West Shore Database Synchronization Eli Landers Doug Ader Berenice Vasquez-Dominguez

Summary Two church databases holding information that needs to be synchronized between them The databases are unable to connect directly for concurrency, therefore it must be a two step process We performed the first major part of the project, which is the extraction of new or updated member records from the web database. This extraction file resides at a specified location ready to be uploaded into the central church database

Introduction West Shore Evangelical Free Church (E- Free) is a large church that first began here at Messiah College 321 Gettysburg Pike, Mechanicsburg, PA Name of Point of Contact: Joel Worrall They are now in the process of moving to a new church campus and thus a efficient and correct database system is crucial

The Problem  Two databases exist for the West Shore Evangelical Church  These systems both contain membership data  They are unable to combine or directly link the databases  There needs to be a way to synchronize information between the two databases to keep up-to-date and accurate church records

Phase 1 Data Extraction

Milestone 1 Project Proposal & Project Plan Trying to understand our project and it’s environment Scope of functionality Initial delegation of tasks Project justification Lessons Learned Justifying project choice and scope Issues Addressed Understanding why two databases existed, and what can be done about the problem

Milestone 2 Requirements Document Modularization of the project, which aids in future adaptation Determining specifics of implementation Lessons Learned You can know all the steps of your problem before starting with some degree of error Very important not to detail implementation, only functional results Issues Address What functionality our project will complete

Milestone 3 ER Modeling & XML Design Understanding the required changes for source and target databases to match Creating a standard way to represent the extracted data Lessons Learned Better understanding of how we needed to implement the application Issues Addressed Degree of change that we would be allowed to implement in the source database

Milestone 4 Extraction of membership data from the hosted, source database Mock database environment created to mirror the true environment; with the changes that will have to take place in the running system New table added to capture new and changed records JSP file created to perform the extraction Application pulls new or updated information into an XML file representing the members information Lessons Learned Having a sandbox environment is instrumental to success Issues Addressed Problem of demonstrating new or updated data captured in database

Milestone 5 Changes and Finalization to the Extraction application Had to be changed to a Java Servlet because of complications Finalization of application Lessons Learned Problems can arise at any time Documentation does not guarantee success or accuracy Issues Addressed Allow for download location to be selected Made it work

Milestone 6 Transition of application, Tying Java Servlets into one Detailed steps on how to make database changes Make the download a one step process Lessons Learned Be sure all documentation is present Organizations are hesitant to make changes to a functional system Issues Addressed Do to current situations in the church we are unable to make system changes ourselves Made the transition possible anyway through documentation

Phase Two… Upload of data into the target, central database Data needs to be taken from the xml file residing at a hard drive location Connection will be made with the target database Data will be uploaded into the respective tables, much in the same way it was extracted. This step has not yet been implemented

Problems Solved With the work that has been completed, the administrator can quickly and easily obtain the records that need to be updated Tedious lookup and guess work no longer necessary Will now be able to have a truly centralized, accurate database

Demonstration

Goals Met? For the most part we met our original goals, which was to create an application to extract information from the database. During the middle of the project, we thought we would be able to do the upload as well, but problems arose We were unable to make the necessary database and web changes because of reasons outside our control

Project Strengths Real world problem Involved a range of new and important technologies for us to get involved with XML JSP JavaServlets Open Source web technology stack Smaller group allowed for easier communication It was not a traditional database project

Project Weaknesses Hard to relate several classroom tasks to our project Unfamiliar concepts Process used not tuned towards our project, we did an abundance of work upfront, part of which might not have been best for our situation or a clear cut 2 part project. It was not a traditional database project

Organizations Assessment

Lessons Learned It is great to have a technically knowledgeable liaison for a project Critical thinking about the application before its creation is necessary for product success and transition Its easy to get over ambitious early, before problems are introduced into the system You must weigh your options Its not easy to delegate tasks, especially with different technological backgrounds There is a lot to learn out there