Waiter Role: Tables, Orders, Products, and Inventory

The Waiter (Mesero) dashboard is the primary point-of-sale interface for floor staff. It follows an offline-first architecture: all tables, products, and orders are cached in Room so the waiter can continue working when Firebase is unreachable, and pending orders are synced automatically as soon as internet connectivity is restored. The dashboard opens at waiter_main, which renders WaiterMainScreen after AppNavigation verifies that userRole == UserRole.MESERO.

Workflow

View Tables

TablesScreen displays all tables in a 2-column LazyVerticalGrid, sorted by table number. A summary card shows total, occupied, free, and active order counts. Tapping a TableCard navigates to table_details/{tableId} where tableId is an integer in the range 1–8.

Browse Products and Build an Order

TableDetailsScreen calls viewModel.setCurrentTable(tableId) on load, binding all subsequent cart operations to that table. Active products are rendered as ProductItem cards; tapping one calls viewModel.addItemToCurrentOrder(product). The cart counter badge on the top-bar IconButton updates in real time from currentOrderItems.

Confirm and Send to Kitchen

When the waiter taps the cart icon, ConfirmOrderDialog shows a line-item summary with the running total. Confirming calls viewModel.createOrder(tableId, tableNumber), which constructs an Order with status = OrderStatus.ENVIADO and persists it to Room. If internet is available, it is immediately pushed to Firebase and the table is marked OCUPADA via firebaseTableRepository.assignOrderToTable(). If offline, the order is saved with syncStatus = "PENDING" for later sync.

Track Order Status

OrdersScreen groups all active orders by status into labelled sections: Enviadas a cocina, Aceptadas, En preparación, and Listas para servir. The waiter also receives real-time notifications via NotificationPanel when the chef changes an order’s status.

Deliver and Free the Table

Once an order reaches LISTO, the waiter taps ENTREGAR on the OrderCard, calling viewModel.markOrderAsDelivered(orderId) which sets the status to ENTREGADO. After the client finishes, tapping LIBERAR calls viewModel.markTableAsFree(orderId), which marks the order COMPLETED and resets the table to LIBRE.

Screens

TablesScreen
TableDetailsScreen
ProductsScreen
OrdersScreen (Waiter)
InventoryScreen (Waiter)

Renders the full table grid and a TablesSummary stat card. Observes viewModel.tables and viewModel.orders. Calls viewModel.refreshData() on first composition. Shows an offline banner if isInternetAvailable == false or isFirebaseConnected == false, with a Reconectar button that calls viewModel.syncWithFirebase().

Accepts a tableId: String? path parameter, validates it is in 1–8, then calls viewModel.setCurrentTable(tableIdInt). Renders a scrollable LazyColumn of active ProductItem cards. A CurrentOrderSummary card appears at the top once at least one item is in the cart. Shows ConfirmOrderDialog when the user taps the cart badge.

Displays the same product list as TableDetailsScreen but without the table-scoped cart context. If currentTableId is null when the user tries to add an item, the screen navigates to tables so a table is selected first. Shows a CurrentOrderMiniSummary card when currentOrderItems is non-empty.

Groups orders from viewModel.orders into status sections using orders.groupBy { it.status }. OrderCard components surface action buttons contextually: ENTREGAR when status == LISTO, LIBERAR when status == ENTREGADO. Each section has a coloured OrdersSectionHeader icon and count badge.

Filters viewModel.products to those where trackInventory == true and renders InventoryProductCard rows with a LinearProgressIndicator. Stock states are colour-coded: green for available, orange for low, red for out-of-stock. Add-product FAB redirects the user to the admin panel (inventory edits are admin-only).

WaiterViewModel

WaiterViewModel is a @HiltViewModel that owns the entire Mesero data layer. It combines a Room database (offline-first) with Firebase Realtime listeners for live kitchen updates.

StateFlows

StateFlow	Type	Description
`tables`	`StateFlow<List<Table>>`	All restaurant tables, filtered to IDs 1–8 and status-corrected against active orders
`orders`	`StateFlow<List<Order>>`	Active orders (excludes `COMPLETED` and `CANCELLED`) sourced from Room
`products`	`StateFlow<List<Product>>`	Full product list, kept live via `firebaseProductRepository.listenToProductChanges()`
`isLoading`	`StateFlow<Boolean>`	True while initial data load or manual refresh is in progress
`currentOrderItems`	`StateFlow<List<OrderItem>>`	Cart contents for the currently selected table
`currentTableId`	`StateFlow<Int?>`	ID of the table currently being served
`isFirebaseConnected`	`StateFlow<Boolean>`	Reflects live Firebase reachability
`isInternetAvailable`	`StateFlow<Boolean>`	Set by `ConnectivityManager.NetworkCallback`
`connectionStatus`	`StateFlow<String>`	Human-readable connectivity string for display in banners
`connectionMessage`	`StateFlow<String?>`	Ephemeral banner text, auto-cleared after 3 s
`successMessage`	`StateFlow<String?>`	Ephemeral success banner text
`errorMessage`	`StateFlow<String?>`	Ephemeral error banner text
`notifications`	`StateFlow<List<Notification>>`	In-app notification queue, capped at 5 entries

Computed Properties

val currentOrderTotal: Double
    get() = _currentOrderItems.value.sumOf { it.subtotal }

val currentOrderItemCount: Int
    get() = _currentOrderItems.value.sumOf { it.quantity }

val occupiedTablesCount: Int
    get() = _tables.value.count { it.status == TableStatus.OCUPADA }

val readyOrdersCount: Int
    get() = _orders.value.count { it.status == OrderStatus.LISTO }

Use Cases Called

firebaseTableRepository.getTables() — initial table load
firebaseTableRepository.assignOrderToTable(tableId, orderId) — locks table when order is sent
firebaseTableRepository.clearTable(tableId) — frees table on delivery or cancellation
firebaseOrderRepository.createOrder(order) — pushes new order to Firebase
firebaseOrderRepository.updateOrderStatus(orderId, status) — marks delivered, served, or cancelled
firebaseOrderRepository.listenToOrderChanges() — real-time status updates from chef
firebaseProductRepository.getSellableProducts() — initial product load
firebaseProductRepository.listenToProductChanges() — live stock updates
syncManager.syncOrders() — uploads pending Room orders after reconnect

Order Creation

fun createOrder(tableId: Int, tableNumber: Int, notes: String? = null) {
    viewModelScope.launch {
        val items = _currentOrderItems.value
        val order = Order(
            id          = UUID.randomUUID().toString(),
            tableId     = tableId,
            tableNumber = tableNumber,
            items       = items,
            status      = OrderStatus.ENVIADO,
            createdAt   = System.currentTimeMillis(),
            updatedAt   = System.currentTimeMillis(),
            total       = items.sumOf { it.subtotal },
            waiterId    = "mesero_actual",
            waiterName  = "Mesero",
            notes       = notes
        )

        // Always persist to Room first (offline-first)
        db.orderDao().insert(order.toEntity().copy(
            syncStatus = if (_isInternetAvailable.value) "SYNCED" else "PENDING"
        ))

        if (_isInternetAvailable.value) {
            firebaseOrderRepository.createOrder(order)
            firebaseTableRepository.assignOrderToTable(tableId, order.id)
            _successMessage.value = "Pedido enviado a cocina - Mesa $tableNumber"
        } else {
            _successMessage.value = "SIN INTERNET - Pedido guardado localmente"
        }

        refreshOrdersFromRoom()
        clearCurrentOrder()
        loadTables()
    }
}

WaiterMainScreen uses a ScrollableTabRow with three tabs rendered by TabContent:

Tab index	Label	Composable
0	MESAS	`TablesScreen`
1	PRODUCTOS	`ProductsScreen`
2	ORDENES	`OrdersScreen`

TableDetailsScreen is not a tab — it is reached from TablesScreen via navController.navigate("table_details/${table.id}") and exists as a separate composable route ("table_details/{tableId}") in AppNavigation. InventoryScreen is also registered as a standalone "inventory" route in AppNavigation rather than as a tab inside WaiterMainScreen. On tablets in landscape orientation (screenWidthDp >= 600 and ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE), the tab row is replaced by a NavigationRail on the left side of the screen, with the content filling the remaining space.

NotificationPanel

NotificationPanel is rendered as a floating overlay anchored to the top-end of the content area when the notification bell icon is tapped. It displays up to 5 entries from viewModel.notifications.

NotificationPanel(
    notifications  = notifications,
    onDismissNotification = { notification ->
        viewModel.removeNotification(notification)
    },
    onClearAll = { viewModel.clearAllNotifications() },
    modifier = Modifier
        .align(Alignment.TopEnd)
        .padding(12.dp)
        .widthIn(max = 420.dp)
        .zIndex(2f)
)

Notifications are generated inside WaiterViewModel.showStatusChangeNotification() whenever the chef advances an order’s status. Each notification type corresponds to a NotificationType enum value:

`NotificationType`	Trigger
`ORDER_ACCEPTED`	Chef changes status to `ACEPTADO`
`ORDER_IN_PREPARATION`	Chef changes status to `EN_PREPARACION`
`ORDER_READY`	Chef changes status to `LISTO`
`ORDER_DELIVERED`	Status changes to `ENTREGADO`
`ORDER_CANCELLED`	Waiter calls `cancelOrder()`

A _sentNotifications: MutableSet<String> keyed by "${orderId}_${status}" prevents duplicate notifications when Firebase emits multiple events for the same state change. Each key is automatically removed after 5 seconds.

Get Started

User Roles

Core Features

Configuration

Waiter Role: Tables, Orders, Products, and Inventory

Workflow

Screens

WaiterViewModel

StateFlows

Computed Properties

Use Cases Called

Order Creation

Navigation Graph

NotificationPanel

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

User Roles

Core Features

Configuration

Documentation Index

​Workflow

​Screens

​WaiterViewModel

​StateFlows

​Computed Properties

​Use Cases Called

​Order Creation

​Navigation Graph

​NotificationPanel

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Workflow

Screens

WaiterViewModel

StateFlows

Computed Properties

Use Cases Called

Order Creation

Navigation Graph

NotificationPanel