UNO: An information x explorer android application of Palawan State University

A Capstone Project Proposal

Presented to
Palawan State University

By:

ESPIRITU, JOHN CHRISTIAN M.

CALIGUID, JOHN VINCENT
TABLATIN, SALVADOR

November 2018

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 Nowadays, android applications and software become more in

demand, using smart phones will be much convenient to get

information. Where students prefer technology to get information

and technology uses application or software to create source of

information.

Some students are having difficulties in getting information.

While some of them tend to get lazy to search for information. By

that way, the researchers come up with the idea of making android

application that would help them overcome those difficulties by

providing information quick and easy.

In the current generation of students where information is

accessible through smart phones, smart phone users are rapidly

increasing over the years as well the availability and

affordability of devices are also improving. The idea of

researchers is to create mobile application that disseminate

reliable information and explore Palawan State University.

This study which is dedicated for Palawan State University is

called “UNO: An information x explorer android application of

Palawan State University”. This is an information system android-

based application provided of necessary data about Palawan State

University. The PSU mobile android application is part of a broader

initiative to greater extent the University and student and visitor

mobile experiences.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE NUMBER

TITLE PAGE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

PROJECT CONTEXT
PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION
OBJECTIVES
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

REVIEW OF RELATED SYSTEMS

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
DESIGN OF SYSTEMS PRODUCT
 INTRODUCTION

The Palawan State University offers a large amount of data.

Data are basic values or facts and are organized in database. Many

people think of data as same with information but information

actually consists of data that has been organized to help answer

questions so, an additional tool for information will definitely

make greater extent exploring and browsing information.

If one thing is for certain in information technology, it’s

that nothing will remain the same for long. From time to time,

innovations mean that software needs to be upgraded and even

replaced. In order to remain competitive, universities have to

keep up with this, investing in software that will give them an

edge.

PROJECT CONTEXT
This study entitled “UNO: An information assistive android

application for Palawan State University” will specifically solve

the following problems “How to provide a tool for the university

for assisting its customers in terms of informing its

clients on the instruction for each transactions done in the

administration”, “How to help the university on disseminating

certain announcements to its students”, “How to provide an

additional tool for the university for their dissemination of

information".

PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION

This study aims to create a system that will help Palawan

State University to disseminate reliable information. By this

system, the Palawan State University can provide information for

student and visitors respective need in Palawan State University

This system will help the students and visitors to get broader

sets of information to be used as a guide and reference in Palawan

State University. The proposed system will be most significant to

the students and visitors of Palawan State University.

This shall serve as guide and reference of users in terms

stating their business in Palawan State University. It will also

help students and visitors by providing information and

knowledge to users that interact with Palawan State University.

This is also significant to Palawan State University because

this shall broaden the information and mobile experience of Palawan
State University. It will also benefit researchers for this will
be address as reference of other people who are developing android
software.

OBJECTIVES
This proposed study is designed mainly as a solution for the

inadequate tools used by the institution in assisting its

customers, specifically this study aims to:

 1. To develop an informative mobile application that can

assist the clients by providing guides and steps of

transaction process.

2. To provide a feature on the application that can notify the

users with the necessary announcements from the university.

3. To effectively disseminate information from the university

by providing reliable information from the application.

4. To provide up to date information through mobile

application that will keep the students updated.

5.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

This study is mainly concerned with Palawan State University to

improve mobile experience. The system covers map of Palawan State

University, event calendar, PSU related photos, colleges and

courses, and Instructions. In this system users can browse

information and easily find the information needed.

This study will not cover mobile devices that uses iOS as their

operating system. The system can only work on android devices

with version 4.4.2 or later.

The system will only use two programming language that will be

used by the user (Android Studio and Java). It will not cover

other programming language.

 REVIEW OF RELATED SYSTEMS

Innovation at its finest, offering better ways of doing transactions, faster and
reliable systems, accurate and secured applications in the web, these are just some of
the few objectives why colleges and universities opted to have a management information
system. The following related systems will determine the existence of the importance of
this proposed study as well as similarities and differences of the findings between the
past studies and with the present PSU system.

LOCAL
Mobile Web-Based Student Integrated Information System

Author: Maria Cecilia G. Cantos, Lorena W. Rabago, and Bartolome

T. Tanguilig

Student Integrated Information System is now a facility which

universities and colleges use to manage the records of their

students. The convenience of accessing the educational resources

online makes the programs ideal for working professionals and

students alike. With the widespread employment of distance

learning education program, even most conventional colleges and

universities are now offering online education. Along with this

program, certificate, associates and bachelor’s degree, master’s

degree, and doctoral degree can be acquired through distance

learning education. Thus, the main advantage is to be able to have

a place for the students in the appropriate instructional

environment, which is in an online application. Student advising

is an essential component of a successful academic experience.

Academic advisers are exposed to a variety of opportunities,

enhancements, problems, and choices as technology becomes more

prevalent in university campuses. [1]. Various universities and

institutions around the world use automated advising systems. They

are helpful and beneficial for both advisers and advises in that

they contribute to assisting in making better-informed decisions

and improved services [2]. Mobile computing is a versatile and

potentially strategic technology that improves information quality

and accessibility, increases operational efficiency, and enhances

management effectiveness [3]. This is because of its capability to

enable users to remain connected while on the move. High end-users

can opt for satellite-based networking which provides wireless

connectivity anywhere in the world [4]. In today’s fast-paced and

technology-driven community, quality education with essential

systems being used is a necessity. Hence, Manuel S. Enverga

University Foundation, Lucena City, Philippines has already an

existing online student information portal in which students can

only view their grades that can be accessed only through intranet.

With this, the researchers looked into the work ability of

developing a mobile web-based student integrated information

system that would give students an easy and speedy access through

internet technology and use of mobile phones to a range of handy

and important information about their school activities, program

curriculum, enlistment and grades.

This paper describes a conducive and structured information

exchange environment for the students of the College of Computer
Studies in Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation in Lucena City,
Philippines. The system was developed to help the students check
their academic result every end of the semester, make self-
enlistment that would assist the students to manage their academic
status that can be viewed in their mobile phones. This system would
also help the dean to predict how many number of sections to be
created for the next semester. The researchers applied Hill
Climbing Algorithm search technique for the system particularly in
creating self-enlistment and finding the best set of courses to
the class schedule, and in projection of number of sections to be
created for the next semester. Rapid Application Development (RAD)
was utilized for the system development; PHP as the programming
language, and MySQL as the database. The testing process of the
system was done before deploying it to the internet. The process
was done in different processors, operating systems and different
mobile device platforms. The system’s evaluation involved 67
respondents from the College of Computer Studies in Manuel S.
Enverga University Foundation in Lucena City, Philippines. The
researchers made use of ISO 9126 based Likert modified scale type
of questionnaire that assess the system’s acceptability in terms
of functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency,
maintainability and portability. Non-probability sampling method
was used in selecting respondents under a purposive-sampling
scheme. The results of the evaluation for the prototype yielded a
general weighted mean of 4.44 that describes the respondents
strongly agree that the developed system was acceptable
FOREIGN

Mobile student information System.

Author: Muhammad Asif and Krogstie

Department of Computer and Information Science,

Norwegian University Of Science Technology, Troundheim Norway

Mobile information system are extending the possibilities for

when and where to perform learning and different communities. In

this paper we particularly address students. Mobile computing is

also changing the way of communication between teachers and

students and can be used effectively to improve instructional

quality.

Campus Information System for students is defined as “An

interrelated group of information resources, accessible by

computer through the campus institutional external and internal

web environment, that a university places at the disposal of its

users to enable then to consult it and/or provide a selection of

significant and relevant data, in the wide context of their

university life in its academic, administrative and social senses,

in order to improve student’s knowledge base.

This study describes a system called mobile student

information system (MSIS) based on mobile computing and context

aware application concepts, which purpose is to provide more user-

centric information services to student. Different services are

proposed in this system combining location-aware and context-

sensitive information services for the students at the university.

Feedback gathered from the students through survey based on usage

of early versions of the system has been guiding the directions

and design of the current solution.

For any student it is important to have up to date information

about current exercise assignments, lectures, upcoming

appointments and other daily activities.

This is especially true for new students who are still

unfamiliar with current routines and practices. They may also have

trouble finding their way around campus, often with hundreds of

different auditoriums and rooms spread across a large area. In

such situations it is vital to have correct information available.

Sometimes the communication of information can make use of a more

active approach instead of asking the student to locate the

information needed. The information can be “pushed” to the person

concerned based on his profiles, requiring less effort and

intervention from the user. Examples of these can be updates about

class, courses, automatic e-mail notifications, reminders from

friends, schoolmates, or similar.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
The following software in developing the proposed study such as programming
language, third party software, database, and the necessary configuration for software
and network adapter in order to successfully launch the proposed study are discussed in
this section.

The frontend of the proposed study was written in Visual [Link] 2010 ([Link])
together with Dot Net Framework 4 and Crystal Report 13.0.5. The researchers prefer the
use [Link] because of the fact that it is one of the best programming languages
designed for Rapid Application Development with rich Visual Controls for compelling
graphical user interface. As for the backend, the researchers use WAMP Server which
basically composed of Apache Web Server for enabling the application to be viewed in
web browser, MySQL Server that serves as the Database of the proposed study, and
PHP for server-side programming of Pre-Enrollment Form.

In order for [Link] to communicate with WAMP, there must be a valid connection that
must be established between [Link] and WAMP Server. This connection must comply
with the authentication requirements of WAMP Server such as the server name, user id,
password, database name, and the appropriate database privileges. Once these
connection requirements are properly configured, [Link] will be able to read/write on
the database. Below is an example for writing a valid connection from [Link] to WAMP
Server. However, there must be a MySQL Connector/Net library, also known as
[Link] Driver of MySQL, installed on the PC in order to create and establish a
connection between [Link] and WAMP Server.

Imports [Link]
Dim strCon As String = “Server=localhost; UID=root; PWD=root;
DATABASE=system”
Dim c As New mysqlConnection(strCon)

The first line is an import statement that opens the namespace of MySQL in order
to simply use the Data Provider Class of MySQL. The second line creates a string variable
that will hold the connection requirements. Basically this is also known as MySQL
connection string. The third line creates a connection object using MysqlConnection Class
which uses the connection requirements in strCon. The connection object can be used
with [Link] Data Provider objects such as Command and DataReader objects.

There are different ways on how to write connection string for MySQL. Below are
just few from many ways.

Standard
Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;UID=myUsername;PWD=my
Password;

 Server
- The name/IP Address of the PC where you want to connect
 Database
- The name of schema/database
 UID
- User ID
 PWD
- Password (If incase you did not setup a password for the UID, then you can
omit this parameter)

Specifying TCP Port

Server=myServerAddress;Port=1234;Database=myDataBase;Uid=myUsern
ame;
Pwd=myPassword;

 Port
- The port number that the MySQL Server is using (by default it is 3306 but
sometime it is configured differently for other purpose)
Multiple Servers
Server=serverAddress1, serverAddress2,
serverAddress3;Database=myDataBase;
Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;
Use this to connect to a server in a replicated server configuration without
concern on which server to use.

Once the connection requirements are in place, MySQL Server will validate if the
requesting host has complied the necessary arguments and parameter values. If all of
these are valid and correct, the proposed study can now be fired up and ready to
transfer and receive data from MySQL Server simultaneously.

For Pre-Enrollment Form, it requires a wireless enabled router connected to a PC

where WAMP Server is installed. The dynamic address fetched by the router must be
within the family address of the PC. Let say the PC where WAMP Server resides has a
static address of [Link]. The IP Address of the router must be [Link] and the
dynamic IP Address that the router should fetch is within [Link] and [Link].

In addition to the configuration of IP Addresses for Web Server and Wireless

Router, the researchers have to write some rules on
c:\wamp\bin\apache\apache2.4.9\conf\extra\ [Link]
pertaining to the way that the Apache Web Server will access the folder that contains
the Pre-Enrollment Form. The rules that must be added are shown below

<VirtualHost *:80>
<Directory "c:\wamp\www">
AllowOverride None
Options None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
 Require all granted
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

To enable mobile devices to view the Pre-Enrollment Form on their browser, the
device must connect to the Server Set Identifier (SSID) of the router. If connected
successfully, open any web browser and on the address bar type the IP Address of the
PC where web server resides then hit go or enter key/button and this will show the
webpage of Pre-Enrollment Form.

DESIGN OF SOFTWARE, SYSTEMS, PRODUCT, AND/OR PROCESSES

Login Form wherein Users like Admin, Teachers, Chairpersons,
Students will be assigned with different access levels to ensure
security of the proposed system

Management Form will include the Setup,

Semestral Settings, Accounts, User Group and
Modify Password

Under the Management – Setup Form will be the Colleges, Courses,

Curriculum, Department, Faculty Members, Rooms, School Year, Semester and
Default Settings. The Form will include the Update, Delete and Close Buttons as
well.
For the Management – Setup – once College is selected, a user can encode the college name and the
name of the Dean

For the Management – Setup – once Courses is selected, a user can encode for the course, course prefix,
and select to what department the course belongs

For the Management – Setup – once Curriculum is selected, the user needs to select the name of the
curriculum (depends on the year of implementation) and select the course, then it will display the
corresponding curriculum contents for every year and semester like different subject codes, course title,
corresponding lecture units and laboratory units and to what department does a certain subject belong
– for the request of teachers who belong to another department.
 For the Management – Setup – Curriculum – once
New is selected it is for adding Curriculum contents
like selecting year level, semester, department-in-
charge (for the request of faculty who belong to
another departments), course code, course title,
number of lecture units and laboratory units.

For the Management – Setup – Curriculum – Edit,

in case of errors once Edit is selected it is for
editing Curriculum contents like selecting year
level, semester, department-in-charge (for the
request of faculty who belong to another
departments), course code, course title, number of
lecture units and laboratory units.

For the Management – Setup – Curriculum – Duplicate is selected for easier and faster encoding, then
just edit some contents to meet the correct contents.
For the Management – Setup – once Department is selected, one can encode for the department name,
chairperson, select the college where it belongs

For the Management – Setup

– once the Faculty Members
is selected, the user can
display the ID number of the
faculty member, his/her
name, the user status
(whether the teacher is
currently employed or not)
and to what user group
he/she belongs.

For the Management – Setup – Faculty

Members – once Add is selected, the user
can encode for the details like the ID
number of the faculty member, his/her
lastname and firstname, select for the user
status (whether the teacher is currently
employed [ACTIVE] or not) and select to
what user group he/she belongs, sets her
password and select what department she
belongs.
 Management – Setup – Faculty Members
– once Edit is selected, the user can
change the encoded details like the ID
number of the faculty member, his/her
lastname and firstname, select for the
user status (whether the teacher is
currently employed [ACTIVE] or not) and
select to what user group he/she belongs,
sets her password and select what
department she belongs.

For the Management – Setup – once Rooms is selected, the user can encode for the name of the room,
select its type (e.g. laboratory/lecture) and the size or number of students the room can allocate.
 For the Management – Setup – once
School Year is selected, the user can
encode the beginning school year to
end of the school year.

For the Management – Setup – once

Semester is selected, the user can encode
e.g. First, Second and Summer

For the Management –

Setup – once Default
Settings the logo,
letterhead and default
department can be
displayed and selected

For the Management – Setup –

Default Settings – particular Logo
can be encoded and will be
displayed and eventually use
For the Management – Setup – Default Settings – particular Letterhead can be encoded and will be
displayed and eventually use

For the Management – Setup – Default Settings – once Default Department is selected the user can
select for a particular department and the other forms will partake of the default department

Management – Setup – once Update is clicked, the selected choices will be saved.
 For the Management –
once Semestral Setting it
will display the start time
and end time of the daily
schedules (for the
schedules used in
rooms/sections/faculty
loads) and selecting for a
particular curriculum.

For the Management – Semestral

Setting – once New is selected,
details can be selected like school
year, semester, classes start and
time classes end and the
particular curriculum

For the Management – Semestral Setting –

New – once Save is clicked, prompts will be
displayed once the selected choices are
wrong, like with the classes starts compared
to time it ends.

For the Management – Semestral Setting – New

– once Save is clicked, prompts will be displayed
once there is no selected choice.
 Management – Semestral Setting – New – once
Save is clicked, prompts will be displayed once there
are duplications like in semester and school year

For the Management –

Semestral Setting – New –
once Edit is selected, the
details can be changed by the
user and eventually save the
choices selected.

For the Management – Semestral Setting – once

Change Semester Status is selected, option for
status can be selected together with the closing date
(this is for selecting subjects in the Pre-Enrollment
Forms during the enrollment process)

For the Management – once Create User

Group, the user can encode the different
levels of users’ access in the system
 For the Management – Create
User Group – Accessibility –
once Admin is selected, the
options for the different boxes
can be checked for activation
of the users’ level of access to
all/selected modules

For the Management – Create

User Group – Accessibility – once
the User is selected, the Admin
can check the different
checkboxes to activate the levels
of access of a certain user.

For the Management – once Modify

Password is selected, the user has the
option to change his/her password by
encoding new password and encoding the
same password for confirmation
.

For the Schedule module, there are

different forms for plotting schedules,
merging schedules in case of few
students having same subjects and
reports of schedule

For Schedule – once Plot Schedule is selected, the user can select for the semester, course, school year
and the contents will be displayed for certain section that has been selected.

For Schedule – Plot Schedule – once New is

selected, the user can add contents for a
particular schedule selecting details like course
code, course title, class duration (start time to
end time), room, day and faculty in charge of the
subject and the type of class (lecture or
laboratory).
 For Schedule – Plot
Schedule – New – once
Subject Code is selected,
automatically it will reflect
the course code and course
title for a particular
schedule

For Schedule – Plot Schedule – New – once

Room is selected, the user can select for a
particular room
 For Schedule – Plot Schedule –
New – once Faculty is selected,
the user has the option to select
for a particular faculty to handle
the class.

For Schedule – Plot Schedule – once New

Section is selected, the user can select for the
course, year level and encode the
section/block

For Schedule – Plot Schedule – once Edit

Section is selected, the user can change the
details for a particular course, year level and
section/block.

For Schedule – Plot Schedule – once Remove Section is selected, the user can delete the details of a
particular section especially if the number of sections has exceeded for corresponding number of
students
For Schedule – once Merge Schedule is selected, the user can choose to combine two classes in one
particular schedule (same time, same room and same faculty) e.g. combined English 1 classes of IT1B1
and CS1B1
 For Schedule – once Report of
Schedule is selected, the user has
the options to select a particular
school year and semester and
section

For Reports, options for page-setup,

printing, exporting to Excel are
available.

For Schedule – Report of Schedule – once Section is selected, after selecting a particular school year and
semester, automatically displays the schedule of a particular section.
For Schedule – Report of Schedule – once Room is selected given a particular school year and semester,
automatically displays the schedules for the selected room

For Schedule – Report of Schedule – once Faculty is selected, given a particular school year and
semester, automatically displays the schedules of a particular faculty member.
For Report – once Form A is selected, the schedule of faculty will automatically be reflected in Form A,
and the faculty has the option to add details before printing like accreditation and other non-teaching
hours

For Report – once Faculty Workload is selected, the schedule of faculty will automatically be reflected in
Faculty Workload, and the faculty has the option to add details before printing like accreditation and
other non-teaching hours
 For Report – once Request Teacher is selected, the
user can select for the options in semester, college
and department. The subjects are requested when
faculty members are not of the same department.

The letters are automatically generated, and also has the option to edit since it is exported in MS Word.
For Report – once PEF is selected, the user can select for a particular semester and school year and
display the Pre-Enrolment form of a particular section, course and year.

The following images are screenshots from the cellular phone registering a student and selecting pre-
enrolled subjects.
The students can use
their cellular phones
to register their
details, this is an
innovation since most
departments do not
have the details of
every student in a
database. The details
are written in pre-
enrolment forms, and
were all submitted in
the dean’s office,
hoping that it would
be encoded, but was
just kept and thrown
eventually after a
semester or less.
For System, the different modules are apply theme, backup and restore, logout and close options

For System – once Apply Theme is selected, the user can opt for the different themes, depends on the
users’ visual preferences.

For System – the user can select for Backup or Restore of database