Alex Farnell, 12L2

Managing the Project

This is where I’m going to save

all of my documents for this
project, this is so that everything
will be kept together and easy to
find. I have created an ICT folder,
within that I created a folder for
unit 3 and within that folder is
where all my documents will be
kept.

Background to the Organisation.

My organisation is going to be a balloon shop called Razzamatazz. It’s

situated in Ullesthorpe, a small village just outside of Leicester; it sells
different types of balloons, all different shapes, sizes, patterns and colours
for all different occasions. It also takes orders for birthdays, wedding and
funerals. The balloon shop opens from 9 till 5 every day, apart from
Sundays when it is open from 11 till 4. Currently, there are only 3 people
who work there seeing as this is a small organisation. These are the owner
and his wife, and their son. I chose this company because its small and
they don’t have a proper way of storing customer details and orders. The
amount of customers this business has is around 200. They also work out
all their prices on a piece of paper, so I am going to make a database for
them to help them store their information electronically and to be more
efficient for them to keep track of their orders. Mr Tazz, the owner of the
shop is my client. He, his wife and their son Louis will all be the users of
the system for they all have active roles in the business. Mr Tazz is the
manager; Mrs Tazz and Louis are both sales assistants. For this business,
the only audience will be the family running the business for no one else
needs to see the database in action.

Statement of the Current System.

The current system that is in place is a paper-based system; this involves

using a pen and paper to manually record information, this means that the
business must always supply pens and paper in case orders come through.
A new system will need to be able to place an order, generate an invoice,
automatically send out letters informing customers of changes and offers,
search for specific customers to change their information if incorrect and
the keep track of orders past and present.

Problems with the Current System.

The problem with the organisations current system is that it is time-

consuming and ineffective for they use hand-written receipts and do their
working out on paper with no electronic system whatsoever. The system

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

also takes up a lot of room in the shop and takes a lot of time to use,
cutting into potential selling time. The current system also has no way of
storing customer details and so there is no way of automatically sending
out letters to each customer without physically writing each address out
and it’s very time consuming to search for each individual customer
individually. Using pen and paper also means that there is more chance of
human error meaning incorrect information; also, there is a lot of storage
room needed to keep track of orders and information essential to the
business.

End User Requirements, Qualitative & Quantitative Criteria

My system must:
• Produce an automatic invoice and send it to customers in under 10
seconds – this is so that the customer and the company can both
have a clear record of sales. The reason that it will be made in less
than 10 seconds is so that if the business has a particularly busy
day or for sending a mass amount of invoices it will take less time
improving the efficiency of the business.
• Store information about customers – e.g. Customer name, address,
telephone number, email address, DOB. This is so that the business
doesn’t need to hold all the information about customers in
different location. This makes it easier to send out invoices and mail
merges to customers because the system can automatically look up
the relevant information this means that the business will be able to
deal with more customers than before for nothing has to be
manually entered apart from the initial details of the customer.
• Send letters to customers – to inform them about current offers,
new products and other information. This is so that the business
doesn’t have to manually have to hand out leaflets and will target
their current customers directly this means that they have
advertising to the people who would be most interested.
• Store information on products – e.g. quantity left, sizes, price and
colours. This is so that all information on products can be easily
viewed or modified. This means that the business can have queries
to search for particular products.
• Store information about past orders in an archive – in case a
physical copy of the invoice is lost; another can be found by date or
customer and reprinted. This also means that a customer can
repeat any past order they may have made. This results in not
needing to find all the relevant products and re-ordering them. This
also means the business can see who hasn’t ordered any products
recently and send them reminders or special offers.
• Have a password – this is so that no-one apart from the necessary
people can access the system. This means that all the confidential
information about the customers are secure meeting the
requirements of the data protection act.
• Make less errors than the old system – my system will include
validation so it makes less errors than the old system, the two
systems can then be compared to test that this is correct. This is so

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

that the business won’t come into difficulties e.g. wrong products
sent out on orders and wrong names on letters.
• Store information on at least 150 past orders – my system should
have enough memory to hold at least 150 orders so they can be
back-dated. This is also so that past orders can be repeated and the
business can see which customers tend to order which products.
• Be easy to use and understand – so everyone at the business can
use it even if they aren’t confident with computers. This means that
my system must be simple and perform exact tasks that the
business wants so that all the employees can use it and won’t get
stressed if it doesn’t find or do what they want it to.
• Store at least 200 customer’s details – so every customer’s
information can be easily found. This is also so that my business
can search for direct customers through the database meaning that
the details on the customer can be modified. Also, at least 200
means that the business can store all it’s current customers details
and if they get more customers during the time they use this
system they can keep all details of customers.
• Let customers create many orders – so that customers can order
different things different times, this can be done using relationships.
This is so that the customers can make more than 1 order making
the business more efficient. This also means the business will get
more money because if each customer was only allowed to make 1
order then they would have to go somewhere else if they want
products that the business has in order to get them.
• Be appealing to look at – to make using the system nicer. This is so
that my business will like to use my system. This will also make it
easier to use for they will be able to find everything that they need
to.
• Search for a customer – to make finding certain people easier. This
is so that details can be deleted or modified quickly and easily.
• Search for a product – to make amendments to products if
necessary. This is so that details can be deleted or modified quickly
and easily.
• Search for past orders – to correct any mistakes e.g. undelivered
items. This is so that details can be deleted or modified quickly and
easily.

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

Data Dictionary

Field Name Data Type Field Length Validation Description

Customer ID AutoNumber Long Integer This will be

the primary
key in the
database;
each number
will be
unique so
you can find
a customer
easily.
Title Text 4 This field will
include a
drop-down
box so there
is less
chance of
error.
First Name Text 25

Last Name Text 25

Address 1 Text 40

Address 2 Text 30

Town Text 20

City Text 20

County Text 20

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

Postcode Text 8 >LL09/0LL This field

contains
validation so
that the post
codes
inserted are
of the
correct
format.
Telephone Text 11 This field
Number must be in
text so that
the “0” at
the
beginning of
the number
can be used.
D.O.B Date 8

Email Text 25
Address

Field Name Data Type Field Length Validation Description.

Product ID Autonumber Long Integer This will
automaticall
y create a
unique
number for
each
product.
Product Text 25 This field will
contain a
drop down
box reducing
the chance
of a product
error.
Quantity Number Double This field will
Remaining automaticall
y start at
250.
Price Currency 6 This field will
automaticall
y find the
price based
on the
quantity
ordered
times the
product.
Colour Text 10 This field will
contain a

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

drop-down
box so there
is less
chance of a
colour error

Field Name Data Type Field Length Validation Description.

Order ID Number Long Integer This field
will contain
a lookup to
find the
number of
the current
order so
that all the
products in
that order
can be
grouped
together
Product ID Number Long Integer This field
will contain
a lookup so
as soon as
the
customer
adds a
product it
can be
copied to
the order.
Quantity Number Long Integer

Field Name Data Type Field Length Validation Description

Order ID Autonumber Long Integer This will
automaticall
y generate a
new number
for each
order; this
also will be
the primary
key for this
table.
Customer ID Number Long Integer
Date of order Date Short date I will include
a default
date as
now() so the
days date
will
automaticall
y come up.
Date of Date Short date

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

delivery

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 Alex Farnell, 12L2

Designs of the relationships:

Tbl_customer

Tbl_products

Tbl_orders

Tbl_orderline

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 Alex Farnell, 12L2

vForm Design Documentation.

The relationships I will be making will be”1 to many” relationships, this means that 1 thing can be associated
with manyI decided
things. Intothedesign
databasemyanforms
example likeofthis
this is
socustomers
everythingandwas
orders.
easy1 customer
to can make many
orders, meaning one customer ID can be associated with many order ID’s.
understand for the user meeting one of my end user requirements. I chose When I make my relationships I will
“ensure referential
to use two integrity” thisshades
different means that if I make
of blue a change
because to one
I think of my
that it istables, the change
appealing to will be made
throughout the system. For example, if one of my customers changes their
look at, also, they match my business’ logo. I put the boxes around all my surname, their surname will change
on everything related to that record, and this means my user won’t have
buttons and search box because I think that it makes it stand out more to manually change all the records
related making
making myitdatabase
look more moreattractive.
efficient forI the
putbusiness.
different sizes of boxes for
information so the user knows how much information is necessary to
input. This makes it appealing to look at and easy to understand and use. I
included a search box so it makes it easier to look for a particular
customer; I also included navigation buttons so that the user can scroll
through records easily and quickly. I put validation in so that there is less
chance of an error, this relates back to the user requirement of making
fewer errors than the old system. My designs had the title underlined and
in bold so it’s attractive to look at and it stands out, this relates to a user
requirement. I used 3 different tables to link to my forms. Tbl_customer is
the source for my frm_customer and frm_customerorders. Tbl_products is
the source for my frm_products so that all the information on the products
will be accurate for if there are any changes made it will affect both
tables.

I chose to make all the fields’

different lengths so the user knows
how much information to put in
each. This relates to the user
requirement of being easy to use
and understand. I added a bevel and
an indent so the buttons will stand
out, this relates to the user
requirement of making it look
attractive. I decided to do this with
all my forms because it keeps the
theme the same and it draws
attention to the buttons.

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

Documentation of Tables

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 Alex Farnell, 12L2

This is to show that I used an input mask so that the

postcodes will be entered correctly reducing the amount
of error. The “l”’s mean letter must be present, the “0”
means number must be present and the “9” means the
number may be present”. This is also to show how I set
the default city to “Leicester” making my database
This is my tbl_customer. One of my user requirements wastoituse.
quicker mustI made
store information
sure that youoncan customers
overwritewhich
the this
is evidence of. Another one of my requirements was it must
default store
value in at least
case 200 customer’s
a customer details
isn’t from – this
Leicester.
currently only holds 20 but I am confident that myBoth
system will be able to store all 200 customer’s
of these relate back to the user requirements of
information. The following print screens are of various
makingaspects
feweroferrors
the making
than theofold
mysystem.
table:

This is to show that I used a look-up/combo box in

order to select the relevant title for the customer, this
means that there is less chance of error when including
the title of the customer, I also set limit to list to yes so
that you can’t overwrite the combo box meaning that
the only title’s you can have are Mr, Mrs and Miss.
This means there is less chance of an error; this relates
myIuser
set the format of of
requirement date of birth fewer
it making to short date than the
errors
because I think that this will make
old system for this is a form of validation.my
database look better, this is also so my
database can store correct information on my
customers.

This shows how I changed the field length so there is

less chance of an error. I chose to use 25 for the first
name because no first names exceed that length. I put
the postcode field length at 8 because all postcodes
and 7 or 8 characters long, this is also a form of
validation meaning there is less chance of error than
the old system.

This is my tbl_product. This meets one of the user requirements for it is storing information
of the customers. This table holds different information on products meaning that there will
be different data types. The primary key in this table is the “ID” field. This will be used to
identify individual products; this will also be used in forms and in relationships.
This shows all the different data types included in my
products table. These all help reduce the chance of an error
being inputted. The primary key is an Autonumber so that a
new number
11 is automatically generated meaning no two
numbers will be the same.
 Alex Farnell, 12L2

This table meets my requirements by storing information on orders. I have an

Autonumber for my Order ID. Customer ID is a drop-down box so you can select
your customer easily. Date of Order includes the validation rule of =now() so that it
will automatically come up with today’s date. Date of delivery also contains
validation of =date()+2 so that the date of delivery must be at least 2 days after it was
ordered. This field must also be present. This means there will be less chance of error
because you can’t enter a past date.

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

This is my tbl_orderline, this is where you can add multiple products to your order and
select the quantity of products. This relates to my end user requirements because it
stores information on past orders and it also lets customers create many orders.
This is my tbl_orderline in design view. Although the
data type says “number” it’s actually a lookup. This
means it will automatically get the information from
another table. The Order ID will get its information from
tbl_orders, it will look up the primary key and
automatically display that on the tbl_orderline. This is so
that 1 customer can make many orders – relating back to
the one to many relationships and user requirements. This
also applies for the Product ID field; it brings up a drop-
down to select the relevant products the customer wants
to orders. This will then display in that field. This also
contains validation so that you can’t order more than 249
products.

This is the relationships between my tables. I made these so they are the
same as my relationship diagram that I drew out beforehand. This means
all the information on the tables are linked together in different ways
meaning different things. E.g. a 1 to many relationship between
tbl_customer and tbl_orders means that 1 customer (linked by customer
id) can create many orders (linked to order id).

Forms.

Customer Orders:

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

This is the header for my form; I chose the background to be a custom light blue to
contrast with the light blue because the colours match my business’ logo. I then
decided to put the company logo either side of the title so you know that the
business is associated. I put the title in the middle and underlined so it stands out
and is appealing to look at relating back to the end user requirements.

This is the buttons on my form. I drew out two rectangles,

one light blue and the other custom light blue, and I
bevelled one and indented the other making the shape
around the buttons. I added the buttons so that it’s easy to
use this relates to the end user requirements.

This is where the information on the customer is

shown or input. This is so that you can see which
customers have had which orders in the past relating
to the end user requirements.

This is a combo box which acts as a search box so the user

can quickly find a customer or just browse to see current
customers, this means that the system can store customer
details.
This will display all the
information from my tbl_orders
from the past orders that the
selected customers have made,
this relates to the user
requirement of store past orders
in an archive.

Products.

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

This is my form for my products page, I followed the same layout of my customer orders
form because it makes it easier to use and look more attractive relating back to user
requirements. It still contains the same buttons and search bar making it easier for the
user to locate different things. The only difference will be the information displayed will
be the different products the business has to offer. I chose to keep the same layout
because the user will find it easier to navigate and it will also look more professional. I
chose to make a form for my products page because it is an easier way to view and edit
product information. It also makes the information clearer relating to the end user
requirement of being appealing to look at and also being easy to use and understand.

Customers.

This is my form for customers, this contains more fields than the customer orders form
does for with this form you can add new customers and delete customers. You can also
modify all aspects of the customer information this relates to the end user requirement of
storing customer’s information. This form also contains colours and the company logo
which relates to the end user requirement of looking attractive, I also thinks it meets the
requirement of being easy to use and understand.
Queries

Qry_SearchCustomer
The first query I am going to do is to search for a particular customer. It
will ask the user to input either the customer ID or the customer surname
in a dialogue box then it will bring up all matching results. This relates to
the end user requirement of searching for a particular customer. This
query will be a parameter query so the user can either input 1 or 2 pieces
of information and the user wont have to manually change the query
every time that it’s used.
This is the design view of my query:

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

My query is coming from tbl_customer and contains all the fields in the
table; this is so all the information is shown when the query has been ran.
I have chosen to include all the fields from my tbl_customer because then
the user can make sure all relevant information is correct instead of
searching throughout the whole table. The [Enter Customer ID] is in the
criteria box and the [Enter Customer Surname] is in the ‘or’ box because it
means the user can either search for the customer ID or by the surname
meaning only 1 has to be entered. If the [Enter Customer Surname] was
also in the criteria box it would mean that the user would have to input
both the customer ID and the Surname which wouldn’t work if the user
didn’t know the ID thus making this a parameter query meets the user
requirement of being easy to use.

This is what my query looks like when I ran it, I chose to use the customer
Id of 5 as an example and it came up with the customer who had the ID of
5, this shows that my query works. I repeated this and just put in the
surname of ‘Taylor’ and my query brought up the record that had the last
name of ‘Taylor’

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Alex Farnell, 12L2

Qry_SearchProduct:

For my query that searches for a product I repeated what I did with the
search for a customer but I changed the table, the fields and the
information that is to be requested to be relevant to the search for a
product. I still included all the fields from my tbl_products so that all the
information on the product would be visible to the user so they can look
up what they need to know or they want to change. I kept the [Enter
Product ID] in the criteria field so that it will be the first thing the user can
input if they know it, the [Enter Product Name] will come up second
because there may be a product with the same name.

I then ran the query and used the number 5 as an example again

This shows that my queries are working correctly because it brought up

the record with the ID of 5 and none other. Also, when I ran it with the
surname Taylor it brought up the only record with the last name of Taylor,
this relates to the end user requirement of searching for a customer,
searching for a product and also making less errors than the old system
for with the old system if the user heard incorrectly the wrong record
would come up.

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