1 ITEC810 An Application Suite for a Student Database Project Supervisor: Abhaya Nayak Student Id: Andrew Johnson

2 Agenda Introduction Current Environment Related Work Project Requirements User Interface Database Structure Portability Reporting Authentication Conclusion

3 Introduction Problem The process for student administrators to acquire Student information required for effective decision make is inefficient and difficult to understand. Overall objective To provide student administrators with quick summarized graphical information regarding student activity online.

4 Current Environment Student administrators regularly request information about their students from the relevant work units to assist in making decisions regarding their students. There are many problems with this process. –Limited Access. –Very large files with lots of redundant data. –Users need to acquire permission to view details. –The files are only provided monthly.

5 Related Work I did not find any existing software package similar to my solution. The application suite has been designed and developed taking into account the much specialized needs of student administrators.

6 Project Requirements Ability for administrators to enter student’s details. View or export the details. Run graphical reports. (Bar charts and Pie charts) Accessible online through a web browser. Maintainability and Portability.

7 User Interface The best user interface design guidelines. Know the user population. Reduce cognitive load. Engineer for errors. Maintain consistency and clarity.

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10 Database Structure Needs flexibility without further coding. Normalization. Portable.

11 Attribute Master ATTRIBUTE_ID1 ATYPELIST ANAMECURRENT LOAD AVALUESPart Time; Full Time; Leave; Completed ADEFAULTFull Time ADESCRIPTIONIndicates type of enrolment in course Student Master STUDENT_ID1 STUDENT_NUMBER FIRST_NAMEANDREW SURNAMEJOHNSON Student Attribute STUDENT_ID1 ATTRIBUTE_ID1 VALUEFull Time Data examples for each table.

12 Reporting Simple wizard user interface. Ability to select different student attributes. Uses the Object Orientated approach. –Report Builder Class –Excel Report Builder Class inherits Report Builder Class –Format Class –Excel Pen Class –Excel Tool Class

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15 Portability Most of the methods and functions are located in the database. Use API calls through the use of Active data Objects. Advantages of ADO.Net are: –ADO.NET Does Not Depend On Continuously Live Connections. –Database Interactions Are Performed Using Data Commands. –Data Can Be Cached in Datasets. –Data Is Persisted as XML. –Schemas Define Data Structures.

16 Authentication Current environment. –User logs into network through standard Network login protocol. –Log into application using user name and encrypted password. Future work with authentication. –Windows authentication through Active Directory. –Forms authentication through ASP.NET membership. –Passport authentication though address and password.

17 Conclusion New application suite aimed at supporting student administrators as they facilitate and assist students through their careers at Macquarie University. Designed and developed by taking into account the information needs of the student administrators. Maintainability of the application suite through its dynamic structure and customizable reporting process.