To design this system I have had to acquire skills in using excel. These consist of making and designing tables, writing macro codes and writing formulas.
When building the system I had to take certain things into consideration when it came to making the application aesthetically appealing and intuitive. They are as follows:
- All gridlines, sheet tabs, column and row table should be removed so that the final product looks as professional as possible without the look of an excel spreadsheet.
- Throughout the system I have to be consistent with the style of it. For example the formatting, logo’s, fonts, text size and the colours I use have to match through out the application.
- Attention must be paid to numeric formats, type faces and sizes. Border cells requiring input should be clearly identified and all other areas of the worksheet protected against accidental deletion.
- Cells referenced in the formulae should be given appropriate names, e.g. the names of the labels or titles rather than cell address references
Basic System Set up
Below is a picture of the basic layout of the system. You will be greeted by the welcome page, then by click the Enter button you will be directed to the Navigation page. From the Navigation page you can select to either go to Invoices or the Mailing List. Both of these pages will allow you to return the main navigation page.
Justification Of The Choice Of Hardware/Software Used
Below reveals the system requirements that are recommended to use:
- Processor—233 MHz or higher
- Operating System—Windows XP/Windows 2000 or later
- Memory—128MB RAM
- Disk Drive—CD ROM Drive
- Pointing Devise—Microsoft Mouse
Below are the properties of the computer I have been using to design the system.
College Computer: -
- Processor—2 GHz
- Operating System—Windows XP
- Memory—400MB
- Disk Drive—CD ROM Drive
- Pointing Device—Microsoft Mouse
- Other—USB ports (portable backup of project, transporting from home and college).
Justification Of The Choice Of Software Used
I have chosen to construct the system on a spreadsheet as it offers a wide range of techniques to ensure that the input of data is sensible and secure. Simple mathematical functions are offered, with quick and efficient calculations.
The type up was done using a word processing program as it offers me the necessary tools such as image cropping, spell check etc. Pasting print screens is also available; giving me two Medias of the project, cropping the screenshots is also another efficient way of showing the idea I’m trying to get across by highlighting a specific area.
The following skills are required before starting the project:
- Passwords
- Buttons
- Macros
- Formulae
Step By Step Account
In this section I am going to show you how the system was built in a step by step guide. To do this I will go through each sheet individually and with annotated screen shots explain the process that was needed to design the system.
Welcome Page
Above is a screen shot of the opening screen. This simply displays the contact details and slogan of the business. When the application is opened this will be the first screen that you will see. This screen will only been seen when the application is first opened.
To design this page all that was needed was the company logo, along with the address written underneath and a macro button which once clicked goes to the navigation screen.
For security reasons a password will be placed on this page when it is opened before anything can happen. This protects anybody logging onto the system without authority.
To create this page I had to do several things. Firstly I had to copy and past the company logo. I then had to write the address underneath to keep the system looking professional and personal. After I done this I had to create a button which will allow you to access the next page. I did this by using the autoshape tool bar. Lastly I had to record a macro so that once the button is clicked you are navigated to the ‘navpage’ from which you can choose where to go on the system. I did this by right clicking on the button and selecting assign macro, I then entered the name of the macro ‘navpage’. This then allowed me to start recording the macro. To do this part I had to click on the button and then select the sheet I wanted the button to navigate to. In this case the ‘navpage’. Once I selected the sheet I then pressed stop to stop the recording of the macro.
Macros
The only macro placed on to this page will be for the button title “Click here to Enter”. This macro button is to be named “navpage”.
