Exploring the World of Car Rental Management: Building a Python Application

Article 15: Managing Car Status

Welcome back to our journey of building a robust car rental management system in Python! In Part 15, we will delve into a critical aspect of managing the car fleet: handling and updating the status of each car. Efficiently managing car statuses is crucial for providing accurate information to customers and ensuring the smooth operation of the rental service.

Understanding Car Statuses

In our system, each car can be in one of several statuses:

Available (A): The car is ready to be rented.
Rented (R): The car is currently on rent.
Maintenance (M): The car is undergoing maintenance and is temporarily unavailable.

Updating Car Status

Let's explore the process of changing the status of a car:

Selecting the Car:

Begin by asking the administrator to input the Car ID for the vehicle they want to update.
```
 car_id = input("Enter the Car ID: ").upper()
```

Validating Car ID:

Ensure that the provided Car ID exists in the system.

 # Check if the car exists
 if car_exists(car_id):
     # Car exists, proceed with status update
 else:
     print("Car not found. Please check the Car ID and try again.")

Use the car_exists function to verify the existence of the car.

Updating Status:

Prompt the administrator to choose the new status for the car.
```
 new_status = input("Enter the new status (A/R/M): ").upper()
```
Validate that the new status is one of the allowed values (A, R, M).
Implementing Status Restrictions:

Depending on the current status of the car, implement restrictions to ensure logical status transitions. For example, a car cannot move from "Rented" to "Available" without first closing the associated reservation.
```
 # Check if the status transition is valid
 if is_valid_status_transition(current_status, new_status):
     # Update the status
 else:
     print("Invalid status transition. Please check the status and try again.")
```
Utilize the is_valid_status_transition function to enforce logical transitions.
Database Update:

Execute a SQL query to update the status of the selected car in the database.
```
 sql = "UPDATE cars SET status = %s WHERE car_id = %s"
 mycursor.execute(sql, (new_status, car_id))
```
Ensure to commit the changes to the database.
Conclusion

Part 15 has taken us through the process of managing and updating the status of cars in our car rental management system. Properly handling status transitions is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the system and providing accurate information to users.

In Part 16, we will explore how to implement dynamic pricing based on demand and car type.

The Link to my code -> [github.com/bryanspacex/Rentals] (constantly updated)

Exploring the World of Car Rental Management: Building a Python Application - Part 15