removed cron job that made rentals active. Now whether or not the rental is active is determined on the fly

backend/utils/rentalStatus.js

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/**
+ * Utility functions for computing rental status on-the-fly.
+ * The "active" status is computed based on timestamps rather than stored in the database.
+ * A rental is considered "active" when it has status "confirmed" and startDateTime has passed.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Returns the effective/display status of a rental.
+ * If the rental is "confirmed" and the start time has passed, returns "active".
+ * Otherwise returns the stored status.
+ * @param {Object} rental - The rental object with status and startDateTime
+ * @returns {string} The effective status
+ */
+function getEffectiveStatus(rental) {
+  const now = new Date();
+  if (
+    rental.status === "confirmed" &&
+    new Date(rental.startDateTime) <= now
+  ) {
+    return "active";
+  }
+  return rental.status;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Checks if a rental is currently active.
+ * A rental is active when it's confirmed and the start time has passed.
+ * @param {Object} rental - The rental object with status and startDateTime
+ * @returns {boolean} True if the rental is currently active
+ */
+function isActive(rental) {
+  const now = new Date();
+  return (
+    rental.status === "confirmed" && new Date(rental.startDateTime) <= now
+  );
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+  getEffectiveStatus,
+  isActive,
+};