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IMPLEMENTATION OF A SALES MONITORING SYSTEM FOR

1. After discussing with my advisor decided to build the prototype from my own basic knowledge of sales system While building the prototype the problems faced helped me to understand exactly what questions to ask to the users for requirements gathering 3 1 1 Designing prototype from the initial concept The pathfinder management provided me an idea about what they wanted from the future system Their main concentration was on gt Fund requisition gt Visa monitoring gt Special interest of the travelers So decided to design fields in the spreadsheet that can store the inputs for the desired outputs 15 Designing the initial database No matter what information is to be retrieved from the fields of the spreadsheet to me Customer Information is a key table that should exist in the database Another two tables designed on paper were a Passport Information table and a Requisition Information table The tables have the following fields Customer Information Fields Customer ID Customer Name Age Address Contact Number Category Passport Information Fields Customer ID Passport Number Validation Up to 16 Requisition Information Fields Date Customer ID Account Number Requisition Amount Deadline Status Remarks had no idea about the fields that should be in a Requisition Information t
2. Table 4 1 Description of Customer_Info table Table Name Customer_Info Description Stores Information about the Customers Fields Primary key ID Name Field Name Description ID ID of the Customer It groups customers of same organization together Name Name of the Customer same as ID for individual Customer Age Age of the Customer Address Postal Address of the Customer or Organization Contact Contact Number of the Customer Email Email address to contact through mails Email2 2 Email address if available Customer_Type Type of the Customer Businessman Journalist etc Traveler_Type Type of traveler the customer is Frequent or not Remarks For any added comments 39 Table 4 2 Description of Customer_Type table Table Name Customer_Type Description Stores Information about the type of the customer to user for storing Customer Information Fields Primary key Customer_Type Field Name Description Customer_Type Type of different Customers Table 4 3 Description of Traveler_Type table Table Name Traveler_Type Description Stores Information about the traveler type of the customer to user for storing Customer Information Fields Primary key Traveler_Type Field Name Description Traveler_Type Type of the Travelers ready to travel Table 4 4 Description of User_Info table Ta
3. 69 APPENDICES Po USER MANUA E urisini reani oaa i a i a eE 70 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 3 1 Description for Manage Users Use Case 6 cceceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeees 28 3 2 Description for Manage Security Use Case sceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 29 3 3 Description for Receive and Transform Customer Request Use Case 30 3 4 Description for Generate Update Customer Info Use Case 31 3 5 Description for Generate Update Passport Info Use Case 32 3 6 Description for Receive and Transform Requisition Info Use Case 33 3 7 Description for Generate Update Requisition Info Use Case 34 34 3 8 Description for Generate Update Visa Info Use Case 000 35 4 1 Description of Customer_Info table cccecececeeeeceeeeeeeeaeeeeeees 38 4 2 Description of Customer_Type table ccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeees 39 4 3 Description of Traveler_Type table c cece cece cece eee eeeeeeeeeeees 39 4 4 Description of User_Info table cece eee e cece teeter eens eens eeeees 39 4 5 Description of Requisition _Info table ccccceeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeaees 40 4 6 Description of Passport_Info table cc cece cece cece teeter eee ee eeees 41 4 7 Description of Package_Type table cccceeceeeeee eee ee eeeeeneeeees 41 4 8 Description of Visa_Info table 0 cc cece cece eee e ee ee ee
4. Edition By Craig Larman Ill http www cs vu nl mmce mci content_pages opdrachtvoorbeelden R BLO M paper html IV http sern ucalgary ca JAD htm V http sds hss cmu edu courses Syllabi ids 271 88 271 Homepage UML Use Case FAQ htm APPENDIX A User Manual For Sales Monitoring System 1 0 _e Contents Bef re VOU SIA FM iovosccetivauscctescctssttetstorseveutectivbitestivensscetatstenstuaulaatetatsstivestsninesscacss 3 Installing Sales Monitoring System 1 0 cccesseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenneees 3 Atei PrOCAUtlONS aiea eis eee eae erecta 4 Overview of the Sales Monitoring System 1 0 s 1cccccccccscseeseeneneeeeessseseeseeneees 5 IAD MCI P E T E T E T TE 6 Features sasssssssnseneennnnnennrnnrnnnunnunnnnnnnnnnnnnunennnnnnnnnnnennaneanennnannnn annann anene unnan ananena aneneen 6 How to use different features ccsssessessecessssccssssnsenssceesssccensscansscesessscessssazosses 7 e a A EEE E a errant ere 7 AS AdMN SAO aa a a a a A 7 PS WSC a te AN Has SO Ae EN ee a Aa 7 AS GUCStA ce SSG des Te MS se AE eh TE MS EE eh ee ee 8 Change Password 2S NSh au tu eee e eGo eR RENE AN ESR Le Re a eRe 8 HOGS OMT ee acerca heehee tnt natant A me tiet A AA auntie A A A A 8 PN ae a iiss a nce T 9 Customer Information wicca cana anata aA AAAs GA ate 9 Passport Information ccccccceccceeeeee eter teenie eter eet ae ates ee eet neeaaaeeeeeeeeeneeeaaaeeeeeeeennee 10 Requisition Informat
5. Limit end user interaction to a controlled setting Should not under estimate conversion time Should not keep a prototype that was not initially intended to be kept Case study data is not easy to find and is to some extent biased In case studies negative results are seldom published Still Rapid prototyping is being successfully employed in the software industry With the lessons provided by the case studies rapid prototyping can be used to solve the problems that are described previously 11 CHAPTER Il 2 PLANNING PHASE 2 1 System Request Usually a request for a software system includes four elements v Project sponsor v Business need v Functionality v Expected value The project sponsor is the person who has an interest in seeing the system succeed This is the person who initiated the proposed project and who will serve as the primary point of contact for the system on the business side For this project S M Tarique the Executive Director of Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd played the role of project sponsor With his help the system request was prepared and is described below System Request for the project Project Name Sales Monitoring System Projectsponsor S M Tarique Executive Director of Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd Phone 881635 8814753 E mail pathfinder texasgroup net 12 Business Need To help increase in ticket sales by implementing an automated system for the sales department by tra
6. Password form aconcistes edie acer niet evs tes dent ee eheneent asset 47 4 4 Add Customer Information Form ccccccccceeeeecceeeeeeeteeuunnenaas 48 4 5 Add Passport Information form c ccceeeeeeeeee ee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 49 4 6 Add Requisition Information form 0 ccceceeeeeee ee ee ee eeeeeeeeeaeaeaes 50 4 7 Add Visa Information form 4 8 Add New Customer Type Traveler Type and Package Type Form 52 4 9 Add New User Form cccceceeee cece ee eect cece ce eeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeees 53 4 10 Edit or Quick Search Customer Information Form 00 54 4 11 Edit or Quick Search Passport Information form 0eee 55 4 12 Edit or Quick Search Requisition Information form 8 56 4 13 Edit or Quick Search Visa Information form 6 e eeeeee teens 57 4 14 Delete Database Information form sssssssssesresrerrerresrrsrnsrrsrens 58 4 15 Delete Customer Type Traveler Type and Package Type Form 59 4 16 Delete Existing User form c cee eee cece cece eee ee eee teats eens 60 4 17 4 17 Sample Report generated from Customer Information form 62 5 1 Error message 1 Duplicate name under same ID 00e0eee es 64 5 2 Error message 2 Duplicate passport NO cceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee teense 65 5 3 Error message 3 Text data in numeric field c cece ee eeeeeee es 65 5 4 Error
7. edit a shown record first click Edit and then start editing You can t edit a customer s ID Name or Passport No Do not leave any field blank After 21 editing click Save to store it Clicking Cancel at the time of editing will keep the record unchanged o To delete a single record that is shown on the screen just click Delete This Record A warning message will be displayed before deleting After deletion is completed all data will be refreshed again and a confirmation message will be displayed You will see the first record now on the screen o You can search a record by four fields They are Customer ID Customer Name Submission Date Delivery Date and Interview Date In the search area click one of the field options That filed data of all the records will be now in the search Combo Box Select any data from the Combo Box Click Search complete the search process The search result will be displayed Number of records found will be displayed below the search area Now Refresh is enabled Click Refresh to get all the stored data again Refresh must be clicked before a new search o The Show Report option displays reports of any search Click Search to complete a particular search Now Show Report is enabled So click Show Report to see the report for that search o Click Exit to quit from Edit or Quick Search Customer Informat
8. ee i bea ec ges a seas ce eee cee a a a aa 26 Jaloe U Ahead Tae ele E EEA Aceh cheats Eteach ek eck EET Ea 26 A A E lechasvcbadenaetuestis ediccaaer hactaavdbothaavbuetiea ATE 26 WHEE TO COU help seccnictuantucsttentudetventdiebesstucwiventainedeciuasivenddentecsindeivenduavivendnaeduacds 26 Before you start Installing Sales Monitoring System 1 0 a 1 Run the Setup exe file 2 Sales Monitoring System Setup 2 To change the destination directory click the Change Directory button 3 Click the Setup icon to start installation 2 Sales Monitoring System Choose Program Group X Bales Monitoring System Microsoft Office Microsoft Office Tools 4 Click Continue 5 Click Ok to complete set A few precautions 1 Please note that this software is compatible with only Windows based operating systems 2 Do not delete any of the files from the destination folder after installation is complete 3 If you want to uninstall the software then please do it from the Add Remove Programs option of your Control Panel Overview of the Sales Monitoring System 1 0 The key purpose of this software is to store information chronologically The four essential type of information that is stored are Customer Information Passport Information Requisition Information Visa Information The sequence to enter a customer s information is Customer Information Passport Informatio
9. enough to select exactly what type of questions to ask then requirement gathering is not helpful In the first phase of SDLC an analyst may experience problems like v It is difficult at the beginning of requirement collection to select what questions to ask v It is not possible to show users a view of the future system at an early stage v lt is difficult to change the software itself in the final stages of SDLC to refine real requirements v Unless there is any software ready to demonstrate JAD Joint Application Design sessions 1 and other conferences become less informative 1 4 My Area of Work There are plenty of other problems that can be faced while implementing a software project but my emphasis in this project is on problems relevant to interaction with the users and changing the software it to satisfy user needs 1 5 A Proposed Method to Overcome The Identified Problems in Software Project Implementation After identifying these problems with implementation of software projects realized building a prototype might solve some of the problems Methodologies that use prototyping and throw away prototyping and have a thorough analysis phase to gather information and to develop ideas for the system concept were exercised 1 5 1 Prototype A prototype is a quick and dirty program that provides minimal amount of features It however helps the user to conceptualize what the final system would look like very quickly So the user
10. information Sales department wants to process a visa request and confirm it Trigger User notes down detail visa information of that customer Type External Normal Flow of Events gt User generates a visa information table from the detail visa information gathered The visa information is sent to the sales department Sales department starts processing the visa request After processing the confirmation is sent to the user VV V WV User updates the status of the visa request 36 Manage Security Receive and Transform Customer Request Generate Update Customer Info Generate Update Passport Info Customer Receive and Transform Requisition Info Generate Update Requisition Info Accounts Generate Update Visa Info Figure 3 8 Use case diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system 37 CHAPTER IV 4 DESIGN PHASE 4 1 Designing The Database Columns from the excel worksheets of the prototype were rearranged to design the database of the final system There are eight tables in the database including four major tables to store information These four tables are y Customer Info v Passport Info v Requisition Info v Visa Info The back end database is created using Microsoft Access There is no query in the database Queries are maintained from the front end Detail Table descriptions are included here 38 4 1 1 Description of tables used
11. message 4 Blank entry cceceeeeeeee eee ee ease eee eeeeeeeaeaeaeas 65 5 5 Error message 5 and 6 Double entry for customer type traveler type or package type 65 CHAPTER I 1 INTRODUCTION Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd maintains a manual ticket sales system This interface is with web based system for ticket booking When customers request for tickets the process from requisition to ticket confirmation is very time consuming and it is cumbersome to keep track of all the information Realizing this problem implementation of a computerized sales monitoring system can be of great help Automating parts of the system may prove helpful if user take ownership of the system So an automated sales monitoring system for Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd has been developed to increase the existing system efficiency The system has been designed in such a way that any one even a person who has a very little about computer can feel relaxed to perform a prompt information service as well as to keep records 1 1 The Existing Sales System and Its Problems Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd uses two web based applications for booking and checking travel plans One application is Amadeus a leading global distribution system GDS and technology provider It has a feature named Check My Trip to view and check customer travel plans Another application is Galileo with user friendly web interface This is use
12. system gt He she changes the password by confirming his old password 30 Table 3 3 Description for Receive and Transform Customer Request Use Case Use case name Receive and ID 3 Importance level High Transform Customer Request Primary actor User Use case type Overview essential Stakeholders and interests User wants to transform customer request into customer information Customer requests for ticket or visa Trigger A customer confirms his ticket or visa request Type External Normal flow of events gt Anewcustomer asks user for ticket booking gt User notes down personal details and passport information of the customer gt User separates customer information and passport information or gt An existing customer requests for visa processing gt User notes down detail visa information of that customer 31 Table 3 4 Description for Generate Update Customer Info Use Case Use case name Generate Update ID 4 Importance level High Customer Info Primary actor User Use case type Overview essential Stakeholders and interests User wants to store update customer information Trigger User gathers customer information for entry Type External Normal flow of events gt User Generates a customer information table with all personal details of the customers by giving necessary entries gt If there is any change in cu
13. v It uses command buttons to complete most of the tasks y A user friendly Main Menu categorizes all the tasks v t uses separate forms to add edit or delete data v It has a login option as a security feature v The back end database is not visible in the final system v A user has no access to change the back end database Screens of the interface are developed in Microsoft Visual Studio 6 0 The principles that were kept in mind while designing the screens are gt Layout The text fields are placed in chronological order and have a natural spontaneous flow to minimize the users movement from one area to the next gt Content awareness All forms have titles and search areas are marked with headings and frames Each data field has its own label to identify that field gt Aesthetics Forms have a minimum amount of white spaces and all texts are in the same font The background is black to decrease eye pressure and labels are light colored gt User experience The forms are user friendly So both experienced and non experienced users will feel comfortable to use them For adding information each form has a button to go directly to the next form 44 gt Consistency All the forms have consistency Looking at one form of a specific type e g forms for adding information will give the user a idea about how the other forms will work gt Minimal user effort Finally the interface is designed in a way that minimizes the am
14. 2222 12 22 04 1 17 08 12 25 04 x J rn 12 24 04 Delete This Record Fig 4 13 Edit or Quick Search Visa Information form This form is used to view any added Visa information from the database The First Previous Next and Last buttons are used to negotiate through all data User can edit any particular data by clicking the Edit button After editing is completed clicking the Save button will save that data Delete this Record button deletes the displayed data This requisition form has a Search option that can be used to find any data by ID Name Submission Date Delivery Date or Interview Date After every search the Refresh button must be clicked to refresh all data 58 Delete PATHFINDER ERIAMEBLONET WORK LTD Fig 4 14 Delete Database Information form If there is any need to delete more than one data from the database or to delete all data of particular information then this form is used First user has to select which information he she will like to delete Then all data of an ID or data of a particular customer of that ID can be deleted by selecting the appropriate ID and name from the two combo boxes Clicking the Delete button will show a warning before deleting any data A confirmation will delete the data permanently If the Exit button is clicked user will again go to the Main Menu 59 Delete Data Delete Data e regular Not Regular Executive Fig 4 15 Delete Customer Type Traveler
15. Customer Name Combo Box The Combo box contains names of all the customers who belong to the previously selected ID o Enter other necessary details Select the proper requisition status from the Status Combo Box Clicking the Total text field will sum up all the amounts o Click Save to store information Again click Add if you want to add information and follow the above steps o Click Cancel to quit from Add Requisition Information form o Click Add Visa Information to directly move to that form 11 Add Record For Visa Information PATHFINDER ARCH LIMITED B 9 05 Visa Information When the form loads u can start adding information O O Select a customer ID from the Customer ID Combo Box Select a customer Name from the Customer Name Combo Box The Combo box contains names of all the customers who belong to the previously selected ID Type or select the visa request submission date delivery date of the passport and the interview date from the related date boxes Enter other necessary details Select the proper visa processing status from the Status Combo Box Click Save to store information Again click Add if you want to add information and follow the above steps Click Cancel to quit from Add Passport Information form 12 Add Data Add Data an Cancel Cancel Add Data Cancel Customer Type o Typ
16. IMPLEMENTATION OF A SALES MONITORING SYSTEM FOR PATHFNDER TRAVEL NETWORK LTD An Internship Report Submitted to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of BRAC University by S M Mahbubuzzaman Student ID 04341001 In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science February 2005 ii DECLARATION hereby declare that this internship report is based on the results found by myself Materials of work found by other researcher are mentioned by reference This report neither in whole nor in part has been previously submitted for any degree Signature of Signature of Supervisor Author iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is my great pleasure to present a complete report on the project implementation of a sales monitoring system for Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd have given my best efforts to show an overview of the sales monitoring system in this report First of all thank almighty Allah for allowing me to complete this project within the scheduled time with no major problem would like to pay my gratitude to my respected project advisor Dr Yousuf M Islam for giving me the opportunity to work under his supervision Without his kind support and help it would not be possible for me to carry out such real life work on my own His guidance has been an inspiration for me at all stages of my work acknowledge my gratitude to the internship committee and Pathfinder Travel
17. Network Ltd for accepting my project proposal am grateful to Mr Syed Faruque Ahmed Chairman Texas Groups for giving me the opportunity to work for Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd He encouraged me to look over the present situation in Pathfinder as an outsider would also like to thank Mr S M Tarique Executive Director Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd for his kind help in showing me the way Pathfinder management works for his opinion and suggestion in completing the project All the employees of Pathfinder were very welcoming am grateful to them also for their help My thankfulness to Ms Farzana Choudhry Assistant Director Career Development Department for her responsiveness in putting me to a renowned company like Texas Groups My gratitude to our teachers of Computer Science and Engineering department is endless for issuing me guidelines to overcome the problems effectively during the completion of this project would like to thank my family and friends especially Hasnain Feroze Rizwana Choudhury Samina Azad and Suriful Alam Sumon who helped me with word processing notes and software testing Finally thanks go out to the BRAC University administration for providing a clean quiet and well equipped lab and library in which worked Thanking S M Mahbubuzzaman ABSTRACT A working demo version prototype of the to be system allows the user to visualize the future system and enable the user to give constructive feedback on r
18. Numeric Input Expected System Name Field Output Response Output Response Customer Customer ID gp GP GP Information All capital Customer Customer Tanvir Error message Error message 1 Information Name Hyder Double entry Passport Passport No POO 1256 Error message Error message 2 Information Double entry 64 Table Tex Numeric Input Expected System Name Field Output Response Output Response Requisition Taxes Abcd Error message Error message 3 Information Text data Requisition Total Mouse Total requisition Total requisition Information click amount amount Customer Address Blank Error message Error message 4 Information Customer Customer Business Error message Error message 5 Type Type Double entry Traveler Traveler Type Regular Error message Error message 6 Type Double entry Package Package pfx01th PFX01TH PFX01TH Type Type All capital 5 1 1 Error messages Warning 3 Same mame for this ID exists entry failed Fig 5 1 Error message 1 Duplicate name under same ID 65 Fig 5 2 Error message 2 Duplicate passport no Fig5 3 Error message 3 Text data in numeric field Fig 5 4 Error message 4 Blank entry Fig 5 5 Error message 5 and 6 Double entry for customer type traveler type or package type 66 CHAPTER VI 6 STRONG AND WEAK AREAS OF THE SYSTEM It is really very difficult to i
19. Open Items v It is clear that a back end database will help the users a lot to store information y The interview needs to work efficiently 20 3 1 3Feedback from the users about the prototype The focal idea of using prototype for requirements gathering was to provide a system for the users to interact with so that they can give feedback More than a few user feedbacks were helpful to improve the prototype Both verbal and written feedbacks were taken For some user feedbacks used user feedback forms A sample user feedback form is given here Implementation of Sales Monitoring System for Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd User Feedback Form User Name Name of Excel Worksheet Problem encountered Fields needed Oi gee Oe Ss a Fields not needed 1 2 3 Remarks Fig 3 2 Sample User feedback form 21 3 1 4 Finalizing the design of the prototype After repeatedly changing the prototype from according to feedback given the design was finalized by the company advisor and the department advisor In the Customer Information spreadsheet customer ID was used as the primary key But Pathfinder uses customer ID to group their customers If there are three people from Grameen phone are traveling then they will have the same ID GP with their own customer name A new Visa Information sheet was also made The final prototype had the following columns for the spreadsheets Customer Information Colu
20. Type O Select any of the existing package type from the Package Type Combo Box Click Delete to permanently delete that type of package from the database Click Cancel to quit from the Delete Package Type form Delete User Cancel Existing User O O Type any existing user name inside the User Name field Click Ok to delete that user permanently An error message will be displayed if that user name doesn t exist Click Cancel to quit from Delete Existing User 25 Sales Monitorin For 7j PATHFINDER ERAMELENET WORK LTO Copyright c 2004 2005 DYD Soft Corp About o Clicking About displays version and other information about the Software Exit o Click Exit to exit from the Software Where to get help If the software is not operating properly and you cannot solve the problem using this help information in your software documentation then you can contact by email to sm_mahbubuzzaman yahoo com It will be possible to help you much more quickly if you mention the following information gt Version of your software gt Windows version you are using gt Software application s you normally use with your Sales Monitoring System 1 0 software 26
21. Type and Package Type Form To delete any existing customer type traveler type or package type from the database these three forms are used The deletion process is very easy User just has to select the particular data from the combo box which has to be deleted Then clicking the Delete button will permanently delete that data from the database 60 Delete User Fig 4 16 Delete Existing User form Only administrator has access to this form If any user is not needed any more then administrator will type his name in the User Name text box and click the Ok button If the user exists then the user profile will be deleted permanently And if that user doesn t exist then it will be informed by a displayed message 61 4 2 2 Validations in forms To ensure error free data entry and data retrieval validations are necessary in both front end and back end of a system The forms used for entering data for the system have some validations Most of the validations are used to avoid duplicate data entry Other validations are listed based on the sales process and the existing data format that Pathfinder uses Those validations are stated below gt gt User cannot leave any filed blank while saving any record For the Customer Information form and Passport Information form user cannot enter same customer name twice for a give ID In the Requisition Information form user cannot save any data with text entry for the field
22. able So decided to design this table after an interview with the user Designing the spreadsheets To build a prototype for user demonstration and entry preferred spreadsheets because it is easy to change according to user need and data doesn t give a complicated view to a new user and finally That s why converted my table designs into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets As two different customers may have the same name put a Customer ID for each of the customers and made it the primary key for the Customer Information sheet This field is a foreign key for the other two sheets The first Excel file that was shown to the user looked like this Passport Information CustomerID PassportNumber Validation_Up_To v 4101071 1654685 2 3 06 1101006 2565666 2 4 06 1101049 56653588 2 5 06 1101051 23554666 2 6 06 4101070 21556888 2 7 06 Fig 3 1 Sample spreadsheet for user feedback with false data 17 Customer Information and Requisition Information sheets were also made this way and shown to the users as the first prototype Several interviews were taken for requirements gathering and some user feedback forms were also given to get an idea about what the users actually wanted 3 1 2 Interviewing the users The interview is the most commonly used retirements gathering technique After all it is natural that usually if we need to know something we ask someone The interviews conducted for this project were mostly one on
23. ata will be refreshed again and a confirmation message will be displayed You will see the first record now on the screen You can search a record by four fields They are Entry Date Deadline Customer ID Customer Name and Status of the requisition process In the search area click one of the field options That filed data of all the records will be now in the search Combo Box Select any data from the Combo Box Click Search complete the search process The search result will be displayed Number of records found will be displayed below the search area Now Refresh is enabled Click Refresh to get all the stored data again Refresh must be clicked before a new search o The Show Report option displays reports of any search Click Search to complete a particular search Now Show Report is enabled So click Show Report to see the report for that search o Click Exit to quit from Edit or Quick Search Customer Information form 20 Y PATHFINDER DRIAMELENETWORK LTD l earcn 12 24 04 Delete This Record Cancel Show Report Refresh Visa Information In this form you can traverse edit delete and search records Report can be generated also from a particular search Total number of records can be seen inside the search area o Click First Previous Next or Last to go to the first previous next or last record o To
24. ble Name User_Info Description Stores Information of the Users that are using the System Fields Primary key Type Name Field Name Description Type Type of the User Administrator guest etc Name Name of the User Password Password of the User to Login 40 Table 4 5 Description of Requisition_Info table Table Name Requisition_Info Description Stores Information about requisition made to the accounts for a customer Fields Foreign key ID Name Field Name Description Entry_Date Entry date of a particular requisition information ID ID of the Customer that already exists in the Passport_Info Table Name Name of that Customer Fare The ticket fare Hotel If there is any hotel fare to be added Visa Any payment for Visa processing Misc_1 Miscellaneous Payment 1 Misc_2 Miscellaneous Payment 2 Taxes Taxes for the ticket fare Total Total payment amount Deadline Last date before which requisition has to be completed Package If the customer is traveling under any particular package Status Status of the requisition process pending completed etc Remarks For added comments about Requisition 4 Table 4 6 Description of Passport_Info table Table Name Passport_Info Description Stores Information about a Customer s passport Fields Primary Key ID Name F
25. cking customers by type Functionality Using the automated system users should be able to complete a sales procedure The initial focus should be on tool assistance for better sales monitoring The users should be able to Work on a Visa monitoring system from acceptance to delivery of passport Monitor for special interest of the travelers Such as honeymooners vacationers medical travel etc Search through Customer Information Passport Information Requisition Information and Visa Information Expected values Tangible An increase in sales after the system has been operating for 6 months to 1 year Intangible Faster search and report generation from database Improved requisition process and visa processing by monitoring the visa processing cycle Improved customer satisfaction Special issues or constraints There is no LAN connection in PCs between the sales department and accounts section So it is not possible to implement a fund requisition process that is synchronous with the accounts 13 2 2 Technical Feasibility Analysis Once the needs for the system and its basic functionality have been defined a more detailed technical feasibility analysis was carried out to better understand the opportunities and limitations associated with the proposed project This feasibility analysis guided the organization in determining whether to proceed with this project mainly focused on these aspects
26. d for booking tickets More than 500 airlines can be booked worldwide on the Galileo GDS Both the applications give users the facility to manage booking arrangements from their desktop Before it can issue tickets Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd has to monitor requisitions and visas Instead of manually storing information about all its customers it only keeps records of those customers who frequently travel As the customer information has to be transferred to the web based applications it is time consuming to retrieve any information Also there is a possibility of being unable to retrieve information when there is no internet connection Another job of the existing sales system is the fund requisition process In this process at first the amount that is needed for ticket purchase is estimated with some other charges hotel taxes etc if needed A request for this amount of fund is then sent to the accounts department in a paper copy This process is not synchronized between the accounts section and the sales department In addition the requisition details are kept in papers which is once more time consuming and not reliable Any request for fund to the accounts section is paper based Sometimes requisitions remain pending in the accounts section with other paperwork It would be very helpful for the employees if they could arrange their customers in different categories such as honeymooners vacationers medical travel etc Because the managem
27. e a customer type and click Add to store it If that type already exists you will receive an error message o Click Cancel to quit from Add Customer Type form Traveler Type o Type a traveler type and click Add to store it If that type already exists you will receive an error message o Click Cancel to quit from Add Traveler Type form Package Type o Type a Pathfinder Package type and click Add to store it If that type already exists you will receive an error message o Click Cancel to quit from Add Package Type form 13 New User This form is visible to only an administrator Administrator can use this form to create a new user for the software o Type anew user name o Type his her initial password o Click Ok to store this user information If the user name already exists then you will get an error message o Click Cancel to quit from Add New User form 14 Edit or Quick Search Edit Quick Search Record For Customer Information j PATHFINDER DRIAMELENET WORK LTD 0189225558 8923909 plus bdonline com Not Available Delete This Record aa Sh Refresh Customer Information In this form you can traverse edit delete and search records Report can be generated also from a particular search Total number of records can be seen inside the search area o Click First Previous Next or Last to go to the first previou
28. e user interfaces It is becoming increasingly important to prototype user interfaces first because they are becoming more complex Today almost all user interfaces are graphical the so called Graphical User Interfaces or GUIs These interfaces are easier to use than older types of interfaces e g command line interfaces but they are harder to create A prototype doesn t have all the features of real software so the interface is easier to construct 1 6 2 Improved ease of use Products developed using prototyping is easier Improvement in ease of use is an advantage equally for throw away and evolutionary prototyping Users have an opportunity to interact with the prototype and give direct feedback to designers For example in some cases users are not sure that they want certain functions implemented until they actually can try them Users may also find certain features or terminology confusing Also the need for certain features may not be apparent until the system is actually exercised Users are more comfortable reacting to a prototype than reading a boring abstract written technical specification 1 6 3 Better match with user needs Rapid prototyping results in a product which better matches actual user needs Prototyping tends to help ensure that the first implementation after the prototype will meet user needs Sometime Omissions of function are often difficult for the user to recognize in formal specifications Prototypin
29. ent can then easily track which type of customers are traveling less and the management can arrange discount or special package for them But the existing sales system doesn t have this competence either 1 2 Outcomes The Management Expected From The Project The main focus of the management was how to improve their sales They management assumed that the bottleneck with the sales system was in paper based works and the total sales process was also not integrated Restructuring the existing sales system by implementing an automated sales monitoring system was their first choice The management wanted an automated system that would support their existing business processes The outputs they expected from the system are gt A fund requisition process that is synchronous with the accounts gt A workable Visa monitoring system from acceptance to delivery of passport gt System monitoring for special category of travelers Such as honeymooners vacationers medical travel etc gt Finally a Sales Monitoring System with Customer Information Passport Information Requisition Information and Visa Information is required to improve the sales process The management looked forward to work on a system that will facilitate the entire sales monitoring by faster search and report generation from database 1 3 Problems With Implementing Software Projects It is documented that many software projects fail 1 and is it is thought that the root cau
30. eport that shows Customer Information of some of the customers who are Business related customers Here the search was made by Customer Type Business Pathfinder Travel Network 21 6105 Customer Information Customer Id ARCH LIMITED Name Milton Age Not Required Address hamlet tower banani dhaka Contact No 988 5567 8 Email Address 1 nora archcomposite com Email Address 2 Not Available Customer Type Business Traveller Type Regular Remarks No Remarks Customer Id ARCH LIMITED Name shah alam chowdhury Age Not Required Address hamlet tower banani dhaka Contact No 988 5567 3 Email Address 1 nora archcomposite com Email Address 2 Not Available Customer Type Business Traveller Type Regular Remarks No Remarks Fig 4 17 Sample Report generated from Customer Information form 63 CHAPTER V 5 IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 5 1 Coding And Testing The database design and interface design specification of the to be system were turned into workable computer code Both the GUI Graphical User Interface and the coding were completed using Microsoft Visual Basic 6 0 The testing requirements were collected during the analysis phase User testing of the completed system was done by simulated data Later the system testing was carried out using real data Some inputs expected outputs and system outputs are shown here Table 5 1 Inputs expected outputs and system outputs Table Text
31. equirements gathering to the analyst Thus used a_prototype based requirement gathering technique in the analysis phase of my development at Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd to get better requirement collection Then several improvements of the prototype were made based on the user feedback in each of the iterations to freeze the user requirements The person who interacted mostly with the prototype was Mr S M Tarique The formal meetings carried out with him worked as JAD Joint Application Design sessions So use of prototype and JAD helped the users to take ownership in the project by considering themselves a stockholder or owner of the final system Lastly the final system was implemented successfully based on the information gathered during the use of the prototype TABLE OF CONTENTS Page MT EE eeno aa a a a aaa reasoner ibaa taka a a E AR tick i DE GUA TON 2 esas e e vast ee Eee EE se we eu EE vee a EEST ii AG ISING WEED GEIEIN so ircicsieiceui cess eh carcass aaa Moment Miaadennteans iii ABSTRACT no ar EE A v TABLE OF GONTEINT S orain aa A a a aaa A ea vi LHST OF TABLES irria e e O E E A A ROE viii LIST OF FIGURES e a Ea a e E EE R R ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 1 The Existing Sales System and lts Problems shen itral fn nitveauons sei nas nenunsad eudenduae ded uneu manned cenenetviseattads 1 1 2 Outcomes The Management Expected From The PrO 6Clcovececs sete pane a en en etel ia NAA tk ods 2 1 3 Problems With Implementing Softwa
32. g system The use case diagram is shown in the last part of use case description Table3 1 Description for Manage Users Use Case Importance level Use case name Manage Users ID 1 Medium Primary actor System Admin Use case type Overview essential Stakeholders and interests System Admin wants to create or delete users User wants to get login information if necessary Trigger A new user requests to login or any user has to be deleted Type External Normal flow of events gt The new student asks for user name and password to the system admin gt System admin logins to the system gt System admin creates a user account for the user or gt Arequest comes to the system admin for a user deletion gt System admin logins to the system gt System admin deletes that particular user account Table 3 2 Description for Manage Security Use Case 29 Importance level Use case name Manage Security ID 2 Medium Primary actor System Admin i ij Use case type Overview essential ser Stakeholders and interests System Admin wants to change his her password for security User wants to change his her password for security Trigger A user system admin changes password Type External Normal flow of events gt System admin logins to the system gt He she changes the password by confirming his old password or gt A user logins to the
33. g helps ensure that the focus of a system is right before the expenditure of resources for development of the entire system User provided situation scenarios that contain descriptions of relevant existing or desired work situations can be especially helpful to developers The first attempt at developing a system will likely fail to meet user needs and be discarded It is better that the first effort is a prototype rather than a final deliverable 1 6 4 Reduction in maintainability Reduction in maintainability can be gained if prototypes are used in the initial phase The ease with which the modifications are made using prototype confirms the contention that prototyping can lead to maintainable products There are also indirect reductions in maintenance costs due to the possibility that user needs will be met the first time reducing the maintenance associated with changing requirements If software coding starts at the beginning then at a later stage it s difficult to change the design and coding There is normally no direct software coding at the stage of prototype use Normally the software coding starts when the use of prototype is completed So prototype can lead to easily maintainable code used Microsoft Excel as the prototype tool for user feedback Excel is a powerful tool to create user friendly input environment using data entry sheets It is also very easy to change a segment on excel without changing the whole format So it is
34. g so sscct esate oeutect este e a tee 23 3 2 1 Functional hierarchy geese einaernsnveccdedaiweeveteddeeereeetaddunrte 23 3 2 2 Context diagram s essesssessrssrsrrerrsrrerrerrrrrrrrrrrrrrernee 24 3 2 3 Data flow diagrams e eeseeseesneeresrrsrrrrrrrrrerrrrrrrrrrenn 25 3 3 Use Case Modeling ccceeeeeeeeee eee ee eaten eases eneeeeeeees 28 3 3 1 Use case description cc cece cececececeeecee neta nenenenenes 28 CHAPTER IV DESIGN PHASE 4 1 Designing The Database ai inccicscees cs decries aeactees tiie late agunes 37 4 2 Designing The User Interface neesesnernernernrenrrrrrrrsrrrrerren 43 4 21 Descriptions Of TOMS drisean ares ena a e aa 45 4 2 2 Validations in TORMS eat eco nce stepesecuderwenteencdeemnedavacener 61 4 3 Designing Reports isicccc 23 iene 4icck dances ie naekee a ek ewes Se 62 CHAPTER V IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 5 1 Coding And Testing wits tas thst bate iatedcdiclantedatd maSedna sets cet 63 Be Tal Eror MESSAGES srias e a ances agen ee KE a 64 CHAPTER VI STRONG AND WEAK AREAS OF THE SYSTEM CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION 7 1 How Prototyping Helped Freezing The User Reduirements neeesa aeaa EEE E FEA EEE aE 67 7 2 How Prototyping And JAD Joint Application Design Helps ownership of The System by The Users 0cceeeeeeeeeees 67 7 3 Further Improvement of The System e eceeee cece eeeeeeeeeees 68 LIST OF REFERENCES airia a a E p ea ani ant amen
35. ield Name Description ID ID of the Customer that already exists in the Customer_Info Table Name Name of the Customer Passport_No Passport number of the passport submitted Passport_Validity Validity of that passport Table 4 7 Description of Package_Type table Table Name Package_Type Description Stores Information about the type of Package Pathfinder is offering Fields Primary key Package_ Type Field Name Description Package_Type The ID of the Pathfinder Package 42 Table 4 8 Description of Visa_Info table Table Name Visa_Info Description Stores Information about the Visa process if the customer wants Visa processing to be done by Pathfinder Fields Foreign key ID Name Field Name Description ID ID of the Customer that already exists in the Requisition_Info Table Name Name of that Customer Submission_Date Submission date of the papers for Visa Delivery_Date Last date of delivery of the papers Country_Applied The name of the country applied for Visa Interview_Date Interview date for Visa Status Status of the Visa process 43 4 2 Designing The User Interface The user interface of the final system is designed in standard Windows approach The main differences between the interface of Excel worksheet and the final system are v The final system has text fields for data entry
36. ill be displayed below the search area Now Refresh is enabled Click Refresh to get all the stored data again Refresh must be clicked before a new search o The Show Report option displays reports of any search Click Search to complete a particular search Now Show Report is enabled So click Show Report to see the report for that search o Click Exit to quit from Edit or Quick Search Customer Information form 18 Edit Quick Search Record For Requisition Information 7j PATHFINDER DRIAMEBLENETWORK LTD 45 05 9090 J4ACH LIMITED shah alam chowdhury 1 424 05 PFXO1TH Pending it Requisition Information You can traverse edit delete and search records through this form Report can be generated also from a particular search Total number of records can be seen inside the search area o Click First Previous Next or Last to go to the first previous next or last record o To edit a shown record first click Edit and then start editing You can t edit a customer s ID or Name Do not leave any field blank After editing click 19 Save to store it Clicking Cancel at the time of editing will keep the record unchanged To delete a single record that is shown on the screen just click Delete This Record A warning message will be displayed before deleting After deletion is completed all d
37. ion cccceeeeeeee eect e ee eennee etree teen eee eee e sere etree aaaeeeeeeeeeteecaaaeeeeeeeeetee 11 Visa lntormatioN eee ec ee cette eee nannaa nanaii nananana ai aana seer Eina naaa ea tana naain tana ainiai iaaa nahati 12 Customer Type noiai antnnarnaakanannana naana aa nakaa ia naaa Kaa aaa Aia naaa aina ia naaa KELE a aa aahaii 13 Traveler TYPE stk t hk A AanetsietaneteeetneDhskekenchenetanebsnetsnchenetnattastanelenctenetauabsnetanetneduchssbebetete 13 mele eelo gt A 0 ee eee eer rrer 13 NAO ET E EE EEE E EAE A E E isassazeceenseaeanaanes 14 Editor Quick Se rC h sc sccc5cccicccesssscecs ces steccceaavecauesccdvens savasanesceceucessessanecucceneetneeceistss 15 Customer Information c cccccceeeeeeecceeeeeaeeeeeeeecaaeeeeeeeeeeeecaaaaeeaeeeeeeeecaaaeeeeeeeeeseecsaeeaeeees 15 Passport Informations ccccccccccceeeee eset eee e ee cneee eee rete e cca aeee sees ee teeeaaaeeeeeeeeennecdaaeeeeeeeenteee 17 Requisition Information ccccceeeeeeee eect ee eecneee eee ee ee eecaaeee eset eter eeaaaeeeeeeeeeteecaaaeeeeeeeeeeee 19 Misa Informations so cet eli celeste le a aneter a ele Saad a ea te 21 Delete nnna aaa hahaa ELAK a naa a aa aa 23 Database InformatioN znin a a e e a a a a aa a a 23 CUSTOM er Type 3299 8 naa an aA A a a E e A a e cena 24 Fraveler Type eraat n a E ONE OC SDN SE DONE a OE 24 PACKAGe Type itooo an 0 A I OD a a OS SE a ON TL 25 Existing WSCR iar cree GO OOOO DEO Do Os ON Oe a 25 FU
38. ion form 22 Delete Delete Information PATHFINDER ERIAMEBLONET WORK LTD bck oan M information IO Velete Database Information O Select any of the information you want to delete from the Information to Delete region Select a customer ID from the Customer ID Combo Box You can leave the field blank if you want to delete all customer information Select a customer name from the Customer Name Combo Box If you select All Data then If the Customer ID field is blank then all data of selected information will be deleted If the ID field is not blank then all customers who belong to that ID will be deleted Click Delete to complete the delete process If the selection is not done properly you will receive warning message Click Exit to quit from the Delete Database Information form 23 Delete Data Delete Data Regular Not Regular Executive Customer Type o Select any of the existing customer type from the Customer Type Combo Box o Click Delete to permanently delete that customer type from the database o Click Cancel to quit from the Delete Customer Type form Traveler Type o Select any of the existing traveler type from the Traveler Type Combo Box Click Delete to permanently delete that traveler type from the database Click Cancel to quit from the Delete Traveler Type form 24 Package
39. lable Not Available No Remarks Add Passport Information Fig 4 4 Add Customer Information Form To add customer information this form is used Any existing customer ID can be selected from the combo box or if the customer has a new id it can be added also After putting all the information to the respective fields clicking the Save button will save that data and give again the option to add record if the Add button is clicked Any time user can cancel the entry by clicking the Cancel button Clicking the Add Passport Information button will allow the user to easily access the Add Customer Information form 49 Y PATHFINDER BRAMELENET WORK LTD VALUE PLUS BD syed tanvir haider 78999874 1 2317 08 Add Record Cancel Add Requisition Information Fig 4 5 Add Passport Information form To add passport information this form is used ID of any existing customer who has customer information entry can be selected from the combo box After putting all the information to the respective fields clicking the Save button will save that data and give again the option to add record if the Add button is clicked Any time user can cancel the entry by clicking the Cancel button Clicking the Add Requisition Information button will allow the user to easily access the Add Requisition Information form 50 Add Record For Requisition Information f PATHFINDER ERIAMELENET WORK LTD 1231 05 7 5 Sohel T Add Vi
40. m This context diagram contains only one process which is labeled 0 This single process represents the sales monitoring system CUSTOMER SALES and ACCOUNTS are source sinks of the system and are represent the environmental boundaries of the system CUSTOMER 0 Sales Monitoring System ACCOUNTS Fig 3 4 Context diagram of Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system 25 3 2 3 Data flow diagrams The different processes that constitute the single process shown in the context diagram are shown here in the level 0 DFD of Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system Here also CUSTOMER SALES and ACCOUNTS are source sinks of the system In addition we have four files here to store data They are Customer Info Passport Info Requisition Info and Visa Info file CUSTOMER Visa Info SALES Requisition Request Customer Request Visa Confirmation 1 0 Receive and Visa Info Transform Customer Request 6 0 Formatted Visa Info Visa Info File Generate Update Visa Info Customer Info 2 0 Generate Update Customer Info Formatted Customer Info 3 0 Requisition Details 4 0 Receive and Transform Requisition Request Requisition Status ACCOUNTS Passport Info Formatted Passport Info Generate Update Passport Info Format
41. mns Customer ID Name Age Address Contact Number Customer Type Traveler Type Passport Information Fields Customer ID Customer Name Passport No Passport Validity Requisition Information Fields Date Customer ID Customer Name Fare Hotel Visa Miscellaneous 1 Miscellaneous 2 Taxes Total Deadline Package Type Status Remarks Visa Information Fields Customer ID Customer Name Passport No Passport Validity Submission Date Delivery Date Interview Date Country Applied Remarks 22 3 2 Process Modeling 3 2 1 Functional hierarchy 23 The following hierarchy diagram shows the Pathfinder Travel Network s system process at a high aggregate level or at a highly detailed level The sales monitoring system works with these four high level processes Sales Monitoring System Data entry for customer information Data entry for passport information Fund requisition for customers Visa processing for customers Fig 3 3 A functional hierarchy diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system 24 3 2 2 Context diagram This is the context diagram of Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring syste
42. mplement a System Development Life Cycle over an existing system within such shot span of time and propose a To Be system The proposed system that has been developed for Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd has both its strong and weak aspects The strong areas of the system are gt The back end database stores most of the information that are needed for a sales monitoring gt The database is developed using Microsoft Access which can easily be converted into a SQL or Oracle DBMS gt The software has a login system v This will further improve the security level of the software v This will be helpful to track individual user contribution on working with the system The system has some weak areas also They are gt There is no existing LAN Local Area Network connectivity within the PCs that users are using gt As the users are not connected through a LAN the fund requisition is not synchronous between the sales department and the accounts department 67 CHAPTER VII 7 CONCLUSION 7 1 How Prototyping Helped Freezing The User Requirements It is discussed earlier that prototyping always ends with a result that better matches actual user needs That is why the first implementation that was done for Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd after applying prototyping met all the user requirements The prototype was always a medium of interaction between the users and my work So the requirements that users had were satisfied with the pr
43. n Requisition Information Visa Information The software is designed in a way so that it is not possible to store any customer s Passport Information unless his her Customer Information is stored Similarly a previous entry of Passport Information is needed to enter any Requisition Information of a customer The Add process works this way Edit or Quick Search helps to Traverse through records Edit single information Search a particular record View reports of a search Delete single information Delete option is mostly to delete more than one record of a particular customer from any of the four tables There is no Help included with the software at this moment Main Menu W Sales Monitoring System Of x Login Add Edit or Quick Search Delete Help Customer Information Passport Information Requisition Information Visa Information Features v Login Add Edit or Quick Search Delete Help Exit LAANA How to use different features Login Administrator ancel As Administrator User name for an administrator is Administrator Administrator has access to all the features o Give administrator password o Click Ok to login o Click Cancel to quit from the Password form As User User has access to all the features except Add New User and Delete Existing User o Give user name o Give use
44. nder package type Each time the Add button is clicked a new type is added to the database Clicking the Cancel button will erase any typed text from the Type field 53 Fig 4 9 Add New User Form To add any new user only an administrator can use this form The administrator has to give a new user name and an initial password to create a new user Clicking the Ok button will create a new user and give a confirmation message 54 Edit or Quick Search Edit Quick Search Record For Customer Information 7j PATHFINDER DRAMELENETWORK LTD 0189225558 8923909 plus bdonline com Not Available Delete This Record Show Report Fig 4 10 Edit or Quick Search Customer Information Form To view any added customer information from the database this form is used The First Previous Next and Last buttons are used to traverse through all data User can edit any particular data by clicking the Edit button After editing is completed clicking the Save button will save that data Delete this Record button deletes the displayed data This form has a Search option that can be used to find any data by ID Name Customer Type or Traveler Type After every search the Refresh button must be clicked to refresh all data 55 Edit Quick Search Record For Passport Information j PATHFINDER TRAMELENETWORK LTD 1 17 08 Delete This Record Show Report Fig 4 11 Edit or Quick Search Passport Information form This form is used
45. one one interviewer and one interviewee Designing questions for interview Designing the questions for the interview is very important There are three types of interview questions gt Closed ended questions gt Open ended questions gt Probes Closed ended questions are normally those that require specific answer So these questions are used when the analyst is looking for specific precise information Open ended questions are those that leave scope for elaboration on the part of the interviewee Open ended questions are designed to gather rich information and give the interviewee more control over the information that is revealed during the interview Finally probing questions follow up on what has just been discussed in order to learn more They are often used when the interviewer is unclear about an interviewee s answer 18 The initial questions were prepared based on the problems occurred during the development of the prototype Several formal and informal interviews and meetings were carried out during the project life time A sample interview report is given here Interview Report Interview Notes Approved By S M Tarique Person Interviewed S M Tarique Executive director Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd Interviewer S M Mahbubuzzaman Date 26th October 2004 Primary Purpose To collect information about the current sales system and also to identify problems and solutions for future impr
46. ormation form 16 Edit Quick Search Record For Passport Information 7j PATHFINDER K LTO 222222 1 17 08 Delete This Record Passport Information You can traverse edit delete and search records for passport information Report can be generated also from a particular search Total number of records can be seen inside the search area o Click First Previous Next or Last to go to the first previous next or last record o To edit a shown record first click Edit and then start editing You can t edit a customer s ID Name or Passport No Do not leave any field blank After 17 editing click Save to store it Clicking Cancel at the time of editing will keep the record unchanged o To delete a single record that is shown on the screen just click Delete This Record A warning message will be displayed before deleting After deletion is completed all data will be refreshed again and a confirmation message will be displayed You will see the first record now on the screen o You can search a record by four fields They are Customer ID Customer Name Passport Number and Passport Validity In the search area click one of the field options That filed data of all the records will be now in the search Combo Box Select any data from the Combo Box Click Search complete the search process The search result will be displayed Number of records found w
47. ototype first This approach helped to keep the user requirements stable when started working for the real system The use of prototyping in the analysis phase helped to ensure that the back end database that was going to be used is same is it was for the prototype The prototype also gave users a sense of how the interface would be So the first attempt of developing a system would possibly fail to meet user needs It was better that the first effort was a prototype rather than a final deliverable and the prototype thus helped to clarify the requirements of the system at an earlier stage 7 2 How Prototyping And JAD Joint Application Design Helps ownership of The System by The Users JAD Joint Application Design is a structured process in which user managers and analysts work together to specify or review system requirements Use of a prototype for both users and analyst interaction makes the involvement more dynamic provides the basis for active and positive feedback The active involvement and participation of the users and managers encourages them to 68 take ownership in the project It is important therefore to ensure proper participation As the users get the opportunity to interact with a workable version the prototype of their to be system from the very beginning of requirements gathering they feel themselves as a part of the whole development process Users get an idea of what is happening during the developmen
48. ount of effort needed to accomplish tasks The main menu is categorized and for adding information it is easy to go to the next form directly with a single click to minimize clicks 45 4 2 1 Descriptions of forms Wi Sales Monitoring System iof x Login Add Edit or Quick Search Delete Help Eri Customer Information Passport Information Requisition Information Visa Information Fig 4 1 Main Menu The main menu of the interface has six menu options From the Login option a user can login to the system as an administrator or as a user or as a guest The Add option is to add Customer Information Passport Information Requisition Information Visa Information Customer type Traveler Type Package Type and New User Only administrator can add new user The Edit or Quick Search option gives users access to the four basic forms To edit or search any data for Customer Information Passport Information Requisition Information and Visa information user can access this option To delete any database information or Customer type Traveler Type Package Type and Existing User the Delete option can be used Only an administrator can delete an existing user although As there is no help with the interface the help option has only the about form The last option is Exit which is used to quit from the system 46 Administrator Cancel Fig 4 2 Administrator User or Guest Login form To access all the options of the Main Men
49. ovement of the current system Question Format Q1 Give me a brief idea about the current sales system you are using Ans Customers normally come for ticket booking We get all the ticket and trip information from the two web based applications Amadeus and Galileo 19 We store only information of frequent travelers The fund requisition process is done manually in papers A requisition request is sent to the accounts department For Visa processing we do not maintain any database at this moment Q2 What are the main problems in this current system Ans Well as we are completing our fund requisition process manually sometime accounts department may fail to notice a request for requisition Also for visa processing the submission date of passport delivery date interview date and other information are not kept in any system database Q3 What are possibilities of improving the current system Ans There are some possibilities v lf there is a system monitoring for the customers interests then it will be better to understand customer needs v The fund requisition process can be synchronous with the accounts y A visa monitoring for visa processing will help us to process customer request promptly Summary of Interview After questioning it is seen that the current system has some limitations Precise problems can be realized from user point of view The current system will be more efficient if the problems are solved
50. ps Click Cancel to quit from Add Customer Information form Click Add Passport Information to directly go to the Add Passport Information form PATHFINDER DRAMELENET WORK LTD VALUE PLUS BD X 78999874 1 2317 08 x Add Record Cancel Add Requisition Information Passport Information When the form loads u can start adding information O O Select a customer ID from the Customer ID Combo Box Select a customer Name from the Customer Name Combo Box The Combo box contains names of all the customers who belong to the previously selected ID Enter Passport No of the Customer s passport to the Passport No field Type or select the date of the Passport Validity from the Passport Validity Box Click Save to store information Again click Add if you want to add information and follow the above steps Click Cancel to quit from Add Passport Information form Click Add Requisition Information to directly go to the Add Requisition Information form 10 Add Record For Requisition Information f PATHFINDER ERIAMELENET WORK LTD 1231 05 7 5 Sohel Add Visa Information Requisition Information When the form loads u can start adding information o Type or select the date of entry from the Entry Date Box o Select a customer ID from the Customer ID Combo Box o Select a customer Name from the
51. r password o Click Ok to login o Click Cancel to quit from the Password form As Guest User name for a guest is Guest Guest has access to only Edit or Quick Search and Help o Give guest password o Click Ok to login o Click Cancel to quit from the Password form Change Password Change Password While logged in any of the users can change password o Give old password o Give new password o Reenter new password o Click Ok to complete the process o Click Cancel to quit from the Change Password form Log Off o Click to log off from the system Add Record For Customer Information 7j PATHFINDER DRAMELENETWORK LTD Not Required Not Available Not Available Not Available No Remarks Add Passport Information Customer Information When the form loads u can start adding information O Enter Customer ID to the Customer ID field Type a customer ID or select any of the already stored IDs from the Customer ID Combo Box Enter Customer Name Clicking the Customer Name text box will show other customer information for any existing ID Enter other necessary details of the customer to the given fields Select a Customer Type and Traveler Type from the Combo Box Don t leave any field blank Click Save to store information Again click Add if you want to add information and follow the above ste
52. re Projects eeeeeeee 3 T My Area Of WOK srana e TEE EE 4 1 5 A Proposed Method to Overcome The Identified Problems in Software Project Implementation ceeeeeeeeeeeee es 4 1 5 1 Prototype spror raian noana aee EAEri E ERER E 5 1 5 2 Prototyping MOdelS 22 5 sceishdecoks yobeeedeesvaveesecansonatagh eens estos 5 1 6 How Building A Prototype Solves The Problems 00e0ee 5 1 6 1 Easier to create interface 0 cc ceceeeeee ee eeeeeeeeeeeeneeees 6 1 6 2 Improved ease Of USE cece cece cece ee ee ee ee ee ea eaeeeeaeaeas 6 1 6 3 Better match with user needs ce ceeeeee eee ee ee ee eee 7 1 6 4 Reduction in maintainability cccceeeeeeeeeeeeee eee eee eee 7 CHAPTER II PLANNING PHASE Dol OV SIGMA CQO cc cc clei a wie Sia ca eta wean anh ue ans 11 2 2 Technical Feasibility Analysis c cceeeeeeee ee ee ee eeeeeaeaeeeeees 13 2 2 1 Technical feasibility not risky ceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ee eees 13 CHAPTER Ill ANALYSIS PHASE 3 1 Requirements Gathering ssscorctn aces eoneesnscesausetneeanee Ait 14 3 1 1 Designing prototype from the initial concept 14 3 1 2 Interviewing the users ccc ee cece e eee eect e ee eeeeee 17 3 1 3Feedback from the users about the prototype 65 20 3 1 4 Finalizing the design of the prototype eeeeeeeee es 21 Bie Process Modelin
53. rmal Flow of Events gt The sales department asks for a fund requisition gt User receives the request and sends the detail to accounts department gt Accounts section starts processing the request If there are enough funds to approve the s 1 The request then requisition status becomes approved If there is not enough fund to approve the request the s 2 Accounts department keeps it as pending or rejects the request 34 Table 3 7 Description for Generate Update Requisition Info Use Case Use case name Generate Update bet ID 7 Importance level High Requisition Info Primary actor User Use case type Overview essential Stakeholders and interests User wants to store update requisition information Accounts department wants to send back the requisition confirmation Trigger Customer requests for a requisition Type External Normal Flow of Events gt User generates a requisition information table from the detail requisition request gt The accounts department sends back requisition confirmation if there is any gt User updates the status of the requisition information according to status 35 Table 3 8 Description for Generate Update Visa Info Use Case Use case name Generate Update ID 8 Importance level High Visa Info Primary actor User Use case type Overview essential Stakeholders and interests User wants to store update visa
54. s next or last record 15 o To edit a shown record first click Edit and then start editing You can t edit a customer s ID or Name Do not leave any field blank After editing click Save to store it Clicking Cancel at the time of editing will keep the record unchanged o To delete a single record that is shown on the screen just click Delete This Record A warning message will be displayed before deleting After deletion is completed all data will be refreshed again and a confirmation message will be displayed You will see the first record now on the screen o You can search a record by four fields They are Customer ID Customer Name Customer Type and Traveler Type In the search area click one of the field options That filed data of all the records will be now in the search Combo Box Select any data from the Combo Box Click Search complete the search process The search result will be displayed Number of records found will be displayed below the search area Now Refresh is enabled Click Refresh to get all the stored data again Refresh must be clicked before a new search o The Show Report option displays reports of any search Click Search to complete a particular search Now Show Report is enabled So click Show Report to see the report for that search o Click Exit to quit from Edit or Quick Search Customer Inf
55. s can interact with the prototype quickly put together by the analyst and thus understand whether the analyst understood what they want and also helps the analyst to refine real requirements quickly by modifying the prototype with the given feedback 1 5 2 Prototyping models The prototyping model is a software development process that begins with a brief requirements collection followed by prototyping and user evaluation Attempting to build a prototype before detailed requirement collection helps the analyst to decide what questions to ask Often the end users may not be able to provide a complete set of application objectives detailed input processing or output requirements in the early stage After the user evaluation another prototype is made based on feedback from users and again the cycle returns to client for user evaluation In a throw away prototyping each of the prototypes is used to minimize the risk associated with the final system by ensuring that important issues are understood before the real system is built Once the issues are resolved the project moves into design acceptance and implementation The prototype would represent the accepted functionality design of the real system Security aspects and distributed aspects are generally absent for the prototype 1 6 How Building A Prototype Solves The Problems The development of a complete system is a complex task involving many different groups of people Systems are comple
56. s that use currency values Any customer whose information is already in the Customer Information form can only be added for a Passport Information entry Any customer whose information is already in the Passport Information form can only be added for a Requisition Information entry Any customer whose information is already in the Requisition Information form can only be added for a Visa Information entry No matter in which case a customer ID or a Pathfinder Travel Network package type is typed it will always be saved in upper case User cannot add same Customer Type Traveler Type Package Type and User Name twice Administrator and Guest this two users cannot be deleted from the system 62 4 3 Designing Reports A system can produce reports on the screen on paper or in other media such as the Web Reports are perhaps the most visible part of any system because a primary reason for using an information system is to access the information that it produces There are many types of reports A report can be detailed a summary turnaround documents or graphs In Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system all reports that are generated is basically detailed Crystal Report 4 6 1 0 for Microsoft Visual Basic is used for producing different type of reports Reports can be generated from any search results of the Customer Information Passport Information Requisition Information and Visa Information form Here is a sample r
57. sa Information Fig 4 6 Add Requisition Information form To add requisition information a user can access this form ID of any existing customer who already has his her passport information can be selected from the combo box For the fare and other amounts the values should be entered properly Clicking the total text box will automatically sum the amount After putting all the information to the respective fields clicking the Save button will save that data and give again the option to add record if the Add button is clicked Any time user can cancel the entry by clicking the Cancel button Clicking the Add Visa Information button will allow the user to easily access the Add Visa Information form 51 Add Record For Visa Information PATHFINDER ARCH LIMITED B 9 05 Fig 4 7 Add Visa Information form To add visa information this form is used ID of any existing customer who already has requisition record can be selected from the combo box After putting all the information to the respective fields clicking the Save button will save that data and give again the option to add record if the Add button is clicked Any time user can cancel the entry by clicking the Cancel button 32 Add Data Add Data ns Add Data Cancel Fig 4 8 Add New Customer Type Traveler Type and Package Type Form These forms can be used to add a new type for the customer a new traveler type for the customer or to add a new Pathfi
58. se of these failure could lie in requirements gathering and user ownership 2 It can be said that end users play a fundamental role in implementing a software project While developing an automated system it is therefore very essential to have user interaction In some cases the end users who will be benefited by the proposed system are business people and are not as a result familiar with computers or technical terms used in the computer world So they feel it difficult to interact with the software project team Lack of user participation and interaction is a noticeable problem in developing software projects What To Be users find difficult during the development are v Users do not know how to interact with the software team from the very beginning Users get a view of the future computerized system at a later period Users see very little of the work progressed by the software team It is sometimes difficult to describe real requirements SSK Sr Finally it is tricky for the users to understand a system specification on paper Also there are some problems that the project management or the analysts face during software project implementation In the analysis phase of SDLC System Development Life Cycle 1 one key focus is given to requirements gathering Interviewing the To Be users is a good way to gather information about what the users actually want But if the project management team or the interviewer is not expert
59. stomer s data then the table is updated accordingly by the user gt If any customer is no longer valid for the company his her information is deleted from the customer information table 32 Table 3 5 Description for Generate Update Passport Info Use Case Use case name Generate Update ID 5 Importance level High Passport Info Primary actor User Use case type Overview essential Stakeholders and interests User wants to store update passport information of a customer Trigger User separates passport details from the customer details for entry Type External Normal flow of events gt User Generates a passport information table with all personal details of the customers by giving necessary entries gt If there is any change in customer s passport details then the table is updated accordingly by the user gt If needed user deletes the passport information of an invalid customer 33 Table 3 6 Description for Receive and Transform Requisition Info Use Case Use case name Receive and l OS ID 6 Importance level High Transform Requisition Info Primary actor User Use case type Overview essential Stakeholders and interests User wants to transform requisition request into requisition information Sales department wants to request accounts for a requisition Trigger Sales department requests for a requisition Type External No
60. t of the project Also when they get the to be system they are in a better position to understand it JAD also actively involves users and management in the development project It makes users to feel like stakeholders of the new process as their opinions are also listened to and given importance User participation develops a shared understanding of what the proposed system is supposed to do So the users tend to own the new project When JAD incorporates prototyping as a way for confirming requirements and obtaining design approvals the benefits of prototyping to take ownership by the users are realized 7 3 Further Improvement of The System In future the sales monitoring system can be implemented in a network model with a separate backup database server This will prevent data loss in any kind of system failure The coding of the software can be done in a platform free programming language so that it can be run on any operating system 69 LIST OF REFERENCES References used 1 Modern Systems Analysis amp Design 2 Edition By Jeffrey A Hoffer Joey F George Joseph S Valacich 2 Lecture notes cited my Dr Yusuf M Islam 3 Reported Effects of Rapid Prototyping on Industrial Software Quality By V Scott Gordon James M Bieman Books and website links consulted l Systems Analysis and Design An Object Oriented Approach with UML By Alan Dennis Barbara Haley Wixom David Tegarden ll Applying UML and Patterns 2
61. ted Requisition Info Requisition Info 5 0 Generate Update Requisition Info D1 Customer Info File D2 Passport info file D3 Requisition Info File Fig 3 5 Level 0 DFD of Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system 26 The process 1 0 Receive and Transform Customer Request has three sub processes which are shown here in the decomposition of process 1 0 The resulting data flow is the same here as it is for process 1 0 ll Receive Customer Request 1 2 1 3 Collect Passport Receive Visa Details Details Fig 3 6 Level 1 diagram showing the decomposition of process 1 0 from the level O diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system 27 Another process 4 0 Receive and Transform Requisition Request also has three sub processes which are shown here in the decomposition of process the process The resulting data flow is the same here as it is for process 4 0 in the level O DFD 4 1 Receive Requisition Request 4 2 4 3 Calculate Check Status for Requisition Updating Data Amount Fig 3 7 Level 1 diagram showing the decomposition of process 4 0 from the level 0 diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales 28 3 3 Use Case Modeling 3 3 1 Use case description Here are the use case descriptions containing all the information needed to build the user case diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitorin
62. tees ee ee ee ee ees 42 5 1 Inputs expected outputs and system outputs c ce ceeeeeee ee ee ees 63 Vill LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Ld SOUrCES OF Case study Cale pai aeia A EER 8 1 2 Observed effects on quality attributes cee eeee eee e eee e eee e eee eee 9 3 1 spreadsheet for user feedback with false data eceeeeeeeeeees 16 3 2 Sample User feedback form cceeee cece eect eect ee neers eens eeeeeeeees 20 3 3 A functional hierarchy diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system e eeeeeeeees 23 3 4 Context diagram of Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system e eeeeeeeees 24 3 5 Level 0 DFD of Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system e eeeeee eee 25 3 6 Level 1 diagram showing the decomposition of process 1 0 from the level 0 diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system e eeeeeeeeee 26 3 7 Level 1 diagram showing the decomposition of process 4 0 from the level 0 diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales ccecececeeeececeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeaees 27 3 8 Use case diagram for Pathfinder Travel Network s sales monitoring system eeeeeeeees 36 AW Wealth WOM a aeaaea wees anda ence A ANEA EAEE a aaie aE Eaa EE aai 45 4 2 Administrator User or Guest Login form cccececeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 46 4 3 Change
63. to view any added passport information from the database The First Previous Next and Last buttons are used to negotiate through all data User can edit any particular data by clicking the Edit button After editing is completed clicking the Save button will save that data Delete this Record button deletes the displayed data This form also has a Search option that can be used to find any data by ID Name Passport No or Passport Validity After every search the Refresh button must be clicked to refresh all data 56 Edit Quick Search Record For Requisition Information 7j PATHFINDER DRIAMEBLENETWORK LTD 9 5 05 3090 JARCH LIMITED shah alam chowdhury 1 724 05 PFXO1TH Pending Delete This Record Show Report Previous Fig 4 12 Edit or Quick Search Requisition Information form This form is used to view any added requisition information from the database The First Previous Next and Last buttons are used to negotiate through all data User can edit any particular data by clicking the Edit button After editing is completed clicking the Save button will save that data Delete this Record button deletes the displayed data This requisition form has a Search option that can be used to find any data by Entry Date Deadline ID Name Passport No or Status of the requisition process After every search the Refresh button must be clicked to refresh all data 57 Y PATHFINDER DRIAMELENETWORK LTD 22
64. trouble free to response using prototype on user feedback The real world case studies suggest that rapid prototyping when utilized properly leads to improved software quality The primary improvements are ease of use better match with user needs and often better maintainability The sources of these real world case studies represent a variety of organizations AT amp T General Electric RAND MITRE Martin Marietta Los Alamos ROME Air Development Center Hughes U S West data processing centers government divisions and others Nine of the sources are projects conducted at Universities but only two of these are student projects Ten of the sources are military projects 3 se Fig 1 1 Sources of case study data ease of use eee match with user needs performance yt design quality oo B maintainability a i features B 0 8 16 24 number of studies key a decrease fia not reported TA to Figure 1 2 Observed effects on quality attributes Prototyping can be used for developing large systems also These case studies find no particular bias towards either keep it or throw away prototyping After revising real life situations it is recommended that while using a prototype in making software projects developers should try the following 3 Carefully define the purpose and scope of the prototype Avoid the use of entry level programmers for making design decisions 10 Consider performance issues early
65. u a user has to login using this form User can login as an Administrator as a user or as a guest Different login options will provide user with different access environment An administrator can access all the options A user also has access to all the options apart from the permission to add new user or delete an existing user From the main options a guest can only access the Edit or Quick Search option of the main menu To login user has to type his her user name and password Then if the password and user name is correct then clinking the Ok button will confirm the login process A wrong user name or password will display a warning message about wrong user name or password 47 Login Change Password Fig 4 3 Change Password form Any user can change his her password while he is logged on to the system Clicking the Change Password button from the Login option of the Main Menu will show this form A user has to give his old password to change that old one When the user will complete giving his new password and reentering it he just has to click the Ok button If all the given information matches then the password will be changed Otherwise user will be displayed a warning message and will have to enter those information again By clicking the Cancel button user will go back to the Main Menu 48 Add Record For Customer Information 7j PATHFINDER DRAMELENETWORK LTD Not Required Not Available Not Avai
66. v Familiarity with the application v Familiarity with technology v Project size The Technical feasibility analysis for Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd is stated here 2 2 1 Technical feasibility not risky Familiarity with the application excellent gt The sales department already has the experience to work in a PC environment The department is also using two internet based applications Familiarity with technology medium gt The users have no experience of working in a network environment gt There is not LAN connection within the PCs to run the system in a network environment Project size moderate gt Weestimate that the project is moderate in size gt With some effort the to be system can be replaced by the current system without much complexity 14 CHAPTER IlI 3 ANALYSIS PHASE 3 1 Requirements Gathering For requirements gathering it was important to select the right person Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd has 5 6 employees who are working with the current system But executive director of Pathfinder Travel Network Ltd Mr S M Tarique has total control of the overall system So selected him as the primary person who will participate during analysis chose interviewing as the way in which information should be collected As knew a little about how a real life travel agency works it was very difficult for me to decide on what questions to ask so that the requirements could be collected properly
67. x because they usually have a lot of functionality and often need to cooperate and or integrate with other systems Also the interface of a system is complex The interface is that part of the system that interacts with the users of the system and therefore has to operate in real time because users don t like to wait It is impossible to start building a system immediately without first investigating the required functionality and identifying the parts of the whole system Moreover the different groups of people involved in building the system do not have the same area of expertise For example there are managers designers programmers and users Still these people have to be able to communicate with each other about the required functionality of the system to be developed So all people must use a common method of abstraction In my system managers and users are not trained computer scientists or professional users and they have no knowledge of advanced design methods used in computer science Therefore the method of abstraction must be simple yet effective and not require much learning Prototyping offers such an abstraction After reading the results of some case studies published on the internet it is found that prototyping or throw away prototyping has the following good quality attributes 3 1 6 1 Easier to create interface One problem prototypes solve is the designing of the interface Nowadays prototypes are mostly used to creat

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