Honours Project: - Napier University

Gregory Huet
Honours Project
99034735 Dr. William Buchanan
5.2 Implementation of the Database
5.2.1 The users table
This table contains all the information about the user. In the first version of the application,
this table will only have a few pieces of data, but in a future version this table will contain
more information to customise the interface and the display of the data on the screen with the
user’s wishes. For the non-commercial version, the information needed is the following:
• num_user: this field is required to describe the user with a unique integer. This is the
only way to keep a record of a user because different users could have the same login
(but not the same password). The num_user record is an integer automatically created
by the SQL Server by incrementing the last record. In general, this field is called
user_id.
• name_user: this field contains the user’s name more known as login. The information
will be recorded as a string of characters strictly inferior at twenty characters. This
field is very important because it will allow the user to enter his identification in the
login process before entering the personal collaborative and co-operative electronic
calendar.
• password: this field contains the user’s password to keep a certain level of security for
the management of the information that is not shared in the calendar. The password
will be recorded in the database as a string of characters (superior at four characters
and inferior at twenty). In the first version of this application, this field is not
encrypted. For the future commercial version, this field will be encrypted to have a
high level of security. The encryption is not treated is this report.
• mail_user: this field contains the user’s email. This is very important because of the
notion of collaborative and co-operative work as a synchronous or asynchronous
process. The real-time function will be very hard to implement in a web site because
of the asynchronous way to receive and send the information. Moreover, the email will
be used to send feedback about a shared event in a community or a group of users.
This information is recorded as a string of characters (inferior at thirty characters).
• group_user: his field contains the user’s group and indirectly the user’s community.
This field is very important in the notion of CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative
Work), by linking people with a common interest or working on a same
project. As soon as the users select a group, they are automatically registered in a
community of users. For example, the group could be Multimedia Systems and the
community would be the DCS.
5.2.2 The groups table
Each user is registered in a group to keep the idea of collaborative and co-operative work.
This notion is more and more important and presents a lot of advantages in the industry. The
GroupWare is almost present in every corporation because it allows them to work properly
and efficiently by increasing the communication between workers in the same or a remote
location with a synchronous or asynchronous process (the notion of time/space matrix).
In the first version of the electronic calendar, users are not allowed to create a group of users.
Only the administrator can create a group or a community of users. In the commercial version
of this application, the notion of level of responsibility will be managed to give rights to some
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