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WJECICT A2

IT4 Coursework

2011NOREEN KAYCHIEF EXAMINER ICT A LEVEL

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Unit IT 4 Relational DatabasesCoursework

• 40% of marks

• Time approx 50 hours

• Does not have to be real it can be realistic but recommended a real organisation be used. Something you either know about or can get information about.

• Each project must be individual and all of the candidates own work

• Marked out of 100

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Can useAccess or similar package

or

Visual basic

Or some combination of both

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• Database projects should be in 4 distinct sections.

– User requirements and design

– Implementation

– Testing

– User documentation and Evaluation

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Moderators overall

checklist

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Detailed teacher guide and mark scheme

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YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD FOR 1 MARK

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Title Page

Name of candidate

Candidate No

Title of project

Centre name and No

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Background to the organisation1 mark:• What is it? where is it? 6 sentences

1 mark:• What it does - must do data processing related to the database you are

going to do unless you justify difference. Half a page

This must include what the organization does or intends to do. It is no good saying I am going to create a stock management database if there is no stock management involved.

This link must follow throughout the project.

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Background• Ysgol Dafydd Jones is a large, modern Comprehensive School, situated somewhere in North

Wales. With a pupil population of nearly 1000, there is a high demand for the daily stuff of education – pencils, pens etc and, more recently with the advances in technology; computer discs, CD-Rs and memory sticks etc.

• At the moment this need is served by a school shop, run by a member of the ancillary staff with the aid of a group of Sixth Formers. In the past, because it is a relatively small-scale operation, there has been little need for a computerisation of its stock-take or financial management systems.

• The range of stock carried by the shop is narrow, and since it is mostly of an ‘educational’ nature, the stock is supplied almost entirely by only a handful of different suppliers. The system of stock management is very simple, with the ‘shop keeper’ noticing when any particular item is about to run out, and writing out an order whenever convenient. This has usually been done at the end of the month, when typically several orders could be processed at the same time, making the task more time-efficient At some times of the year, for example just before the examinations, certain items become suddenly in higher demand. Writing out additional orders then becomes an added nuisance. To keep things simple, the shop has a ‘standard order’ for each of its items, and will reorder that number each time the stock runs low. For example, it carries a stock of twenty scientific calculators and will re-order another twenty when only three or four are left on the shelves. This has led to oversights and disappointments in the past (especially at exam times!)

• In order to check that stock is not ‘disappearing’ and to monitor sales, as each item is sold a tally is kept in an exercise book, and at the end of the day this is totalled. This also gives warning that some items may need to be reordered. Once a month, there is a stock take of all the items in the store. This should be equal to the level of stock at the last stock take, minus the tally of items sold since then. Quite often, due to the pressure of sales at peak times (morning break) a sale may not be recorded in the tally book. This leads to awkward questions being asked at the end of the year when the finances of the shop are reviewed.

• What the shop needs is a better way to record and monitor levels of stock, and to make the process of reordering easier and quicker. The answer to this is to build a database management system that will reorder ‘automatically’ when stocks get low. The ability to order goods manually (i.e. not in set quantities) should also be retained in the system.

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User Requirements4 marks• Data capture and inputs• Processes including security, queries, calculations,

sorts, etc• Reports and any other outputs • Ethos and house style

2 marks• Quality and depth of analysis• ‘To gain full marks everything they go on to do should

have been requested by the user in general terms’

Aim for approx. minimum of 3 pages long

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User requirements / Expected outcomes / aims and objectivesAim for approx minimum of 3 pages long

• Data capture and inputs 1• Processes including security queries

calculations sorts etc 1• Reports and any other outputs 1• Ethos and/ or house style 1• Quality and depth of analysis 2

Some of the problems we saw last year were less evident but some centres still award high marks for • a retrospective list of what the candidate did or • a brief very outline of what the system is required to do.

•‘To gain full marks everything they go on to do should have been requested by the user in general terms’

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Wrong!

My client wants ( I did a ) a multiple table search using search criteriaTables to include Customers + booking + rooms. Search to include Booking data= 12/08/2012 AND Room=Teifi

They have clearly copied and pasted from design

Right!

Mrs Jones often has enquiries about the function rooms. Many people often ask either to check an existing booking or check if a certain function room is available for booking on a certain date. Therefore she would like the system to be able to produce this information quickly. She would like to be able to type in the name of the function room ad date into a form on the screen and a list of bookings to appear

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User Interface requirements

1 mark• Details of specific user interface requirements of the

system and how this reflects the ethos of the organisation.

• What in general should the user interface look like and what presentation style, colour schemes, logos, corporate identity.

• This could relate to startup splash screens, switchboards or menu type form. Navigation buttons leading to data entry forms/ buttons to control common procesess e.g print reports

• Health and safety considerations red/ green / easy to read fonts no garish colour that could call eye strain

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Hardware

1 mark

• Details of the minimum hardware requirements for the system to function.

• Must be sensible to chosen topic and can be just a list, it can be what the user already has or a new system to run the new database.

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HARDWARE = NO MARKS!

• Dual-core AMD Athlon™ II X2 245 processor

• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 bit

• Memory: 2GB

• Hard drive: 500GB

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PROCESSORAMD Athlon II X2 Processor 245

- 2.9 GHz- 2.0 GHz HT- 2 x 1 MB L2 cache- Dual CoreOperating System

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bitRAM2 GB DDR32DIMMGraphics cardATI Radeon 3000Up to 891 MB shared graphics memory

OUTPUT DEVICE • Screen type None NO PRINTER NO MARKBACKUP Medium• Hard drive 500 GB SATA 3G 7200 rpmExternal BACKUP Medium • Optical disk drive DVD writer• SATA DVD RAM with LightScribe technology

Create silkscreen-quality disc labels directly from your • PCMemory card reader6-in-1 memory card reader

• USB6 x USB 2.0 ports• 1 external optical drive bay/ 1 internal HDD bay

*FireWireNoModem/EthernetEthernet 10/100BT integrated network interface

• WiFiNoBluetoothNoVideo interfaceVGAAudio interfaceAnalogue audioMicrophone and headphone inputsTV outputNoExpansion card slot2 PCI-Express x1SoundHigh Definition Audio 5.1WebcamNo

INPUT DEVICES• Keyboard & Mouse USB optical mouse USB keyboard

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Entity relationships

• 1 mark for basic One to ONE, ONE TO MANY UNLINKED diagram

• Second mark for more complex system

• (showing all linking between entities)

• If errors, incorrect or unrealistic give no marks.

• NB OK if this appears later on in the design section.

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Different ways of showing entity relationships

DoctorDoctor

Patients HospitalHospital

SupplierSupplier

CustomerCustomer OrderOrder StockStock

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Departments Supervisors

Officers Cases

Run Assigned

Work On

n

1

n n

1

n

DepartmentID (PK) SupervisorID (PK)

OfficerID (PK) CaseID (PK)

Officers_Cases __

OfficerID (PK) (FK)CaseID (PK) (FK) Work On

1 1

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Not acceptable as ERD

Screenshot of the implemented system

Copy of above or from design of tables showing primary and foreign keys

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GET THE DESIGN RIGHT !

AND EVERYTHING ELSE WILL FOLLOW THROUGH

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Data dictionary

of at least 3 tables

Must have fieldname, data type and format

Data structure table showing Fieldname + data type1 mark for each table x 3

1 mark for design of format of the data in each table

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Normalisation1 mark for normalised form of tables

• Diagram / tables showing normalised tables

• Note that the tables can be designed directly in normalised form, There is no need to show the stages but you can do so if you want to

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The simple three table structure

Borrowers Loans1

∞ ∞

1

PupilID PK

Surname

Forename

FormGroup

LoanID PK

PupilID FK

BookID FK

DateIssued

ReturnedY/N

Books

BookID PK

ISBN FK

Cost

Title

Genre

Borrower Loans Books

If we were to develop the database further ISBN would be in a different table

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The more complex third normal form structure would be this but needs more

tables Borrowers Loans

1

∞ ∞

1

PupilID PK

Surname

Forename

FormGroup

LoanID PK

PupilID FK

BookID FK

DateIssued

ReturnedY/N

Books

BookID PK ISBN

ISBN PK1∞ ISBN FK

SupplierID

Cost

Title

PublisherID FK

Author

Publishers

PublisherID PK

Reqd. Details……

1

∞

Suppliers

SupplierID PK

Reqd. Details……

1

∞

However we only need to produce a three table solution and need not go to fully third stage normalisation

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This might be our simple three table structure

Borrowers Loans1

∞ ∞

1

PupilID PK

Surname

Forename

FormGroup

LoanID PK

PupilID FK

BookID FK

DateIssued

ReturnedY/N

Books

BookID PK

Cost

Title

Genre

Borrower Loans Books

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Normalisation: 1 mark for identifying primary key and foreign keys

Must show links and identify Primary and Foreign keys

FKFK

PKPKPK

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DATA VALIDATION• 2 DIFFERENT TYPES

NOT 2 RANGE CHECKS

DO NOT use input mask wizards provided by the software e.g. postcode masks in Access

NOT LIST BOXES/COMBO BOXES

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Validation techniques• Use Range checks

• Use own ORIGINAL design of input mask

• Use OR techniques

• LENGTH CHECKS

Remember you have to test for extreme data so advise using one range check somewhere in the design will help you later on.

However candidates lose marks by not fully designing the validation e.g. ‘I will put a range check on an ID number’ is not sufficient. Candidates should fully explain e.g. “I will put a range check on and ID number which states it is Between 1 and 9999

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Common Problems

• Candidate does not design two different types of validation they may only design 2 range checks.

• All candidates in the Centres design the exact same two types of validations e.g. all do range check on date of delivery and all do length check on telephone no????????

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PROBLEMS

• Candidates do a range check on length of

telephone no.

• NOT data type checks

• Presence checks!!!

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Design of security

1 mark

This could be using software own security locking system or original code.

•It could be a flowchart (but not an identical one if used in Code section)

•It could be a bullet point sequence

•It could be a paragraph describing what will happen

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Example of security statementThe system must be secure in order to prevent unauthorised access and possible deletion/corruption of data.

• For this reason, access to the system will be via a password.

• Editing of the data tables will not be possible directly, and all changes must be made through separate data entry forms.

• There must be access for an administrator to edit the data tables directly in case of mistakes (order cancelled) but only

through an administrator page with separate password access.

• There must be a procedure for backing up daily changes, and a regular

• routine for making backups of the whole system

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User interface

1 mark• Design of user-friendly, menu driven, front

end interface (Hand drawn or DTP design)• It should reflect the house style required by

the user • Could be main menu system• Could be switchboard• Note this is pre implementation so no

screenshots of forms can be counted as design

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VERY POOR design of switchboard/menus ?????

NO DATA in it just boxes and fonts

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• (Hand drawn or DTP design)

• 1 mark design of at least two forms; • 1 mark for design of form with a sub form

• 1 mark is for quality and detail-names of all fields and some of the following; – sample data in each of the three forms– special features on each of the three forms e.g. command

buttons– adherence to house style shown on each of the three forms

Note this is pre implementation so no screenshots of forms can be counted as design

Design of 2 data entry forms 1 form with a sub form

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No Detail

Employee ID

First Name

Last Name

Internal Extension

Employees Details

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•Layout

•House style

(font names and size and logo)

•Fieldnames

•Features

command buttons

•Example data X

(should be added)

Logo

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DETAILED Design of forms and forms with a subform

•Layout

•House style

•Fieldnames

•Features

•Example data

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DETAILED DESIGN OF QUERIESQuery type• Single table query with search criteria x 2 (NOT SORTS)• Multiple table query with search criteria• Multiple table query without search criteria• Parameter query• Action Query : either an append; delete or update queryDetailed design• Fieldname logical operator and criteria to be used; • tables to be used• and any other relevant point e.g. fields/calculations/test data• Realistic reason why you need this data. NOT a description of what the query outputs e.g. ‘The

manager wants a list of all the female soccer players’ is a description of the output.

WHY THE MANAGER WANTS A LIST OF ALL THE FEMALE SOCCER PLAYERS .... IS THE REASON

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• Although reasons have improved in some centres they are still descriptions of what the query does.

Centres should note;• Reasons for queries could be strengthened and

could include fieldnames and operators and criteria where required.

• Where candidates do a similar topic e.g. hotels, candidates should be encouraged to design different queries.

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Query types• 2 Single table queries with search criteria x 2 Both use one table and both have criteria and each has a realistic reason Do Not do a sort

• Multiple table query with search criteria x 1 1 query which uses linked tables and which has criteria and a realistic reason

• Multiple table query without search criteria x 1 1 query which uses linked tables and which has NO criteria and a realistic reason (The most common use of this could be to select only certain fields for a report or another

common use is to sort data and the third most common use is to produce a calculation).

• Parameter query This query has search criteria and could be on a single or linked tables depending upon the

reason.• 1 Action Query : either an append; delete or update query

All of these queries should have:• Fieldname logical operator and criteria to be used; tables and any other relevant point

• Realistic reason why you need this data to be produce / what will it be used for?

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No marks; there must be criteria and the justification is the reason but have not designed how to get the data from the database

No marks; justification is the reason but have not designed how to get the data from the database

No marks; justification is the reason but have not identified what tables or fields are required

No marks; justification is the reason but have not designed how to get the data from the database

No marks Query not fully designed

No marks Query not fully designed. What data will be used?

X

X

X

XXX

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NO REASON WHY

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• There must be a realistic reason why your organisation wants these reports. In addition to reasons, report design must

1 mark• Clearly display fields and contain reasonable detail • Details of the data/tables or queries required• Allow for suitable original headers and footers• Have sorted and grouped data

• 1 mark • design of a calculations, totals or other statistical fields (Now must also be on a report as well as form or query )

DETAILED DESIGN OF REPORTS

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This is a space for the company logo that will be pre-printed onto the paper.

Customer’s Address User’s Address

Order Quantity DescriptionNo i.e. material and size Price (the lot or per 1,000) cost of Items VAT 17. 5% cost of VAT

Total(Cost of Items + VAT)

Details of the data/tables or queries required X

Allow for suitable original headers and original footers X

Have sorted data andgrouped data X

Include detailed calculations, or other statistical fields X

Clearly display fields (messy) and data X

POOR DESIGN OF A REPORT

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Design of the report

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Design and explanation of a calculation in a report

Calculation in the report should be different to that in the query or form. Many candidates use the same formulas and this should be discouraged.

=Date() is not acceptable as a calculation in a report.

=Now() is not a formula and is not acceptable as a calculation in a form.

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Design a calculation in a query or form

• Design at least one calculated field using facilities provided by the software.

• Example;• To work out the field cost with the VAT• COSTincVAT =[COST] * 1.175

• A second needed if mark already awarded for this in design of Multiple tables queries with no criteria

• One calculation cannot be awarded more than 1 mark

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Calculations in a query or form

• WRONG

• My calculation will add up the total cost of the invoice

• CORRECT

My calculation will add up the total cost of the invoice

=SUM[Item1]+[Item2]+[Item3]

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Design of Calculation in Form• Purpose of calculation: to display on the order form an amount equivalent

to the grand total of all the individual items ordered on the subform. • Note that a calculation has already been designed for the subform which will

work out the total cost of each individual item ordered. This is achieved with the expression

• =[quantity_ordered]*[purchase_price] and is given the label Expr1. • The second calculation will be in the form of • = sum ([quantity_ordered]*[purchase_price]) (or alternatively = sum

(Expr1)• The text box which will hold the (= sum) calculation has to be placed in the

subform footer. For the calculation to appear on the main form, I have to create a second text box on the main form itself, and the control for this text box has to point to the (= sum) calculation in the subform footer.

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A note about Calculated fields

It is possible to get 4 marks here but only if there are4 separate and different calculations.• 1 mark if one calculated field is on a form or query• 1 for the calculation in a report

• 1 mark if you use visual basic to produce a calculation• 1 mark if there is a calculated field in a multiple table designed to

produce this calculation. • NB Marks cannot be awarded twice for the same calculation• Calculations on reports / forms / queries / vb must all be

different calculations

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Automated routines using programming code

2 marks• Design at least 2 different simple Visual Basic / code procedures. • A screenshot or printout of implemented code is not acceptable as design.• Code: pseudo code or flowcharts or where applicable hand drawn designs are

acceptable methods of design.• Examples could be:

– initial start up splash screens– code for own validation procedures– calendar controls– toggle buttons to hide data– username and password routines code (Candidates should not use the same

flowchart as in security section)– own calculation routines written in VB and different from that below– automatic data entry into fields based on a choice in another field

• NOT MACRO wizards in Access• NOT simple things like putting =Now() in a text box / msgbox only• DO NOT COUNT CALCULATIONS AND VALIDATIONS, etc TWICE

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Do NOT put implemented systems in the design section

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Clearly copied and pasted back from implemented section so not

design• Private Sub Option4_Click()• Dim strInput As String• Dim strMsg As String• Beep• strMsg=”this form is for administration only.” &vbCrLf & vbLf & “please key in

the admin password to allow access”• strInput=InputBox(prompt:=strMsg, title:=”WARNING”)• If strInput = “PASSWORD” Then ‘password is correct • DoCmd.OpenForm “frmAdmin”• DoCmd.Close acForm, Me.Name• Else

‘password is incorrect• MsgBox “incorrect password!” & vbCrLf & vbLf & “you are not allowed access

to this section”, vbCritical, “Invalid Password”• End If• Exit Sub• End Sub

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Implementation

Screenshot everything in design view as you

are creating it and put the annotated

screenshots into the implementation report

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Create links

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At least 3 tables in design view and the tables of test data

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Implementation of data validation techniques

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NOT ACCEPTABLE as presence check as selected a wizard.

Candidate has not done anything

Required = YES

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• =IsNull([UnitPrice])Returns True, if the UnitPrice field does not contain a value.

• =IsNull("")Returns False, because a zero-length string is not a null value.

• =IIf(IsNull([Region]),[City]&" "& [PostalCode],[City]&" "&[Region]&" "& [PostalCode])Displays the values of the City and PostalCode fields if Region is Null

• Null: A value you can enter in a field or use in expressions or queries to indicate missing or unknown data.

• In Visual Basic, the Null keyword indicates a Null value.

• otherwise, it displays the values of the City, Region, and PostalCode fields, separated by spaces.You can use these expressions in a calculated field in a query.

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Implementation of validation

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Create MacrosNOT Wizards e.g. COMMAND BUTTONS ON FORMS

• Create two macros • Must be different types• For example:

– Navigation controls from User Interface and forms.– Other macros you have used to enhance your solution. e.g.

AutoExec, Print report , email macro, etc.

Note you can only have one navigation macro the other macro must have a different purpose. (Screenshot evidence of construction required)

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Correct macro use Incorrect macro using command button wizards

Once you have created your own macro you can of course assign it to a command button event.

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Create user interface

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Create 2 forms for data entryand create a form with a subform

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Two Single table queries with criteria

Query finds all stock items which are below the minimum stock level. This query used as basis for automatic ordering system. (Note also calculated expression to find cost of ordering fixed replenishment amount of each item)

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Implementation of queries

Correct because we can see the criteria and it

matches the query that was designed

Multiple table query with criteria

Multiple table query without criteria

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Parameter query

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Action query - Update

Evidence of construction of update queries.: This one is used to update the stock list (tblStock) when new stock arrives. The new stock is added to the form frmNewStock and a button on the form runs this update query.

When the ‘run’ is clicked in design view, nothing happens on-screen, but a check on the table tblStock confirms that the amounts of stock have been updated by the amounts shown.

Updated = quantities of new stock added to the existing quantities of those stock items.

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CREATE A REPORT(S)

ORIGINAL Headers and ORIGINAL footers

NOT the default =now()Sorted and grouped data

Not just sorted data must have bothCalculated field

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What do we mean by sorted grouping?

Date (Sorted)

Customer (Grouped) Booking Ref

12/08/08 Evans A

Evans A

Davies G

Smith R

Smith R

1243

4545

7455

3213

7979

13/08/08 Evans A

Peters B

Peters B

Richards T

8986

7444

8524

3546

If you haven’t got more than one record for a customer then the grouping will not work !

Remember that when entering data

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SORTED AND GROUPED

NB If you have not entered suitable data this will notproduce the required evidence

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Implementation of calculation in a report

Calculated fields in the report should total up data from more than one record.

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No calculated field shown

Data not suitable to show sorted grouping worked even though

technique was shown

Original header but no original footer

0 marks out of 3

Problem report

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Single record reports

Single record reports do not show sorted grouping.Will need a second report to show this aspect.

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Original automated code

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Implementation of calculation in a form or query

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Testing•There must be a systematic test plan.

•Tests plan should include:

–Expected and actual outcomes

–Reasons for processes such as sorts and searches (if not provided earlier)

•Evidence of all tests either in the form of printouts or readable screenshots

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Testing user interface

Teachers should sign to say they saw all routes through the system working

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Testing validationValid No error message

Show screenshot of valid data

Invalid 1 Show screenshot of error message

Invalid 2 Show screenshot of error message

ExtremeRange check

Format e.g. must contain 15 characters

No error message

Show screenshot of extreme but valid data

Show screenshots

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Test all routes

through the

system

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Testing security• There is 1 mark for: Testing security e.g. test with wrong user name and password and

get an error message

If the candidates has not used their own code for this this might be testing e.g. the Access database security password tool they have set up.

Candidates may not have done any security routines for their vb code but these would have to be tested as prescribed in the test plan

If however they did write their own username and password code:

• They would get

Testing security: There is 1 mark for testing security measure e.g. test own code with wrong user name and password and get an error message

Testing first automated routine: They would provide a second test e.g. testing own code with correct username and password

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Test queries

• RUN them

• Watch out for testing parameter queries!!

How could this have produced this output???

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Test report

• Print it out

NOT Screenshot them

Need to test they actually printout with

professional formatting

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Testing automated routines

• If they created username password they would test it. ( first code test)

• If they created 2 other different automated routines using code they would test them both now

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Test calculation in a form or query

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User documentation• Details of where to find the database

(directories) and how to open the database

• Details of how to enter passwords or other security procedures

• Details of how to navigate the user interface

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• Details of how to - add, delete, edit, (Must show whole process not just say press this button…..) - print and save data - in records via examples given in screenshots of

data entry forms

• Examples of two different ORIGINAL (not default) validation text to support different validation procedures

• Instructions about using (So no screenshots in design view which is creating them) different types of queries (1mark =2 queries)

• Instructions about how to print one report (Often not

there)

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• Instructions about disaster recovery techniques

NOT just how to back up. How do werestore the database to the hard drive if the original gets destroyed - must have some specific detail relating to their owndatabase not a general description.

BACKUP + RECOVERY and re-installation

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Sorting out the As from the Bs

•An A grade evaluation would be 6 or more pages long

•NOT a running commentary of what you did

•Evaluation what is good about your database system including data capture and user documentation and saying why it adds value to the organisation

•Be critical and say its weak points and why

•Suggest concrete future developments not general ones such as “I could more data”, “I could change the colour scheme’.

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Evaluation

•There is an attempt to relate to what the user wanted not just a copy and paste of user requirements. Not just a running commentary of what you did

•There is an attempt to say what improvements the new system has brought and how this has added value to the system

•There is no criticism of his solution

•There are no future developments suggested