TRADE PROJECT

TITLE : KNP BOOK STORE SYSTEM

AUTHOR : JOSHUA OMWENGA

SUPERVISOR : MR. ERIC MOCHOGE

DEPARTMENT : COMPUTER STUDIES

COURSE TITLE : DIPOLMA IN ICT

INDEX NO :

PAPER NO : 2920/308

CENTRE CODE : 703101

CENTRE NAME : KISII NATIONAL POLYTECHNIC

SUBMITTED TO : KENYA NATIONAL EXAMINATION

COUNCIL IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
AWARD OF DIPLOMA IN ICT

SERIES : JULY 2020

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DECLARATION

I declare that this project is my original work and has not been submitted for the award of

diploma /degree in any other academic institution

Signed …………………………………………………………….…………….

Date …………………………………….........................................................

Approval

This research project has been submitted to the Kenya national examination council

(KNEC) with my approval as the college supervisor.

Sign ……………………………………………………………………………

Mr. Eric Mochoge

Date …………………………………………………………………………….

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 DEDICATION

The project is dedicated to my family members. God bless you all.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank God for taking care of me as I started my schooling up to the end of this
level and also for offering ways of getting my school fees. Special thanks and appreciation to my
supervisor Mr. Eric Mochoge for the guidance and advice throughout the project. Much thanks to
my family for the financial support towards the completion of my course and making my project.

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 ABSTRACT

The main aim of this project is to help solve the current problem of the readers’ service
department, collection and development department, technical department and the e-bookstore.
The current readers’ desk management system automates the basic operations carried out in that
department but still has some limitations and prone to errors that can be caused by the network or
the readers’ desk. The online bookstore management system can be seen as a modern innovation
that is expected to help in the registration of users such as the students and teaching staff of the
institution, registration and the classification of books, extracting and storing the details of e-
books, generating reports, accurate calculation of fines, sending mails to registered users of the
system to inform them of the new collections and remind them to return borrowed materials.
This system can perform two automated tasks with the help of two windows services. The
windows service is a light-weight background program that provides core operating system
functions such as web services, error or report logging etc. In this project, the purpose of the
windows service is to provide web services for automatically adding defaulters to the defaulters
list and deleting user reservations. The main advantage of using a windows service is that the
system can still carry out its automated functions even when the application is not running.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION...............................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................................iv
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................................vi
CHAPTER ONE..............................................................................................................................1
1.1 Introduction...........................................................................................................................1
1.2 Background of the study.......................................................................................................1
1.3 Description of the current system.........................................................................................2
1.3.1 Problems of the current system...............................................................................................3
1.4 Evaluation of the current system...............................................................................................3
1.4.1 Advantages of the current system...........................................................................................3
1.4 Description of the proposed system......................................................................................4
1.5.1 Advantages of the proposed system.......................................................................................4
1.6 Limitations of the proposed system...........................................................................................4
1.8 Objectives of the study..............................................................................................................7
1.8.1 General objective....................................................................................................................7
1.8.2 Specific objective....................................................................................................................7
1.7 Organization Structure...............................................................................................................7
CHAPTER TWO.............................................................................................................................8
2.1 Introduction...........................................................................................................................8
2.2 Related Works......................................................................................................................8
CHAPTER THREE.......................................................................................................................12
3.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................................12
3.2 System development methodologies.......................................................................................12
3.2.1 Requirements planning.........................................................................................................13
3.2.2 User design...........................................................................................................................13
3.2.3 Construction..........................................................................................................................13
3.2 Implementation........................................................................................................................14

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 CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher will discuss the background of the study, description of the current

system, pproblems of the current system, evaluation of the current system, description of the

proposed system, advantages and limitations of current system, problem definition, and

objectives of the study, specific objective and organization structure.

1.2 Background of the study

Gusii Institute of Technology that is currently The Kisii National Polytechnic was founded on

19th December 1971 during an all Abagusii leaders conference at the Gusii County Hall. The

initiation of the institute was on a fund raising basis supported by the farmers, Kisii cooperative

union, Gusii County Council, business community and the general public. Registration of the

institute took place in March 1972 under the Education Act CAP 212 of the laws of Kenya. In

1976, the institute first opened its doors to twenty five students for secretarial studies and by then

the Catholic Church headquarters at St. Vincent hosted the institute. The current site was then

identified, and the construction activities started in 1980. The first buildings to be put up were

two workshops (i.e. woodwork technology, mechanical engineering) a typing pool, a dining hall

and a hostel. Kisii National Polytechnic has land measuring 16.95 hectares which is considered

adequate for further expansion. In 1983, with the new facilities in place, other courses were

added to the curriculum. The rest of these were courses in building trades, which included

Carpentry and Joinery, Plumbing, Masonry and Electrical Installation. The institution has

continued to grow thanks to donor assistance from various bodies and organizations. The current

population consists of 3000 students, 180 lecturers and 95 non- teaching staff. Kisii National

Polytechnic is a hive of activity where people work together to transform dreams into skills for

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life. We look forward to taking the polytechnic to the higher level of training individual in order

to further their goals and to benefit Kenya.

In an ancient kingdom located at the Southern Mesopotamia; Babylonia, the libraries there were

a collection of clay tablets. In 330 B.C. the first public bookstore in Greece contained preserved

works of great dramatists. Out of these above mentioned libraries, the most famous libraries of

antiquity were those of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy I, which contained some 700,000 Greek

scrolls.

Libraries from Greece, Asian Minor and Syria were the first Roman libraries as a result of the

conquest in the first and second century. Early Christian libraries were in the residence of a

religious community called monasteries. From the ninth to fifteenth century, Arabs collected fine

libraries also the Jews and the Byzantines collected fine libraries during the medieval period.

In the year 1732, a circulatory bookstore called the Bookstore Company of Philadelphia in the

United States was chartered on the initiative of Benjamin Franklin. The first tax-supporting

bookstore was opened at Philadelphia in the year 1833, and then the American Bookstore

Association was later formed in the year 1876. Traveling libraries and book mobiles began to

take books to people living in the rural areas in the early twentieth century.

By the end of the twentieth century, many resources were made available to bookstore patrons in

electronic formats which could be easily accessed directly from home or work due to digital

revolution.

1.3 Description of the current system

The current situation is very limited too few resources, students are unable to get knowledge

more than that the lecture provides to them. This in the end limits student’s performances,

because everything a student gets is collected from lectures in class.

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1.3.1 Problems of the current system

i. The current system is that lectures download references for students or for lecturing.

ii. Students submit assignment to lectures through hard copies or personal emails.

iii. Students only get help from lectures if the lectures are in they are office.

iv. New lectures to a course have to get materials on their own.

v. Students are unable to share resources effectively and hold group discussions that are

monitored or supervised by lectures

1.4 Evaluation of the current system

The following sections describe the general factors that affect the product and its requirements.

Users must have a valid User Id and password to login to the system. After the valid user login

he is shown the list of details available on. On selecting the desired option he is taken to a page

which shows the details he needed. Student can get the required material as softcopy for free of

cost. Student can also request the university people to share their own documents which can help

other students. Information is available at anytime, anywhere as desired by the student. The

student will have client interface in which he can interact with the e-learning portal. It is a web

based interface which will be the web page of the e-learning application. Starting a page is

displayed asking to login as student, in this page we can sign up and create new account as

student. Then the page is redirected to home page where the user can enter the details as required

if it is valid. The administrator will have an administrative interface which is a GUI so that he

can view the entire portal system. He will also have a login page where he can enter the login

particulars so that he can perform all his actions like uploading of courses, books, materials,

presentation. Search student details etc.

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1.4.1 Advantages of the current system

i. Access to the online courses via internet access

ii. Distribution of the educational content

iii. Testing of the students’ performance

iv. Personalized online educational courses

v. Group work in the system

vi. Keep in the system educational courses

vii. Creation educational courses according to study plans

1.4 Description of the proposed system

The system will hopefully serve as a centralized database of syllabus for the courses offered at

the university allowing students and faculties (current, past and prospective), to view them. The

system will end up bringing an effective communication among students, lectures, and the

administration, by accessing information and other resources anytime, anywhere.

1.5.1 Advantages of the proposed system

i. Lectures to upload assignments and resources for their units.

ii. Students to download the resources and upload assignments.

iii. It provides an easy-to-use way to manage course websites that include schedule

information, announcements, as well as course discussions.

1.6 Limitations of the proposed system

Technology dependent

Learners will need access to a machine of minimum specification as dictated by the eLearning

supplier or access to a service with a high bandwidth to transfer the course materials in a timely

way.

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Material Incompatibility

Some materials designed for one particular system will not function properly on another (for

example, the Apple Macintosh and the Windows PC). Standards will help in the area.

Unsuitable for Certain Types of Training

Any skill that relies heavily on inter-personal contact although these courses could be

supplemented by eLearning.

Unsuitable for Certain Types of Learners

ELearning requires a high-level of self-discipline and personal time management. eLearners need

to be highly self-motivated to take full advantage of the medium as often the online learning

experience can be impersonal. Working through 'packaged' programmes can be irritating.

Reliant of the Quality of the Content

It is too easy for some institutions to defer the photocopying costs onto the learner by placing all

lecture notes and course handouts online. Such practices often mean that the course materials are

in an inappropriate format for online learning. Course providers need to develop new technical

skills and course design skills to suit the new medium.

Expensive

Start-up cost of an elearning service is expensive and the cost of production of online training

materials is very high. Teachers must be confident that the extra costs are balance with the

benefits of delivering a course online. Significant time needs to be invested in course set-up and

in ongoing maintenance (checking links, updating course content etc.).

Reliant on Human Support

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ELearning is still dependent on help on either the course materials or the software.

Social/economic disadvantage

Can limit or prevent access by some student groups (for example, cost of equipment, online

access and printing).

No Match for Face-to-Face Teaching

Electronic communication does not necessarily provide a good match for face-to-face

communication and is more linear than face-to-face discussion.

Too Reliant on IT Skills

Learners may have limited IT skills, or be uncomfortable with electronic communication and

need to learn how to use the medium effectively.

Disabilities

Students with visual or physical impairments may be disadvantaged.

Inflexible

Flexibility may be lost as adjustments to the course in response to student reaction are not easy to

make once the course is underway.

Pedagogically Unsound

The electronic environment does not per se offer a pedagogically enhancing learning

environment.

1.7 Statement of the Problem

The transactions related to book purchase, book issue and book returns are maintained manually

at present along with maintaining the accounts of the Students and the lecturers. All these are to

be automated and an application is required to relate all of them relatively and logically so that

the current system can be replaced and accepted without major changes and problems. The

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application should provide quick access to the records maintained and must reveal the important

reviews about the business so that the growth can be easily compared and should provide with

the various reports showing the related details so that the important decisions could be taken

easily.

1.8 Objectives of the study

1.8.1 General objective

The main objective of the application is to automate the existing system of manually maintain

the records of the book issue, book return from the student, stock maintenance, catalog and book

search to be computerized. so the book issue, return, searching will be faster.

1.8.2 Specific objective

The objectives of this proposal include:

i. Develop a relational database to store book details (hard and soft), staff details and

student details.

ii. Provision of a search functionality to enable users search for books efficiently and system

administrator search for users.

iii. Provision of e-book extraction functionality for extracting the details of the e-books in

pdf formats only.

iv. Development of a user account management component to handle account related matters

for each user in different departments.

v. Designing a user-friendly interface for the users to enable them navigate through the

system on the web.

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 CHAPTER TWO
2.1 Introduction

In this chapter the researcher will look at the literature of other writers and what they discussed

on bookstore management system.

2.2 Related Works

Neelakandan et’al. (2016) implemented an automated bookstore management system for the

University Department Bookstore in the School of Chemistry Bharathidasan University. This

work was motivated by the inefficient and static [not dynamic or flexible] methods of carrying

out the daily activities in the bookstore plus the great importance of applying modern techniques

and approaches for the efficient retrieval and dissemination of information and services for the

clientele. The main objective of this study is to automate the Departmental Bookstore of

Chemistry by implementing an automated system using Koha Bookstore Integrated Open Source

Software. The methodology used in carrying out this research work involves integrating a free

and open source software with other third party applications such as: MySQL dump utility for

MySQL replication dumps, MySQL database etc. Monitoring the activities in the School of

Chemistry Bookstore and taking stock of situations. Then performing physical examination of

the books in order to extract their bibliographic details which are later entered in an excel sheet.

Sivakumar (2014) defines a bookstore management system (LMS) as a multi-user, multi-tasking

integrated bookstore management software that works either on a single machine or in a client-

server multi-platform environment designed for managing various activities of a bookstore.

Since a bookstore contains very large collections of books and large number of members, it is

impossible for the librarian to manage the day to day activities manually.

Tan Chaur Chuan (2015) points out that bookstore management system is mainly used by

librarian and bookstore administrator. The librarian is able to manage the following modules:

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Member maintenance module; Book maintenance module and Book transaction module. Tan

Chaur Chuan (2010) also stated that the bookstore management system allows user [librarian] to

manage the publisher as well as lost book module. The other type of user which is the admin

level staff is able to handle the staff module and view the report module. The main objective of

this work is to automate the daily transactions that take place in the bookstore in order to

eliminate the traditional paper-work and to prevent the occurrence of missing records or files.

Bar Code and SMS technology were implemented in this work.

Kumar (2016) defines an online bookstore as a system that maintains books in the server in any

format. It allows storing books, documents, audio and video files. The online bookstore enables

users to search and open documents by giving a simple query. [Kumar, 2012] also defines an

online bookstore management system as a system, which maintains books, documents and

audio/video files. In order to use this system one must be a member of the bookstore. Bookstore

members or registered users can search for books by giving a simple query. The online bookstore

uses internal feedback from the user to improve search processes in every search. The system

also makes use of indexing to locate documents very fast in a search that is related to the query.

This project was motivated by the defects of the existing system which includes: using manual

methods to record the details of acquired bookstore materials; low level of security; complexity

arises in the maintenance of bookstore catalogue and arrangement of books to the catalogue and

difficulty in generating information reports.

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A bookstore can be defined as a depository built to house a collection of books, literary

documents, or records for studying or borrowing. It can also be seen as a building containing

collections of information resources that can be easily accessed by the public for reference or

borrowing.

2.3 Bookstore Management

This is a sub-discipline of the institutional management that focuses on specific issues faced by

the librarians and bookstore management professionals. It encompasses normal management

tasks as well as intellectual freedom, anti-censorship, and fundraising tasks. Issues faced in

bookstore management frequently overlap those faced in management of non-profit

organizations.

2.4 Bookstore Catalog

This is a register of bibliographic items (e.g., books, computer files, graphics, realia, cartographic

materials, etc.) found in a bookstore or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several

geographical locations. A bibliographic item can be seen as any information entity that is

considered bookstore material or a group of bookstore materials linked from the catalog as far as

it is relevant to the catalog and to the users (patrons) of the bookstore.

2.5 Online Public Access Catalog

This can be defined as an online database of materials held by a particular or group of libraries. It

can also be defines as a computerized system to catalog and organize bookstore materials. An

OPAC is available to bookstore patrons to search the catalog for bibliographic items (e.g., books,

computer files, graphics, regalia, cartographic materials, etc.).

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2.6 Bookstore Management System (LMS)

This is a computer-based system that the functions carried out in the bookstore such as

acquisition, cataloging, circulation, and budget management and collection analysis. The heart of

every bookstore management system is a relational database where all records or data related to

the bookstore and users are stored. The number and names given to different subsystems

[modules] in an LMS may vary from one system to the other. Today’s modern LMS offers the

various combinations of these modules: Requisition, Acquisition, Cataloguing, Circulation,

Serials Control, Enquiry, OPAC [Online Public Access Catalogue], Inter bookstore loans, Self-

service stations, Federated search, Mobile Bookstore and more.

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 CHAPTER THREE

3.1 Introduction

This chapter started on the discussion about the system development methodology. The second

part presented system requirements. The third part handled system requirements. The last part

discussed the review of existing system.

3.2 System development methodologies

The researcher will use Systems Development Life Cycle to develop this system. SDLC is a

conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an

information system development project from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of

the completed application. Various SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide the

processes involved including the waterfall model, rapid application development (RAD), joint

application development (JAD), the fountain model and the spiral model. In this system the

researcher will use Rapid Application Development to develop the system.

Many development organizations are adopting iterative development methodologies emphasized

by Rapid Application Development (RAD) cycles. Unlike waterfall development life cycles,

where testing is done at the end of the project, iterative life cycles specify testing at multiple

points during development. It is easy to understand the importance of including system

performance analysis and predictive tuning in the process. Identifying the addressing flows

early, especially performance limitations, has as advantage the cuts of the cost to fix them and at

the same time minimizes the impact on the project schedule. RAD has been proven to be a

valuable software strategy. However, it is not without pitfalls and risks. RAD incorporates some

defects that we need to adjust. Research and capitalization should be invested in order to

minimize them and use them as of companies’ advantage.

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The Rapid Application Development path may be adapted to different CASE tools and

development environments. This section briefly describes the four stages of RAD.

3.2.1 Requirements planning

In this stage the researcher will review areas immediately associated with the proposed system.

This review will produce a broad definition of the system requirements in terms of the functions

the system will support. The deliverables from this stage will include an outline system area

model of the area under study, a definition of the system's scope, and a cost justification for the

new system.

3.2.2 User design

In user design stage a detailed analysis of the business activities related to the proposed system

will be carried out. The researcher will outline key users, decompose business functions and

define entity types associated with the system. A complete set of the analysis will be done by

creating action diagrams defining the interactions between processes and data. Following the

analysis, the design of the system will be outlined. System procedures are designed, and

preliminary layouts of screens will be developed. Prototypes of critical procedures will be built

and reviewed. A plan for implementing the system will also be prepared.

3.2.3 Construction

In this stage the researcher working directly with users will finalize the design and build the

system. The software construction process consists of a series of design-and-build steps in which

the users will have the opportunity to fine tune the requirements and review the resulting

software implementation. This stage also will include preparing for the cutover to production. In

addition to the tested software, construction stage deliverables will include documentation and

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instructions necessary to operate the new application, and routines and procedures needed to put

the system into operation.

3.2 Implementation

The implementation stage will involve implementing the new system and managing the change

from the old system environment to the new one. This will include implementing bridges

between existing and new systems, converting data, and training users. User acceptance is the

end point of the implementation stage.

Based on the proposed fleet management system is designed purely from the users' viewpoint

without considering the constraints of hardware. In addition, system structures required to

achieve such designs are clarified. After checking requirement specifications included in the

basic plan, the overview of the project is represented by the use of diagrams so that the

processing and flows of data can be easily understood.

The software design specifically targeted to customers and management of the researchers used a

user-friendly design to attract the user to use the new automated system. Here the system was

designed purely from the users' viewpoint without considering the constraints of hardware. In

addition, system structures required to achieve such designs are clarified. After checking the

requirement specifications included in the planning, the overview of the system represented by

the use of diagrams so that the processed of data can be easily understood. Based on the

representations, the division into sub-systems and input/output designing was performed. The

entire system was divided into three modules on a functional basis, and each module was further

divided into smaller units. The designing of the code, such as the determination of a coding

system, was conducted. In addition, relationships between the data were analyzed.

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 CHAPTER FOUR: SYSTEM DESIGN

4.1 Introduction

This chapter involves developing a program structure by breaking the overall design into many

smaller programs as necessary for easy understanding of the code. Detailed design will be dealt

with. The design will consist of data design, process design and physical design.

4.2 Feasibility study

Depending on the results of the initial investigation the survey is now expanded to a more

detailed feasibility study. Feasibility study is a test of system proposal according to its

workability, impact of the organization, ability to meet needs and effective use of the resources.

During feasibility analysis for this project, following primary areas of interest are to be

considered. Investigation and generating ideas about a new system does this. Steps in feasibility

analysis eight steps involved in the feasibility analysis are:

i. Form a project team and appoint a project leader.

ii. Prepare system flowcharts.

iii. Enumerate potential proposed system.

iv. Define and identify characteristics of proposed system.

v. Determine and evaluate performance and cost effective of each proposed system.

vi. Weight system performance and cost data.

vii. Select the best-proposed system.

viii. Prepare and report final project directive to management.

Feasibility study is the procedure to identify, describe the evaluate candidate system and select

the best possible action for the job. The initial investigation culminated in a proposal

summarized the thinking of the analyst, was presented to the user for review. The proposal

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initiated a feasible study to describe and evaluate the best system to choose in terms of

economical, technical and behavioral constraints.

4.2.1 Technical Feasibility

A study of resource availability that may affect the ability to achieve an acceptable system. This

evaluation determines whether the technology needed for the proposed system is available or not.

i. Can the work for the project be done with current equipment existing software

technology & available personal?

ii. Can the system be upgraded if developed?

iii. If new technology is needed then what can be developed?

This is concerned with specifying equipment and software that will successfully satisfy the user

requirement. The technical needs of the system may include:

4.2.2 Front-end and back-end selection

An important issue for the development of a project is the selection of suitable front-end and

back-end. When we decided to develop the project we went through an extensive study to

determine the most suitable platform that suits the needs of the organization as well as helps in

development of the project. The aspects of our study included the following factors.

4.2.3 Front-End selection

i. It must have a graphical user interface that assists employees that are not from IT

background.

ii. Scalability and extensibility.

iii. Flexibility.

iv. Robustness.

v. According to the organization requirement and the culture.

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 vi. Must provide excellent reporting features with good printing support.

vii. Platform independent.

viii. Easy to debug and maintain.

ix. Event driven programming facility.

4.2.4 Back-End Selection

i. Multiple user support.

ii. Efficient data handling.

iii. Provide inherent features for security.

iv. Efficient data retrieval and maintenance.

v. Stored procedures.

vi. Popularity.

vii. Operating System compatible.

viii. Easy to install.

ix. Various drivers must be available.

x. Easy to implant with the Front-end.

According to above stated features we selected MS-Access as the backend. The technical

feasibility is frequently the most difficult area encountered at this stage. It is essential that the

process of analysis and definition be conducted in parallel with an assessment to technical

feasibility. It centers on the existing computer system (hardware, software etc.) and to what

extent it can support the proposed system.

4.2.5 Economic Feasibility

Economic justification is generally the “Bottom Line” consideration for most systems. Economic

justification includes abroad range of concerns that includes cost benefit analysis. In this we

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 weight the cost and the benefits associated with the candidate system. And if it suits the basic

purpose of the organization i.e. profit making, the project is making to the analysis and design

phase. The financial and the economic questions during the preliminary investigation are verified

to estimate the following:

i. The cost to conduct a full system investigation.

ii. The cost of hardware and software for the class of application being considered.

iii. The benefits in the form of reduced cost.

iv. The proposed system will give the minute information, as a result the performance is

improved which in turn may be expected to provide increased profits.

4.2.6 Behavioral Feasibility

After considering the following point that the system is behaviorally feasible. The project is

carried out on the request of the users. To a greater extent, the proposed system aims at

maximizing user friendliness. This is intended to overcome resistance to change by the exiting

staff. Users are quite experienced in handling the computerized system. Users are aware of the

software and hardware environment.

4.3 System Requirements

The requirements for the implementation of this system are as follows;

i. Software requirement.

ii. Hardware requirement.

iii. Functional requirement.

iv. Non-functional requirement.

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4.4 Hardware Requirement

The hardware components of a computer system refer to the physical part that makes up the

computer system. For an effective operation, the system can be implemented provided the

following hardware components are at least met. The following hardware is required for the

efficient work of the system: Pentium IV or higher, Storage: 13-20 gigabyte of storage,

Memory: 128MB of ram and above, Keyboard: Enhanced keyboard, Drivers: c d rom 48x and

above, 3.5 (1.44mb) fdd drive, Mouse: Enhanced serial or parallel mouse, CRT: 15”

svgacolored monitor, Model: Pentium 580 mml and above, Printer: Optimal (Colored/black and

white) For effective operation of the newly designed system, the following minimum hardware

specifications are recommended. The listed configurations are the minimum requirements, but if

the configurations are of higher versions, the processing derived will definitely be better and the

program will run faster.

4.5 Software Requirements

Computer software is a collection of computer programs and related data that provides the

instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it. In other words, software is a set

of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation concerned with the operation of a

data processing system. Program software performs the function of the program it implements,

either by directly providing instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to

another piece of software. The following list of software are needed for adequate implementation

of the system

4.6 Requirements specification

The researcher used the requirements to entail what the system in question would do. This study

therefore provides detailed documentations of requirements applicable and this was categorized

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into collection and analysis of user requirements, functional requirements, nonfunctional

requirements and system requirements.

4.7 User Requirements

i. The system was able to provide access to accurate and updated information

ii. The system was user friendly and interactive to be used by users to complete their tasks

iii. The system responded when the buttons are clicked and all links shall be able to lead to

the destination.

iv. Administrators accessed the user details in terms of those who checked

4.8 Functional Requirements

i. The system allowed different users to get direct access to different departments

ii. The system allowed generation of different types of updates

4.9 Non Functional Requirements

The system has consistent interface formats and button sets for all forms in the application,

which have a form based interface for all data entry and viewing formats, and generates reports

that are formatted in a table and for user friendliness.

The system can easily be maintained by the developers.

4.10 Performance requirements

i. Response time

The system responded to requests should not exceed ten seconds

ii. Throughput

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 The system processed simultaneous requests at a particular time from users

iii. Security

The system was maintained to only authenticated administrators.

Users had different usage privileges according to the type of user.

All user input is cleaned and validated.

4.11 Data Design

The researcher was able to view records in the organization. This data helped the researcher to

gather information to build the proposed system.

4.12 Relational Databases

To reduce redundancies in data description, the researcher employed normalization as a way of

examining data and its relation. Records were examined to see whether there was any

relationship. Any data related was grouped together.

CHAPTER FIVE: IMPLEMENTATION

5.1 Introduction

This chapter includes software that has been built as a result of the design made by the

researcher. This will help to carry out the organization’s task as per the user’s requirements. The

prototype will mostly focus on the database, inputs, processes and outputs that are the basic

system’s components. The end users suggest change and the prototype is revised to

accommodate these changes.

5.2 Program testing

The aim of testing was to detect any errors that can cause the program to fail. A successful test

should be one that does not show up the presence of errors rather the reverse. This kind of test

ensured compatibility of the hardware and the software.

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5.3 System installation requirements

The researcher found out that the organization needs a computer with the following

specifications.

i. Should be an Intel Pentium 4.

ii. High powered uninterrupted power supply (UPS)

iii. Should have a RAM of 2GB.

iv. A hard disk of 400GB.

v. A speed of 3.0 GHz

vi. A laser jet printer to print hardcopy outputs.

vii. Windows 7

5.4Controls

The researcher introduced control measures i.e. restricting the system access by means of

passwords, data encryption, and decentralization of data.

5.4 Site preparation

The researcher’s view was that a room to be set aside that was well ventilated; the floors

carpeted and dust free. These specifications were enough o host the proposed system.

5.6 Training employees.

The change of old system prompted a need for the personnel to acquire detailed knowledge on

how to use the new system. The training was to be made successful by providing system manuals

and training the working hours.

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 CHAPTER SIX: DOCUMENTATION

6.1 Introduction

Documentation is a means of communication between the analyst and users of the system.

Documentation consists of users request, specifies the procedure required for running the system

by the operations personnel, gives general sequence of events for performing the work and

defines precise procedures for data control and security, data preparation, program running and

output distribution. It is for the use of anyone who wishes to understand the detailed working of a

program.

6.2 Documentation of system specification

Encompasses of all information needed to define the proposed computer-based system. The

proposed system’s software was coded on visual basic platform version.

6.2.1 1nput

Input should be established effectively by making sure that data are correctly entered into the

computer. Data is then stored in the database.

6.2.2 Processing

This involves clicking on the command buttons to get the required results. The outputs will be

determined by the effectiveness of processing inputs.

6.2.3 Output

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The processed data is produced in a softcopy form or hardcopy depending on what the user

requires. The output should have no errors that can be created during input or processing.

Documentation of program design tools

6.2.3 Flow chart symbols

6.2.4 Dataflow diagrams

6.3 Documentation of the coding used

The researcher subdivided the program into smaller manageable modules that made it easier.

This made sure that each component was completed at a time.

6.4 Documentation of the test plan

After coding each component module, the testing of each module followed suite. Testing was to

ensure that the modules were free from errors.

6.5 Documentation of the user manual

The user manual was designed to specifically provide instructions and guidelines to the users

concerning the proposed system.

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 CHAPTER SEVEN

7.1 Introduction

This chapter shows the limitations, problem areas and future improvements that can be solved by

the new system.

7.2 Problem areas

7.2.1 Input errors

Input determines the output to be produced. If there is an error during input, processing will

continue but the outputs will have errors.

7.2.2 Viruses

Computer viruses affected the files hence making them to get lost or the program to appear to

have errors while in the real sense is free from errors.

7.2.3 Power failure

There is constant power surge and power black outs in the organization

7.2.4 Future improvements

The researcher concluded that the organization needs to network its departments to enable

sharing of resources and also ease communication. Different departments should also be

integrated by the new system to ensure accuracy and efficiency between departments.

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Budget

Item No of units Cost per unit Total cost

Hp computer 1 23000 23000

Html, php and mysql 1 2000 2000

Ms office 1 1500 1500

Printer 1 4500 4500

1 gb flash disk 2 800 1600

Printing papers 1 500 500

A window 7 1 1000 1000

Miscellaneous 1000 1000

Total cost 34100

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References

Nielsen, B. (2003). Taking the risk out of rapid application development. London, Sage

Publishers.

Carrera, et al., (2003). Rapid Aplication Development. New York Educations Publishers,

Sourer, M. (2003). Systems Analysis and Design. New York, Brothers Publishers

Troyer, J. et al., (2008). Introduction to Object Oriented Programming. London, McMillan

Publishers.

Castro, K. (2004). Introduction to Object Oriented Programming. London, McMillan Publishers.

Kenny, P. (2003). Introduction to Database Development. London, McMillan Publishers.

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