ANALYSIS AND DESIGN IN INFORMATION SYSTEM

QUESTION

300585 – Introduction to Analysis and Design
Autumn 2012
Assignment (20%)
Due: In your registered workshop in week 11 (week starting 7/05/2012). See Submissions
and Due Dates section below.
(Late submissions will be penalised in accordance with the ‘Assignment’ section on pages 89
of
the
learning
guide
–
also
see
‘Late
submission’
section
at
the
end
of
this
document)
NOTE: This is an individual assignment. It is each student’s responsibility to be aware of and
adhere to the policies regarding academic misconduct, links to these can be found in section
11, “Policies and how it affects you” on pages 14-16 in the unit’s learning guide.
Aims
To demonstrate an understanding and the application of data and process modelling
techniques to a real business problem. To demonstrate an understanding and the
application of input and output design to a real business problem.

Outline of the Task
The assignment requires that you play the role of a systems analyst who has been
contracted to work on analysing the requirements for an information system for the Happy
Clown Preschool (HCP), as described in the case study in Appendix A. Your task is to
construct requirements models and some input/output design for the proposed system.

Question 1 (data modelling): (7 marks)
Create an entity relationship diagram (ERD) to represent the data requirements for the
HCP system. Add attributes to each data entity and show the primary keys (identifiers).
Add correct relationships between entities, including multiplicities (cardinalities).
Decompose any many to many relationships.
(Note: the attributes and identifiers for each entity can be listed in a word document,
these do not have to appear on the ERD. Ensure that each entity is clearly labelled and
that is clear which entity the attributes belong to.)

Question 2 (process modelling): (9 marks)
a. Draw a context diagram for the HCP system. (1 mark)
b. Create an event table for the high level events that the HCP system must be able to
respond to. Using the event table, create a data flow diagram (DFD) level 0 for the
HCP system, including all the high level processes discussed in the case study.
Clearly name all the processes, data stores, external entities and data flows. (8
marks)

Question 3 (user interface/report design) (4 marks)
a. Create an appropriate design for the user interface for capturing all the information
needed when a new student is registered at the preschool. This must include
appropriate input mechanisms for all the information needed for new registrations,
including emergency contacts. (3 marks)
b. Create the design for the layout of the sign-in/sign-out sheet to be printed with the
names of the children who attend on a current day. The design must be flexible
enough to be able to be used as a template for any of the programs, and for any
number of children. It must have room for parents to sign their child in (including the
arrival time), and to sign their child out (including the departure time). (1 mark)

Submissions and Due Dates
The diagrams you are creating must be computer generated. They can be created with
software of your choice, however the notations must be correct (For example, do not use a
class diagram notation for the ERD). The diagrams you create must be copied into a word
document that contains clearly labelled solutions to all the questions. Ensure all assumptions
are documented.
The assignment solution must be submitted in both hardcopy and softcopy:
• The hardcopy must be submitted to your tutor in your registered workshop class in week
11 (the week starting 7/05/2012).
o Each page of your assignment must contain your name, student id and the
relevant page number.
o All work must be submitted with a signed Assignment cover sheet. This cover
sheet is available on vUWS in the workshop folder, and as part of the
Learning guide.
o Ensure your assignment is securely stapled but please do not bind it in any
way. Also do not place it in any type of plastic cover.
• The softcopy must be submitted electronically through the Assignment submission link
on vUWS by the end of your registered workshop class in week 11. Ensure all files are
virus free.
It is expected that students will answer the questions “in their own words”. It is not
acceptable to copy material from the textbook or other sources and present as your own
work. All sources must be acknowledged (see the learning guide for referencing
information).
Late Submissions
The assignment must be submitted to pass the unit. A true and proper attempt must be in
evidence. Unless an extension to a further date is granted to the student by the unit
coordinator, any marks received for the assignment will reduced by 10% of the total mark
that could have been achievable for the assignment for each day (including weekends and
public holidays) after the due date. An extension of time may be granted by the unit
coordinator only under exceptional circumstances. Resubmission of assignments is not
permitted in this unit.
If you are a student with an AIP that specifies extended times for assignment submissions,
you MUST discuss this with the unit coordinator minimum two weeks before the original due
date.

Appendix A on next page.

APPENDIX A

Case Study: Happy Clown Preschool (HCP) Information System

The Happy Clown Preschool is a preschool catering for 3-5 year old children. The preschool
is not a long day-care centre, and it is only open from 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday. They
offer 4 programs, and each program has been named with a colour:
Blue program:
Attendance: Monday, Wednesday, Friday – full day.
Cost: $90 per student per week
Green program:
Attendance: Monday, Wednesday, Friday – half days (morning 9-12)
Cost: $50 per student per week
Yellow program:
Attendance: Monday, Wednesday, Friday – half days (afternoon 12-3)
Cost: $50 per student per week
Red program:
Attendance: Tuesday, Thursday – full day.
Cost: $60 per student per week

The preschool has become very popular and the last few years there has been a waiting list
for children to get in. When a child is put on the waiting list, the preschool records the child’s
name and address, date of birth and preferred program in a waiting list notebook. It is also
noted if the child has a sibling already at the school. At the beginning of a new year there will
always be some vacancies as the previous year’s 5-year-old children will be starting school.
There will also sometimes be vacancies throughout the year due to various reasons such as
families move to new locations, or long day care is needed due to parents going back to
work and so on. The preschool follows a particular procedure for offering places to children
on the waiting list. This procedure is outlined at the end of this document. When a child has
been given a place, the child is crossed off the waiting list.

Parents are sent a letter of offer when a place at the preschool is available for their child.
The letter includes details about the program the child is offered a place in, as well as the
current charges and a registration form. To accept the offer and register their child as a
student at the preschool, the parents must fill in the included registration form and return this
to the preschool. The registration form collects the child’s name, date of birth, address, home
phone, mother’s name and mobile number, father’s name and mobile number, billing
address (if different from the child’s address) and details about any special needs or
allergies the child has. Currently this information is stored in the student file in the filing
cabinet. Parents also must supply details of a minimum of two emergency contacts (name,
address, home pone, mobile number, and the relationship to the child). This information is
currently written on separate index cards and attached to the student file with a paperclip.
The preschool use the emergency contacts if they cannot get in contact with the child’s
parents. The new system should contain all this information and provide an easy way for
registration of new students.

Currently information about the 4 programs available is listed on posters on the office notice
board, including the weekly fee for each program. There are also lists of the children
registered for each of the programs hanging on the notice board. When the new system is
implemented, this information should be kept by the system, and when a new student’s
details are entered into the system, the child must also be registered with one of the 4
programs that are offered. The program the child is registered with may change as the
child’s needs change and there is availability in other programs. This means that during the
child’s career at the preschool, over time they may be registered with different programs,
therefore each program registration must include the start date so the system can identify
which is the current program the preschool student is registered for.
The registration information can be used by the system to produce sign-in and sign-out
sheets each morning. Currently, when parents arrive to drop their child off, they sign their
child in by writing their child’s name into a notebook, add the current time and sign. When
the child is picked up in the afternoon, the parent notes the time again and signs next to their
child’s name again, so all the staff can see that the child has been picked up. Preschool staff
spends time every morning using a ruler to create the appropriate columns in the notebook.
It is important for the preschool to have this up-to-date list, as it is used if there is an
emergency such as a fire. In such cases staff can quickly use the sign-in/sign-out notebook
to check that they have got all children attending that day to safety. Staff is hoping that when
the new system is in place they can quickly print out a form every morning with a list of all
preschool students for that day, as well as columns for drop-off time/signature and pick-up
time/signature. It is believed that having a printed list of the students attending on a
particular day will make things safer as staff will not have to rely on interpreting many
different parents’ handwriting to read each child’s name.

The information of which student is registered for which program is also used when creating
the bills for the upcoming month for each child. The bills are sent to the parents for 4 weeks
at a time, and the billing details are passed on to a separate payment system. The new
system should produce the monthly bills to be sent to parents, but the payments will still be
handled by the separate payment system. The new system being created will need to pass
on the billing information to the payment system, as well as create a print-ready bill for each
child to be sent to the child’s home address (or billing address).
The preschool sends out newsletters once every 3 months. When it is time to send out the
newsletters, preschool staff goes through the student files to get each student’s address and
writes this on the envelopes. The preschool hopes that the new system can get each child’s
address from the information about the students which will be stored in the system, and
automatically create address labels that staff can print and stick on the envelopes so the
newsletters can be posted.

Procedure for offering vacant places to children on the waiting list:
When a place becomes vacant, children from the waiting list will be offered places. The
preschool has a procedure that is followed when deciding which child the vacant place is
offered to. 1
st
priority is given to children with siblings currently at the preschool. If there are
no children with siblings already at the pre-school that have the available program as a
preference, a notice is sent to the 10 first children on the waiting list with siblings already at
the preschool, notifying them of the vacancy as they may be interested even if it is not their
preferred program. If no parents in this group take the place for their child, an offer goes out
to the first child on the waiting list (without siblings at the preschool) that have this program
as their preferred program. If after offering the place to children on the waiting list the place
is still vacant, the vacancy is advertised in the local newspaper.

SOLUTION

Introduction to Analysis and Design

Design notations:

‘LIFELINE’ are used to represents the actor as well as system

‘ARROW’ Flow of data or transition

EXTERNAL ENTITY:

A Procedure or consumer of information that resides

Outsides the bounds of the system to be modeled.

PROCESS: A transfer of information (a function) that resides within the bounds of the system to be modeled

DATA FLOW:

The arrowhead indicated the direction of

Data flow.

DATA STORE:

A repository of data that is to be store for Use by one

Or more processes; may be as simple as Simple as a

Buffer or quick or as sophistic coated as a relational

database. A rectangle is used to Represents an internal entity or (Sink / Source) i.e.

A system element (ex: hardware, a person another program) or another person that produces the information for Transformation by the software.

A circle represents a process or transforms that is applied to data or control. And change it is some way. An arrow represents one or more data items Or Data objects. All arrows on the Data flow diagram should be labeled.

It is important to note that the diagram supplies no explicit indication of the sequence of the prosing, prouder or sequence may be implementation is generally delayed until software design.

DIAMOND:              

It is used to represents the relationship between two entities.

HOLLOW CIRCLES:

                                    Entry point in the state diagram

PENTAGONAL TAG:

UML Notation for a state diagram Name in a small pentagonal tag in the upper left corner.

OVAL:

Oval is used to represent the use case in use case diagram and attribute name in ER diagram

Entity relationship diagram (ERD)

y

Context diagram of the system

Data flow diagram (DFD)

Event response table

User interface/report design

When a new student registered the information needed are as fallows

child’s name, date of birth, address, home phone, mother’s name and mobile number, father’s name and mobile number, billing address (if different from the child’s address) and details about any special needs or allergies the child has and which program they wants to choose.

References:

Martin Fowler, Kendall Scott 2011, UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language

Practical UML — A Hands-On Introduction for Developers, viewed on 9^th may 2012,

http://www.togethersoft.com/services/practical_guides/umlonlinecourse/

 LA15