Postquick Parcels Essay Example

Postquick Parcels Essay Access also has its advantages and disadvantages, which need to weigh up against Excels advantages and disadvantages to come up with the right choice of software. Access advantages include: -* Access can perform advanced queries.* Access can make forms to insert data.* Access is very user friendly.* In Access you can have macros to go between forms and queries.* Access has lots of facilities which help to improve the appearance these include- Word Art, Paint, text and line fill, Spell check, Clip art, Importing pictures* Access is not a flat file database so you can also create relationships between tables of data.* It has a query language, which means it can perform advanced searches.* You can hide certain forms out of view.* You can put a password on the system to prevent people tampering with it.* There are writing tools including spelling and punctuation tools available.* Access can have relational tables, which are linked together. This avoids repetition in entering in data as m ore than one department of the system can share one bit of data.Access has disadvantages as well as advantages these include: -* Access is more sophisticated than Excel and is therefore harder to use for a novice.* Access is used by professional system designers who design systems for end users. This means the system must be very powerful and very detailed. However it is more complicated for a non-expert to use.High Level Language Such as PascalI have decided not to use a high level language, as I do not have the necessary knowledge to produce a system written in a high level language such as Pascal.Advantages* It can be customized to suit the companys needs.Disadvantages* Developer does not have sufficient enough knowledge.* I would take a long time to code some areas where as in Access they are easily done in tables.Evaluation of possible software solutionsI have decided to recommend the use of Access to the clients as being most suitable because it seems to offer more facilities and features, which will help me in designing a program for the Postquick Parcels, clients.Access is more usable than both Excel and Pascal and the end users will find the system easier to use as the system will save time by cutting out repetitive tasks and will give them quick access to the information they need. A system designed is Access should give a very user-friendly interface and will function in the way the clients want in to. Access is a quick database and is quick to open files and change to new pages. Access will really provide a solution to the clients needs, as it is a diverse program, which can be used in many different ways. Another very good thing about Access is that it will be very easy to upgrade, introduce new functions and make modifications as and when they are necessary.The system should take approximately 4 months to complete and has the proposed delivery date of the 30th of April. It will come complete with a progress report, a system guide and details on t he testing completed.DATA REQUIREMENTSThere are many data requirements for the new database system these include the following:* Data on the different prices, which depend on the various, weight categories.* Data on the parcel which the customer is sending, this will include, parcel ID, width of parcel, length of parcel, height of parcel, total dimensions, weight and price which will be calculated by the computer.* Data on the customer, this will include, customer ID, customers title, customers surname, customers forename, businesses name which the customer comes from as well as the business town, postcode, contact number, email address, street and street number.* Data on the parcels destination, which will include, Destination ID, the recipients company, address, town, county and postcode.* To actually order the parcel the information needed is, the order, customer, destination, parcel IDs and the date ordered and the required delivery date.THE DATA FLOWData Flow DiagramTo help me design an effective and structured database system I have drawn a data flow diagram to show the logical movement of the data through a system, however it does not show how the data is stored.There are different levels of data flow diagrams, I have drawn a level 1 diagram that can also be known as a context diagram. A data flow diagram has many symbols, which mean specific things the symbols I have used are: -* External Entities can also be known as a data source or destination. In the following diagram the Customer is the External Entity.* Processes are operations performed on the data. In the following diagram there are five processes each named P1, P2 etc.* Data Stores are logical stores for data, which are not physical in the following data, flow table they are labelled D1 and D2.There are many different levels of DFDs the DFD below is a level 0 and the DFD on the following page is an example of a level 1 DFD.Entity-Relationship diagramsEntity-relationship diagrams are diagram s, which show the relationship between entities in a database. Entities are things of interest to an organization about which data is held. In order to be able to draw an entity-relationship diagram you need to know the degree and the name of the relationship. The degree of the relationship will come under one of three categories:1. One-to-one, e.g. relationship between Person and National Insurance number which is unique to every person.2. One -to-many, e.g. relationship between Customer and Parcel Order.3. Many-to-many, relationship between Customer and parcel.Below are examples of data entities, which are relevant to my system.SYSTEM DESIGNTop Down DesignA top down design is the technique of cutting down and simplifying a complicated problem into the major tasks which need to be completed and then cutting down the major tasks into modules. It is mainly used in programming but the principle can be used to help design my system.Modular DesignThe system can be divided into different modules, and these modules can then be drawn in a structure diagram to show how the modules relate to one another and to form the whole solution to the problem. On the following page there is a structure diagram of the proposed system.System Structure DiagramAlgorithm DesignFinding IDI have devised an algorithm to show how the system will search and answer for an ID by the user entering in the business name. The diagram shows the flow of actions and could be called a flow chart. I could create algorithms for all of the queries.USER INTERFACEWhen thinking about the user interface you should think about who the system is for, what tasks the system is performing, and what environment the system will be in and whether the technology is feasible.OutputsThere will be two main outputs of my system and all need to be user friendly. These outputs are as follows:Consignment Note:The consignment note will be given to the recipient via the delivery and will need to include some details on the customer sending the parcel, these will be the customers ID number, title and surname so that the recipient knows whom the parcel is from. Then so that the delivery person knows where the parcel has got to go I will include information on the destination ID, name of recipient and their address.The note is mainly for the recipient and delivery person, this means that it wont need to carry very much information. For instance it will not need to carry the price of the parcel delivery. The recipient will need the information on the customer sending the parcel and the delivery person needs the information on the destination.The consignment note only needs to have a plain and simple design showing the necessary information and it is not necessary to include any colour and images. The font will be Times New Roman as this is a very easy to read font and will be in size 10 font to make it even easier to read, if it was smaller it would be a lot harder to read. The destination information wil l be in larger font and bold so that it will stand out easily for the deliveryman. The most important thing about the consignment note is that it is clear.Query outputs:The results of my queries could either be displayed in a table or in a form created by a wizard. The presentation of the results would better in a form this is because of a number of reasons, which include:* It is easier to read from forms than tables.* Forms display one record at a time, rather than all of them at once, like on a list, which make it harder to isolate one particular record.* Forms are better for presentation as they can have images on them and you can change the font and size.* With tables you cannot have buttons, where as, you can with forms.Over all forms are better for this type of system as they are more user friendly because they look less intimidating than tables and require less work on behalf of the user as they can have buttons on them to take the user to and from different forms and menus.E ach form will have a title to identify it to the user. The forms will not be cluttered and if anything will have a maximum of two images. This will insure that the results are easily readable and not interfered by unnecessary clutter. The field headings will be written in a clear easily read font like Tahoma and in 10 points, this will make the information clear and easy to read. This is better than fonts such as Algerian in font 9 which although is fancy, is difficult to read.FormsThe reason I have chosen forms instead of tables for the system is explained above under the title Query Outputs.There are four main forms, which are used for entering data about the customers, parcels, destination and orders information. All of these forms have their own clear large title saying what the data is about. Each field as above (query output forms) is in point 10 and in a clear and legible font, which is, well defined and easy to read. Also the forms will be clear of images as they are not rea lly needed, and there are large rewind and fast forward buttons to manually take the user through the records. Each of these forms follows the same structure to make the forms consistent in presentation and familiar to the user. All the forms will be in a light blue colour. I have chosen blue because it shows up the black writing very well and the writing is easily visible where as if I had filled the background in red or green the writing would not have shown up very well at all.On some of my forms where appropriate, e.g. customers title or possible weight categories, I will include drop down lists which should save the users time when entering information as they will just have to drop the box down and choose the category they want.MenuThere will be three menus: the first one will be a general welcome menu giving the user the option the go into either the existing or new customer menu. The welcome menu will have a large welcome title and will have two large buttons to take the use r to one of the two other menu choices. It will also have two images as without them the menu will look very plain and boring as there would only be a title and two buttons. The existing and new customer menus both will contain a lot of buttons, which take the user to different forms or run queries. The buttons will have an easily distinct font like Tahoma and will have a font of at least size 10 points. The menu will also have a light blue background so that there is a consistency in colour.ReportsThe reports I need to include for the system are : -* Consignment notes which are discussed above.* Price lists which specification says must be included. This will be used for hard evidence on the prices and may be used when re-pricing the cost of sending parcels.* Managers statistics which were also specified in the specification.METHODS OF DATA ENTRYThe user only needs to enter data into the database about the customer, parcel, destination and order. To make data entry easy I have writ ten instructions for the user on how and what information to enter in but on the whole it is self explanatory and very easy to get used to. Also as explained earlier I have even included list boxes so information doesnt always need to be written in manually by the user thus cutting down on human or syntax error. The screen print below shows one such list box which brings up possible suggestions for peoples name titles.However if there was a duke the user simply has to type in the title and the system will accept it. This is shown below.The user will have very easy access to the data entry forms, which requires the user to simply click on the appropriate button using a computer mouse, which will take them to the required form. This will not require users to have knowledge about opening and closing forms in a raw database. Then once in the appropriate form the user will be able to use a keyboard and mouse to type in the appropriate information.Over all the user will use the keyboard f or data entry and will use the mouse for the operation of the system (e.g. buttons).RECORD STRUCTURECustomer RecordsThe customer records will be in a table called Customer. The following table shows the field names, their type and field size.Field NameField TypeField Size (maximum number of characters you can enter into a field)Customer IdAuto NumberLong IntegerTitleText20Customer SurnameText25Customer ForenameText25Business NameText35Business Street and Street NumberText40Business TownText25Business postcodeText7Contact NumberText25E-mailText50Destination RecordsThe destination records will be in a table called Destination. The following table shows the field names, their type and field size.Field NameField TypeField SizeDestination IDAuto Number Long IntegerDefaultName of Recipient CompanyText40Address of RecipientText50TownText30CountyText25PostcodeText7Parcel RecordsThe parcel records will be in a table called Parcel. The following table shows the field names, their type and fi eld size.Field NameField TypeField SizeParcel IDAuto Number Long IntegerDefaultWidth of ParcelNumberDecimalLength of ParcelNumberDecimalHeight of a ParcelNumberDecimalTotal DimensionsNumberDecimalWeightNumberDecimalPriceCurrencyCurrencyConsignmentNumber Long IntegerDefaultOrder RecordsThe order records will be in a table called Order. The following table shows the field names, their type and field size.Field NameField TypeField SizeOrder IDAuto Number Long IntegerDefaultCustomer IDNumber Long IntegerDefaultParcel IDNumber Long IntegerDefaultDestination IDNumber Long IntegerDefaultDate OrderedText10Delivery DateText10FILE ORGANISATIONI will be creating a relational database where tables work collectively rather than individually. For this to happen there is a need for links between the tables, the links need to be between one key field in a table and a foreign key in another. The foreign key and primary key must ideally both be called the same thing and spelt exactly the same an d essentially be of the same field type so that there is not a syntax error. Below is a list of the links I will have between different tables: -* Customer ID in the Customer Table and Customer ID in the Order Table so that if the customer ID is typed in the order table all the other information will come up.* Parcel ID in the Parcel Table and Parcel ID in the Order Table. So that if a user types in a parcel ID in the order table all other parcel data will automatically come up.* Destination ID in the destination Table and Destination ID in the Order Table so that if a user types in a destination ID in the order table all their other data will automatically come up.* Weight in the weight cost table and Weight in the Parcel Table. This is so that the system can use the weight in the parcel table to calculate the cost by using the weight cost table.SECURITY AND INTEGRITY OF DATAIntegrityInput MasksInput masks can be used in fields in tables to format data and have some sort of control over what values can be entered into them. Input masks consist of literal characters along with other special characters, which determine the kind of value that can be entered. Input masks are mainly used in text and date/time fields, but can be used in number or currency fields. I will be using input masks to make sure the users dont make obvious errors when inputting data. By obvious I mean, for example, not putting capitals at the beginning of a name or putting too many digits in a phone number.Validation RulesA validation rule specifies a test, which has to be performed on any data entered into the field. If that data doesnt pass the test a message comes up on the screen, which shows the text specified in the validation. I will use validation rules to make sure that on every parcel record there will be checks to makes sure the size and weight of each parcel has a:* maximum weight of 30 Kg* minimum weight of 1 Kg* maximum length of 150 cm* maximum total dimension of 300cm* maxim um weight of any one consignmentList BoxesList boxes are drop down boxes, which display a range of possible categories for a user to choose from. Once clicked, the chosen value will be transferred to what ever field the box is connected to. This will help to prevent data entry errors or syntax errors and acts as a form of validation (previously shown on page 18).SafetyBack up recommendationsTo insure the safety of the database I would suggest daily back ups are made so that if the system for some reason looses its integrity, the company will have a recent back up to fall back on. This type of a daily back up is called a differential backup. This will insure that the majority of customers orders will not be affected and therefore the company will not lose customers. The regular backup should be made to a floppy disk, there should be a floppy disk for daily back ups done on Saturdays, Tuesday s and Thursday. Another floppy disk should be used to data back ups on Mondays, Wednesday s a nd Fridays. This means that if for some reason the system goes down and the daily back up that day had gone wrong, there is always the other floppy disk which even though is dated may still be of some use.SecuritySecurity is provided by making sure there are safeguards to ensure that data is not accidentally or maliciously corrupted.PasswordsThe system will have a password, which prevents the user from changing the design or appearance of forms. All the user will be able to do is enter the appropriate information in the right sections. The only person who will have total access to all areas both the users and behind the scenes of the database will be the administrator.EncryptionEncryption is where data appears garbled unless you know how to decrypt the data.Other Security RecommendationsI would suggest the user have various security measures for the system, these include: -* A security manager who can oversea and monitor all terminal activities.* Keyboards and monitors to be locked via a password when they are not being used or are left unattended.IMPLEMENTATIONSTARTING WITH A SIMPLE DATABASEThe TablesThe system will include five tables, these are: -* Customer, this table should include the fields concerned only with the personal information to the customer and does not include information about the parcel or anything else.* Destination, this table is where the user will enter in all information about the parcels destination.* Order, this table should include all information needed for and order to make the deliverers life easy. I am going to include all information about the customer order and destination and will also include the price of the parcel.* Parcel, this table will include all information about the parcel.* Weight Cost, the user will not use this table because the weight and costs should only be changed if the company changes their prices. The table will be used like a reference table or a look up-table (as in excel) in queries.Customer table:The c ustomer table includes the fields:* Customer ID* Title* Customer Surname* Customer Forename* Business Name* Business Street and Street Number* Business Town* Business postcode* Contact number* E-mailTo the right you can see a copy of design view of the customer table, as you can see all but the key field are text data types, this means that the information entered here can be both numeric and or letters. The reason that the contact number is a text data type and not a numeric type is because a numeric field would not allow a leading zero where as a text type will. Every table must have a key field, a key field is a field, which is a unique number field, which is used as an index. The Customer ID is an auto number, an auto number is a number, which is unique to that particular record, and the computer program enters it automatically.Destination table:The destination table includes the following fields:* Destination ID* Name of Recipient* Address of recipient* Town* Country* PostcodeT his table, like the customer table, has mainly text data types and only the key field is different, as it has to be a key field.Order Table:This table includes the following fields:* Order ID* Customer ID* Parcel ID* Date Ordered* Delivery DateThis form will not actually be used to directly enter in information on orders as the order information will be entered in by the user on to an order form which due to the relational links between the tables will transfer the necessary information on to order table.The form has Order ID as the key field, this means each order is given its own identification number which if necessary can be used like a reference.Weight and Cost table:This table includes only two fields:* Weight* CostLINKING THE TABLESThe tables are linked together to make a relational database. The tables are linked by means of a common field. One of the common fields must be a key field and the other is known as a foreign key.The purpose of having a relational database is that by linking tables you can use data from all of the tables not just one. For example instead of writing the customers information twice, once in the customer table and once in the order form, you can just enter in the customer ID in the order table and the information will come up, this is all down to the relational links.Below is a copy of the relationships between the tables.ENTERING DATANow that the structure of the database is in place how the user is to enter in the data is the next task. The entering of the data should be user friendly, quick and as far as possible not prone to human error, because time is very important.To make entering data easier I have decided to use the auto form function, which is quick and effective at designing simplistic and easy to use forms. All you have to do is follow the various self-explanatory steps, which the wizard takes you through. Below are the forms I have used in my databaseCustomer Data FormParcel Data FormOn the previous page is my fir st parcel data form, however it relied on the user remembering the different weight categories, this is not very reliable and is subject to human error, so I decided to include a list box with the categories already in there, this makes the form easier to operate. I have also included a title and instructions telling the user what needs to be inputted and that the measurements not including the weight need to be measured in centimeters. The improved form is shown below.Destination Data FormOrder Data FormOriginal designI have modified the order table throughout the project to make it easier for the users to use, however below is my first design, which simply includes places for the user to enter in the IDs and also the date ordered and delivery date, independently, without any help from the computer by way of an input mask.Revised FormAs you can see from the following form I decided to change the order form to include a lot more information. The modified order form is better because the user has to enter in less information. All the user has to enter in is the Customer ID, Parcel ID Destination ID and delivery date. All the other information is automatically brought up as you type in the auto numbers (relational database) and the date ordered is automatically entered in due to the date input masks (as explained later).Final Order FormThis form includes a title, instructions and record navigation buttons to take the user manually through the records. Also the fields where information needs to be entered is written in red for the users convenience.AVOIDING HUMAN ERRORS USING INPUT MASKSTo improve the database and make it less likely for users to input errors into the database I have included a number of Input Masks and default values, these are all shown below:Customer Data Table:There is an input mask in Customer Surname field, which makes it impossible for the user to enter in anything but a capital letter for the first character.There is an input mask to make sure the Business postcode has a letter, letter, number, number, number, letter, and letter.Destination Table:There is an input mask for the business postcode, which is the same as the input mask above.Order Table:I have included a default value on the Date Ordered field, which enters in the correct date automatically once you add a new record.VALIDATION RULESI have included several validation rules which make sure the specification (as stated previously) is carried out. These Validation Rules include making sure that the: -* maximum weight of 30 Kg and a minimum weight of 1 Kg, which is the validation rule on the Weight Field in the Parcel Table.The validation rule stated that the value entered in the weight field must be between 0 and 30 Kg. So the smallest value you could enter is 1.1 Kg and the largest you could enter is 30 Kg.* maximum length of 150 cm, which is the validation rule for the Length field in the parcel table.The validation rule stated that the value entered in th e length field must be between 0 and 150 centimeters. So the smallest value you could enter is 1centimeter and the largest you can enter is 150 centimeters. It also means this it wont be possible for the user to enter in a negative number.* maximum total dimension of 300 cm, which is the validation rule for the Total Dimensions field in the parcel table.The validation rule stated that the value entered in the total dimension field must be between 0 and 300 centimeters. So the smallest value you can enter is 1 centimeter and the largest you can enter is 150 centimeters. It also means this it wont be possible for the user to enter in a negative number.* The maximum weight of any one consignment is 200kg. I have included the validation rule that if the total weight of any one consignment goes above 200 kg an error message will be displayed.QUERIESSimple QueriesTo improve my database further I have set up a query. A query is a function, which can do things like looking up certain fields in a certain table and searching for something within that field.Parameter QueriesA parameter query is more complicated than a simple query. It is a query which when runs, displays a dialog box, which asks you for information e.g. a surname. The query then looks through the customer records and would find all the records with that surname. When you create a query you need to decide what fields of the matched record to show. This is done by first of all picking the tables you want and then the fields, which are pasted into the field row at the bottom. Then you need to type in what the dialog box is going to say, this is put in the criteria row under the field, which is going to be searched for a match. In my database I have included the following queries:Finding Existing destinationThis query is one, which the user can use, to find the information on a destination, which the customer has already previously sent a parcel to. This should help the user to save both time and disk space as it makes sure only one copy of the same address is kept on record.I have included all the fields because when the query brings up the record asked for, the user will want to see all the information held on that record. To make the parameter query work I need to specify the criteria by which the computer will search the records. In this case the criteria is as follows:This formula means that the computer has to look in the destination table and under the Name of Recipient company, as shown in the query screen print showing all the fields, to get a match to the name of recipient which is written in as shown in the above caption.In the dialog box I could have had one of two possible formulas I could have had:* Like * [Enter Business Destination Name:]*With this search the user would have to enter in the full business name, however with the following formula which has a wild card, which is the two ; signs either side of the parameter, the user will not have to enter in the whole name to get the record as it can match up the beginning three letters with the record needed. This is good as it will save time and doesnt mean the user has to enter in long company names.* Like *[Enter Business Destination Name:] *When the query is run the following dialog box is shown.Finding IDThis query is also intended to save the user time when finding an existing customers ID number if they had forgotten it. The dialog box will ask the user for the Business name of the company that is sending the parcel.Updating customer dataThis is another query which saves the user time when entering and changing data. The dialog box asks the user the business name of the customer and then the computer matches the name given with the business name fields in the customer table records. The following diagram shows the criteria formula.Total DimensionsThis query speeds up the entering of the parcel data by calculating the total dimensions of the parcel by adding up the width, length and height. Th is both saves time for the user and helps to prevent human error when calculating the total.I used the Expression Builder function to put this calculation into a formula.Finding Weight From PriceTo do this I had to use the weight and cost fields, however in order for the user to be able to enter in the weight of a parcel and for the computer to work out the price you have to use the relationships and get the weight from the parcel table and match it up with the weight in the weight cost table where it will then get the price. This has been made possible because of the relationships as discussed previously. The screen print below shows you how the weight and cost have been taken from different tables.This query is not used as a parameter query as it is not directly going to be used as parameter query, it will be used to create the form to enter data about parcels.Below is the overall design view of the two queries as explained above.CONSIGNMENT NOTEAs a ReportThe consignment was prod uced using the report wizard and pervious discussion explains the layout and design of the note.This is the first design of my consignment form, which will be given to both the deliveryman and the customer.Below is the final design for my consignment note. The annotated notes describe the improvement I have made.As a QueryThe above screen print shows the design view of a query for the consignment note, which after the user inputting the customers ID will display the total cost, and weight of all the parcels being sent by that person.The screen print below shows the form created when the user asks the computer to run the consignment query for the customer with ID number 1. This consignment note will be given to the customer along with the itemized list given to the deliveryman.Integrated Consignment notes for the deliveryman and CustomerInstead of having two separate consignment notes for the deliveryman and the customer I have designed a query which incorporates all the field from b oth consignment notes. This query is shown below.The combined consignment note includes the following fields:* Sum of Weight* Sum of Cost* Title* Customer Surname* Name of recipient* Address of recipient* Town* Total Dimensions* WeightOn the following page is the consignment report created for the customer with ID 5.REPORTSPrice ListsIt is specified that a report showing the price listings for the various weights is included in the system. I have made a simple report, which will show the managers the prices. This report is shown below. As you can see it is clear and simple.ButtonsAs you can see from the above screen prints I have used button in all of the switchboards which when clicked will take the user to the forms and queries as specified on the buttons themselves.The code fo