Marian Elam
Midterm #1
ACS 352 Fall 1999
The Copyright Act
enumerates eight broad categories of protectable subject matter:
(1) literary works;
(2) musical works,
including any accompanying words;
(3) dramatic works,
including any accompanying music;
(4) pantomimes and
choreographic works;
(5) pictorial, graphic
and sculptural works;
(6) motion pictures
and other audiovisual works;
(7) sound recordings;
and
(8) architectural
works.
Pictorial works are
protected even if they are included in a multimedia work.
However, the first
sale doctrine's importance in the National Information Infrastructure's
Context should not
be underestimated: if a transaction by which a user obtains a "copy" of a work is characterized as a "distribution," then,
under the current law, the user may be entitled to make a like distribution without the copyright owner's permission (and
without liability for infringement).
Furthermore, below
the doctrine of fair use is described with respect to teaching and research. If
the work is being used for teaching and research then permission of the owner is not needed, so a distribution as discussed
above is not necessary. However, permission of the owner is needed otherwise,
and a fee would have to be paid. The question is who owns the derivative work? Even though no permission is needed for teaching and research does not mean that ownership
is free. It's reasonable to presume that until the copyright (original) owner
is paid, the derivative work is not owned by its creator. Therefore, the photographer
of Mark Newman owns the derivative work (altered photograph) until he is paid for his copyright. Initial ownership of a copyrightable
work vests automatically with the "author" of the work. However, even that ownership may have been changed by a contract as follows:
"This turns on whether the free-lance artist has entered into a written agreement
assigning his copyright to the commissioning party. If the free-lancer has assigned his copyright to the commissioning party,
then the commissioning party owns it. However, if the free-lancer has not assigned his copyright to the commissioning party
in writing, then the free-lancer owns the copyright."
One of the provision of the
copyright statute which of particular importance to teachers and researchers is the one that codifies the doctrine of "fair
use," under which limited copying of copyrighted works without the permission of the owner is allowed for certain teaching
and research purposes (Fair Use at Stanford).
Yet another consideration is the term of the copyright. According to the Copyright
Act of Canada, there is a Term of copyright in photographs that is about fifty
years after the initial negative or initial photograph (which had no negative) was derived.
In summary, if the term of
copyright has not yet expired, the owner could be the photographer or the owner by contract on the photography.
However, more recent action
has been taken internationally as of December 1996 when
the WIPO Copyright
Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty were passed by the World Intellectual Property Organization to greatly
facilitate the commercial applications of online digital communications over the GII (Global Information Infrastructure). Both treaties contain provisions that permit nations to provide for exceptions to
rights in certain cases that do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the
legitimate interests of the author (i.e., "fair use"). There may be "new exceptions" from this.
Sources
Brown, Ronald and Lehman,
Bruce. A Preliminary Draft of the Report of the Working
Group on Intellectual Property Rights.
http://cpsr.org/cpsr/intellectual_property/copyright_draft.txt, July 1994
http://www.eff.org/pub/GII_NII/Govt_docs/HTML/ipwg.html
Copyright
Act. http://www.efc.ca/pages/law/canada/canada.C-42.html.
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/rice.html.
Moetteli,
John. The Copyright of Visual Art.
www.uspatentinfo.com, 1996.
United States Government
Electronic Commerce Policy. www.ecommerce.gov.
Midterm #2
Marian Elam
According to the High-Tech
Dictionary, hypertext is "text that has hyperlinks."
"In 1945, Hypertext
“development” was began with Bush’s conceptual system called Memex, and then, in 1962, followed by Douglas Engelbart’s authoring-related
inventions such as Word Processing, the implementation of Hypertext Links and nodes, and Composite Text Graphic and Files."
When hypertext is viewed with
an interactive browser, certain words appear as highlighted by underlining or color."
As first described by Bush's essay on the Memex, "clicking on a highlighted link leads to another location with more
information about the subject."
Hypermedia is "the linking
of multimedia to Web documents; the integration of text, images, sound, graphics, animation, and video through hyperlinks."
Multimedia is a combination
of more than one media such as text, graphics, and animation. A system that supports
these three types is a multimedia system. Furthermore, sound is another type
of information that can be computerized as well, and may be included in a multimedia system.
However multimedia is not always the involvement of computerized information.
According to the High-Tech Dictionary, multimedia is a "communication that uses any combination of different media,
and may or may not involve computers. Multimedia may include text, spoken audio,
music, images, animation and video."
Hypertext may be embedded
in computerized multimedia to point to HTML files or other multimedia documents.
In short, multimedia which
is computerized can become more interactive with the inclusion of hypertext to
become hypermedia.
Sources
Dinh, V. D. and Tao, Shi. Evolution of Authoring Systems.
http://www.ee.uts.edu.au/~dinh/subject/hypermd/prj/contents.htm.
High-Tech Dictionary. http://www.currents.net/resources/dictionary/dictionary.phtml.
Midterm #3
Marian Elam, ACS 352
This paper covers the tracking
devices Flock of Birds® and SpacePad® and how they are used.
Trackers
Both are magnetic trackers
made by the Ascension Technology Corporation.
The Flock of Birds® is more
expensive, perhaps because it works with all major computer platforms. Also,
it has tracking for 1-4 sensors simultaneously and can do this even in metallic environments and "harsher" environments with
less error with its DC system than by AC electromagnetic tracking devices.
Like Spacepad®, Flock of Birds®
can attach to head gear.
SpacePad® takes its name from
the design of its unique magnetic-field transmitting antenna which is completely flat.
It has a single electronics card capable of driving two transmitters and up to four sensors. SpacePad® is custom-configured (the company will work with the customer).
"These devices are
both electro-magnetic and therefore sensitive to conductive and magnetic materials. The tracking systems allow six degrees
of freedom (x, y, z, azimuth, pitch, roll)."
Both appear to be projection-based
VR with rear projection, for which the position of the eye-balls must be known so that the correct viewer-centered perspective
can be calculated. Therefore, a magnetic sensor or receiving antennae is attached to the stereo-glasses. Both can have more than two receivers attached to them. The
wand has been used with both of them.
The SpacePad® PC card also
communicates with the SGI but here are the differences:
The CAVE's Flock of Birds is a standalone system while the SpacePad is a plug-in PC ISA system. (http://www.evl.uic.edu/EVL/VR/tracker2.shtml#SpacePad). SpacePad also has a PC for the head and wand trackers. The wand has three buttons and a joystick. The Space Pad is
a single user display giving total immersion. The Flock of Birds, on the other
hand, is a large multi-observer display.
Systems
Currently, at the University
of Illinois, both are used with the ImmersaDesk (I-Desk) products which are revolutionary, drafting-table style, projection-based
virtual reality tools.
Advantages of ImmersaDesk
and SpacePad®:
·
Wearing special glasses, a user with SpacePad® can look into the ImmersaDesk's 4'x5' angled screen to "see,
hear and touch" a computer-generated 3-D image that is simulated with near-perfect accuracy. Both elevation and birds-eye-view
are possible.
·
The manufacturer of SpacePad® will work with the buyer to integrate SpacePad® with the system.
Disadvantages of ImmersaDesk
and SpacePad®:
·
Only one person is allowed to participate in this system. In contrast,
the CAVE's advantage is that many people may observe what the primary user is doing.
The user's position and orientation
in CAVE applications are the information transmitted by the tracking systems, which gather tracking data on a PC pass them
to the Onyx over ethernet (apparently to the Supercomputer). CAVE is a 10x10x10-foot structure that sits in a 35x25x13-foot darkened room.
Advantages of CAVE and the
Flock of Birds® are:
·
the only connection between a tracking PC and a SGI machine running a CAVE applications is Ethernet
·
we can switch (swap) SGI machines without re-cabling
·
we can use COM ports for other purposes (E.g. connecting Wanda...).
·
Consisting of rear-projected screen walls and a front-projected floor, the CAVE is
a multi-person, high resolution, 3-D graphics video and audio environment. Using special "stereoscopic" glasses inside a CAVE,
the user is fully immersed. Images appear to float in space, with the user free to "walk" around them, yet maintain a proper
perspective.
·
The CAVE has a tracker attached to the stereo glasses which enables the views
to be calculated and readjusted.
·
The Flock of Birds® will work with most standard systems. No custom configuration is needed.
Disadvantages of CAVE and
the Flock of Birds® are:
·
we need to change the configuration file on the PC each time we switch the SGI machine to which the PC sends
data
·
Etrack takes up a certain bandwidth on the network all the time it's running
·
the SGI daemon may get the wrong tracking data from the wrong PC
· the speed may be changed by other traffic on the
network .
· the use of CAVE may
cause dizziness when the views are being adjusted.
· The Flock of Birds®
is more expensive.
Sources included:
http://www.evl.uic.edu/EVL/VR/imput.shtml.
http://www.pyramidsystems.com/CAVE.html
http://www.pyramidsystems.com/iDesk.html.
http://www.ascension-tech.com/products/spacepad/spacepad.html
http://www.ascension-tech.com/products/flockofbirds/flockofbirds.htm
Midterm #4: E-Commerce Marian
Elam, ACS 352
The online purchasing
growth rate with E-Commerce was 10 percent and coupled with exponential growth. "This
is partly the result of the constantly increasing number of people who now have access to the Net, up 35 percent since January
1998 to more than 60 million, according to a Ziff-Davis technology-user profile. Internet-connected work PCs have increased
by 52 percent to 24 million, and 28 million consumer PCs, in a third of U.S. households, now reach out and touch the Internet."
A new industry report estimates that 19.4 million Americans will shop online this holiday season of 1999 representing 28 percent
of online adults, or 10 percent of all U.S. adults. The report from Internet database marketing company
Cyber Dialogue is projecting that online holiday spending will be double the $3.9 billion that was spent online for holiday gifts
in 1998, an average of $400 per holiday shopper.
E-Commerce is the
shopping, selling and purchasing activity on the Internet and it totals a significant amount of revenue.
The benefits to the consumer of e-commerce compared
to "physical" stores are substantial. With e-commerce, the consumer does not
have to physically travel to the store to shop. Nor does the consumer have to
phone first to ask a busy clerk if an item is on stock or on sale. The Internet
stores probably have a better selection of goods than a regular store which is constrained by size and location. The time spent shopping is shorter for Internet store web sites.
E-Commerce and mail order catalogues are comparative. Both online and catalog shopping allow you to shop from your home and neither let
you physically touch a product. Online shopping is arguably faster than mail-order
shopping because you do not have to write a check. Instead, you input your credit
card number. Also, some sites offer an option to check the status of your order. Online shopping is paper-free--you do not have to depend on getting a catalog to order
from.
E-Commerce started on the World Wide Web in 1994, and
today, the major sites are herein described: "Web traffic analysis by Media Metrix
(MMXI) shows many of the Web's best-known e-commerce sites are also the most popular stops for online shoppers as the holiday
season begins. EBay.com (EBAY) was tops, drawing 1.4 million visitors daily last week. Amazon.com was second with 815,000,
followed by Barnesandnoble.com (BNBN), 328,000; VitaminShoppe.com, 275,000; and Travelocity.com, 259,000."
There many products involved with e-commerce, showing
great variety:
·
Etoys.com sells children's goods.
·
Amazon.com sells a big variety of goods.
·
Bid.com at www.internetliquidators.com sells everything from housewares to softwares in real-time auctions.
·
eTreats.com has launched as an e-commerce site offering
access to a
network of small neighborhood shops from around the United States that
provide hand-crafted confections,
candies, gourmet items and fruit
baskets.
·
OneCore.com offers businesses an alternative to traditional business banking by offering loans and credits. Businesses can consolidate cash management, bill payment, payroll, 401k, merchant
credit card and more in one integrated, online account.
And then there are sites which make money selling e-commerce
software or even website space to facilitate e-commerce such as:
·
www.Andromedia.com is the developer of software for recording, accessing and reporting anonymous activity on
the Internet, intranets and related media. It gives the total marketing solution for e-commerce.
·
At http://www.cartcities.com/ a wide variety of products are supported.
This company develops e-commerce for just about any product, giving a signed up merchant "space" on the Internet.
Sources
Experience
of Marian Elam
CBS Marketwatch via
COMTEX. EBay, Amazon, BN.com top e-commerce sites
http://www.andovernews.com/cgi-bin/news_story.pl?82082/topstories. Washington, DC, Nov. 18, 1999.
Harrow,
Jeffery (1999) Exponential E-Commerce
Growth [Online] Available: http://www.techweb.com/voices/harrow/1999/0104harrow.html [August 5, 1999]
History
of the Internet. www.inetconcepts.net/history.html.
http://ecommerce.internet.com/ec-news/article/0,1281,5061_234721,00.html
The
InternetNews.Com Staff. Report: 19 Million Americans to Spend $7.8 Billion
Online for Holidays.
http://ecommerce.internet.com/ec- news/article/0,1281,5061_234761,00.html. [November 9, 1999]
Midterm
#5
Marian
Elam, ACS 352
According
to Jim O'Keefe, the online learning industry is growing at a rate of nearly 100 percent per year. It is estimated that by the year 2000, the online learning industry will reach the $3 billion mark. This includes both industry and universities.
· Companies such as First Albany Corporation are employing online-learning technology to reach its remote with time-critical
information. Another benefit is that this technology has also helped to increase
the learning curve for new employees in remote locations.
· Universities such as the following are implementing online learning through the use of videoconferencing and Web-based
training to reach students who are unable to go to a physical campus which is a benefit along with allowing universities to
conduct classes that otherwise may be canceled because of low enrollment.
· Athabasca University uses the Internet http://www.athabascau.ca/html/courses/online.htm.
· CmeWeb offers electronic CME tests over the Internet http://www.cmeWeb.com.
· Accredited
public and private California universities offer more than 2,000 online courses to students anywhere
on the World Wide Web.
http://www.California.edu.
· Other sites include use of Internet/Web for Army Distance Learning http://www-dest.monroe.army.mid/adlp/wbt-1.htm.
The
main characteristics of Online Learning are the use of computers and Internet technology to distribute training and education
to any person, in any place , in any moment, as well as it being composed of CBT (Computer-Based Training) and Internet technology.
Live Webcasting to the desktop is connecting classrooms around the world and revolutionizing the possibilities of how, when,
and where to learn. A virtual university network must be capable of transferring
data at a very high speed, and supporting multimedia data, video conferencing and high bandwidth applications.
Other
benefits of online learning are:
· Training costs can be reduced as much as 25% to 75% in comparison to instructor-led training.
· Learning time can be reduced as much as 20% to 80% in comparison to instructor-led training.
· Flexible time schedules for instructors.
· Virtual contact through e-mail and videoconferencing.
Sources
O'Keefe,
Jim. "Online learning fills immediate need for employee technology-skills
training." http//www.amcity.com/albany/stories/100697/focus4.html.
http://www.enlist.com/cgi-bin/re/register
Midterm #6
Marian Elam, ACS 352
The metaphor for
the following list of hyperlinks is a set of tabbed pages. With a page tabs (on
every page) with these hyperlinks, a user can select any one of the seven hierarchies.
However, the home page happens to be the first of the tabbed set, the Toys page.
There is no linear structure. It is non-linear, hyperlinked. The search tool is on many of the pages. From any page a user
can select the following both from the tabbed set and from the hyperlinks at the bottom:
Toys
Baby Store
Books
Software
Videos
Music
Video Games
Under Toys
Toysearch
Shop by age
Toy recommendations
Toy brands
Toy categories
Under Baby Store
Baby Store Search
Baby Store Recommendations
Baby Brands
Baby Store Directory
Baby Gift Center
Toys
Baby Store Books
Software Videos Music Video Games
Under Baby Store
Toy Search Shop By Age Toy Recommendations Toy Brands Top categories
Midterm #7
Marian Elam, ACS 352
Virtual Reality is
described as part of a computerized environment before being described as part of a computer influenced environment with projections.
MediaMOO is a text-based,
networked virtual reality environment running on the Internet. It is a virtual
professional community whose basic structure is a representation of the MIT Media Lab.
Researchers enter this virtual world to communicate. To connect to MediaMOO from the Internet, type: telnet purple-crayon.media.mit.edu
8888. Then type connect guest. If
you have difficulty, send electronic mail to mediamoo-registration@media.mit.edu. You
also can obtain the MOO software was developed by Pavel Curtis at Xerox PARC via anonymous ftp from parcftp.xerox.com in /pub/MOO.
Another research
effort is the HUMLE Group documenting and distributing future network and interface requirements of distributed shared electronic
landscapes. "As 3D multimedia hardware and software technology and online
information especially in the form of World Wide Web services over Internet and intranets become increasingly accessible,
the opportunity to migrate the demonstrator applications to form future products will increase." One of the areas in Virtual Reality recognized by the HUMLE Group as underdeveloped is the area of
social computing, or interacting with other users.
According to Finn
Bostad, electronic space with nodes, links, views, colors, sound, graphics, animation and video, and text norms is known as
cyberspace or virtual space. However, the following research is based on virtual
reality projected upon physical space.
Alan Koninger has
multiple goals:
·
investigate visual perception of virtual spaces1
within the context of urban architecture
·
create an artistic mechanism whereby members of the
public can investigate the issues.
His research questions
are:
·
"As our lives become more intertwined with (virtual)
electronic spaces, what potential effects might this have on the understanding of our urban environment?
·
Do people perceive the urban environment (containing
both physical and virtual elements) as external to themselves, or...2
·
Are virtual spaces and electronic technologies blurring
the distinction between the urban environment and the self? 3 "
His objectives include:
·
Having the project take the form of a public art installation
composed of a computer controlled screen, rear-projected onto a large glass wall, and visible from the street. The projection
will serve as an artistic device to represent virtual space within the (physical) public space.
Using
NASA’s research on Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLiSS) is an aid to students who try to integrate many of the segmented
concepts that they learn in biology, math, chemistry, and physics. "In designing a biologically-based, regenerative system
to support humans in space, students develop a greater understanding of the interdependence of living systems." This is done through the design of an adventure scenario within an engaging graphical environment.
Sources
Bostad, Finn. "What
happens to writing when texts in "a world on paper" are replaced by
messages
in "virtual space?" http://www.hf.unit.no/anv/wwwpages/Finn_ToC.html.
Bruckman, Amy and
Resnick. Virtual Professional Community: Results from the MediaMOO Project. http://ftp.game.org/pub/mud/text/research/mediamoo.txt.
Human-System
Interaction Human-Computer Interaction and Language Engineering (HUMLE Group). http://www.sics.se/sicsinfo/research_prog/rp97/srp5.html.
Koninger,
Alan. "The Bitsphere - virtual architecture and physical space." Masters
Project, Animation & Interactive Media Center, RMIT University, MELBOURNE.
http://tankg.cinemedia.net/research/research.proposal.html
Overview
of BioBLAST® Project. http://cotf.edu/BioBLAST/bioproject/bbfoverview.html
Midterm #8
Marian Elam, ACS 352
Before describing
two file formats used in streaming media, I am introducing Real Networks and Microsoft as the software sources for streaming
media. Real Networks supports 85% of the streaming media used in web pages. Microsoft has been competitive by producing NetShow 3.0 beta that includes the Windows
Media Player, a "universal" streaming media client that understands both Microsoft NetShow ASF format and Real Networks formats. The relationship between ASF and older file formats is herein described. First, I start with Real Networks propriety formats.
RealNetworks RealMedia
can convert MPEG files directly into the RealVideo format, and I assume that RealNetworks can convert ASF formats which are
supported. The following are the file formats supported:
RM, RA, RMA RealAudio/RealVideo streamed
content
RT
Real Text streamed text formats
RP
RealPix streamed GIF and JPG ('j-peg') images
GIF, JPG Stand alone JPG and GIF images
SWF
RealFlash and Shockwave Flash animation
SMIL, SMI SMIL formated (multiple datatype layout) files
VIV, VIVO Vivo video files
WAV, AU, AIFF 'Legacy' sound files--older
but prevalent filetypes
QT, MOV
Quicktime Movies (uncompressed)
AVI
Audio/Video Interleave--Microsoft video format
ASF
NetShow files (some)
MID
'MIDI' sound files
The first grouping
for comparison are the RM, RAM, RPM and RA, which are proprietary RealMedia file formats with the following extensions as
described in Tamburaweb.com/real1.htm web page:
(1) .rm - RealMedia
clip - Audio and video encoded into RealAudio or RealVideo format via the Encoder. The .rm files may contain multiple streams;
audio, video, image maps, and events.
(2) .ram - RealAudio
and RealVideo metafile - The metafile connects a Web page to one or more RealAudio or RealVideo clips. This text file contains
the URL of clips on a RealServer.
(3) .rpm - RealPlayer
Plug-in metafile - same as a RealVideo metafile, but used with the RealPlayer Plug-in for browsers.
(4) .ra - RealAudio
clip - Audio encoded to RealAudio format. This file is created with RealAudio Encoders and works with RealAudio Player, RealPlayer,
and the RealServer.
The second grouping
for comparison is described on the web page http://www.microsoft.com/asf/relatempeg.htm and are the Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) and older formats. ASF will
make AVI obsolete. Both of these are Microsoft standards. ASF is "designed to
support the streaming of multimedia over a network from a media server or from an HTTP server as well as for local playback,
all over a wide range of bandwidth and usage scenarios."
ASF can store content
encoded using the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compression schemes and also can store QuickTime files.
As for Moving Picture
Experts Group, the primary application
targeted during the MPEG-2 definition process was the all-digital transmission of broadcast TV quality video at coded bitrates between 4 and 9 Mbit/sec. However, the MPEG-2 syntax
has been found to be efficient for other applications such as those at higher bit rates and sample rates such as HDTV. The
most significant enhancement over MPEG-1 is the addition of syntax for efficient coding of interlaced video.
|
Feature |
MPEG-1 |
MPEG-2 |
QuickTime |
ASF |
|
Local and network playback
|
|
Local playback |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
HTTP server delivery |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Media server delivery |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
|
Extensible media types |
NO |
NO |
YES |
YES |
|
Component download |
NO |
NO |
NO |
YES |
|
Scalable media types |
NO |
YES |
NO |
YES |
|
Prioritization of streams |
NO |
NO |
NO |
YES |
|
Multiple language support |
NO |
NO |
NO |
YES |
|
Environment independence |
NO |
NO |
NO |
YES |
|
Rich inter-stream relationships |
NO |
NO |
NO |
YES |
|
Expandability |
NO |
NO |
NO |
YES |
Questions comparing
MPEG-2 and ASF are left open. Extensible media types could be about virtual reality
and thus would imply that ASF could apply to VR. Having a component download is an advantage ASF has over MPEG-2 in reaching
a wide range of users. Prioritization of streams could be part of ASF's secret
in transmitting over low bandwidths. Multiple language support, environment independence,
rich inter-stream relationships and expandability are advantages of ASF over MPEG-2.
Sources
Ricciuti, Mike. RealNetworks streams anew. http://www.fdalive.com/html/real.html.
http://www.microsoft.com/asf/relatempeg.htm
http://www.tamburaweb.com/real1.htm.
Midterm #9
Marian Elam, ACS 352
I start with the
scope of the project that involves interviewing with the following questions: Am
I responsible for the information (database creation) on the web kiosk, which would be expected? What is the deadline and budget constraint for this project? Do
I have to decide on each location of a kiosk or is that predetermined? Should
some of the kiosks be for standing people, while others be at the sitting level? What
equipment is currently available or being used (the current system)? Then, what
are my objectives?
Once the scope of
the project is decided, I then determine the new system requirements, based on the objectives identified before. In this phase (the definition phase), I start the database design with a logical (sketchy) design for the
data model and for the main screens. I also specify where every kiosk will be. I come up with the volume/metrics--the number of computers needed, the numbers of
users, the number of files and file updates per day, etc.
With design, I come
up with alternatives on the software and hardware to be used. I conduct cost-benefit
analysis for each alternative. In this phase, my logical designs are replaced
by physical designs. I (again) involve management by asking for their input after
making a recommendation based on my cost-benefit analysis. Comparison of net
present value should be made with budget constraints.
I must decide on
the type of implementation needed. If there is any part of a current system available,
I could do a phased implementation and convert the current to the new system gradually.
This phase may also be known as installation. Testing, using prototypes,
is done during the construction phase, before delivery. Modification is included
as part of maintenance after the delivery of the new system.
The above description
is based on the ACS 363 class application (grouping) of the FAST methodology of the Systems Development Life Cycle. The FAST methodology has the phases and deliverables as follows:
1.
The survey phase (with project and system scope)
2.
The study phase (with system objectives)
3.
The definition phase (with business requirements)
4.
The configuration phase (with design and technology
requirements)
5.
The design phase (with design specifications)
6.
The procurement phase (with technology integration
requirements)
7.
The construction phase (with functional system specifications)
8. The delivery phase (with production system specifications)
Test Plan Items
·
Standard Hours Check
The TIME user
has a weekly standard hours amount as a minimum comparison value. If the computed
total of the week is less than this amount on Friday (or later), then the TIME user receives an error message. The computed total includes all work functions, even holiday and vacation time.
·
A part-time employee with a standard hour amount of
20 hours inputs 20 hours. No standard hour message is issued.
·
A part-time employee with a standard hour amount of
20 hours inputs 19 hours. As of Thursday, no error message is issued. As of Friday, a standard hour error message is issued.
·
A full-time employee with a standard hour amount of
38.75 hours inputs 20 hours. As of Friday, a standard hour error message is issued.
·
A full-time employee with a standard hour amount of
38.75 hours inputs 38.75 hours. No standard hour error message is issued.
·
User Access
There are
three categories of TIME users: managerial TIME users, non-managerial TIME users, and TIME maintenance users. Managerial TIME users may enter time data for non-managerial users, but not for themselves. Maintenance users may change the maintenance approval flag after finding (entering the TIME user id) the
user's TIME data that is late and is approved.
·
A manager logs on with his own id and password. Then he enters the id of another user and enters time data. He should receive valid messages and any applicable error messages.
·
A manager logs on with id and password. Then he enters his own id and starts to enter time data. He
receives an error message stating that managers may not enter data in TIME.
·
A TIME user enters TIME data (for the previous month)
after the second business day of the new month. The user changes the late-time
flag at the bottom of the screen to Y for yes, which does not cause an error message by itself. When trying to change the maintenance approval flag; however, the user receives a reminder message that
only maintenance may change the maintenance approval flag.
·
A maintenance user receives a manager's approval on
the late-time entries. After logging on as maintenance, the maintenance user
enters the user's id and browses the screens of weekly data (summaries) to find the late-time flag and the maintenance approval
flag. He then changes both of the flags to "Y" for yes. He receives messages recording the changes.
IS Department
IS Department Number -> IS Department Name
Employee
IS User (the table
is the same for Maintenance)
Employee ID -> Last Name, Middle Initial, First Name
è Password
è standard hours
Employee ID -> Last Name, Middle Initial, First Name
è Password
*******************
Perhaps we should make Last Name, Middle Initial, First Name an
ALTERNATE KEY
Job Title
Job Title Code -> Job Title
IS Group
IS Group ID -> Description
Creation Date -> Description
IS Group ID, Creation Date -> Description
Reported Unit
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID ->
***************
This table has to be changed (deleted, just use Reported Time
instead)
Or, there are no dependencies in this table, and this is "temporary
data"
Reported Time
Reported Project Time
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date,
Phase Number -> Hours
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date,
Phase Number -> Comment
Reported Service Request Time
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date
-> Hours
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date
-> Comment
Reported Project Report Time
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date,
Problem Report Number -> Hours
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date,
Problem Report Number -> Comment
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date,
Problem Report Number -> Cause
Problem Cause
Cause Name -> Phase Number
Other Reported Time
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date
-> Hours
Work Function Code, Effort Number, System Code, Employee ID, Date
-> Comment
Billable Company
Billable Company ID -> Billable Company Name
è Description
System Code
System Code -> System Name
è Owning Company
è Maintaining IS Dept
Report Definition
Report ID -> Report Name
Grouped Field
ID -> Field Name
Work Function
Work Function Code -> Name
è Long Desc
Effort
Service Request
Effort Number -> Description
è Completion Date
è Status
è Global Charged Company
è Global Work Function
Project
Effort Number -> Description
è Completion Date
è Status
è Global Charged Company
è Global Work Function
è Category
Project Phase
Effort Number, Phase Number ->
****
Phase
Phase Number -> Description
