myGRADEBOOK
Software Requirements Document
Developed By
Team SBK
Table of Contents
1. OVERVIEW 3
1.1 Objectives 3
1.2 Specific goals 3
1.3 Users 3
1.4 Scope 3
2. System Requirements 4
2.1. Local Computer Requirements 4
2.1.1. 4
2.1.2. 4
2.2. Server Computer Requirements 4
2.2.1. 4
2.2.2. 4
2.2.3. 4
3. Software Requirements 5
3.1 Logging into the Application 5
3.1.1. New User. 5
3.1.2. Login Screen. 7
3.1.2.1. Password Information. 7
3.1.2.2. Request Help. 7
3.2 Managing Courses 7
3.2.1. Course Selection. 8
3.2.1.1. View Course. 8
3.2.1.1.1. Modify Categories. 9
3.2.1.2. Edit Course. 9
3.2.1.4. Add Course. 9
3.3 Managing Students 10
3.3.1. Add Student. 10
3.3.2.1. Remove Student. 11
4. Glossary 12
1. OVERVIEW
The web-based grade book (myGRADEBOOK) is an online application for teachers to store and view grades for their courses. The software enables teachers to easily navigate and maintain their courses online though their web browser with an active internet connection.
1.1 Objectives
A key goal is to maintain acessiblity to teachers grades remotely by the use of a working personal computer with an internet connection. This goal can be met, while still keeping the application secure, by implementing login validation checks and authentication requirements each time the teacher logins in to their session.
1.2 Specific goals
· Provide a simple straightforward application with a small learning curve.
· Secure authentication of the user.
· Allow the teacher to customize each course grade structure to meet their needs.
· Easy to maintain and update for future school terms.
· Exporting grade data for reports.
1.3 Users
The application will be used primarily by a teacher to record their students’ grades.
1.4 Scope
The web-based grade book will cover the ability to maintain and –in real time- calculate averages on the spreadsheet per the user’s customizations. The teacher will be able to define the requirements of a course by the use of categories and settings in the program.
2. System Requirements
The following sections describe the system requirements of the two primary computers involved in the execution of the myGRADEBOOK web-based program. The first computer described is the local computer- the machine the user will be utilizing. The second computer described is the server on which the application will actually reside and store the files.
2.1. Local Computer Requirements
For the user to run the application, they must have the following features available on their local computer:
2.1.1. The user’s computer must have access to the internet. The script will be located on the server machine and not on the user’s local computer. The user will need an internet connection to the remote server to access the program.
2.1.2. The user must have a web browser installed on his or her computer. As the application is based in HTML, a web browser is necessary to properly view the program. Examples of current popular browsers are; Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Mozilla.
2.2. Server Computer Requirements
The application will be installed on a remote computer. This computer is referred to as the server, and the following terms must be valid for the program to run successfully:
2.2.1. The server must have web server software installed. This software will act as an intermediary between the user and the application. Examples of web server software include, but are not limited to: Apache, and Microsoft Internet Information Services.
2.2.2. The server must have a PHP interpreter installed. The web-based application is written in PHP language, which is interpreted by the web server software. The PHP interpreter will process the application and return the results to the user. See www.php.net for more information.
2.2.3. The server must have Common Gateway Interface (CGI) support available. The Common Gateway Interface is the method via which the application executes scripts on the web server.
3. Software Requirements
The following sections describe the software requirements of the web-based myGRADEBOOK application. The sections are arranged in the order of which the user would encounter them by use. The images used act as a visual aid to the section description. NOTE: The screenshots in this document are not final and are subject to change by the developer’s implementation.
3.1 Logging into the Application
Upon first run of the program, an initialize login screen will appear to the user. Otherwise the user will be prompted by the normal login screen to authenticate.
3.1.1. New User. The New User screen is the initial user setup screen (see figure 3.1.1) when the program does not have a user created. The user must enter the desired user name and password that they wish to create. Confirm the password and press the “Submit Information” button.
Figure 3.1.1: A screenshot of the initial create New User Screen
3.1.1.1. Password Information. Clicking on the link next to the password box will launch a Password Information Help screen pop-up window (see figure 3.1.1.1).
Figure 3.1.1.1: A screenshot of the Password Information Help Screen
3.1.1.2. Request Help. Clicking on the Help link will launch a Help screen for the user to enter their user name and email address to communicate with a support representative (see figure 3.1.1.2).
Figure 3.1.1.1: A screenshot of the Request Help Screen
3.1.2. Login Screen. Once a profile has been created, the user will be further prompted by the normal login screen (see figure 3.1.2). To login, fill in your user name and password, and click the “Login” button.
Figure 3.1.2: A screenshot of the Login Screen
3.1.2.1. Password Information. Clicking on the picture next to the password box will launch a Password Information Help screen pop-up window (see figure 3.1.1.1).
3.1.2.2. Request Help. Clicking on the Help link will launch a Help screen for the user to enter their user name and email address to communicate with a support representative (see figure 3.1.1.2).
3.2 Managing Courses
The user will see this screen after correctly logging into the application. From here, the user can then navigate to view, edit, and remove courses.
3.2.1. Course Selection. After logging into the application the user will see the Course Selection screen with all the users listed courses (see figure 3.2.1). The user then can click on to view, to modify, to remove, or to add a new course.
Figure 3.2.1: A screenshot of the Course Selection screen
3.2.1.1. View Course. Clicking on will allow the user to view the grade book for the selected course. The user may enter grades directly onto the spread sheet and insert notes regarding each student’s assignment if needed (see figure 3.2.1.1). Student grade, Category, and Class averages are automatically calculated when the course is refreshed (see figure 3.2.1.1a). Clicking on “Save” will commit changes to update the course database and force a refresh of grade book calculations. Clicking on “Export” will prompt the user to save the course data in a CSV formatted file. Clicking on will bring you to the preferences screen, which is still in development.
Figure 3.2.1.1: A screenshot of the Course Details screen
Figure 3.2.1.1a: Details of the calculations on the Course Details screen
3.2.1.1.1. Modify Categories. Click on will launch a window to rearrange, edit, and add new categories to the course.
3.2.1.2. Edit Course. Clicking on will allow the user to edit an existing course, Click on “Save” to save changes (see figure 3.2.1.2). The required fields are denoted with a * and are subject to validation.
Figure 3.2.1.2: A screenshot of the Edit Course screen
3.2.1.3. Delete Course. Clicking on will prompt the user to remove an existing course. The user will be asked to confirm their request.
3.2.1.4. Add Course. Clicking on will allow the user to add a course (see figure 3.2.1.4). The required fields are denoted with a * and are subject to validation.
Figure 3.2.1.4: A screenshot of the Add Course screen
3.3 Managing Students
From the Course Selection screen (figure 3.2.1.1) the teacher will click “Add student” or “Remove Student”.
3.3.1. Add Student. Adding a student within a course just requires the name field (see figure 3.3.1). The additional student information fields are optional and will only be used to anonymously maintain the student’s identity when printing.
Figure 3.3.1: A screenshot of the Add Student Screen
3.3.2. Edit Student. Edit the existing information and click on “Submit” to update the student (see figure 3.3.2). The additional student information fields are optional and will only be used to anonymously maintain the student’s identity when printing.
Figure 3.3.2: A screenshot of the Edit Student Screen
3.3.2.1. Remove Student. Clicking on “Remove Student” will prompt the user to removing an existing student from the course. The user will be asked to confirm their request.
4. Glossary
Client - A program that can download files for manipulation, run applications, or request application-based services from a file server.
Dynamic Content - Web content that changes or is generated each time it is viewed.
Firefox - A free, open source Web browser for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It is based on the Mozilla code base and offers customization options and features such as its capability to block pop-up windows, tabbed browsing, privacy and security measures, smart searching, and RSS live bookmarks.
HTML - HyperText Markup Language: a set of standards, used to tag the elements of hypertext document, the standard for documents on the World Wide Web.
Internet Explorer – Often abbreviated as IE, Microsoft's Web browser. Like Netscape Mozilla, Internet Explorer enables you to view Web pages. Both browsers support Java and JavaScript. Internet Explorer also supports ActiveX.
Intranet - A network based on TCP/IP protocols (an internet) belonging to an organization, usually a corporation, accessible only by the organization's members, employees, or others with authorization.
JavaScript - A scripting language developed by Netscape to enable Web authors to design interactive sites.
Mozilla - Is an open source (free source) web browser set up by Netscape in January of 1998. It was designed for standards-compliance, performance, and portability and it development is coordinated by mozilla.org.
Opera - A multi-platform web browser that can be used with a wide range of platforms, operating systems and imbedded Internet products.
PHP - PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor is an open source, reflective programming language. Originally designed as a high level scripting language for producing dynamic Web pages, PHP is used mainly in server-side application software.
PHP Interpreter - Program that executes commands from a PHP script under the request of a web server. The result of this execution is through the web server sent back to the web client that issued the request in the first place.
Relational Database - Collection of data items organized as a set of formally-described tables from which data can be accessed or reassembled in many different ways without having to reorganize the database tables.
Script - A script is a list of commands that can be executed without user interaction.
Scripting Language - A high-level programming language that is interpreted by another program at runtime rather than compiled by the computers processor as other programming languages (such as C and C++) are.
Server - A program residing on a computer which provides some service to other (client) programs.
Server-Side - Processing or content generation that is done on the web server or other server, as opposed to on the client computer where the web browser is running.
SQL - Structured query language, an industry-standard language for creating, updating and, querying relational database management systems.
Static content - Elements of the Internet or computer programming that are fixed and not capable of action or change.
World Wide Web - A system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a markup language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files.
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