and documentation

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🚧 Future Enhancements

• Advanced Reports: Graphical charts and visualizations
• Export Functionality: CSV, PDF, Excel export
• Data Import: Bulk student import from files
• Backup/Restore: Database backup and recovery
• User Roles: Admin, Instructor, Student access levels
• Notifications: Due date reminders and alerts
• Dark Mode: Theme switching support
• Multi-language: Internationalization support
• Cloud Sync: Optional cloud backup (future version)
• Mobile App: Companion mobile application

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📦 Portable Package

The Windows portable version includes:

• Aakalan.exe - Main executable with embedded icon
• 97 DLL files - All GTK, SQLite, OpenSSL dependencies
• Start.bat - Launcher script with PATH configuration
• data/ - Database storage directory
• README.txt - Quick reference guide

Package Size: ~100 MB Requirements: Windows 10/11 64-bit Installation: None required - extract and run!

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📄 License

This is an academic project developed for educational purposes.

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👨‍💻 Author

Developed as a comprehensive C programming project demonstrating:

• ✨ Professional GUI development with GTK 3
• 🗄️ Database integration and design with SQLite
• 🔒 Security implementation (hashing, validation, SQL injection prevention)
• 🏗️ Modular software architecture and design patterns
• ✅ Input validation and comprehensive error handling
• 📦 Cross-platform development (Windows/Linux)
• 🎯 Real-world application development from concept to deployment

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Built with ❤️ using C, GTK 3, SQLite, and OpenSSL

Aakalan - Empowering Education Through Technology