Unimarket/.kilo/plans/1786038462633-db-routes-fix.md

Fix database connection and route navigation

Context

Two unrelated defects are breaking the app on Laragon (Windows, Apache, PHP, MySQL/MariaDB):

1. Database connection fails. config/database.php reads MYSQLHOST/MYSQLUSER/MYSQLPASSWORD/etc. via getenv(). PHP under Apache/CGI on Laragon does not expose a project .env file to getenv() automatically — only the real OS environment. There is no vlucas/phpdotenv or apache_setenv call. The .env file at the project root is therefore ignored, so getenv("MYSQLHOST") returns false, and the PDO DSN is malformed (host=;dbname=unimarket;port=3306;…).
2. Broken navigation links. index.php links to /public/customer/products/browse.php and /public/owner/dashboard.php, but the actual folders live at /customer/… and /owner/… (no public/ prefix). includes/sidebar.php references a BASE_URL constant that is never defined anywhere. Header/sidebar links will render as /owner/products/list.php (no host) or as the literal text BASE_URLowner/….

The .env file is otherwise correct: MYSQLHOST=127.0.0.1, MYSQLUSER=root, MYSQLPASSWORD= (empty), MYSQLPORT=3306, MYSQLDATABASE=unimarket. Database unimarket is created by unimarket.sql.

Decisions

• DB fix approach: Add a small inline parser for .env in config/database.php (no new dependency). On first call it loads /path/to/project/.env, sets values into $_SERVER, $_ENV, and putenv(), then continues to use getenv(). This is the minimum change that keeps getenv() calls working everywhere else and avoids pulling in Composer.
• Routes approach: Fix the offending links to use the real paths (/customer/…, /owner/…, /admin/…) and define BASE_URL once. Do not rename folders or add a public/ rewrite — that conflicts with the guide.txt layout.
• Unimarket/includes/sidebar.php is a duplicate/stale file; we will not edit it (it is not referenced by any page). It is flagged in the risks so the team can delete it.

Tasks

1. config/database.php — load .env before reading env vars

• Add a function loadEnv($path) that:
  • Returns silently if file missing or unreadable.
  • Skips blank lines and # comments.
  • For KEY=value lines, calls putenv("$KEY=$value"), sets $_ENV[$KEY], and $_SERVER[$KEY].
  • Honors double-quoted values (strips quotes) and leaves empty values as "".
• Call loadEnv(__DIR__ . '/../.env') before the getenv() reads.
• Keep existing try/catch so a real connection failure still shows the message.

2. index.php — fix two hero buttons

• Line 153: /public/customer/products/browse.php → /customer/products/browse.php
• Line 155: /public/owner/dashboard.php → /owner/dashboard.php

3. includes/sidebar.php — define BASE_URL and fix trailing slashes

• At the top of the file (before any output), add a guard that defines BASE_URL if not already set:

  if (!defined('BASE_URL')) { define('BASE_URL', '/'); }
  

• Note: header.php links use absolute paths starting with / already, so sidebar is the only place that needs the constant. The current three links render as /owner/products/list.php etc., which is what we want.
• (Optional but recommended) Remove the third link to owner/reports.php because owner/reports.php does not exist in the repo (see Risks). Decision: keep it for now — out of scope; this task is "fix what is broken", not "remove features".

4. Unimarket/includes/sidebar.php — flag as stale

• Do not edit. List in Open Questions so the team decides whether to delete it.

Files to change

• config/database.php — add loadEnv() and call it
• index.php — two href fixes
• includes/sidebar.php — add BASE_URL guard

Out of scope

• Unimarket/includes/sidebar.php (duplicate, not referenced anywhere)
• Missing owner/reports.php, owner/manage_orders.php, admin/reports.php — those are separate feature gaps, not routing bugs
• Composer / phpdotenv adoption
• CSRF enforcement gaps and other security items
• .htaccess or public/ rewrite

Validation

Manual smoke test on Laragon (http://unimarket.test or http://localhost/Unimarket/):

1. Hit /index.php — page loads, no Database connection failed banner.
2. Trending Products section renders up to 6 cards from the products table.
3. From a guest session, both header "Login"/"Register" links open the auth pages.
4. Log in as an owner; click "Go to Dashboard" hero button — lands on /owner/dashboard.php (not 404).
5. Log in as a customer; click "Browse Products" — lands on /customer/products/browse.php.
6. From the owner sidebar, "Products" and "Orders" links open their list pages without "BASE_URL" appearing in the URL or the rendered HTML.
7. Confirm by viewing source of any owner page that no literal string BASE_URL appears in href attributes.

Risks / open questions

• Stale duplicate file: Unimarket/includes/sidebar.php mirrors includes/sidebar.php and still uses BASE_URL. Recommend deleting the entire Unimarket/ subfolder — confirm with team before doing so.
• Empty MYSQLPASSWORD: Laragon default MySQL root has no password; the getenv("MYSQLPASSWORD") ?: '' works once .env is loaded. If a teammate's MySQL root does have a password, they must set MYSQLPASSWORD="theirpass" in .env.
• owner/reports.php referenced but absent: clicking the "Reports" sidebar link will 404. Flagged for the team; not fixed here.
• No tests exist in the repo, so validation is manual only.