Current DBMS Based Activities at NCST, Juhu Sandhya Desai National Centre for Software Technology Juhu, Mumbai

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Objective n Introduce the nature of activities at the centre n Share our experience in developing applications n Get new ideas and better solutions n Possibilities for future Collaborations

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Present group members at NCST, Juhu n Urjaswala Vora n Gauri Rendalkar n Lakshana Pant n Amarish Choubal n Vishal Mehrotra n Satish Rane n Sudhin Deshpande n Sandhya Desai n Salim Sayyed n Amit Vaidya

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Projects Under progress n Computerization of Mumbai University Exam centre. n MTNL Directory Service. n TIFR Payroll. n Supporting NCST office functions. n Advanced PGDST DBMS module n Database design review for TEC

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Research Interests n Data Warehousing n System Architecture n Internet and databases n Workflow systems

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop MTNL- Web dictionary Service n Started as prototype for Mumbai node n Dictionary services n Delivered operational system n at Both Delhi and Mumbai n URL: mumbaihelp1.mtnl.net.in n URL: delhihelp1.mtnl.net.in

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop System Configuration n Oracle 8 on Unix server n Java application server on Windows NT n Web browsers on clients

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Application Server n Coded in Java n Manages pool of connections to Oracle n Uses threads to serve each request n parses client requests and formulates equivalent SQL query n Formats result set creating dynamic HTML pages

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Issues n Performance n security n Usage log n 50hits/min, 20,000 hits on first day n extensions to the dictionary service

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Mumbai University project n SRS document n proposed duration one year n team of 6 members

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop System Profile n Complex requirements of exam centre n around 1,50,000 students every year n around 600 exams with time varying structure, revised exams n around 15,000 examiners n around 10,000 papers and, revised papers n around 150 colleges n around 150 degrees, diplomas, certificates

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Customer Profile n Distributed n No centralized authority n Not very demanding n Not too committed to project n Overloaded with operations

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop System Configuration n SQLserver n Powerbuilder for client software n Power Designer n Windows NT server

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Design Issues n Analysis of exam patterns n Complexities in exam schemas n Difficult to get complete domain knowledge n Work flow understanding n Tracking the actions n Reengineering

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop What we learnt? n Trivial things are not at all trivial – report formats – identifiers – data entry forms and formats – collation of data – verifying the data – checking consistency of data

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop At Cross Roads n Software engineering n Quality Assurance n Project management

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Retrospection n Transaction processing and performance n Selection of Software n selection of hardware platforms and networking n Bottlenecks in the system

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Success of the System n User involvement n User feedback n User training n Constant support after implementation n Extensions to the system

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop What is lacking? n Documentation n Vigorous testing and inspection n Process engineering n Serious analysis of applications and improvement in the data design n Online help feature n Security issues

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Summary n Limitations of NCST kind of organization in handling and maintaining application software n Project management- one time vs often done activity n Process engineering n team spirit

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Client infrastructure n Proper support – staff – resources – work culture n Able to make the system operational n Staff should bale to cope up with new technology n Long term planning

© National Centre for Software Technology DBMS WorkShop Issues. n Web for accessing the application n 3 layer architecture n Security with Web technology n performance after fully operational n Component technology