From 3ea1c562d6b5ffca3e1b70bbfd5469106f125431 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Fardhin Masud (masudm6)" <masudm6@coventry.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2024 12:04:25 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Update README.md

---
 README.md | 55 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 50 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 58f9498..a49d7b3 100644
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 # liveflight
 
-this repo is for flight tracking and viewing kml/csv flight data.  
-extremely WIP at the moment
+This repository is for visualising flight data from KML/CSV files and open-source data feeds.
 
-## instructions
+## Project Description
 
-to run the code install the stuff and then enter this in the console:
+liveflight is a tool designed to track flights and visualise flight data from KML and CSV formats. As the project is in its early stages, features and functionality are subject to significant changes and improvements.
 
-`uvicorn data_api:app --reload`
+## Installation
 
+1. Clone the repository:
+   ```
+   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/liveflight.git
+   cd liveflight
+   ```
+
+2. (Optional but recommended) Create and activate a virtual environment:
+   ```
+   python -m venv venv
+   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows, use `venv\Scripts\activate`
+   ```
+
+3. Install the required packages (until I make the requirements.txt file):
+   ```
+   pip install fastapi uvicorn
+   ```
+
+## Usage
+
+To start the server, run the following command in your terminal:
+
+```
+uvicorn data_api:app --reload
+```
+
+This command does the following:
+- `uvicorn`: The ASGI server used to run the FastAPI application
+- `data_api:app`: Tells uvicorn to look for the `app` object in the `data_api.py` file
+- `--reload`: Enables auto-reloading, so the server restarts when code changes are detected
+
+After running this command, you should see output indicating that the server is running. By default, you can access the API at `http://127.0.0.1:8000`. 
+
+To stop the server, press `CTRL+C` in the terminal where it's running.
+
+## Current Features
+
+- FastAPI backend to retrieve and serve flight data from open-source data sources.
+- Simple frontend displaying live flight data onto a map given an icao24 identifier using Mapbox.
+
+## To Be Implemented
+
+- OpenAPI specification
+- Downloading flight data (from callsign, flight code, icao24)
+- Show flight track, departure and arrival airports
+- Visualise KML/CSV data onto a map
+- Timeline of flights (e.g. multiple flights on the map with a scrollable selector to choose dates and times)