College Announcement Notification System

Abstract

The research project is about the College Announcement Notification System, it means the alternate way of notifying students compared to the previous way. Before the members can receive SMS that is sent from the system, users need to register their details to the system. The registration process is very simple, it is similar like register details for new email account but it added a space to enter the member mobile phone number for sending SMS notification purposes. The functionality of College Announcement Notification System is hoped give efficient to the members of receiving notification via SMS directly to their mobile phone. The SMS notification content is just a brief explanation about the event that is going to be held, more details about it can refer to the web based system.

Introduction

This project proposal is created to propose an IT solution to the student of Sunway University. The main point that the author want to highlight is regarding the efficiencies for student in Sunway University. An example, inefficiencies that occur in posting the announcement that is post on the website or in the notice board, it is hard to inform to the student and also the staff may also forget to post the announcement that will inconvenient for the student itself. In order to solve those problems, the author proposed to create a website as a third party for the staff to post the announcement. The author feel that only a website is very simple and common nowadays, so to improve the effectiveness and give more efficiency, a SMS (Short Messaging Service) feature is added to the system. Every announcement is posted by the SCT Staffs in the website, a SMS notification will be sent to the student that already registered to the website. The content of the SMS just a brief notification about the title of the event, venue and time, for more brief detail the students can refer to the website. Other way to notify the students is used Email as an instant notifier, but consider using email as an instant notifier is not really effective because students didn't open their email every day but using the SMS as the instant notifier to notify the students are more effective because most of the student is own and bring their own cell phone, therefore the SMS as an instant notifier is more appropriate. Since the advancement of the technology nowadays, using this system will help in reduce the paper usage.

Project Objective

• To give efficiencies for staff of Sunway University who want to post announcement.
• To use SMS as an instant notifier, for example every announcement post on the website the student will receive a SMS about the annoncement.
• In long term of view, this system will help in notify student about things that happen in college.

Project Scope

• To become the most useful media for announcement notification.
• When the system is run it involves the Sunway University students and staffs that want to use the service.
• The user of the system should be students of Sunway University and staffs.
• All users that want to use the system have to become member.

Methodology

Methodology is a formalized approach to implement the SDLC (System Development Life Cycle). There are many different systems development methodologies, and each one is unique based on the order and focus it places on each SDLC phase. Some methodologies are formal standards used y government agencies, while others have been developed by consulting firms to sell to client. Many organizations have internal methodologies that have been honed over the years, and they explain exactly how each phase of the SDLC is to be performed in that company. There are many ways to categorize methodologies. One way is looking at whether they focus on business process or the data that support the business. There are three types of system development methodologies, it is called Structured Design, RAD (Rapid Application Development), and Agile Development.

Types of Software Development Methodologies

Structured Design

This is the first type of system development, it is introduced in 1980s. This methodology adopts the formal step by step approach to the SDLC, it moves logically from one phase to another phase.

Waterfall Model

This is the original structured design of methodology, with this methodology, the analyst and users proceed in sequence from one phase to the next phase. The key deliverables for each phase are typically very long and are presented to the project sponsor for approval as the project moves from phase to phase. This methodology is referred to as waterfall development because it moves forward from phase to phase in the same manner as a waterfall. Advantages of using waterfall model:

• It identifies system requirements long before programming begins
• It minimizes changes to the requirements as the project proceeds.

Disadvantages of using waterfall model:

• The design must be completely specified before programming begins
• This model required significant rework, if there is a changes in the business environment, in order to going back to the initial phase need to go through each of the subsequent phase in return.

Parallel Development

This model of methodology attempts to address the problem of long delay between analysis phase and the delivery of the system. Instead of doing design and implementation in sequence, it performs a general design for the whole system and then divides the project into a series of distinct subprojects that can be designed and implemented in parallel. Once all subprojects are complete, there is a final integration of the separate pieces, and the system is delivered. Advantage of using parallel model:

• It can reduce the schedule time to deliver a system
• There is less chance of changes in the business environment causing rework

Disadvantage of using parallel model:

• The approach still suffers from problem caused by paper documents
• It adds new problem, sometimes subprojects aren't completely independent; design decisions made in one subproject may affect another subprojects

Phased Development

In this model, the overall system is divided into a series of version that are developed sequentially. The analysis phase identifies the overall system concept, and the project team, users and system sponsors then categorize the requirement into a series of version. Advantage of using phased model:

• Quickly getting a useful system into the hands of the users
• While the system does not perform all the functions the users need at first, it does begin to provide business value sooner than if the system were delivered after completion, as is the case with waterfall or parallel methodology.
• Disadvantage of using phased model:
• The users begin to work with the systems that are intentionally incomplete, it is critical to identify the most important and useful feature and include them in the first version, while managing users expectation along the way.

Prototyping

In this model, it performs the analysis, design and implementation phases concurrently, and all the three phases are performed repeatedly in a cycle until the system is completed. In this methodology, the basics of analysis and design are performed, and work immediately begins on a system prototype, a “quick and dirty” program that provides a minimal amount of features. Advantage of using prototyping model:

• It is very quickly provides a system for the users to interact with, even it is not ready for widespread organizational use at first.
• Reassure the users that the project team is working on the system
• Helps to more quickly refine real requirements rather than attempting to understand a system specification on paper, the user can interact with the prototype to better understand what it can do and cannot do.
• Disadvantage of using prototyping model:
• Its fast paced system releases challenge attempts to conduct careful, methodical analysis. This can cause problems in the development of complex systems because fundamental issues and problems are not recognized until well into the development process.

Software Development Methodology Comparison

After do research about the types of methodology that is appropriate to be used into the project. The author compared the 4 types of methodology that is compatible with the current development. The following table is the result of using the described methodology to the project.

Selecting the appropriate Methodology

According to the project objective that the author proposed, author analyze each methodology that is already been researched. The author decides to use the Phased Methodology. The main reason on why the author uses this methodology is because the author would develop this system all by himself and the project will be easier to be built phase by phase. Other considerations in choosing this model are:

• User Requirement: the requirement of the system is clear, which is to address the problem of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of conventional way in notify the student for announcement.
• Familiarity with Technology: for designing the website, PHP, VB.Net language technology is going to be used, since it is still in area of the author expertise.
• System Complexity: the complexity of this project is at medium level, since the author familiar with the technology used in the project so it is not really difficult. However the author still need to do research on certain area of technology, for this case the knowledge of SMS gateway, and how to integrate the web based system with the SMS gateway.
• Duration: the duration of developing the project is approximately 4 months in order to fully complete the project.
• Development Method: it is a web based application that is built using the PHP, and VB.NET as the programming language.

Area of Research

Certain areas that we research for this project are:

• How to create easy and manageable database system?
• What is SMS (Short Message Service) portal and SMS (Short Message Service) gateway?
• How to integrate web based system with SMS portal?

How to create easy and manageable database system?

This part is one of the crucial parts in order to make a good web based application system. Therefore, creating an easy and manageable database system is really important. The database system that the author used to manage the College Announcement System web based application is MySQL. Several reasons become the consideration of choosing the MySQL software are, first reason is because the main programming language system that the author built is using the PHP technology, and PHP language has an integrated connector that able to connect it to SQL. Second reason, MySQL is open source software so it is free for download, it is will help in determining the project cost development. There is other software which is better than MySQL but looked back at the scope of the project; this is just an undergraduate project, then the author decides that using MySQL software is a wiser choice. The third reason, the author already took the MySQL subject during the study in Sunway University College, which is still in the author expertise. However, if this system wants to be implemented into the real organization, further study to create easy and manageable design is needed. When the project is already on the run, this would be very beneficial in doing maintenance of the application system.

How to integrate the Web based System with SMS portal?

As most people known that SMS is the most famous service that a mobile phone give. It is a service where the users able to send short text message from a mobile phone to another mobile phone. Basically the SMS would not work with just the mobile phone itself, it I because the Mobile Phone Network Operator that give the service so the SMS can be delivered to the recipient by the help of the mobile phone device as the medium to type the message. The SMS can travel all the way from the sender device to the recipient device must go through a pathway through a network called SMSC (Short Message Service Centre). SMSC works as a hardware that stores the SMS that is sent from a mobile phone then forward it again to the recipient. From the early of 1990s, the era when the first SMS is sent through the network using the mobile phone device. Nowadays with the advancement of the technology, SMS not only can be done through using mobile phone but can be integrated in other application such as web based application system, using the SMS gateway technology. However, the SMS that is sent still have to go through SMSC, which is still needed to use the SIM Card that is given by the mobile network operator. SMS gateway act as a bridge the platform that cannot use the mobile phone SIM Card to use the mobile service by using the GSM modem, in this case the mobile service is to send the SMS. The mobile SIM Card will be inserted into the GSM modem. GSM modem will act as the third party to connect to the SMSC. The web based application store the message that will be sent into the database, and the GSM will retrieve the data from the database and ready to send the SMS to the destination number. The basic function of SMS and email is the same, for email the sender need to enter the destination email and for SMS the sender need to enter the destination phone number. The difference is why SMS is more popular than email is because it is mobile and user can send and receive SMS wherever they are. The mobile advantage of using SMS is the reason that makes the author choose the SMS application system to be added into the College Announcement Notification system instead of using email. Another reason the author choose to use SMS is because most of the students in Sunway didn't have mobile phone that can handles in receiving and sending email, but most of the students have mobile phone that enable them to send and receive SMS. Therefore, using the SMS as additional software into College Announcement Notification system is the best choice, and the author also learn to use the GSM modem and the implementation of it into the system.

Software / Hardware Requirements

In order to make this project successful there are some hardware and software which is required to use in order to complete the project are: Software and Hardware requirement to develop the system.

Software:

• SQL YOG: is the database software that the author chose to be implemented inside the College Announcement Notification system. SQL Yog had the user friendly interface and it is open source software.
• XAMPP: this software is applied as the localhost to compile the web based application.
• Adobe Dreamweaver: is the software that makes it easier to edit the coding for PHP, JAVA.

Hardware:

PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD Software and Hardware Requirement to run the system.

User Side Hardware Requirement:

PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD

User Side Software Requirement:

Web browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc

Server Side Hardware Requirement:

• PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD
• GSM Modem

Server Side Software Requirement:

• Adobe Dreamweaver
• SQL Yog
• Web Browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc
• XAMPP

Server side software requirement is needed to do the regular maintenance on the system. The development software might be needed to fix error that might be occurred when the system on the run.

Literature Review

Literature Review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that is currently undergo. The author currently did a project; College Announcement Notification System is the project. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application system, which is proposed as a solution to Sunway University College regarding the poor information flow in Sunway University College especially School of Computer Technology. The author chose to propose the solution only to School of Computer Technology because of the course that currently taken is under it. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application, it is hoped the system would work perfectly and increasing the information flow within School of Computer Technology (SCT). The users of the system able to access the College Announcement Notification System via laptop or PC, as long there is an internet connection. The author think if it just a normal website, there is no uniqueness that makes my project different than the others. After doing research, the author decided to add the SMS feature as the instant notification system. Integrate the system with SMS feature; means need to deal with SMS gateway. The author aware that using the SMS feature is almost the same like adding the Email as the instant notification where the system is able to send automatically the posted announcement that is already posted in the website. Email is an electronic mail that worked same like a normal mail, where the users need to write the content of the letter, after that the address of the recipient is a must for the users to add. Email enables users to send and receive electronically over the internet. SMS and Email basically is the same, it contains text and to send it need to know the exact recipient email address for email and phone number for SMS. There are many email server company that is give services for the users to send and receive email such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Google Mail, etc. There is also an application that handles email such as Microsoft Outlook. Some advantages that email could give are emails is free for users to use like send and receive mail, it can contains richer message contents than the conventional mail did. However from the advantages that an email, there are also a few disadvantages of emails. With the advancement of the technology nowadays, the previous email only can sent the words but nowadays, users can sent not only words but can attach richer media such as picture, video, file, etc. This advantages of email were misused by some people, it enable them to send virus, malicious software, spam that can harm the recipients PC or laptop. In order to overcome this security issue, the email provider companies try many ways to increase the security but the spammer can overcome the security and still sent the spam email that may contain virus and malicious software. Using the email as an instant notification to the College Announcement Notification System is a good choice but users may not open their own email daily, usually users open their email whenever the feel like to open it. Therefore, the author proposed to use the SMS system as the instant notification. There are few reasons that become the considerations of choosing SMS to be implemented. First reason, the project is a notification system so SMS is the best choice because after the sender sent it then the recipients received it in instant. Second reason, if using email the recipients of the email need to open their own laptop or PC, and then open the email service web page, it will takes time and not instant. Most of the students nowadays had their own mobile phone and they carry their mobile phone everywhere they go, so it is one of the reason why the author choose to use SMS as an instant notification. Mobile phone user aware that open a SMS is faster than open an Email. Nowadays, many mobile phone producers now produced a new mobile phone that can handles in send or receive an email. However mobile phone that can handles send and receive email is still too expensive for the most of the mobile phone users only a few that can afford that. But if the SMS only, most of the mobile phone users able to send and receive that because it is the basic function that the mobile phone offer.

SMS (Short Messaging Service)

As most people known, SMS is a protocol used in communication that gives way to exchange of short message from one mobile phone to another mobile phone (tech-faq.com, 2009). Nowadays mobile phone takes an important part because it provides connections to the others that in the past impossible to do. The main usage of the mobile phone is to enable users to make a phone call wherever and whenever they are, beside used to call others; other main function of mobile phone that is growing rapidly is the usage of SMS service. SMS stands for Short Message Service. It is a technology that enables the sending and receiving of messages between mobile phones. SMS first appeared in Europe in 1992. It was included in the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standards right at the beginning. Later it was ported to wireless technologies like CDMA and TDMA. The GSM and SMS standards were originally developed by ETSI. ETSI is the abbreviation for European Telecommunications Standards Institute. Now the3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is responsible for the development and maintenance of the GSM and SMS standards. As suggested by the name "Short Message Service", the data that can be held by an SMS message is very limited. One SMS message can contain at most 140 bytes (1120 bits) of data, so one SMS message can contain up to:

• 160 characters if 7-bit character encoding is used. (7-bit character encoding is suitable for encoding Latin characters like English alphabets.)
• 70 characters if 16-bit Unicode UCS2 character encoding is used. (SMS text messages containing non-Latin characters like Chinese characters should use 16-bit character encoding.)

SMS text messaging supports languages internationally. It works fine with all languages supported by Unicode, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Besides text, SMS messages can also carry binary data. It is possible to send ringtones, pictures, operator logos, wallpapers, animations, business cards (e.g. VCards) and WAP configurations to a mobile phone with SMS messages. One major advantage of SMS is that it is supported by 100% GSM mobile phones. Almost all subscription plans provided by wireless carriers include inexpensive SMS messaging service. Unlike SMS, mobile technologies such as WAP and mobile Java are not supported on many old mobile phone models. (developershome.com, 2008)

Usage of SMS

As the mobile voice communication market approaches saturation, carriers are focusing on messaging as crucial value -added service to garner more mobile subscribers and generate greater market revenue. Specifically, SMS (Short Messaging Service) is emerging as one of the most important asynchronous communication that carriers provide. It is projected that in 2009 U.S subscribers will send over 126 billion messages via their mobile phone device, generating $8.6 billion revenues (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). Nowadays, people are presented with a wide variety of communication media such as email, instant messaging (IM), etc. To date, most researchers have focused on the use of SMS by teenager and young adult. Recently as SMS become the needs in our daily lives, older people also recognized the convenience of using SMS. It has been reported that over 74% of the mobile phone users worldwide is using SMS text messaging (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008).

How does the SMS works?

Even if you are not talking on your cell phone, your phone is constantly sending and receiving information. It is talking to its cell phone tower over a pathway called acontrol channel. The reason for this chatter is so that the cell phone system knows which cell your phone is in, and so that your phone can change cells as you move around. Every so often, your phone and the tower will exchange a packetof data that lets both of them know that everything is OK. Your phone also uses the control channel for call setup. When someone tries to call you, the tower sends your phone a message over the control channel that tells your phone to play itsringtone. The tower also gives your phone a pair of voice channel frequencies to use for the call. The control channel also provides the pathway for SMS messages. When a friend sends you an SMS message, the message flows through the SMSC, then to the tower, and the tower sends the message to your phone as a little packet of data on the control channel. In the same way, when you send a message, your phone sends it to the tower on the control channel and it goes from the tower to the SMSC and from there to its destination. (howstuffworks.com, 2005) The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives and sends short messages. The SME was sent to the SMSC.TheSMSC (Short Message Service Center)is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. After receiving the SME, then SMSC sent the SME to the SMS GMSC. TheSMS GMSC(SMS gateway MSC (Mobile Switching Center)) is a gateway so that MSC that can also receive short messages. The gateway MSC is a mobile network's point of contact with other networks. On receiving the short message from the short message center, GMSC uses the SS7 network to interrogate the current position of the mobile station form the HLR, the home location register. HLRis the main database in a mobile network. It holds information of the subscription profile of the mobile and also about the routing information for the subscriber, i.e. the area (covered by a MSC) where the mobile is currently situated. The GMSC is thus able to pass on the message to the correct MSC. MSC(Mobile Switching Center) is the entity in a GSM network which does the job of switching connections between mobile stations or between mobile stations and the fixed network. AVLR(Visitor Location Register) corresponds to each MSC and contains temporary information about the mobile, information like mobile identification and the cell (or a group of cells) where the mobile is currently situated. Using information from the VLR the MSC is able to switch the information (short message) to the corresponding BSS (Base Station System, BSC + BTSs), which transmits the short message to the mobile. The BSS consists of transceivers, which send and receive information over the air interface, to and from the mobile station. This information is passed over the signaling channels so the mobile can receive messages even if a voice or data call is going on. (logixmobile.com)

How to send SMS using a computer?

After done some research about how the SMS works, there are several ways in sending SMS using computer, they are (developershome.com, 2008):

• Connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer / PC. Then use the computer / PC and VB commands to instruct the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS message.
• Connect the computer / PC to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier or SMS service provider. Then send SMS messages using a protocol / interface supported by the SMSC or SMS gateway.

Connection between mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to computer using VB command for sent SMS

A GSM/GPRS modem is a wireless modem that works with GSM/GPRS wireless networks. A wireless modem is similar to a dial-up modem. The main difference is that a wireless modem transmits data through a wireless network whereas a dial-up modem transmits data through a copper telephone line. To send SMS messages, first place a valid SIM card from a wireless carrier into a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem, which is then connected to a computer. There are several ways to connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer. For example, they can be connected through a serial cable, a USB cable, a Bluetooth link or an infrared link. The actual way to use depends on the capability of the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem. After connecting a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer, you can control the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem by sending instructions to it. The instructions used for controlling the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem are called by using VB commands. The above figure showed the process of sending SMS using the VB application. In this case, the system that the author developed is using PHP that act as the third party to store the announcement data inside the database. After finish with the stored announcement, VB application is used to instruct the GSM modem to send SMS. As shown in the figure above, VB application will retrieve the stored data that will be sent as SMS. Then after retrieving the data, it will be sent to through SMS gateway until it arrived in the hand of the recipient. One of the benefits from using the VB application to send SMS is users will have a very reliable notification system, because before sending SMS intended recipient can be configured so it is received at the intended recipient. Using a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS messages has a major drawback, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. Only 6-10 SMS messages can be sent per minute (when the "SMS over GSM" mode is used). The performance is not affected by the connection between the computer and the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is connected to the computer through a serial cable, USB cable, Bluetooth link or infrared link) and does not depend on whether a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is used (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter a mobile phone or a GSM/GPRS modem is used). The determining factor for the SMS sending rate is the wireless network. (developershome.com, 2008)

Send SMS from Computer through SMS Gateway

The way for sending SMS messages from a computer through a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem has a major limitation, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. If you need a high SMS sending rate, obtaining a direct connection to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier is necessary. It can be difficult for small businesses or individual application developers to obtain a direct connection to the SMSC or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier since a wireless carrier may only provide such service to those who have huge SMS traffic. Buying SMS messages in bulk means the total fee will be very high (although the fee per SMS message will be low). (developershome.com, 2008)

Summary

The author had gained a lot of knowledge by done research on how the SMS works, how to connect computer with GSM Modem, and how to connect computer with SMS gateway through SMS protocol that will allow the send the SMS. The author chose to use the GSM modem to send SMS, because it is simpler to establish the connection between PC and the GSM modem, and also because send SMS through SMS protocol is difficult to connect to be able to send SMS.

System Analysis

In this chapter, in order to build a good system requirement analysis is important as the concept to develop the new system. To develop the system, the author needs to gather the requirement activities of to - be system. And also, the author determined the functional and non - functional requirements.

Requirement Gathering

Author gathered the requirement that is used to do survey for the user requirement that going to be implemented into the system and to make sure it is clear before started doing the system. Therefore, the author used the questionnaire for the requirement gathering to get the quantitative data for do the system design.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire is a set of written questions that is design to obtain information from individuals. Therefore, questionnaire is used by the author to do a survey in order to complete the system requirement. The survey is done in Sunway University College environment. The total respondent of this data collection is 30, and the author distributes the survey randomly selected among the SCT students. By using the result of this data collection, the author can make a quantitative data that can be used as an input to develop and design this project.

To - Be System Analysis

From the requirement gathering analysis that is collected in data collection before the To - Be System analysis is performed. Therefore, the author determined the functional requirement and non - functional requirement for the new system that will be implemented.

Functional Requirement:

Functional requirement is the requirements that relates directly to a system process. Below are the functional requirements of the system.

Summary

The requirement analysis and the To - Be system analysis are the supportive data that will help the author in determining of how the system will be. After finish with the System Analysis phase, the author moved to the Design phase.

Design

In this step, the author determined the system design of how the system looked like in order to fulfill the user friendliness from the requirement analysis that already been gathered in the previous section.

Design Strategy

In this section, the developer of the system needed to determine whether want to develop in - house development or outsource development which is ask other developers to build the system. However, this system is a compulsory subject that the author took in order to complete the study in Sunway University College so the author as the developer will develop in - house development. This means that the system is developed by the author himself. The author as the developer is responsible with the risk that might come during the system development. The advantage of do the in - house development to develop the system, it will help in built the author technical skills and increased the knowledge of the technology that is learnt during the development of the system. Building the in - house system helped the author to gain more responsibility, this means to finish the system in a given deadline. In - house development method have four phases that need for the author to follow, there are designing the system architecture, design the system database, design the system interface, and determine the system specification.

Design the System Architecture

The developed system is a web based application. In order to run the system, it needs a web based environment. Considering the system is a web based system, if it was published online, it increased the development cost because the system is still incomplete and needed to be programmed and numerous of testing. Hence, the author chose to use XAMPP as the software to develop the system, XAMPP software able to handle PHP as the server scripting and MySQL for the database management system. And XAMPP software is open source software so it is free to download. Installing the XAMPP software, the developer now can run the system, which the PHP script using the localhost without publishing the system online for testing.

Design the System Interface

Interface design's goal is to make the interface pleasing for the eyes and simple to use, while minimizing the efforts the users need to accomplish the works (Dennis, Wixom, & Tegarden, 2005).There are several factors that the author must considerate in chose the right design. The factors are layout, content awareness, aesthetics, user experience, consistency and minimal user effort.

Layout

Layout is the interface that should be a series of areas on the screen that are used consistenly for different purposes. In this phase, the developer must aware about the interface of the system. The placement of the form, navigation and the content is important in order to build a good system. The author divided the design of the layout into four different parts. The first part Header, in this part the author placed the logo of the website and two buttons that is used to go back to the home page and login page. The second part is the body, in this part the author showed the announcement details. The announcement is showed based on the date when the announcement posted and a search button to search the announcement is placed in this part. The third part is sidebar; in this part the author put the posted announcement title in this part. The announcement showed in hyperlink where the users need to click it to see the full details of the announcement. The last part is the footer, it only show the name who develop the system and the year of development. The above picture is the draft layout of how the developer will design the web page.

Content Awareness

Content Awareness is the ability of an interface to make the user aware of the information it contains with the least amount of effort on the users part. (Dennis, Wixom, Tegarden, 2005). In order to fulfill the content awareness requirement, the developer used a basic Cascading Style Sheet (CSS). This CSS is used to make it neat the interface of the system, it also included the configuration of the size of the header should be. It also managed the border and the margin of the layout, so the content wouldn't look like a mess.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics refers to designing the interfaces that are pleasing to the eye. (Dennis, Wixom, Tegarden, 2005). In this case “less is more”, it means the simple and minimalist design is the best. The developer tried to avoid the design that is too flashy and colorful. Hence, the developer choices are a light color, soft looking images, slow animation, etc. Users prefer to look at pages in low density, means it only had enough information and more white space. The design of the text is also important. Therefore, all text should be in the same font and same size.

User Experience

User experience can be divided into two types, novice users and expert users. Novice users usually more concerned with the ease of learning, means how quick is users able to understand the new system. Expert users usually more concerned with the ease of use, means how quick is users able to use the system. In terms of system function, Novice users prefer menu' that show all available system function. But expert users prefer fewer menu' that is organized and compiled into the most commonly functions.

Consistency

Consistency in design is probably the single most important factor in making a system simple to use because it enables users to predict what will happen. (Dennis, Wixom, Tegarden, 2005). The usage of the standardize icons, language and style is prefer in this consistency part.

Minimize User Effort

Interface should be designed to minimize the amount of effort needed to accomplish the task, means using the fewest mouse click or keyboard strokes to move from one part of the system to another. The developer must follow the “three clicks rules” where not more than three clicks the users can reach the page that they intended to go.

Design the Database

In this section, the author described the database specification that is involved in this project. The author used SQL Yog Version 5.12 as the primary storage medium to run the system. The system required one primary database to run the system. The database is “sctportal” that is used to store the member details, announcement data and the SMS messages that going to be sent. The author will describe each table that is used for the system.

Package Design Specification

Use Case Diagram

Use Case diagram is a functional diagram that showed the basic function of the system, what the user can do and how the system should respond to the user action. (Dennis, Wixom, Tegarden, 2005). There are two processes in order to create the use case diagram: First, the developer works is stated in a text based use case diagrams. Second, the project team translates the use case descriptions into the formal use case diagram. The main important function of using use case is to show the flow of events. Writing the flow of events in a manner that is useful for later stages of development generally comes with the experience. These are the guidelines in creating use case description (Dennis, Wixom, Tegarden, 2005):

• Write each individual step in the form of Subject Verb Direct Object and optionally Preposition Indirect Object, it is to identify the classes and operations.
• Make clear the initiator of the action and the receiver of the action in the each step.
• Write the step from perspective of an independent observer, to do this author need to write each step from the perspective of both initiator and the receiver.
• Write each step at the same level of abstraction, each step should make about the same amount of progress toward completing the use case as each of the other steps in the use case
• Ensure that the use case contains a sensible set of actions; each use case should represent a transaction. Therefore, each use case should be comprised of four parts (Dennis, Wixom, Tegarden, 2005):
• The primary actor initiates the execution of the use case by sending a request and a data to the system
• The system ensure that the request and the data is valid
• The system processes the request and data and possibly changes its own internal state
• The system sends the primary actor the result of the processing
• Follow the Keep It Simple principle, when the use case becomes too complex it should be decomposed into a set of use cases.

Use Case Diagram Description

Use Case Name	Login
Actor(s)	Admin, Users
Description	Describe the process of users in entering his/her username and password to the provided login form
Precondition	The users is already registered to the system
Normal Course	1. Users access to the system using web browser software 2. Users enter the username and password 3. The system validate the username and the password entered 4. System redirect the users to the members main page
Alternative Course	1a. If the users ticked at the “remember me” feature during login, the system will automatically redirect the users to the members main page
Post Condition	The logged - in users is maintained until the log out
Assumption	None

Table 4: Login Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Logout
Actor(s)	Admin, Users
Description	Describe the process of users to terminate the session from the system
Precondition	The users is already logged in to the system
Normal Course	1. Users click on the log out button
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	The users session is terminated
Assumption	None

Table 5: Logout Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Change Password
Actor(s)	Admin, Users
Description	Describe the process of users in changing his/her current password with the new password
Precondition	The users is already registered to the system
Normal Course	1. Users on the members main page 2. Users click on the change password link 3. Users enter the current password and the new password 4. System checked and validate the current password is different with the new entered password 5. System redirect the users to the members main page
Alternative Course	4a. If the current password entered not the same with the password that is saved in the database, the system ask the users to re enter
Post Condition	Users password in the database is changed with the new entered password
Assumption	None

Table 6: Change Password Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Change Email
Actor(s)	Admin, Users
Description	Describe the process of users in changing his/her email with the new email
Precondition	The users is already registered to the system
Normal Course	1. Users on the members main page 2. Users click on the change email link 3. Users enter the new email address 4. System checked and validate the current email is different with the new entered email 5. System redirect the users to the members main page
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	Users email in the database is changed with the new entered email
Assumption	None

Table 7: Change Email Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Set User Level
Actor(s)	Admin
Description	Describe the process of admin of changing the users level
Precondition	The users is admin
Normal Course	1. Admin on the admin main page 2. Admin click on the Admin Center Link 3. Admin type the username in set user level section 4. Admin set the new users level 5. Admin click the Update Level button
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	Users level is changed
Assumption	None

Table 8: Set User Level Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Banned User
Actor(s)	Admin
Description	Describe the process of admin to ban user from accessing the web
Precondition	The users is admin
Normal Course	1. Admin on the admin main page 2. Admin click on the Admin Center Link 3. Admin type the username in banned user section 4. Admin click the Banned User button
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	Users is banned
Assumption	None

Table 9: Banned User Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Delete User
Actor(s)	Admin
Description	Describe the process of admin to delete user from the system database
Precondition	The users is admin
Normal Course	1. Admin on the admin main page 2. Admin click on the Admin Center Link 3. Admin type the username in deleted user section 4. Admin click the Delete User button
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	Users is deleted
Assumption	None

Table 10: Delete User Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Delete Inactive User
Actor(s)	Admin
Description	Describe the process of admin to delete user from the system database if inactive for a period of time
Precondition	The users is admin
Normal Course	1. Admin on the admin main page 5. Admin click on the Admin Center Link 6. Admin type the username in delete inactive user section 7. Admin select the days of inactive 8. Admin click on Delete All Inactive button 9. System search the inactive users from the selected days of inactive
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	Users is deleted
Assumption	If there is inactive users for a period of time

Table 11: Delete Inactive User Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Delete Banned User
Actor(s)	Admin
Description	Describe the process of admin to ban user from accessing the web
Precondition	The users is admin
Normal Course	1. Admin on the admin main page 2. Admin click on the Admin Center Link 3. Admin check the list of users in the banned users table 4. Admin type the username in delete banned user section 5. Admin click the Delete Banned User button
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	Users is deleted
Assumption	If there is a user in banned list table

Table 12: Delete Banned User Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Make New Announcement
Actor(s)	Admin
Description	Describe the process of admin to make new announcement
Precondition	The users is admin
Normal Course	1. Admin on the admin page 2. Admin click on the make a new news link 3. Admin enter the details of the announcement 4. Admin click on the Post button
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	New announcement is posted
Assumption	None

Table 13: Make a New Announcement Use Case Description

Use Case Name	Send SMS
Actor(s)	Admin
Description	Describe the process of admin to send SMS
Precondition	The user is admin
Normal Course	1. Admin connect the GSM Modem 2. Admin start VB.NET application 3. Admin click on send SMS 4. System retrieve the announcement details and recipient mobile phone number from database 5. Admin choose the course that want to receive the message
Alternative Course	None
Post Condition	New SMS message details is added in the database and sent
Assumption	None

Activity Diagram

Login Activity

In order to access the personal information, user login is required. The login activity starts with the system identify whether the users click on the “remember me” to store the user session, if they click it the system will recognize the users and direct the users to the member page automatically. If they did not click on the remember me, they need to enter their details in the login form provided. If the users did not tick the “remember me”, the system will automatically destroy the session.

Change Password Activity

In order to change the password, first users need to login with their username and password. After login, users will be directed to the member page. To change the password, users must click on the change password link in the member page. Then enter the current password and the new password and click on the submit button, the system will verify whether the entered password and the current password is different. If the system did not found any problem, the current password inside the database will be changed with the new password that the users saved.

Logout Activity

Logout activity is quite straight forward; it is used to terminate the user logged in session. Users just simply click on the logout link to do that, and it will automatically direct users back to the main page.

Make a New Announcement Activity

This activity diagram showed the step taken in order to make announcement. This activity can be done by admin only. First, user need to login and the system will validate whether the user is admin or normal user. If it is admin, the system will direct the user to the admin main page. The admin need to click on make a new news link. Then the admin need to fill in the detail of the announcement, after complete then click the submit button to store the announcement details. After complete, the admin can see the announcement that already saved, if they want to edit the announcement just click the edit link.

Send SMS Activity Diagram

In order to send SMS, the admin need to connect the computer to the GSM modem. Then start the VB application to give instruction to the GSM Modem to send SMS. The message that will be sent is retrieve using the VB application. After decide the message content, admin will have to choose the course that will receive the SMS. The SMS message must not more than 160 characters in order to send SMS. After that click on send SMS button to send the SMS.

Sequence Diagram

Sequence Diagram is a diagram that shows the sequence of action that passed in an interaction. Here is the sequence diagram for each use case description.

Implementation

In this chapter, the previous process of analyzing the requirement, making the simple draft of the design of the system will be combined to produce the actual system. The author combined all the programming language that already been learnt either from college or from books or online tutorial. In order to build the web page, PHP programming language is used as the core to build the system, then followed by MySQL, HTML, and VB.

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)

PHP is an open source general purposes scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. The main areas where PHP is mainly used:

• Server - side Scripting
• Command - line Scripting
• Writing desktop application

MySQL

MySQL is open source software that widely used to handle database in the system. MySQL software is able to integrate with the PHP programming.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

HTML is a computer programming language that is used to create a webpage. Since the project is web based system, HTML is used to build the website.

VB (Visual Basic)

VB is a programming language that is developed by Microsoft. VB is one of the programming languages that are used to develop the interface of the system. In this case, the author used VB programming language

System Explanation

Homepage

This is the home page of the system, the body of the system contains

Login

The page where the registered user can logged into the system, there are two types of login:

• Users Login is where the members login to the system and can see the announcement posted and allowed to give comment about the announcement posted
• Admin Login is where the admin login to the system with the special privilege in accessing the system. In this case, the admin can post the new announcement, delete users, change user level, ban user.

Above figures is the error message that will happen if wrong data is entered. Figure 31 showed, if the data entered just the password only it will show error message. Figure 32 showed, if just simply click on the login button without filled the required data it will show error message. Figure 33 showed, if the data entered just the username only it will show error message. Figure 34 showed, if already entered the username and password into the required field but the data not exist in the database it will show error message.

Logout

The function of logout is quite clear, it is to terminate the user session after finish using the system and delete the cookies that are stored inside the browsers.

Make New Announcement

This part is where admin can make new announcement; the content of this is event, date, venue, time and the details of the announcement. After finish fill in the detail, admin press the submit button to store all details into the database.

Send SMS

This part where the admin can send SMS message to the members, in order to send SMS, VB Application must be started to instruct the GSM modem to send SMS. The VB Application is able to connect to the database in order to retrieve the data that is going to be sent to the recipient.

Testing

In this section, the author did numerous of testing to make sure the system is worked and meets with the system requirement. The author would explain the testing description and listed the result of the testing as a report.

Unit Testing

In this testing section, the author selected the black - box testing where the author performed the testing using the data that is inputted by the author himself. The black - box testing is the most commonly used test method, since the present skillful or experience programmer is not needed to do the testing. The author focused on the system meet the requirement as stated in the program design section.

Test ID	Module	Input	Desired Output	Test Result
1	Login	Entered username and password that did not exist	Show error username and password did not exist	Successful
2	Login	User tick on remember me when login	Username and password cookies are saved in the user machine	Successful
3	Change Password	Entered wrong current password	Show error message that the user entered wrong password	Successful
4	Banned User	Entered the desired username to ban from using the system	The typed banned user is banned and moved the data into banned_user table	Successful
5	Delete User	Entered the desired username to delete from the database	The typed delete user is deleted and not exist anymore in the database	Successful
6	Delete Inactive User	Select the desire number of days, if the member inactive for a period of time	The user that inactive for a period of time is deleted from the database	Successful
7	Delete banned user	Select the desire username from banned_user table	The selected username from the banned_user table is deleted from the database	Successful
8	Add new announcement	Admin fill up the required details	The announcement details is saved in the database	Successful

Integration Testing

Integration testing is performed to make sure the integration between modules. It is to ensure that the system is work correctly.

Test ID	Modules	Test Description	Expected Result	Test Result
1	VB Application and send SMS	This is the integration to connect VB Application and GSM Modem to send SMS	The VB Application used to instruct the GSM Modem to send SMS, the VB Application will retrieve the message details from the database before it is sent to the recipient	Successful

Compatibility Testing

The final testing that showed that the system is accessible using any internet tools, means can be opened by using other web browser software. Author did numerous of testing to make sure it is compatible with any browsers.

Test ID	Web Browser	Operating System	Remarks
1	Mozilla Firefox version 3.5.5	Windows XP with Service Pack 2	System worked as expected, it is the main browser that used in development phase
2	Google Chrome version 3.0.195.33	Windows XP with Service Pack 2	System worked as expected
3	Internet Explorer version 6	Windows XP with Service Pack 2	System worked as expected

Summary

The major functionalities of the system are tested. However, due to time constraint several problems that is occurred during the development of the system is solved, but unresolved problems are proposed in the future system enhancement.

Summary and Critical Review

The project that the author done is a basic web based application which the function as the announcement system. The main idea in this project is just the way to notify the students in a different way, in this term is sent SMS to the students. And to replace the conventional way to inform the announcement that is believe not really effective. Therefore, the author proposed solution to overcome the problem to notify the students. Author created a web based system as the solution, where the web based system act as the third party to connect it to the SMS system.

Critical Evaluation of Project

The College Announcement Notification System has been implemented to School of Computer of Technology. The SMS system integration has been implemented as well and the web system portal has been implemented with basic simple interface. The system provides:

• Admin user feature to do changes in the system, post new announcement, delete users.
• SMS features to send SMS that contained the details of the announcement.

There are some limitations in this project. The feature of this system is too simple, but it is hoped to solve the information flow around School of Computer Technology. The system is a web based system where users can access it through internet connection, and a SMS feature is implemented in the system. Time is the main problem when developing this project. Before the author started to develop the system, the proposal is needed for the project committee to approve. Since the proposal is approved in the middle of September, the author started late to develop the project. Low SMS sending rate, if the staff send too many SMS the recipient may receive it a bit delayed because of the SMS traffic in the network. And the system will send the SMS based on the queue order inside the database. The system is not available for the users to access it through their mobile devices. Hence, users can only access it via Personal Computer (PC) or laptop using web browser software. Various programming language, especially PHP and MySQL, and VB. NET is learnt during the development of the project. The author also learnt to use the project management skills especially the time management skill, where the author able to manage the time and time scheduling for every part of the project. The project was able to meet the deadline and achieved the objective.

Future Enhancement

Due of needed to finish the project on time, there are many part of the system that haven't been added. However, several ideas of enhancement are in mind for added to the system later. The enhancements are:

• The SMS notification not only covered the area of School of Computer Technology , but it will be implemented to all department of Sunway University Technology
• Build a mobile version of the web based system for the mobile devices such as mobile phone, so users can see perfectly the content of the website from their mobile devices.

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