ABSTRACT
This
project work centres on the Design and implementation of an electronic diary
system. A diary can be used for various purposes. One books personal or
confidential appointments, schedules for meetings, discussions and other
information in their diary. One may not want someone to see our confidential
information. Examples are occupational health appointment, a formal review, a
disciplinary meeting, rehabilitation or safeguarding meeting etc. so access to
information by people has to be maintained and monitored. When it comes to
security issues, if the calendar or diary was not protected, anybody will have
access to information in the diary and they can even edit or delete important information,
that’s why the need for a diary protect by a login information and password is
considered. This electronic diary system will enable a complete electronic
process of making schedules, recording tasks and appointments securely. Unlike
the traditional paper diary, this system is completely based on web technology,
and thus it has the advantage of platform independence. The adopted methodology
in this electronic diary system is the Structured System Analysis and Design
methodology (SSADM). It adopts a waterfall model of software were each phase
has to be completed and signed off before subsequent phase can commence. This
system is allows signed up individuals store contacts securely and keep track
of their everyday appointments, thereby reducing the risk and loss of relevant
information that usually exists in the paper system, and the stress in carrying
a paper diary virtually everywhere you go.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title Page - - - - - - - i
Approval Page - - - - - - ii
Certification - - - - - - iii
Dedication - - - - - - - iv
Acknowledgement - - - - - v
Abstracts - - - - - - - vi
Table of
Contents - - - - - - vii
Lists of Figures - - - - - - ix
CHAPTER
ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background
of the Study - - - - 1
1.1 Statement of
the Problem - - - - 3
1.2 Objective of
the Study - - - - 4
1.3 Significance
of the Study - - - - 4
1.4 Scope of the
Study - - - - - 5
1.5 Limitation
of the Study - - - - 5
1.6 Definition
of Terms - - - - - 6
CHAPTER
TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Purpose of
using a Diary System - - - 7
2.2 Types of
Diary System - - - - 7
2.2.1 Manual
Systems - - - - - 8
2.2.2 Electronic
Systems - - - - - 9
2.3 Experiences
from the University of Surrey Overview 9
2.3.1 Summary
from the University of Surrey Overview 10
2.4 Uses of
Diary Systems - - - - 12
2.5 Electronic
Diary Users - - - 16
2.5.1 High Level
Management - - - - 17
2.5.2 Non- Academic
Staffs - - - - 20
2.5.3 Academic
Staffs - - - - - 20
2.5.4 The key users
of Diaries - - - - 21
2.6 Training and
Convention of Use - - - 22
CHAPTER
THREE: METHODOLOGY AND SYSTEM DESIGN
3.0 Introduction - - - - - - 24
3.1 Methodology - - - - - - 25
3.1.1 Logical
Data Modelling - - - - 26
3.1.2 Data Flow
Model - - - - - 26
3.1.3 Entity Event
Modelling - - - - 26
3.2 Requirement
Specification - - - - 27
3.3 Analysis of
Existing System - - - 28
3.4 Analysis of
the Proposed System - - - 29
3.5 High Level
Model of the Proposed System - 31
CHAPTER
FOUR: SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
4.0 INTRODUCTION - - - - - 32
4.1 OBJECTIVE OF DESIGN - - - 33
4.2 CRYPTOGRAPHY - - - - 33
4.3 THEORETICAL FRAME WORK - - 33
4.4 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE - - 35
4.5 DATABASE DESIGN - - - 36
4.6 USER MANUAL - - - - - 37
4.7 DATA DICTIONARY - - - 38
4.8CHOICE
OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE/JUSTIFICATION - - - 43
4.9 IMPLEMENTATION AND SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION - - - - - 44
4.10 REQUIREMENTS - - - - 44
4.10.1
HARD WARE REQUIREMENTS - - 45
4.10.2
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS - - 45
4.11
MAINTENANCE DETAILS - - 45
CHAPTER
FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 SUMMARY - - - - - 46
5.2 CONCLUSION - - - - - 46
5.3 RECOMMENDATION - - - - 47
REFERENCES
APPENDIX A –
CODES
APPENDIX B –
SCREEN SHOTS
LIST
OF FIGURES
FIG.3.5 HIGH LEVEL MODEL OF THE
PROPOSED SYSTEM - - - - - - - 31
FIG:
4.1 FLOWCHARTS TO LOGIN USERS - - 40
FIG:
4.2 FLOWCHARTS TO SIGN UP USERS - - 41
FIG:
4.3 FLOWCHARTS TO SAVE CONTACT - - 42
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
An Electronic diary is a software program specifically
designed for users to input their daily work schedules, make list of tasks to
be done, arrange appointments, over a computer network. This allows the users
to browse their appointments, and mark appointments on electronic “diary page”
since the computer holds the details of each appointment; users can be reminded
in advance of meeting an appointments. The user of computers also introduces
flexibility into the format of diaries, presenting different views, such as by
year, months or week (JISC website). Unlike a paper diary, the computer
automatically adds new pages when needed, extra room for day, and retains
copies of diaries for years gone past (Kay Tang, 2008).
Furthermore a diary is a book for writing discrete
entities arranged by date. It can be used for recording activities or for
reporting what has happened over the course of a role in many aspect of human
civilization, including governmental business, and daily written records of
(usually person) experience and observations (Mifflin, 2009).
The most important advantage of an electronic diary
over a paper one is in its ability to be shared. Unlike a paper diary, which is
bound to one place, staff can access an electronic diary over a computer
network, checking to see when other staffs are free. Moreover, staff can share
a diary, allowing a secretary to run a manager’s diary, while still allowing
the manager access over the computer network. Electronic diaries held on
desktop computers makes booking of meetings much easier. An electronic diary
allows meeting times to be found, arranged, and confirmed, all from the computer,
saving time and bother (Munson, 2011).
While these features are useful, an electronic diary
does add some complications. Electronic
diaries that are held on desktop computers are not as portable as paper
diaries. This has led some companies to develop a range of portable “personal
organizers” i.e. the “palm pilot” (Palm Inc, 1997), “Psion” (Orlowski, 2007)
and “Timex Data Link Watch” (Timex & Microsoft, 1994) being three of the
most popular. These are small portable computers that attempt to provide the
functionality of a “Filofax” in electronic form. These computers are still
perhaps something of a novelty. While diaries held in personal organizers are
more portable. They cannot be shared over the network. Compatibility between
portable organizers and computer diary packages may dramatically increase the
usefulness of using electronic, rather than paper diaries (Kay Tang, 2008).
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problems associated with the existing system
include the following:
1. It
can only be physically accessed.
2. It
takes time to search and sort for data.
3. The
diary can be damaged or misplaced which makes or creates more problems.
4. Unauthorised
access to its content is high.
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main aim of this project is to develop an E-DIARY
(electronic diary) that will achieve the following objectives:
1.
Ability to
access the diary from anywhere in the world, provided the user has the correct
sign-in information and password.
2.
Ease of storage
and retrieval of data.
3.
Protection of
integrity and confidentiality of the data stored.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are some of the important features of
electronic diary:
·
Keeping a diary
·
Sharing a diary
·
Booking meetings
electronically
·
Room and
resources booking
·
Used in
scientific research
1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Since electronic diary is very scarce, this has made
it to be rampantly used in various institutions, organizations and by
individuals.
The end-user is going to use this to keep track of
his/her schedule and meetings and to keep track of what new appointments made
through a shared electronic diary. With this system in place, the end-user can
know when another user is free since electronic diaries can be shared by
employees over a network, which significantly reduces the time it takes to
coordinate multiple individual schedules for a meeting. Users with heavy
schedules can conveniently coordinate appointments more easily which is better
than going through a paper-based diary system (Brown, 1998).
1.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The following are the limiting factors of this study:
·
Time factor- the
duration of the time giving for this research work is limited.
·
Finance- funding of
this research work is also a challenge.
·
Unavailability of research
materials- there are so many materials about this topic, but not all was
gathered due to high cost of purchasing these materials.
1.6 DEFINITION
OF TERMS
Diary: A diary is a record (originally in handwritten
format) with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened
over the course of a day or other period.
Electronic: Electronic deals with electrical circuits that
involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes
and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies
Application: Application is a program or group of programs
designed for end users.
E-Diary: An electronic diary is a schedule book kept on a
computer that allows people to store and manage information and also share it
with others.