Posted: April 8th, 2015

Database Project Requirements

Database Project Requirements

Decide on an application for which you’ll design the database. Choose a project where the main purpose is to store and retrieve operational data. The preferred project is one intended for some real user(s) (including family and friends). A database intended for your own use is ok. A made up database with imagined users is not recommended though acceptable.
Project Source 1: Organic

The most organic source of a database project is through your network of friends, family members, acquaintances, or your own work place. Many solo or other types of small businesses do not already have a database for their day-to-day business operations. Even some medium or large sized companies may need a small database for things like employee training, various task forces, internal “instance” reports and such, even though they usually have databases for their core day-to-day business operations.

Here are some project examples done by students in the past:

•    A database for a bed-and-breakfast place owned by a student’s parents. The database keeps track of reservations, checking in, checking out, and pricing.

•    A database for a tree farm owned by a student’s parents: store information about various trees grown on the farm, customer orders and deliveries.

•    A database for a daycare center operated by a student’s spouse: store information about the children, check-in and check-out times on each day for each child, and their account balances and payments information.

•    A database that stores prospective real estate clients, viewings, and mailings information for a student’s friend.

•    A database that stores information about employee training, courses they took, certifications information for a student’s workplace.

•    A database that stores information about various small medical devices that patients can rent out for a student’s workplace.

•    A database that keeps track of various computing devices of employees, licenses of applications, connections to various servers etc. for a student’s workplace

Project Source 2: Reverse engineering a database

If you really can’t find a project organically, before deciding on a made-up project, try reverse engineering. Reverse engineering is to design a database based on your interactions with an existing database on the desktop or on the Web. For example, if you work as a human resources specialist at a company and use a human resources management software, you can design a database based on your knowledge of the type of information stored in the human resources database and the type of interactions it affords the user. If you work or worked at a store that sells and resells computer games and have used the sales database, you can design a database based on your knowledge and interactions with that database. You may also interact with databases on the web (example, Amazon.com’s vast database). You can design the database (a part of it) based on your interactions with the ecommerce site.
Project Source 3: Preferred way of making up a database

If you still can’t find a project and must resort to making up one, the preferred way of doing so is to base your database on a real business that you’re familiar with. As mentioned before, medium sized or larger companies usually already have databases to support their day-to-day core business operations. If you work or worked for a company and are familiar with the core business, you may make up a database that would support the daily operations of that company or that would support some other business operations that you’re familiar with.
Project Source 4: Desperate way of making up a project

If no one in your network seems in need of a database, you have not interacted with a database that could offer reverse engineering, you have not worked for any company that used a database, and you have not worked in a company that can give you inspirations for a database idea, in short, if you are desperate, then imagine an organization or a business and image how that organization or business work and proceed to design your database. If you decide to proceed with a made-up database, your database needs to be substantially different from any of the examples or homework problems that I have written up. Also talk to me first before choosing this route.

Unsuitable Projects

1.    1-3 tables: If a database project will end up having only 1-3 tables, it is not suitable because such a project, though maybe valuable, does not offer you the opportunity to practice ERD or table design. Examples are NFL team stats database (one table), catalog of books (book table and category table-2 tables), customer complaints database (complaints table –1 table). An ideal project should have about 6 tables –complex enough to offer ERD and table design practices and small enough to do it as a class project.

2.    Database problems involving other main tasks such as synchronizing data from multiple databases, integrating one database into another, automatic uploading of data from an outside source etc. are interesting and practical database problems in general. However, they are not the topics of this course and therefore are not suitable for class project.

3.    If two students’ projects are too similar to each other’s, they are not suitable.

Originality Requirement

No matter what your source is for the database, it must satisfy the originality requirement as discussed below.
Each student is required to collect and compile his own information requirements, design the ERD, design the tables, and implement the database in ACCESS and Oracle. A project where information requirements are laid out already in writing or where the ERD is already been given, or where the tables are already designed is not acceptable. When you submit a project idea for me to approve, the assumption is that the information requirements do not already exist in a document written by someone else (changing a few things here and there is not considered sufficiently different). If this is not the case, you’re required to disclose that information to me, before the project is approved.

Sometimes a student may have already done (or is doing) an original project for a different course. If the project idea is original to the student, the student may use that same idea in this course with some penalty points. This is because the student is using the same work to receive credits in two different courses. If the database in the other course is not the original work of the student, for example, when the instructor of that course gives the information requirements and the ERD, that database can’t be used as class project.

Reverse engineering: If a student intends to design the database based on her interactions with a user interface, it is acceptable if 1) the student discloses that reverse engineering is used based on the available (often web-based) interface, 2) there is no written document of information requirements available to the student, and 3) there is no corresponding ERD or table design available to the student. Situations where these conditions are not satisfied are unacceptable project situations.

Borrowed ideas: If a student finds project ideas from a written source, the project is acceptable if 1) the student discloses that the idea was borrowed from a written source and submits the written source with the project submission, 2) the student compiles information requirements using her own language and the resulting document is substantially smaller (a third or smaller in number of words), and 3) there is no corresponding ERD or table design available to the student. Situations where these conditions are not satisfied are unacceptable project situations.

Other limitations: Other situations not discussed here may or may not be acceptable. When attempting a project in non-standard situations (the standard situation is one where all elements are original and the student is starting from ground zero), it is the student’s responsibility to disclose all information known to the student concerning what’s already been done or will be done by others by the project due date about a particular application environment.

One page project proposal to be submitted on or before 3/11/2015

For the one-page report on the topic chosen, briefly address these points:
•    Background of the company
•    Relevant business operations that require information as inputs and/or generate information as outputs and that would benefit from having that information stored in a database
•    Information (data) needed for or generated from those business operations. You don’t need to go to minute details about the information at this time; just discuss the types of information needed or generated that need to be stored
•    Problems with the current way of information (data) management
•    Proposed way of data management (i.e., what data to store in the database and what functionalities to provide in the interface)
•    What is your project source? (See discussions earlier.)
•    How and from whom would you obtain data requirements for the database?
•    Who would be the intended users of your database?
•    If possible for your project source, provide sample data (modify any confidential data to preserve confidentiality. In fact, actual data are NOT needed, only fictitious data that look like the actual data are needed.) If sample data come on hard copies of filled-out forms, blank forms filled with fictitious data that look like the real data are sufficient.

You won’t be receiving a letter grade for this one-page report.  The purpose of the report is to communicate your topic selection to me so I can help you decide whether or not the project is appropriate.  Hand in your hard-copy one-page report in class on or before Wed. 3/11. Electronic submissions to Canvas are also accepted.

You may change your project idea later if you later find a better project idea. Please provide another one page report as described above if that happens.

Submitting this concept of a database for approval indicates that you claim the originality of this project.

In the next stage of the project, you’ll need to collect detailed information about what data are needed for those businesses operations, what data are generated that need to be stored in the database, and how the data relate to each other, that is, business rules concerning the data. When designing the ERD, having sample data will help you understand the data better. However, when eventually submitting your database for grading, fictitious data are sufficient.

Project Proposal Example
•    Background of the company :
The project that I will work on is about a homestay office. The way this office work is to help all people and international students who are looking for a homestay to live in with a family. This will help students to communicate and learn English with the homestay family. This company will help all people all around the states.
•    Business Operation:
The database will be used by the employees to record information and work with costumers to help them find the prefect house and family.
•    Data Needed:
1-    List of all employees and their information.
2-    List of all customers and their information.
3-    List of all families and their information.
•    Problems with the current way of information:
1-    Not knowing which customers living with which family.
2-    Not knowing what families are available for customers.
3-    Recording contact information.
•    Proposal way of data management:
Using the new technology to store data will help work faster than the old way. Also, it will help improving the way the office work.
•    Project source:
From an old business.
•    Obtaining data requirements:
From old records and from employees and customers.
•    Intended Users:
The database will be used by the employees and customers.

ISMG3500 Project Requirements Stage 1
40 Total Points. Due Monday April 6th. Submit a hard copy before class.

Step 1): (15 Points) Discuss information requirements for the database application, addressing the following points. (Note: the first two bullets are the same as in the one-page description. Copy over to this submission so I have a complete picture.)
•    (1 point) background of the company and the industry they are in.

•    (1 point) problems with the current way of doing business or with the current system, problems with obtaining timely and accurate vital information. Your database may not be able to resolve all problems identified here. Specify the problems your database is trying to solve (i.e.; scope of your solution).

•    (9 points) detailed descriptions of business operations that will need or generate data for which you are designing the database. Review ERD exercises we did in class for examples of how to describe the application environment for the purpose of drawing an ERD. This is not the place to describe your tables or what the attributes are for the tables. The descriptions of the application environment have to be such that another person (say, your instructor) can draw an ERD based on your descriptions. You may start with describing business processes and business rules. Then use bulleted statements to clearly state data requirements. Use simple sentences for the bulleted statements. Provide an example instance of each entity as well as for attributes of relationships: Here are some examples:
o    (For entities, attributes, and primary keys). Database needs to store information about each Order.  Relevant information elements are OrderId, OrderDate, Total dollar amount. OrderId is unique to each Order. Order example: Order1234 ordered on 3/1/2014, with a dollar amount of $540.
o    (For relationships) Database needs to store information about what products are being ordered in each order.
o    (For relationship cardinalities): An order can contain multiple products. A product can appear in multiple orders.
o    (For relationship attributes): For each product ordered in each order, database needs to record quantity and price. For example, Order 1234 ordered Product SKU78 at $78/unit for 5 units.
Your write-up may benefit from an iterative process whereby you compare your ERD with your write-up and revise the write-up if you find that certain information is not contained in the write-up to allow another person to derive attributes, primary keys, or cardinalities. Give examples of data elements if those elements are specific to the application environment because other people (e.g., your instructor) may not know what they are (see the next requirement).
•    (4 points) Provide sample data for all data requirements as part of the submission. If the application environment uses any paper forms to collect data, fill out a set of forms with fictitious information as sample data and attach those forms as part of the submission. If the application environment does not use paper forms, provide screen captures or otherwise provide sample data (made up data are fine).

Step 2): (25 Points) Draw an E-R diagram to represent your application according to your descriptions provided in Step 1), including the mapping ratios for the relationships. The ERD you draw here should match your descriptions in Step 1, bullet 3. Clearly identify the attributes of entities and relationships. Each entity must have a primary key and necessary attributes.
•    To save on diagramming effort, you may list all attributes of an entity inside the box for that entity.
•    For each entity, underline the primary key.
•    If writing out the attributes inside the box crowds the diagram, list the attributes for each entity separately, beneath the diagram if there is room, or on a separate page.
•    If the meaning of an attribute is not self-explanatory, add explanations.

You may use any drawing tools. But do not use an ERD tool (such as Visible Analyst) to draw the ERD. The notations are different from what we used in class. Further, some of the diagramming concepts are not available in those tools.

Important

Drawing ERD and converting it to a list of tables is an iterative process. After drawing the ERD, it’s beneficial to convert that ERD into a list of tables and then investigate whether the final tables make sense. This often will give you feedback on your ERD.

Grading for ERD conversion will be done on the final project submission only because your ERD may need to be changed later.