chapter 3aa

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Chapter 3

Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

Methodology refers to the analysis of the methods used appropriate to a eld of

study. It is a systematic way of accomplishing certain tasks and is dened as a

collection of procedures, techniques, tools and documentation aids that helps a

software developer to speed up and simplify the software development process

(Pressman, 2!".

In this research, a com#ination of methodologies was used. $his chapter descri#es

the methodology for this dissertation and the methodology that is used for system

development.

3.2 Research Methodology

$he purpose of the research methodology is to provide a view of the methods that

was applied into this research. In addition, it denes the system development life

cycle (%&'" for developing the system.

$he )esearch methodology dened here is #ased on the methods used to collect

information on the real world pro#lem pertaining to on*line retail chain stores and to

dene system requirements. +rom the analysis study, understanding of the

literature reviewed and analysis of questionnaires, will lead the initial requirementsfor the system. volutionary prototype is used as methodology for %&'. -nce the

initial requirements are ready, the net step is to design the system, followed #y

coding and testing.

3.2.1 Research Questions and Methodology

In this research, the researcher seeks to solve the following research question

related to online document monitoring tracking system/*

!. Is the system a#le to determine which users should distri#ute documents #asedon the minutes on the document delivery0

2. an the system help management apply the concept of decentrali1ation in

decision making0

. Is the system 3ei#le in managing a varia#le num#er of head o4ces and

departments0

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6. Is the system a#le to manage document inventory for each department and

dene which documents has reached to the department to #e minute0

7. Is the system a#le to nd which company #rought a document into the

organi1ation0

8. Is the system a#le to generate reports #ased on specic date and time0

3.3 Research Technique

$here are many techniques used to collect data. $he techniques used to collect data

for this research are as follows/

9 'iterature review.

9 %urvey (questionnaire".

9 :rainstorming.

3.3.1 Literature Review

;s was mentioned in chapter 2, the system was studied to determine if the old

system was helping the organi1ation.

3.3.2 Research survey

%urvey questionnaires are used to o#tain quantitative descriptions of what

document and advancement to the old system doesn


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$he system development life cycle (%&'" is the entire process of formal, logical

steps taken to develop a software product. $here are many life cycle models that

eist to develop the system, and the researcher is at li#erty to choose a model that

t this pro>ect, time and constraint. $he phases of %&' can vary somewhat #ut

generally include the following/ )equirements specication, software design, coding,

testing, and delivery.

3.% !#LC $or developing the &e' 'ased docu"ent syste"

%ystem for &ocument Monitoring and $racking (#TM!" &ue the circumstance

surrounding this research, in particular time constraint, the %&' that was chosen

for system development is volutionary Prototyping.

$he goals of prototyping vary from system to system, and di=erent prototyping

strategies may #e adopted, depending on the pro#lem domain.

3.%.1 &hat is (volutionary )rototyping *()+,

volutionary prototyping uses multiple iterations of requirements gathering,

analysis, design, development, and testing of prototype. ;fter completion of each

iteration, the result is analy1ed #y the researcher. $heir response creates the net

level of requirements and denes the net iteration. ;nd this goes on until the

operational system is ready (http/??www.doc.mmu.ac.uk".

-dvantages

9 %uits rapidly changing or poorly understood requirements, so it suits a pro>ect in

which the development areas are not well known to the developers

9 Provides the end*user with clear signs of progress

9 @ives the end*user a sense of control over the pro>ect


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useful to construct an initial prototype system. ; prototype can help in identifying

the system requirements and in minimi1ing uncertainty or missing requirements.

:uilding prototypes is a good way to %&'. (ric E. Fy#erg, 2"

3.%.2 usti/cation $or 0sing the (volutionary )rototyping in !#L! $or

*#TM!+

!. laries the requirements needed in a system.

volutionary prototyping helps to alleviate changing opinions and vague

specication #y em#odying the requirements in a tangi#le form. %o potential users

and supervisor can see their requirements in the prototyped systems, and therefore

can validate the requirements re3ected in the prototype. :y the iterative nature of

the prototype


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4. Reduce develop"ent schedule and "ini"i5e cost

Prototyping minimi1e development costs and, development schedules, if there is

any change in pro>ect, the researcher can do that in early phase and this will require

less time and e=ort. If there is a wrong in %&', the researcher will change in

documentation, design and models. JMany stakeholders are also less intimidated #ythe presentation of a prototype than #y the paper avalanche of specications,

designs, screen layouts, and diagrams found too often in methods such as the

Caterfall modelJ (;ntKn B arter B arp B Cilliams, 2!".

6. 7uild nowledge $ro" eperi"ent

volutionary prototyping helps to #uild knowledge #ase for researcher from what he

did and if any mistake happens wrong in any phase the researcher will acquire new

knowledge and try to avoid this in the net phase. Gvolutionary models of

prototyping take advantage of knowledge acquired as development progressesJ

(;ntKn B arter B arp B Cilliams, 2!".

3.%.3 (volutionary )rototyping *()+ $or #TM!

P for -&%%*)% has si development phases which are in )equirements

analysis?@athering?Integration, %ystem &esign, Implementation (:uild Prototype",%ystem &e#ugging ? $esting, Lser valuation, and &eliver to user. ;s shown in gure

D.!, in the real word, each phase overlaps and repeats the phases until the system

is #uilt. ach phase of P for #TM!is eplained in detail #elow.

+igure D.!/ $he evolutionary prototyping for a we# #ased document monitoring and

tracking system for Ministry of petroleum (&M$%"

3.%.3.a Require"ents analysis 8 9athering and Integration

)equirements denition is the most crucial part of this pro>ect. ; requirement is a

description of what a system should do, ('ut1 B Coodhouse,!8". +igure D.2 shows

the process of gathering the initial set of requirements from the study of literature

review, discussion with potential users, and reviewing other similar software

systems, so as to contri#ute to the understanding on what the system must do.

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$he initial requirements are documented in the initial requirements document

template. Fewrequirements are agreed during the analysis and negotiation

processes with potential users, where#y, the agreed requirements are then added

to the eiting requirements. ;s in most software processes, the design of a new

prototype release occurs as the designers decide how the new sets of requirements

will #e incorporated into the revised prototypes. Initial requirement set isdocumented using the initial requirements document and this continues until the

nal requirements document is completed.

igure 3.2: #ata ;ow diagra" o$ the


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design, su#system and module specication, and interface design are revised and

minimally documented as necessary to ensure a design and prototype structure.

$he system design is considered as the connecting link or #ridge #etween the

eisting set of requirements and the prototype implementation.

as shown in igure 3.3 Conceptual #ata ;ow diagra" o$ newly proposed

#MT!

3.%.3. I"ple"entation *7uild )rototype+

-nce new requirements are agreed, and the initial design or a change in the design

of a new requirement is done, then the researcher will #egin developing a prototype

or the revised prototypes. $he prototype is iteratively modied to respond to initialdesign for new requirements. +igure D. shows the implementation. ;t the end of

each prototyping cycle, the researcher starts to develop tested prototype.

igure 3.: I"ple"enting prototype "odel=s through ()

In the user implementing prototype model of the &$M %ystem, this will show how to

system will look after completion/

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'ogin in screen

)edirected pages, eg Minister, &eputy Minister, Petroleum directorate,

accounts, i.c.t., records, communication unit, p.p.m.e etc respectively. Aiew incoming documents.

-utgoing document page where they can add or edit minutes using the

reference num#er of a document. @enerate reports

Print reports

%earch for document

Monitor document 3ow

%hould #e a#le to logout from their page interface #y clicking on a link.

3.%.3.d !yste" #e'ugging 8 Testing

Chen the prototyping phase and the tested prototype phase is done the researcherand the potential users may >udge whether or not the prototype meets their

epectations. If the result from partial test isnNt satisfactory, then a change in the

requirements, design and revised prototypes are carried out. :ut if everything is

satisfactory, then we enter a new iteration for new requirement and this is shown in

+igure D.6. Programming and de#ugging is still performed until the requirements are

met and the design is fullled at the conclusion of system implementation.

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igure 3.%: )roposed (ntity relational #iagra" *(R#+ o$ #M! $or

Ministry o$ )etroleu"

3.%.3.e 0ser (valuation

+igure D.7 shows the user evaluation model for the system. Chen implementation

prototyping for the system is done, the nal prototype goes through etensive

testing. ;t the end of the testing if the researcher and the potential users feel that

the system is not satisfactory, then new requirements and modications are carried

out, #ut if it is satisfactory this means that the system is complete. ;fter that, the

system is tested #y two categories of users, i.e. rst the departments in thecompany and second the Lsers. If the feed#ack from the users are good and there

are no Fot satised )equirement

%ystem testing new requirements to add, the system is complete, and is ready to #e

delivered. -r else, a new iteration of the prototype will #e implemented in order to

incorporate the new requirements.

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In the user evaluation model of the &$M %ystem, users should #e a#le to see the

following after login/

'ogin in screen

)edirected to appropriate page, eg Minister, &eputy Minister, Petroleum

directorate stc respectively. Lsers should #e a#le to view incoming documents.

-utgoing page where they can add or edit minutes using the reference

num#er of a document. %hould #e a#le to logout from their page interface #y clicking on a link.

3.%.3.$ #eliver the syste"

+igure D.8 shows the process when the system is ready to #e delivered. $he

delivered system should encompass the needed functionality and the approved

system qualities as dictated #y the users.

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igure 3.6: Co"plete #R# $or the new developed syste" $or Ministry o$

)etroleu".

In the complete &)& model for the &$M %ystem, admin, ministers and users should

#e a#le to see the following after login/

'ogin in screen

)edirected to appropriate page, eg Minister, &eputy Minister, Petroleum

directorate etc respectively. Lsers should #e a#le to view incoming documents.

-utgoing page where they can add or edit minutes using the reference

num#er of a document. %hould #e a#le to logout from their page interface #y clicking on a link.

;dmin should #e a#le to generate reports #y clicking on a link and also

search for a document or minute using the reference num#er.

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Minister should #e a#le to add minutes to document that can #e sent to each

user and department within the organi1ation.

PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT

3.1 HARDWARE SPECIFICATION The hardware is the place where all the information and data are stored permanently. So

hardware must be reliable and cost effective. The hardware must suit all the application

development. It is fast enough to complete and do all the jobs and executions.

1. PC with Intel coreduo processor

. !emory " #$ %&! !inimum' #$ or higher recommend.

(. )*) %+! drive.

,. +S"!S -indows P or above

3.2 SOFTWARE SPECIFICATIONThe software specification means the operating system and all other applications or tools

used for the development of the proposed system. It includes the +perating System' and thesoftware which we are going to use.

Platform * PEP+ront end * PEP, %%,

E$M' :ack nd * My%Q'

%erver, ;MP, C;MP -perating %ystem * Cindows P

or higher specication.

3.3 DATA BASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DESCRIPTIONThe overall objective in the development of database technology has been to treat

data as an organi/ational resource and as an integrated whole. )atabase !anagement System

allows data to be protected and organi/ed separately from other resources. )atabase is an

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integrated collection of data. The most significant of data as seen by the programs and data as

stored on the direct storage devices. This is the difference between logical and physical data.The organi/ation of data in the database aims to achieve three major objectives0 )ata integration

)ata integrity

)ata independence

The databases are implemented using a )$!S pacage. 2ach particular )$!S has

uni3ue characteristics and general techni3ues for database design. The proposed System stores

the information relevant for processing in the S45 server database. This S45 Server database

contains tables' where each table is called a field or column. & table also contains records' which

is a set of fields. &ll records' in a table the same set of fields with different information. 2ach

table contains ey fields that establish relationships in an S45 database and how the records are

stored. There are primary ey fields that uni3uely identify a record in a table. There are also

fields that contain the primary ey from another table called foreign eys.

RELATIONAL DATABASE RULESCertain rules followed in creating and relating the databases in the relational databases.

This governs how to relate data and prevent redundancy of the data in the database. The first set

of rules called relational rules ensures that the database is a relational database. The second set

called the normali/ation rules simplifies the database and reduce the redundancy of the data. In

the proposed system this relational database rules are applied to reduce the redundancy mae

future changes to the table structure easier to and minimi/e the impact of these changes on users

interface to the database.

This is done first determining what information is needed' how items are related' what

constraints are established tables are created and linked #y appropriate key elds. $he

constraints on the data are used to guide the #uilding of ta#les. Making use of the

normali1ation principles creates the ta#les. $he proposed system has its own ta#les

in the third normal form.

MySQL Server%elational database systems are the most important database systems used in the software

industry today. +ne of the most outstanding systems in !icrosoft !yS+5 Server. !yS45

Server is a database management system developed and mareted by !icrosoft. It runs

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exclusively under -indows 6T' -indows 7897:' and -indows ;;; Server. The most important

aspects of !yS45 Server are0

!yS45 Server is easy to use.

!yS45 Server scales from a mobile laptop to symmetric multiprocessor system.

!yS45 Server provides data warehousing features that until now have only been

available in +racle and other more expensive )$!S.

& database system is an overall collection of different database software components

and database containing the part vi/. )atabase application programs' front"end components'

)atabase !anagement Systems and )atabase. & database system must provide following

features0

& variety of user interfaces.

Physical data independence.

5ogical data independence.

4uery optimi/ation. )ata integrity. Concurrency control.

$acup and recovery.

Security and authori/ation.

E!er"r#$e %&&'er is the main administrative console for !yS45 Server

installations. It provides you with a graphical ou can perform high"level administrative functions that affect

one or more servers. Schedule common maintenance tass or create and modify the structure of

individual databases.

Q(ery A&)y*eroffers a 3uic and dirty method for performing 3ueries against any of

your !yS45 Server databases. It?s a great way to 3uicly pull information out of a database in

response to a user re3uest' test 3ueries before implementing them in other applications'

create9modify stored procedures and execute administrative tass.

MySQL Pr+,#)erprovides a window into the inner woring of your database. >ou can

monitor many different event types and observe database performance in real time. !yS45

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Profiler allows you to capture and replay system ou can use

Service !anager to start' stop or pause any one of these service.

D&!& Tr&$,+r%&!#+ Serv#-e$ DTS/ provide an extremely flexible method for

importing and exporting data between a !icrosoft !yS45 Server installation and a large variety

of other formats. The most commonly used )TS application is the


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&dministrator.

Support

MORE COMPATIBLE

-indows P' also provides0

Improved driver support.

Increased support for newgeneration hardware multimedia technologies.

MORE POWERFUL

Bor all your computing needs' windows xp professional provides0

Industrial strength reliability.

The highest level of security.

Powerful performance.

3.4 !u""ary

$his chapter has looked into the research methodology which was used in this

dissertation. $he techniques used to collect the related information from potential

users were surveyed. $he literature review is used to study the current system and

the related research previously done. $he evolutionary prototype method was used

in the system development life cycle of #MT!.

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chapter 3aa

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