Software Support Framework Abstract Abstract Project Requirements The Ongo08 senior design team is designing applications to assist school districts in raising their students’ problem-solving skills. During development, it was discovered that each application needed to perform similar tasks, such as keeping track of a student’s progress. To prevent each sub team from having to code the same functionality, our team is providing a set of functions common to all applications. This will allow the other sub teams to focus more on their specific applications and provide a more maintainable end product. Design Objectives Shall support current and future applications Shall function on current PHP and Apache server systems Shall provide database modification methods Functional Requirements Shall provide methods to support educational software Shall provide methods for storing and implementing quizzes and grades Shall interface with a MySQL database Design Constraints Shall have constraints and limitations inherited by the use of PHP and MySQL Shall be supported only on selected versions of PHP and MySQL Shall utilize functionality that is included with the PHP language package All applications built using the framework shall follow the model shown in Figure 4 Milestones Train and assist sub-teams in how to use the framework developed last semester Determine new functionality and data storage requirements for framework Submit requirement recommendations to other sub-teams for approval Code newly defined functions Perform testing on the new code Introduction General Problem Statement The other Ongo08 sub teams are looking for a standard set of functions to aid in the development of their educational software. General Solution Statement A framework must be developed to facilitate the creation of the educational software The framework must manage student, parent, teacher, and administrative access The framework must provide a method for quizzing students The framework must record and track student grades Operating Environment The framework will exist and run on a Linux server The framework code will be stored on a server in an environmentally controlled room Figure 1 below demonstrates environment interactions Intended Users and Uses Table 1 below shows the descending access levels of the major user groups: Assumptions The framework shall be composed of PHP library files and documentation The framework shall be utilized by developers to create future educational applications PHP will be available on all server platforms running the software The application server shall never be overloaded or compromised Limitations The object oriented features of PHP are inferior to those in other languages such as Java It is impossible to foresee all future applications that will utilize the PHP framework Response time of the PHP framework will be limited to the speed of the internet connection between the client and the server Expected End Product Set of functions common to all current applications, encompassing: Timing functionality for quizzes Problem categorization Improved authentication Support for functions and their implementation Documentation for implementation and future development Figure 4: Three Tier Database Application Structure Proposed Approach and Considerations Figure 1: Framework Integration Diagram Proposed Approach Perform analysis to determine needs that framework must meet Divide needs up into easy-to-manage functions Request feedback from other sub-teams on the analysis obtained Create code for functions Perform testing on functions using a variety of testing methods Technologies Considered Scripting Language Selection ASP.NET PHP (chosen) Database Engine SQL Server 2000 MySQL (chosen) Server Modules Apache Server Modules (chosen) IIS Server Plug-in Testing Considerations White box testing (individual functions) Black box testing (entire system) Boundary value testing Beta-testing by other sub-teams User Group Uses Definition Developers Development and testing Members of the Ongo08 senior design project team Administrators Use data to compare students School faculty in managerial positions Coordinators Add problems to database School faculty in charge of generating course content Teachers Judge student performance and add problems to database School faculty directly involved with teaching students course material Students Run applications and view scores Third through sixth graders using the Ongo08 software Parents View children’s scores and class average Guardians of the students Guests Run application and browse example records Anyone outside the groups above Table 1: Intended Users and Uses Schedule Estimated Resources Figures 2 and 3 below show the estimated resources required for this semester’s development of the framework. Figure 5: Estimated Timeline Summary The Software Support Framework will provide a set of common functions that the other sub-teams can use in the development of their applications, as well as thorough documentation and references describing these functions. These functions will aid in the development of new teaching software by increasing its reliability and development speed. The framework will be written using the PHP scripting language and will communicate with a MySQL database to store the data generated by the applications. Figure 2: Estimated Budget Figure 3: Estimated Effort, hours Project Team Information Ongo08d Team Members: Mark Klein CprE mdklein@scl.ameslab.gov Jason Wilkinson CprE/ComS jdwilk@iastate.edu Parik Advani CprE parik5@iastate.edu Nichole Burgett CprE/ComS nburgett@iastate.edu Nate Gordon CprE nlgordon@iastate.edu Client: Ames Community Schools Ongo08 subteams Project Web Site: http://seniord.ee.iastate.edu/ongo08d/ Advisors: Prof. Ralph Patterson III repiii@iastate.edu Dr. John Lamont jwlamont@iastate.edu