1. Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems
Ravindra K. Ahuja
Industrial & Systems Engineering,
University of Florida, Gainesville

2. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
Overview
Introduction to Decision Support Systems
Building a Web-Enabled Decision Support System
Integrating DSS in Business Curriculum
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

3. Decision Support Systems (DSS)
A decision support system is an information system that assists the user in decision-making.
Database
Model Base
GUI
User
Knowledge
Base
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

4. Developing Interactive Systems
Practical decision making requires developing man-machine interactive systems.
Input
Data
The Model
Output,
Reports
User Interface,
Re-optimization
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

5. Importance of DSS Development Skills
Help us package models and algorithms.
Combine modeling with human experience
Highly desirable for consulting jobs for students
Useful for academics to get industry grants
New consulting opportunities for faculty members
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

6. DSS Development Process
Data Storage Mechanism
MS Excel, Lotus 123
MS Access, Oracle, MS SQL Server, Dbase
Data Manipulation
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Visual Basic .NET (VB .NET)
Java, C/C++
Data Presentation
VBA, VB .NET, MS Access, ASP .NET
Java Applets
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

7. Two Common Ways to Develop DSS
Spreadsheet-Based Decision Support Systems
Spreadsheets
Excel features
VBA for Excel
Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems
Databases
Microsoft Access
VB .NET
ASP .NET
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

8. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
Overview
Introduction to Decision Support Systems
Building a Web-Enabled DSS
Integrating DSS in the Business Curriculum
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

9. Components of a Web-Enabled DSS
Users
Database
Application
DBMS
Databases
Database Management System (Access DBMS)
Developing GUI
Web-Enabling the Application
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

10. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
Data Modeling
Systematically converts E-R Diagram into Relations
Portfolio
PID
Name
DateAdded
Stock
Company
Symbol
PORTFOLIO
STOCK
Type
Has
Quantity
Details
Object Data Model
Relational Data
Model
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

11. Access DBMS: Developing Environment
Access Environment: Facilitates development process.
Main Menu
Toolbar
Database
Window
View
Object Bar
Table Objects
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

12. Tables and Relationships
Tables: Stores data
Relationships Window: Relates data
Database Tables
Attributes
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

13. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
Queries
Queries: Processes data
Table Pane
Design Grid
Query Output
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

14. Data Manipulation using SQL
Structured Query Language (SQL) is the most powerful and commonly used query language.
Sample SQL Command:
SELECT PorfolioID, Name, Type
FROM tblPortfolio
WHERE Type Like “Auto*” OR Like “Insurance*”
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

15. Components of a Web-Enabled DSS
Users
Database
Application
DBMS
Databases
Database Management System (DBMS)
Developing GUI (VB .NET)
Web-Enabling the Application (ASP .NET)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

16. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
What is .NET ?
.NET is a set of Microsoft software technologies for connecting information, people, systems, and devices.
.NET Framework is a common layer between .NET applications and Windows OS.
.NET Applications are VB / VC++ / C# programs written on .NET Framework.
Windows Operating System
Common Language Runtime (CLR)
Class Library
Other Components
VC++ VB C#
Other
. Net Applications
.NET Framework
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

17. VB .NET Developing Environment
Visual Studio .NET is the Interactive Development Environment (IDE) for .NET applications.
Design
Window
Projectile
Simple forms with basic Excel manipulation
Birthday Simulation
Simple simulation with statistical analysis
The Simplex Method
Advanced forms and navigation
Portfolio Management and Optimization
Using the Solver
Queuing Simulation
Animation and advanced analysis
University Student Information System
Dynamic queries and forms
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

18. Exploring VS .NET IDE Features …
Create new/open existing projects. (Open the existing portfolio application.)
Solution explorer lists all the files for the current solution. (Double click ‘Welcome.vb’ file to view its design.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

19. Exploring VS .NET ID Features (Contd…)
Design Window is the actual work place; displays form design and VB .NET code. (Double click anywhere on this form to open its code window.)
ToolBox is a gazette of controls: forms building blocks. (Add a button and label controls to the form.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

20. Exploring VS .NET ID Features (Contd…)
Properties Window sets properties for controls and in a way their appearance and behavior. (Set Name, Text, Font, Back Color properties on these controls.)
Menu bar and Toolbars are handy for supporting operations like save, run, add items. (Save the project and run the application.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

21. VB .NET Programming Language
Like other programming languages VB .NET supports:
Interaction with user (user input / output)
Arithmetic, logical, and string operations
Control structures
Modules, Classes, Procedures, Methods
Data structures like arrays A
Condition B
True
False
Loop
Else If
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

22. Programming…Interactive Process
Event List
VB .NET is event driven programming. (Double click the button control and add following code for its OnClick event.)
Code window lists all the controls and their events for us. (Browse the combo boxes on top of the code window.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

23. Programming...Interactive Process (Contd)
Programming is even more fun now. Get all the help online as you code.
Online tip
IntelliSense
Organize your code in nice and neat format using region feature of IDE. (Browse through to play with these features.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

24. ADO .NET: Database Connectivity
ADO .NET structure makes is easy to:
Connect to a database
Run SQL queries against it
Store and further process query results
Add/Update/Delete records from database
Databases
Connection
VB .NET
Forms &
Controls
Data Adaptor
(SQL Query)
Datasets
(Stores query
output)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

25. ADO .NET: Database Connectivity (Contd..)
Steps for querying a database and showing results on VB .NET form:
Connect to a database (once for a project)
Create a data adaptor with desired SQL statement
Create a dataset to store query results
Bind the control to the dataset
Run the query by writing VB .NET code
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

26. Connection, Adaptor, and Dataset
Server Explorer makes it easy to connect to a database. (Connect to the Portfolio database.)
Drag & Drop
Toolbox assists in the creation of data adaptors, and data sets. (Portal form: Add an adaptor and a dataset to get the list of portfolios.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

27. Binding Controls to Dataset
We then bind controls to datasets to show query results on forms using property window for a control. (Bind the dataset created to the list box on Portal form.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

28. Writing Code to Execute a Query?
Next we run the query and display the data. It is done by writing 2 lines of VB .NET code. (Write this code for list box control on page load event.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

29. VB .NET Events and Data Retrieval
Data retrieval (using adaptor and datasets) and VB .NET events can be combined together for interesting functionalities. (On selection of portfolio from list display its details in the data grid control.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

30. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
VB .NET Events & Data Retrieval (Contd..)
Steps:
Create adaptors and datasets and bind them to respective controls. (Bind to list box and data grid.)
Execute a parameter query for second control on some event of first control. (Here we execute parameter query for data grid on selection change event of list box.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

31. Add/Update/Delete Records from DB
Data adaptor, dataset and their methods makes altering database very easy. (Add these one liners to OnClick event of respective buttons.)
Me.BindingContext(DsInvPort, "tblPortfolio") .RemoveAt (lstPort.SelectedIndex)
Me.BindingContext(DsInvInfo,"tblInvestor") .CancelCurrentEdit()
OleDbInvInfo.Update(DsInvInfo)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

32. Using VB .NET’s Advance Controls
We can use advance controls like Check List Box, Trees controls for nice functionalities.
(Use check list box to display list of stocks allowing multiple selections, then display data for all selected stocks in the data grid.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

33. Using VB .NET’s Advance Controls (Contd..)
We can use advance controls line Date Time Picker for professional looks.
(Use this control to allow user choose year for performance graph.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

34. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
VB .NET and OOPS
VB .NET is a complete Object Oriented Programming Language (OOPL).
VB .NET with its Class structure now supports all three basic OOP principles:
Encapsulation
Inheritance
Polymorphism
What it is good for?
Data hiding and data encapsulation
Code reusability
Split the development task into independent modules
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

35. Other Supported Features
Exception Handling: Preparing for worse!! (Browse through the code for portfolio form for Try... Catch ... End Try blocks.)
Code Debugging: Towards perfection! (Press F5 and click for optimization, debugging window pops up, press F8 to step through.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

36. Plug-in Optimization/Simulation Packages
Some of the available options are:
Optimization code using VB .NET language. (Illustrated next.)
Use VB .NET to connect to C/C++ code. (Using DLL files or through flat text files.)
Use MS Excel functionalities. For example, we can use Excel Solver functionality to solve small to medium size optimization problems through VB .NET.
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

37. Portfolio Optimization Problem
Optimization Code
Results
On Click
User Input
Dataset has Data From Database
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

38. Working with Crystal Reports
Crystal reports are used to produce professional quality reports/graphs to summarize information. (Plot the pie chart for the output of the portfolio optimization result.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

39. Working with Crystal Reports (Contd..)
Steps for displaying crystal report on VB .NET form:
Have the data to plot in a dataset. (This might be from database or result of some operation like optimization.)
Create the crystal report layout using “Report Expert Wizard” (Select type, fields, format etc. for graph.)
Associate the crystal report and the dataset in VB .NET code. (This requires only 3 lines of code.)
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

40. Working with Crystal Reports (Contd..)
Dataset with data to plot
VB .NET Code
Chart Expert Wizard
Final Graph
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

41. ASP .NET – Web Connectivity
ASP .NET = Internet + HTML + VB .NET
Knowledge of Web Terms and Internet
Hypertext Manipulation Language (HTML) - for data presentation
Visual Basic .NET (VB .NET) - code behind web pages, for data manipulation
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

42. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
How This Works?
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

43. Developing ASP .NET Application
Developing ASP .NET Application is very similar to VB .NET Application development. (Make Portal form of VB .NET application web-enabled using ASP .NET.)
We use Web Controls and HTML controls for Windows controls used in VB .NET application.
VB .NET code with minor additions can be used as ‘code behind’ for ASP .NET pages.
HTML code is automatically generated by the Visual Studio .NET IDE.
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

44. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
Overview
Introduction to Decision Support Systems
Building a Web-Enabled DSS
Integrating DSS in Business Curriculums
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

45. Teaching DSS Development Courses
The University of Florida is currently offering two separate courses on DSS Development:
Developing Spreadsheet-Based DSS
Developing Web-Enabled DSS
3-credit courses
Project-oriented courses
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

46. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
Course Delivery
Hands-on course
Students bring laptops
Instructor uses LCD Projector
After basic topics from PowerPoint presentations are taught, we do in-class assignments.
Weekly homework assignments.
Students do semester-long team projects in which they develop full DSS applications.
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

47. Outline of Web-Enabled DSS Course
Part 1: (3 weeks)
Database design principles
Microsoft Access, Tables, Queries, SQL
Part 2: (6 weeks)
.Net Platform, VB .Net programming Language
Windows forms and controls, Database connectivity
Crystal reports
Part 3: (3 weeks)
HTML, ASP .Net, Database connectivity in Web forms
Part 4: (2 weeks)
Project work
Developing and presenting DSS applications
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

48. Web-Enabled DSS Textbook
Abhijit Pol
Ravindra K. Ahuja
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

49. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
The Book Outline
Part I: Principles of Database Design
Part II: MS Access: A DBMS
Part III: DB Programming using VB .NET
Part IV: Web-Connectivity using ASP .NET
Part V: Case Studies
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

50. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
Case Studies
NASA’s Rocket Science
University Student Information System
TV Channel Project
Airline Scheduling
Portfolio Management
Online Shopping
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

51. Additional Course Material
PowerPoint Presentations
Review Questions and Hands-On Exercises
Solution Manual for Instructors
Student Team Projects
Web Resources
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

52. INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004
Another DSS Textbook
Michelle M. Hanna
Ravindra K. Ahuja
Wayne L. Winston
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

53. DSS Development Workshop
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004

54. Additional Information
Course material website:
Workshop website:
Interested in course material?
Please give us your card or address.
JULY 9, 2004
INFORMS TEACHING MS WORKSHOP 2004