Why is the ICT solution the ideal solution?
The ICT solution is the ideal solution because if you wanted to edit the database
interface for the different person using it, it can be done easily and quickly without any cost. Another reason of which the ICT solution is the ideal solution is because when you upload the database on to the local school network, everyone has access to this but not able to edit it. This way saves money as you don’t have to re produce the database and also saves time. An efficient way to change the interface of the database to correspond to the user needs can be done with very little hassle. This is why I have chosen the ICT solution rather than the manual solution.
Quantitative objectives
- The database should take up maximum of 5mb of dick space.
- Database should be able to easily edit student/ book/ loan details.
- Database should be able to easily store student/ book/ loan details.
- Searches should not take longer than 15 seconds.
- Data should be able to be transferred from the school Sims system.
- It should have commonly used reports readily available.
- It should have a user-friendly interface.
Software
The software that we are making must store data well due to the large database of books. To sort the data we can use Microsoft Word or Excel Also, it must relate this data about students and the books lent out next to each other. The software has to have the “search”, “sort” and “query” functions. To query, we can use the Microsoft Excel program. To make the software look good, it must display the results in a professional manner. To make it easy for everyone to use, it has to have an exceptional user interface.
The only way I can get the best of both programs is by using Microsoft Access. This program has all the features need for me to use. I will justify why I am using Microsoft Access.
Alternative Software Solutions
Microsoft Access
The database software allows me to use and change field names, which are up to 15 characters long. It offers a range of data types, such as text (for most fields), whole numbers, currency, etc.) or dates (e.g. 01/01/07, 01 Jan 2001, etc.) the field length can be changed. It is easy to change data in a field, which I will need when I reuse the data. I can set it to a default value for every field. I can customise the field layout. I can set up a validation rule to make sure data is entered, as I want.
I can carry out simple searches (e.g. Library books, student and their forms) or more complex ones.
Sorts are easy to do in the database e.g. sort every book out when it needs to be returned and when it was lent out.
I can create a report, which chooses only certain fields, presented in a different order to the original set-up.
Word
Using Microsoft Word is a poor choice because you can’t make a database on it and it is hard to relate the information about who has taken a book out and who hasn’t.
But even though that Word can‘t do some things, it can store data very well and easily.
Excel
Excel is a reasonable choice as you can query criteria, store data, search and sort data. But you can’t display results in a professional manner.
Hardware
For this project we will need a computer with Windows XP, a mouse and a computer, which are the minimum requirements. The keyboard is used for typing information e.g. the tagline. The mouse is used for experimenting editing with the user interface of the database. I will need a memory stick to save the work that I have completed and yet still to do.
I will be buying a printer from Pc World, which is a photo printer, scanner and copier with fax and integrated WiFi technology. It is important that I have a good printer because when I print my work, I need the quality of the pictures to be exceptional. It will cost me £249.00. This is because I will need to scan the front cover of the books.
I will also buy a monitor with high resolution imaging so that it can show me the pictures without loosing any of the picture quality. I’m going to buy a monitor from Pc World; this will cost me £149.00.
Here is a table showing the advantages and disadvantages of different hardware solutions that I may consider using for my database.
I have chosen the Vilgen machine, as it is more upgradeable than a laptop and is within the price range. The HP LaserJet 6P is also the best choice, as colour printing is not required and there will be sufficient volume for cartridges to be constantly running out. Office XP will provide for all the needs of the veterinary surgery at a reasonable cost.
Alternative hardware
There is a possibility of purchasing an RM laptop with a Celeron 1.1Ghz processor for the same price as the Vilgen. It has the same RAM (256Mb), but a smaller disk of 3 GB. Another alternative would be to buy the dell Optiplex 1.7 GHz machine with 512Mb of RAM and 60 GB disk.
Security
In access it’s possible to allow privileges to different user groups. The groups can be “Users” and “Admin”.
This is very complicated process .For the purpose of this database it’s acceptable to simply hide the design options from the users.
In order to stop the users making accidental changes to the database we can stop them from looking at the database in design view.
In access it’s possible to allow privileges to different user groups. The groups can be “Users” and “Admin”.
This is very complicated process .For the purpose of this database it’s acceptable to simply hide the design options from the users. I will protect the sheet with a password so that there will not be any unauthorized changes to the document. This is also a security factor as students may want
Backup Strategy
I am going to purchase a memory stick because the school doesn’t have a very reliable network; I have lost my work many times on this network. So now I will be saving my work on to a memory stick. I will purchase a 128mb memory stick as it is cheaper than the others and I don’t need much memory to hold the work. The one I’m going to purchase is underneath. It costs £6.70 this is a cheap reliable alternative to saving work apart from using the unreliable school network. I have chosen to use a memory stick because almost every computer has a USB port but not all of them have CD-ROM drives so this would mean that I be potentially limited to the amount of computers I can open my work up from a USB pen. I will be using the memory stick often as I can, this will lower the chances of me losing my work.
Another strategy I will be using is to send my work to my own email address through email. This would mean that even if I were to forget to bring my memory stick, I can access my work anyway because most computers now days have Internet access.
There are many risks of not backing up your work, for example, the school might catch fire, the system might go down, and there might be a virus on the school system, floods. If you do not back up your work you will regret it because you will have to do all your work again, this might take time.
To save everything that has been done on floppy disks, CD ROMs, USB pens, USB memory sticks.
Data flow Diagrams
Data requirements for the ICT books loan database
Student info table
Staff Info
Form Info
Book field Name
Copy Info
Loan Info
ERD
Definition or ERD:
In computer science, an entity-relationship model (ERM) is a model providing a high-level description of a conceptual data model. Data modelling provides a graphical notation for representing such data models in the form of entity-relationship diagrams (ERD).
The arrows show the types of relationships between the tables
E.g.
Design Tasks
In order to complete my project I have split the implementation up into a number of stages. This will help me to check that created all of the features that will lead to a successful project. They must be done in this order as letter stages may rely on previous tasks being completed.
- Create all tables as set out in the “Data Requirements”
- Create all relationships as set out in ERD. – Entity Relationship diagrams.
- Create forms as shown in form design.
- Insert dummy data into all tables using the forms.
- Create Queries.
- Create reports to display all queries in a professional way.
- Create menu to access all forms / reports using command buttons.
- Test the system.
- Correct any errors.
- Evaluate.
Hand Drawn Design-Loan Form
Student Details
Staff details
User Comments
70 Courts Road
80 Gait Road Croydon
Beckenham CR3 3NR
Kent
BR4 4HR
Dear Mr Mitesh Patel,
We have received your database for the new library book proposal. We have evaluated it and have made our own comments about it.
There were many good points about your design. Firstly the interface is very user friendly and simple. It had all the relevant information about the books and the students.
If you were to design another database of this kind, you should consider about making the writing on some of the menus of the interfaces clearer as it is quite hard to read. You should have a menu system so that it will be easy to navigate around the forms. This can save a lot of time when searching. Lastly I was thinking that you should try to present this information more professionally that it already is. It could also benefit from including a query to show all outstanding loans of books and the students that have them.
If these improvements are carried out accordingly, then I believe that this database will be perfect for the library’s use from the start of next term.
Yours sincerely
Mr Bob Harley
Final Designs
Forms
Queries
Creating Tables
Validation of Data
Validation is a number that is given to an individual book; this is to differentiate them from others. This means that no book can get mistaken with any other.
Range Check
Creating a relationship
Creating a relationships (cont.)
The above diagrams show how I have related the tables in my database. Now I have created the structure of the database, I will now enter same data. I have more than 1 table so it will prevent my data from being entered more than once. It will reduce the amount the chance of making mistakes. As shown above you can see that my tables are linked together to enable me to view details from both tables or print them. To link the tables together each of the tables must have a common field. For example:
Creating relationships
“Referential integrity” is chosen to ensure that there is a matching record in the related table. This is a form of validation, as incorrect entries will not be allowed to be entered.
The above diagrams show how I have related the tables in my database. Now I have created the structure of the database, I will now enter same data.
Creating Queries
The name for a search in MS access is a query. Popular searches can be designed and saved in the database and used when required by the user. This means that users without knowledge of Access can still perform searches.
Simple Query searching for specific Student
This is the student query. It typed in “Anumba” in the student last name field so when I look in the student table. I will only people with the surname “Anumba”.
Testing
T1.
T2. (1)
Complex query search
I typed “A*” in the student last name field so when I click on the student table, I will see only the students name which start with the letter “A*”. The “*” acts as the wildcard.
T2. (2)
T3.
T4.
This is the main menu of the system. Here I am checking whether all the buttons on the forms work. At the main menu there is a button called ‘Form menu’ & ‘Preview Reports’; both of these buttons have further menus to help keep options easy to find and precise.
T5.
All Reports
Simple Query searching for specific student
All Forms
Implementation
Creating Tables
Errors
Errors with database types.
- When I tried to create a relationship it said that they must be matching data types. I also noticed that the book ID was a text field and not a number field. After I changed this the relationship was easily created properly.
Errors with no primary key
-
When I tried to create a relationship it said that no “unique identifier” was present. This means that no primary key in the table.
I then realised that the table had no primary key. I made the “form ID” a primary key. The relationship was then created correctly.
3. Errors with fields on forms
When I looked the book form up, it didn’t display the author name. I looked at the form in design view and noticed the field was “Unbound”. I recreated the field so that the field was linked to the “author name” in the book table. This made the authors name be correctly displayed for each book.
- Errors with images
When the book form is loaded the image of the book does not fill the box. To change this I changed the box’s properties from “Clip” to “Stretch”. This stretches or shrinks the image to fill the box.
Test Plan
Evaluation
Quantitative objectives evaluation
I think that I have completed the objectives that I had set out at the beginning of the project. Although I have finished it, there is always room for improvement and I think I could do a little bit better. These consist of adding new features such as making the database enabled for the use of other subjects.
While working through the objectives I had made for myself, I did find it quite challenging but there was nothing that I couldn’t complete. Overall I think that I have done quite well to complete the objectives.
The objectives I had were :-
- The database should take up maximum of 5mb of dick space.
- Database should be able to easily edit student/ book/ loan details.
- Database should be able to easily store student/ book/ loan details.
- Searches should not take longer than 15 seconds.
- Data should be able to be transferred from the school Sims system.
- It should have commonly used reports readily available.
- It should have a user-friendly interface.
Evaluation of Objective 1.
Evaluation of Objective 2.
From my user feedback I was clearly told that the database was easy to edit student/ book/ loan details. This means that I have completed this particular objective.
Evaluation of Objective 3
From my user feedback I was clearly told that the database was easy to edit the database and it was easily store student/ book/ loan details. This means that I have completed this particular objective.
Evaluation of Objective 4
The user feedback suggested to me that the searches took less than 15 seconds and very quick. This means that I have completed this objective.
Evaluation of Objective 5
From my testing I have shown that the access of commonly used forms are readily available for the use convenient use of the librarian.
Evaluation of Objective 6
The user interface of the database is very user friendly , this has been proved when I was told from the user feedback that the interface was easy to read and understand.
User Response and possible improvements
Subsequent to giving the questionnaire to some of the users I had a response. The majority of the users agreed to saying they thought that the interface was very straight forward to use and found that when searching for a particular search, it was very quick.
All but one user thought that the database was easy to navigate between as I have made a menu linking all the appropriate forms together saving time and effort. In my testing I had checked whether all the buttons had worked correctly and navigated you to the correct form or reports. This was proved by the users as they had no problems with the links in between the forms and reports.
The report format was as they expected because they have used databases which were very similar but several of the users had said they liked the picture feature in the reports so that they know which book has been loaned out. They didn’t think that it needs any changes as it has more than the average database of this kind.
All the relevant information that the users needed was there and they didn’t have any problem retrieving it.
Even though the users did think the database was good they suggested to me that they thought that I should expand the database so that it would allow them to use this database for other subjects. This would be very easy to do as all I have to do is add the system is the staffs that teach the subject, the sets and the books.
