Bsc(Hons)/HND/HNC Computing

Case Study: Royal Arts Theatre Booking System

The Royal Arts Theatre, based in a major English city, has received a lottery grant to help refurbish its once splendid (though now somewhat shabby) nineteenth-century auditorium, to modernise and upgrade its backstage facilities and to improve the services it offers to its audiences. As a contribution to the latter a new seat booking system is to be designed.

The theatre has a resident theatre company that puts on performances of plays both classic and modern. In addition, the theatre plays host to many visiting companies, for example touring ballet and opera companies who may stay for up to a week, musical ensembles of various types that stay for between one day and a week, and solo artists (such as comedians and singers) who usually appear for just one or two performances. Audience sizes vary, with some performances a sell-out and others with many empty seats. The existing booking system has been in place for some years and suffers from a number of drawbacks.

The proposed new booking system should operate as follows. A seat booking may be made in person, over the telephone, by post, via fax or by email. Bookings can be made by individuals or by corporate customers. The latter include local companies and tour organisers who offer package deals to tourists. Bookings can be for just one, or for a number of seats. Parties of more than 10 attract a special discount, as do all corporate bookings and certain categories of customer such as students and children under 14. Individuals are asked to pay by cheque or credit card; cash is an alternative for those who turn up in person at the box office. Corporate customers are billed on a monthly basis. Seat prices vary according to their position in the theatre, the event and the performance day and time (for example, matinees are usually cheaper than evenings). The box office receives many enquiries each day about forthcoming attractions and about seat availability.

Once an individual customer has bought a ticket for a seat at a performance, they cannot normally return it. They may exchange it for a more expensive seat for the same performance, if available (but not for a seat of the same or lower price, nor for other performances). If a customer is unable to use some or all of the tickets they have booked for a performance, they may return them to the box office. The latter will only resell them after all other seats for the same performance have been sold. If returned tickets are resold by the box office, the original customer is refunded 80% of the cost. Corporate customers are not entitled to refunds.

The new Booking System is required to keep track of all ticket sales, returns and reselling. The Theatre Management will use information such as the proportion of tickets sold for each performance and for each event, the number of returns and resales, in order to formulate future policy. They will need to know which performance seats were booked by corporate customers and which by individuals; which performance seats were returned; which were resold, and, by processing the ticket stubs collected by ushers, to determine which seats were actually occupied for each performance. Data will be kept for 12 months after the performance before being archived.

The theatre operates a ‘Friends of the Royal Arts Theatre’ scheme. For an annual fee, members are entitled to advance publicity, which is mailed to them. Only individual members of the public can become a ‘Friend’. Corporate customers are encouraged to become ‘Sponsors of the Royal Arts Theatre’, by donating sums of money, and this entitles them to free publicity in programmes and leaflets. ‘Friends’ and ‘Sponsors’ are entitled to priority booking 10 days before seats go on sale to the general public. The Theatre Management want to have access to a list of all the bookings made by a given customer.

Royal Arts Drama Society

Royal Artsalso has a Drama Society (RADS) are for members who enjoy drama and the performing arts. It puts on its own amateur productions and organises trips to the professional theatre. An information system is required to hold membership information, details of the amateur productions that the society mounts and to manage the theatre visits that are organised.

There are currently three types of membership: adult, student and unwaged, each with a different subscription rate. Membership subscriptions are payable annually. Details are kept of each member’s name, address, telephone number, the date they first joined and whether they have paid the current year’s subscription.

The society maintains a file containing details of many plays. For each play it records the title, author, length in minutes and number of actors required to perform it. When the society puts on a production of a play, it records the following information: the name of the venue in which the play was performed, which member played each role and which member directed the production, and the date of the first performance of the production. Some plays are popular both with the society members and its supporters and so have been staged more than once over the years.

The society organises trips to theatres throughout the UK. To aid the planning of future trips it keeps details of the name and town of the theatres visited, and whether they have facilities for the disabled, the titles of the plays seen, the start and end date of each production and the names of the leading actors who took part in those productions. Some productions are so popular that repeat trips are organised to the same event. Different productions of the same play may be seen in different theatres. A record is kept of which members have been on which trip, including the cost of each trip and whether the member has paid.

Requirements for the new database include:

Produce a list of the names and addresses of members who have not yet paid this year’s subscription, with a description of their membership type.
Produce a list of the names of the members who went on a given trip.
Produce a list of the plays that RADS has put on, ordered alphabetically by their title, together with the date of their first performance.
Produce a cast list for the RADS production of ‘The Crucible’ that was first performed on April 10th 2000.

and the ability to answer queries such as:

When did RADS last put on a production of ‘Pygmalion’?
List the names of the members who have taken part in a RADS production.
When did we last organise a trip to see ‘Hamlet’ and to which theatre was it?
Which plays put on by RADS have been directed by John Smith?

______

Some of the requirements

Add Friend

Any individual may become a ‘Friend of the Royal Arts Theatre’ on payment of an annual subscription fee. The name, address, telephone number, email address, date of joining and current subscription status of the friend are recorded.

Add Sponsor

It is the task of the Marketing Manager to add details of new ‘Sponsors of the Royal Arts Theatre’. Details such as name, address, amount donated and date of donation are recorded.

Check Seat Availability

Customers enquire about the availability of seats for specific performances. This sometimes follows on from a more general enquiry about the event.

Display Performance Details

The Box Office receives queries about forthcoming events, such as when and for how long a particular artist or group is to appear. The system is required to display details of the event name, performer(s) involved, start and end dates, performances times and range of ticket prices.

Make a Booking

A customer may book one or more seats for a given performance. If the booking is being made during the priority booking period, the customer is asked for their Friend Membership No. or Sponsor No. and this is checked before the booking may be made. Bookings for more than 10 seats attract a discount. Seats are also cheaper for students and children under 14; proof of both is required to be presented at the Box Office before a booking can be made. If the booking is being made in person, payment is made immediately and the tickets are handed over. If the booking is being made by other means, tickets are mailed to corporate customers and to individuals who provide credit card details. Tickets are otherwise kept at the Box Office for payment upon collection. Tickets are always kept at the Box Office for collection if the booking is made within 48 hours of the performance.

Print Friends Mailing Labels

Labels are printed for the regular mailings to ‘Friends’.

Record Ticket Return

Customers who are unable to use their ticket(s) may return them to the Box Office. A note is made that these Performance Seats are now available; however, they will not be sold until all other tickets for that performance have been sold. A record is kept of which Performance Seats have been returned, and which have subsequently been resold. It is possible for resold tickets to be returned, and resold again.

Search Friends Records

Details of a ‘Friend’ are searched for and displayed.

Search Sponsor Records

Details of a ‘Sponsor’ are searched for and displayed.

Case Study: Royal Arts Theatre Booking System

Use Case Diagram (Not a DFD Model)