The SCOUR ProjectThe SCOUR Project

Search Contents Of Search Contents Of

Union’s RegistryUnion’s Registry

Presentation Outline

Main Objectives System Overview and Purpose

SCOURUSE

Functionality Current State of Project Future Work

Main Objectives

Create an efficient system to facilitate scheduling meetings within the Union College Community

Successfully implement SCOUR into the Union College Community

SCOUR must be extremely stable and able to recover from a unpreventable crash

Current System

Doesn’t exist! Professors must e-mail students and

correlate an appropriate meeting time Current process can take hours

Benefits of an Electronic Scheduling System Saves time and aggravation Provides one medium for scheduling

meetings rather than many different processes

System Overview

Composed of two different programs SCOUR- a program that parses Union’s

class roster pages and creates a database USE- a program that allows users to

schedule meetings and search SCOUR (search contents of union’s registry)

SCOUR – Purpose

Create a database based on the results of scouring through union’s class roster web pages

Should run automatically with little or no human interaction

Constantly run in order to keep database up to date with current class schedules

Will provide vast amounts of data that can be used for various queries

Class Roster Pages

USE- Purpose

USE is a web-based application that allows users to interact with the SCOUR databaseAllows users to interact without any

knowledge of SQLComfortable GUI for computer illiterate usersExample

Functional Requirements

Reliable database systemBack-up system if primary server goes downBackbone of my projectUp to date information

Easy to use web interface Intuitive navigation

Queries

Stored Procedures Look up a students schedule Find an optimal meeting time for a group of users Find an open class room and reserve a time

Must implement with current system Print a transcript with out grades

Endless Possibilities Can search to see if anyone has the same class schedule as

you, etc. Find a list of students who have already taken a class you are in

Technology Implemented

Red Hat Linux Java SDK 1.4.01

AppletsACME GIF Encoder

MySQL PHP

Current State of Project

SCOUR completeAll the data can be obtained through SQL

queriesThoroughly tested and all the bugs have been

worked out Slow query problems solved with more

advanced indexing system Average query time .01 seconds

Current State of Project (cont.)

Currently working on USE systemSuccessfully implemented raster graphics to

display complicated query resultsNeed to work on developing more queries to

interact with the database Graphical Text Based

Future Work

Database can serve as backbone for online advising system Contains information on classes taken and gened

credit Can serve as an e-mail host

Teacher and students can send out e-mails to other users in a certain class

Serve as an online calendar for users Calendar like interface Would help users manage time

Conclusion

For the system to be fully functional and efficient SCOUR must be up to date Users must accept it and make it their primary way of

scheduling Must interact with other systems successfully such as

Union’s web pages and room scheduling Union’s web pages must be correct and current

Must be reliable and fast

Questions?

Any comments or suggestions about SCOUR or USE?

Any comments or suggestions about presentation?

Thank you for your time