Today the human civilization is more advanced than it ever was; we see powerful gadgets in every domain there is to know. Some of these hand held gadget are more powerful than the most advanced computer of the yester years. The different types of domain in which the todays devices can be used too many to be noted down in this blog, but I will mention a few domains which are beginning to excite the software development community and the general population alike. So advance but still a 4 year old kid can master these devices.
THE QUESTION
Of the many domains one of the most exciting domain is the hotel industry. Every hotel has a printed menu to list out all the delicacies available but since the dishes dependent on the availability of the raw materials which further may depend on the season of the year. In such cases where the dishes listed on the printed menu may not be available the waiter will have to be polite and convey this to the hungry customers. Else they can print a new menu. But printing takes money and the hotel may not afford to have such expenses every now and then. So what do they do?
THE ANSWER
Use the power of mobile devices.
The VisualMenu is such software designed for the hotel industry where they can harness the technology available and use it to its advantage to give the customer a great experience in deciding their order.
INTRODUCTION: THE VISUALMENU
The VisualMenu, well as the name says is a menu but! On the mobile device. You never will have to print another menu again. VisualMenu allows you to change the hotel menu anytime and as many times as you want with as many items as you can possible think of. You can add the image of the food item and even a video which can then be viewed on the handheld device like a tablet. The VisualMenu has two parts, the desktop application for adding items and creating new categories and VisualMenu on the handheld device to view all the item and categories created using the desktop application.
TECHNOLOGY
The VisualMenu is developed using Android for the hand held application and the desktop application is developed using Delphi programming language. MySQL database is used as the backend for the data storage.
THE VISUALMENU: DESKTOP
The desktop application provides users with an easy way to create the menu. Users can create unlimited number of categories; add unlimited number of dishes to those categories. Items and categories can be deleted.The above image is the main form of the VisualMenu desktop application. From here you can navigate to view the menu, add new items, edit existing items, add new category, delete items or delete categories. Also you can create a buffet and also create, delete and view a combo. Add some special items for the day in today’s special. Create and edit new sections for the food menu.
FEATURES:
1] View the menu
The menu as a whole can be viewed through the VisualMenu desktop application along with the images of the individual items..The Categories are listed and the items are displayed in the tree view fashion for each category along with the price of the item. On the right hand side the item images are displayed.
2] Add items
An unlimited number of items can be added to the menu. And each item can have multiple images.Each item has a unique name, description about the item, the price and option for videos and multiple images. You can add multiple images to the each of the menu items.
3] Edit items
All the items in the VisualMenu can be edited, the description, the price and the images and videos can be changed.
4] Add category
Like the menu items, an unlimited number of categories can be added to the VisualMenu. Each category has a description about itself.The category order can also be changed, that is the order in which the categories will appear everywhere on the menu, even on the tablet.
4] Delete item
Items can be also deleted from the VisualMenu. The all the items are listed along with the images of the items. Deleting is very simple, just click on the item you wish to delete from the list and press the Delete buttons, as simple as that.
5] Delete category
If you want to remove a category from the VisualMenu, that is also possible. All you have to do is select the category you wish to delete from the VisualMenu can press delete. All the items associated with the deleted category will also be deleted on the click of a button.
6] Buffet
The VisualMenu allows you to create a buffet with items from any of the categories that have been created by the you. The buffet items can be added or deleted; also total price of the buffet can be setThe final items are displayed along with the prices of the individual items.
7] Combo
VisualMenu allows you to create unlimited number of combos for the menu, wherein you can add items from any category and give a unique name and set the price of the combo.
a) Create a combo
b) View a combo
All the combo that were saved are displayed along with the images of the items.
c) Delete combo
Admin is also allowed to delete the combos that already exist in the database.
8] Sections
Along with the categories for the menu items, VisualMenu has sections, which can be assigned to the items when they are added to the menu. These sections appear on the main VisualMenu table application. You can also create unlimited number of sections, edit or delete.
9] Today’s special
Every restaurant has a special menu for some special days or a special menu or items every day.
VisualMenu provides features where you can have a separate area where the special dishes of the day are displayed on the VisualMenu tablet.You can view all the items added to the today’s special menu
10] About the hotel
If you want to display some amazing and unique features and facts about your restaurant menu, the do not worry, VisualMenu has a features where you can display any information about your restaurant or hotel and even have your very own logo displayed on the VisualMenu table application.
