CS3811 - Project 2000
2000 October 30
The task is to design an Academic Information System for a small university.
The system will be used by Student Services
personnel, faculty and by students themselves.
You will use mysql and construct a
front-end using php (or other Web-based) forms.
There are 3 distinct phases to the project.
In the first
phase, design, you will consider the attributes, tables and views which your
system needs. You will consult with the client (your course
instructor) about what is expected from the system. At minimum, the
system will contain information:
- about students, faculty and other persons
- about courses, their prerequisites, and some information about degree
programs
- about current registration and courses completed by students.
You are free to add data items to the model in consultation with the client.
Your design must include examples of the main elements of relational
systems (primary keys, foreign keys, other constraints ...);
some normalization is expected. You will be
expected to document the design, including normalization, in writing and provide it
to the client in draft form on November 15, and modified in consultation with the
client on November 22. The design document must not exceed 10 pages (12 pt type).
(In order to facilitate your work in the second phase of the project,
it will be helpful to examine carefully the features of mysql during the
design process).
The second element of the project will be the construction of a
mysql database and some forms to
allow data entry, updating and access to the database. Your forms may
also enforce integrity.
Your implementation is required to follow your design
document.
You will need to consult with the client using a prototype during the
programming phase. At this time you will consider various user views
and security issues.
Finally, you will provide a User Guide to your system. It must include
instructions on using mysql and your forms for naive users.
You are not expected to give an instruction manual for mysql and SQL,
but you should write clear
explanations of how to get into and out of the program and access your forms,
how to use the forms for entering/updating data and how to write simple SQL
queries. The User Guide will not exceed 15 pages.
A draft of the User Guide must be provided to the
client on November 29, one week before the project completion
date, December 6. On the project completion date final drafts of the
design document, User Guide and a dump
of your database will be provided to the client.
A brief presentation of your project will be done in class during the
last week of classes.
Important notes
- The project forms an important part of the
assessment in the course. Late submission will result in a penalty of
.67 grade points per day for up to three days, after which that part of the project
will be graded incomplete.
- The grade for the project will be based about equally on the
results of each of the three phases.
- Your work will be done by a team of 2 and it is expected that
both members of each team will participate in all phases of the
project. That is, each team member should contribute to the
design, implementation and documentation. Each team member is expected to
be familiar with mysql, and each team member must take part in
writing the User Guide.
- Normally, both team members will receive the
same grade for the project. Therefore, you will
contact the course instructor if you do not participate
with your team in the completion of any of the three phases
of the project.
- You may have noticed that this is a LaTeX document.
The visual presentation of your documents will be considered in grading.
TeX or HTML are very suitable for achieving good presentation. Common
word-processing systems may also provide suitable, if less attractive,
formatting.