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DESIGN METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
With the current trend of software development, a vast number (both generic and customized)
models, and techniques. One of such systems is this online system of current study. This
project is aimed at developing a system that facilitates easy administration and processing of
This chapter presents the system design methodologies adopted in the course of the
Systems analysis is the dissection of a system into its component pieces to study how those
Systems analysis is also the process of examining a business situation for the purpose of
System analysis is a problem solving technique that deals with the breaking down of a system
into its component piece for the purpose of studying how the components of the system
function efficiently and interact to accomplish their individual purpose. It describes what the
system should do to meet the information needs of its users. It is an in-depth study of the end
user information needs that produces functional requirement that are used as the basis for the
design of a new system. It collectively describes the early phases of the system development
and is usually independent of any technology that will be used to implement the system.
The development of the proposed model is not only depending on how the system works. It
also depends on the working flow process that is being identified and need to be implemented
and followed. The proposed complaint handling model is a method, platform or web-
application to ensure that the complaint process is addressed and handled properly.
Therefore, from the statement above or definition above, system investigation can be defined
Automating brings about reduction of the less useful job workers in the loading department,
but increases the use of computer, hence high demand of computer operators and analysts.
In system investigation, the analyst plays a major role. He is only concerned with what is
happening in accordance to the organizations policies and practices. The resources used in
the system must be defined. The personal equipment and facilities must be noted in a way
that will portray their relation to the system for these to be done efficiently, the analyst
ii. Verify the procedure manually representing the actual operation and also what
During the process of carrying out this interview, the interviewer has an objective in which he
procedures.
iii. To know the reaction of the staff towards the automation of the department.
During the course of investigation, the research adopts some methods which include:-
Interview method,
Review of documents.
1. INTERVIEW METHOD
This is a mode of collecting facts through discussion. To make this method successful, the
i. Planning how to approach the interviewee so as not to create inconvenience for him.
2. OBSERVATION METHOD
In this mode of fact collection, the researcher went to offices to observe the workers at work.
Periodic observation (observation at pre-determined time) was made and this type of
given to discover what interviewee was not able to make clear to the researcher.
3. REVIEW OF DOCUMENT
This mode of fact collection involves examination of document used by the university for the
The design and development of this system employs the 3-tier web architecture. The web
based system being developed is based on the Client/Server Architecture. That is, both the
server and the client application are responsible for some sort of processing. In this
architecture, the database and the engine that provides the data services for the database are
located on a machine in a network, and the application requesting data services on another
machine in a network. This application is referred to as the client application; the data
services engine is called the server application. Client/server provides a more efficient
operation in that the amount of network traffic required to perform a particular database
request is significantly less that the same request performed in a file server environment.
The web browser constitutes the first tier, a middleware engine using some dynamic web
content technology such as Asp.net, PHP, Cold Fusion and JSP. The database is the third tier.
The middle-tier may be multi-tiered. That is, it can be composed of several other servers with
A fundamental rule in 3-tier architecture is that the client has no direct line of communication
with the data tier. That is, all communications are routed through the middleware tier.
The web browser constitutes the client. It is a software application that enables a user to
display and interact with text, images and other information that are located on the web page
Web browsers also known as thin clients are used to access information on web servers.
Examples of web browser are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox,
Browsers communicate with web servers using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to
fetch web pages and it allows web browsers to submit information to web servers as well as
fetch web pages from them. The primary language of browsers is the HTML (Hypertext
Markup Language), which consists of tags that are used to describe a web page. Most
browsers have some level of support for JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language
(XML).
The web transactions take place on the servers. The web server is responsible for
communicating with the browser while the database server is responsible for storing the
required information. The web server takes all requests from the clients, responds to the
request and serves the appropriate web pages back to the clients. These languages work with
web servers to interpret requests from clients, process request and interact with other
programs that may be needed to fulfill the transactions and indicate to the web server the
This is a program that provides database services to other computer programs or computers.
Database Management Systems (DBMS) provide functionality to database servers. They are
responsible for storing, retrieving and manipulating the data in the database or other
repositories. The database in use for the system is MySQL 5.5.16. SQL means Structured
Query Language.
As earlier stated in chapter one, the services required of the proposed system include but are
not only saves lot of time but also gives fast results.
of paper.
In order to provide these services, there is the need to specify both functional and non-
Functional requirements are statements of the services that a system should provide, how the
system should react to particular types of input and the behaviour of the system in predefined
situations.
For the proposed Online Complaint Management System, each complainant must be
Since the proposed system is not going to be only meant for a particular department, it must
be able to multithread with the following departments too; Security department, Welfare
Non-functional requirement is a requirement that specifies criteria that can be used to judge
the operation of a system, rather than specific behaviors. This should be contrasted with
functional requirements that define specific behavior or functions. The plan for implementing
functional requirements is detailed in the system design. The plan for implementing non-
These statements specify how the system services are rendered. The constraints on the
i. Access to all functions of different profile holders in the system should be granted
only after successful verification and authentication of users (students, operators and
System design is a task that focuses on the application of a detailed computer based solution.
analysis that resembles a systems component pieces back into complete, improved and
working system. This may involve adding, deleting, and changing pieces relative to the
original system. System design specifies how the system will accomplish the objectives from
system analysis. System design is the structural implementation of the system analysis. It
serves as the overall plan or model that consists of all the specifications about the system, its
models facilitate improved communication between system users, system analysts, system
designers and system builders. Modeling is an act of building one or more graphical
representation of some concrete entity. The proposed system model is built using Unified
Modeling Language (UML). The UML is a modeling language which provides a set of
methods that are used to describe a software system in terms of objects/diagrams. It uses
diagrams that provide different perspective views of the system parts. In any development
that aims at producing useful artifacts, the main focus of both analysis and design activities is
on models. A model is quicker and easier to build. A model can evolve as we learn more
about a task or a problem. Also, a model can represent real or imaginary things from any
domain. A useful model has just the right amount of detail and structure and represents only
The UML use case diagram can be used to describe the main processes in a system and the
interactions between the processes (use case) and external systems or individuals, called
actors. Once the use case overview is developed it can be expanded to show more detail
including sub processes and processes that are sometimes added to other processes. To define
an interaction between a use case and an actor, you write a generic scenario called the use
case description. The use case description is subsequently used to generate specific scenarios
Web Complaint
Close
Dept Off.
Forward Reject
Reply
Escalate Feedback
Punish
An activity diagram describes activities and flows of data or decisions between activities. An
activity diagram usually provides a wider view of business processes that occur within a
1. Complaint
3. Assign to dept.
5. Escalate to Zone
6. Escalate to Board
9. Assign to dept.
A data flow diagram (DFD) is a graphical representation of the "flow" of data through an
information system, modeling its process aspects. Often they are a preliminary step used to
create an overview of the system which can later be elaborated. DFDs can also be used for
2
UNIT REGISTER A
COMPLAINT FORWARD
ASSIGN
5
4
CLOSE
FEEDBACK
3.4.1.4 SYSTEM FLOWCHART
A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents an algorithm or process, showing the steps as
boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting these with arrows.
START
INPUT
UNITNAME , USERNAME
VALIDATE
VALID
UNITNAME
,
DISPLAYS AGAIN INPUT
USERNAM
ALL PENDING UNITNAME , USERNAME
E
COMPLAINTS AND PASSWORD AND
AND VALIDATE
REGISTER PASSWOR
COMPLAINT D
PRINT AN
/DEFICIENC
SEARCH Y ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
FOR A EXTERNAL
COMPLAINT
COMPLAIN FORWARD A
/DEFICIENC
REPORT T
COMPLAINT
Y
ASSIGN A COMPLAINT
GENERATIO
GENERATE A
N
REPORT/COMPARATIVE
PROVIDE
DBA ANALYSIS
LOGOUT
FEEDBACK
OPERATION ADD/MODIFY/DELETE
2. Scalability
3. Flexibility
5. Easier implementation
i. Students
ii. Operators
iii. Administrators
3.6.1 Students
The registered students can log into the system, lodge their complaints and the system will
automatically categorize the complaint into the department that is responsible for taking
action on such complaint and hence, process the complaint and stores the complaint, whereby
administrators and operators will be able to act upon it and giving it priority which will be at
levels.
3.6.2 Operators
These people oversee the running of computer systems, ensuring that the machines are
running and physically secured. Operators in this case, are the people who will access the
students complaints, process the complaints and forward the complaints to relevant level for
3.6.3 Administrator
Administrator in this proposed system primary function is to edit, delete and keep records of
volatile complaints made by students, staff or visitors. However, Administrators too can
manipulate the system itself because of their adequate technical know-how and privileges.
Add users to the system
Administrator
Add courses, departments
and colleges
A database is any collection that is specially organized for rapid search and retrieval by a
computer. Databases are structured to facilitate the storage, retrieval, modification, and
management system (DBMS) extracts information from the database in response to queries.
The MySQL database for this system has ten (10) tables in it:
TABLE DEFINITIONS
Table 3.7.1
id int(11) No
status tinyint(1) No
dateset date No
Table 3.7.2
Colleges Table
id int(11) No
Table 3.7.3
Complain Table
Field Type Null
id int(11) No
cid int(11) No
idate date No
cdate datetime No
active tinyint(1) No
Table 3.7.4
Courses Table
Field Type Null
id int(11) No
dept_id int(11) No
least_level_id int(11) No
lecturer_id int(11) No
units int(11) No
exam tinyint(1) No
nos int(11) No
Table 3.7.5
Departments Table
id int(11) No
college int(11) No
Table 3.7.6
Levels Table
id int(11) No
Table 3.7.7
Operators Table
id int(11) No
dateset datetime No
valid_session int(11) No
Table 3.7.8
Role Table
id int(5) No
Table 3.7.9
Students Table
id int(11) No
valid_session int(11) No
dept int(11) No
college int(11) No
dateset date No
Table 3.7.10
Users Table
id int(11) No
datecreated date No
lastlogin date No
no_of_visits int(11) No
online binary(1) No