MS Access to web based application migration and development
Client Profile
Our client is a not-for profit organization that works to prevent violence at home, and in the community, and help those whose lives are devastated by violence. For more than three decades, the organization has worked to end violence against women and children around the world and they were instrumental in developing the landmark Violence against Women Act passed by Congress in 1994.
Business Challenge
One of the offerings of the organization is a multi level educational program delivered at multiple locations through various teachers. Prior to approaching Cabot, the session feedback and the course content were stored in a stand alone MS Access database and the feedback submitted by the teachers were fed to this system by a data entry operator. The business challenge presented here was to create a web application based on this model but enhancing the functionalities to enable the organization deliver the programs seamlessly and to track the progress in an efficient manner.
The new system needed to provide a good user interface and users needed to have different roles . The three main roles were:
- Administrator(Have access to all the areas)
- Site Managers(For a particular Location)
- Teachers(For a particular school)
Based on the user type,the system would determine the level of access and their location. Not all programs were offered to all locations and the additional challenge was to block some locations for some teachers.
The system also offered functionality to add users, schools etc for the admin and the site manager could add teachers, schools etc for the given area.
Technologies Used
The following technologies were used in the development of the application
- PHP for server side
- Mysql for the database solution
- CodeIgniter as Framework
- Ajax and Jquery
- Html based User Interface
The technologies used were open source. Codeigniter is an excellent framework for using PHP and with the option to add plug-ins, it facilitates easy implementation of new modules. For this project, an excel plugin for the reports was easily added due to this fact. Ajax/ Jquery were used for creating different views like a pop up block etc.
Cabot Approach
The application re-design and development was approached in two distinct phases where the requirements were gathered and analyzed in the first phase and the project development was done in the second.
Project Study and Requirement Analysis
The first phase was Project study and Requirement analysis.We studied the existing system to understand the functionality. The functionality and screens for the feedback forms were already there in the existing system.Formatting and layout (in the new system) were matched as much as possible within reason. However, substitution of control types (e.g., using hyperlinks instead of command buttons) and general layout were acceptable where it will decrease the time and effort required for development. Functionality was considered more important than aesthetics as the application was only open for users within the program and not to general public. The database structure was modified as necessary to accommodate these changes.
New screens were required in order to accommodate three user roles. Administrators have full access to all parts of the application. They can create new users and define them as administrators, site managers or teachers. They can create new sites and schools. They can run reports for any site.Site managers can enter and access information only for the sites they are responsible for. They can create new or update existing site managers, teachers and schools associated with their site. They can also run reports for their site.Teachers can only enter or update information for themselves.
We studied the blocked locations feature, which was new. In this feature, it was possible to block a particular lesson for a select location and it was unavailable for teachers for that particular location.
Another main feature of the system was the reports. There are 8 main reports and some reports have sub reports. The main reports provide a summarized view for the different programs, overall assessment and summary background information. Report design and generation was done as a separate piece of project after the completion of the main application development.
We concluded the first phase with the data model for the web application design and the prototype design.The data model contained all the database tables required for the program and the prototype design contained the mockups for different screens used in the program.
Project Development And Testing
Functional scalability of the application was given a lot of consideration during the development phase. Currently, Start Strong only offers two program (and the corresponding lessons, sessions, topics etc), we wanted to make it simple for the client to add the program to the database themselves. This was kept in mind while deciding on the architecture of the final solution. The user interface screens were also designed with simplicity and intuition in mind. The report development needed some creative usage of the Excel plugins to calculate Mean, Median etc for the Teacher’s feedback. Reports also needed formatting to make the reports readable and it was also achieved using the plugin.
Benefits
We ensured that the client got the following benefits by implementing the new solution.
• Improved User Experience
By the use of good design techniques and a friendly user interface, the new web application provided a much better user experience for the users of the system. The provision of drop down text boxes, radio and other select buttons, data entry in terms of keyboarding was also optimized in the application.
• Security
The new web application provides more security compared to the standalone system. Not only each user is authenticated against their credentials before accessing the system, the userid is also recorded against any updates or changes in the database, thus providing tracking and accountability.
• Dynamic data Managing and Flexibility
All data in the system is managed through the central database and thus it is more flexible for future enhancements. This architecture allows for changes that can be implemented throughout the system from a single point and that is a major advantage to the business compared to its previous state.
• Ensured future compatibility
The system ensures future compatibility.The technology used are PHP and Mysql. The codeigniter framework is open source.so that the application is future-proof from a technology perspective and the chances of discontinued support were eliminated.
