Introduction to Output Design Housekeeping

1. SYS364 Introduction to Output Design

2. Housekeeping • Your groups should now be formed • teams of 2-5 people

3. Agenda • Overview of Systems Design • Basic Concepts • Design Tasks • Use of Codes • General Guidelines • Specific Tasks in Output Design • Designing Printed Reports • Screen Output • Importance of Output Control • Automated Output Design Tools

4. What SDLC activities are accomplished at each phase? • Planning • Analysis (logical model, i.e. what, not how) • Investigate, Analyze, & Document • Input, Process, Output requirements • Design • Implementation • Operations and Support

5. What SDLC activities are accomplished at each phase? • Planning • Analysis (logical model, the “what”) • Design (physical model, the “how”) • Output Design • Input Design • File and Database Design • Architecture Design • Implementation • Operations and Support

6. What vs How • The logical model is completed during the Systems Analysis Phase • What are the needs? • DFD, DD, ERD, Process Descriptions • The physical model is completed during the Systems Design Phase • How are the needs delivered? • Output, Input, file design, processing, and architecture

7. What is missing? • Output becomes Input to another process or system • Feedback loop

8. Physical Modeling Phase • Review the system requirements (analysis) • Model the system • output design • exact format of reports • input design • actual process of entering, verifying and storing data • file and database design • physical layout of data files, DB normalization • system architecture • Procedures, Programs, & Platforms • Present the system design

9. The final step in systems design • System Design Specification Report • Includes costs and benefits • Presentation to Management …anyone want to guess about the Project in this course???

10. Classical Relationship between Analysis and Design • Return to the Analysis Phase when: • You discover additional facts are required • Users have significant, new needs • Legal/government issues change • Encounter unforeseen design issues • If you return to the Analysis phase frequently –the analysis was likely incomplete or inaccurate

11. System Design Activities • One little problem:Users do not know what they need until you show them how they will get it. • Output Requirements drive the design process because they describe what the system must produce to meet business needs • Use prototype/storyboard

12. Continued… • After working on Output Design comes • Input • Data Files and Databases • Systems Processing • Architecture • Impossible to work in “serial” mode – changes on one component may effect others • Often, you will work on multiple components at once • CASE tools assist in building/revising logical and physical designs in an iterative process

13. General Guidelines for Systems Design • Goal of Systems Design • Build a system that is effective, reliable and maintainable • Effective – satisfy defined requirements • Reliable – handles errors • Maintainable – well designed, flexible, considers future modifications • Build a system that is foolproof, and only a fool will want to use it. • Design Approach • Consider Users, Data and Processing – in that order

14. Design Tradeoffs • Design goals are often in conflict • Ease of use vs programming • Programming vs maintenance • You can have it Cheap, You can have it Fast,You can have it Good. • What do you want first?What do you want second?You can’t have the third one.

15. Designing and Using Codes • A code is a set of letters or numbers that represent an item of data • Require less storage in DB or on screen • Decrease data entry time • What else? • Users must be consulted when creating/using codes: letters are easy to remember, numbers are easy to input Increase accuracy, reduce ambiguity

16. Postal Code • 6 characters with mask of A9A 9A9 • 1st – province or major populated area • 2nd – 0 = rural, 1-9 urban area • 3rd – postal station or city post office • 4th – area of city/town served by P.O. • 5th – postal delivery walk • 6th – specific group of houses • The letters W and Z are not used as the first letters of postal codes; D, F, I, O, Q, and U are never used in Canadian postal codes.

17. Types of Coding Order No., Counter Apt. and Street Nos. For summary analysis Abbr.,acronyms Can degrade (YYZ) 20000914 TBONTB Cost pricing D=Delete not Display Mod10 • Sequence codes • Block sequence codes • Classification codes • Alphabetic codes • Mnemonic codes • Significant digit codes • Derivation codes • Cipher codes • Action codes • Self-checking codes

18. Rules Concerning Codes • Keep codes concise • Allow for expansion • Keep codes stable • Make codes unique • Use sortable codes (careful with variable lengths) • Avoid confusing codes (letters or numbers)O I/L Z B/E K/H S G/C Z/T B Y Postal: 8Z5 H2G • Make codes meaningful • Used for a single purpose (dept. or job-level) • Keep codes consistent with local culture

19. Output Media and Devices • How many are there? • Electronic vs. Paper

20. Why paper is still around: • Familiarmany people are scared of using computers (with good reason) • Accessiblenot everyone has access to a computer or network connection when they need it • Exchangeableif you can read, you can exchange it • Portableno power or equipment required • Legiblehigher resolution than screen outputreading a screen is 25% slower than reading print

21. Report Types • Detail, Control Break, Exception, Summary type reports. • See AS/400 demoUserID: DA444C01Password: SYS364 • ad hoc (Latin: to this) • User created by reporting tools (e.g. Impromptu)user request to programmer who uses query tool • Report distribution • Computer & physical security

22. Exercise 1 • Give examples of the following from a daily newspaper: • Detail, Control Break, Exception, Summary type reports. • Report distribution (not quite int/ext) • Document a Newspaper’s report design (see handouts for details) • Bring a newspaper to class next week. • What would a newspaper be if it wasn’t ink on flattened trees?