August 1997
SD206: SYSTEMS DESIGN

QUESTION 3

Total Marks: 20 Marks

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SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
Solutions and allocated marks are indicated in green.
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3. A national library, which has several branches spread around the country, has decided to upgrade its computer system. At present, the dialogue approach that is employed is in a question-and-answer style. This results in many complaints as user feel as if they are not in control of the system. As an example, when updating membership, the librarians have to hit the 'enter' key several times, even though they may decide to abolish any further updates. The following data (for updating membership particulars) is displayed on the current screen. In addition, the librarians also feed back that they have to go through several menus in orders to perform their desired tasks.

Membership number 6 numeric
Branch 5 characters (e.g., Chicago, Utah, etc.)
Type of membership 7 characters (Student or Staff)
Expiry date 6 digits (DD/MM/YY)
Course 20 characters (e.g., Computer Science)
Full name 30 characters
Address 70 characters
Telephone number 10 digits
(a) Suggest ways of reducing the above data. [6]
One mark should be awarded for each correct way of reducing the data and one mark should be awarded for each satisfactory elaboration (up to a maximum of six marks). Examples include the following:
Use mnemonic codes for branches and courses.
Use a classification code for membership type.
Employ a computer generated sequence membership number.
(b) Based on the librarians' feedback, design - using your suggestions from Part (a) - single online dialogue that enables the user to update membership in all ways required. The possible updates include the following: [8]
adding new members
modifying an existing member's details
terminating an existing membership
renewing an expired membership
printing an existing member's details
One mark should be awarded for each valid point covered (up to a maximum of eight marks). Examples of valid points include the following:
Screen title.
Help.
A new button for adding new members.
A modify button for changing existing membership details.
A renew button for renewing an expired membership.
A terminate button for terminating a membership.
A print button for printing membership details.
A cancel button for abolishing the current update.
Instruction message.
Complete fields.
Layout.
Spacing.
(c) Recommend appropriate input validation for the membership updates. [6]
One mark should be awarded for each correct way of reducing the data and one mark should be awarded for each satisfactory elaboration (up to a maximum of six marks). Examples include the following:
Perform mandatory field tests like branch, course, name, address, etc.
Perform actual value test with stored data membership number field.
Perform range test for expiry date.