DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SOFTWARE BASED PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANCE (PDA)

ABSTARCT

            The topic of the study “Design and Implementation of a Software based Personal Digital Assistance (PDA)” is the one I will be writing about in this project.

            The world is in a state of flux and volume of activities awaiting an individual to carry out has become tremendous and in some case complex.

            The individual needs to keep and organize his daily, past and future activities. This including keeping records of telephone numbers and addresses of friends and business associate, wedding, contact and business opportunities, list of debtors and creditors and other addresses including menu time table in the home and other private matters that cannot be easily remembered. The computer can be used to store these data organized in a way that a meaningful information can be got from them quickly too.

ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK.

This work is organized in seven (7) chapters

CHAPTER ONE: Highlight on aims and objectives nature of the project and general work to be done what it will achieve and the importance derived from doing the work.

CHAPTER TWO: Describes and analysis the existing system, state the mode of operation and identify the problems facing it and a solution to the inherent problem.

CHAPTER THREE: Describes the input and output analysis, the prospects and problems of the existing system and justification of the new system.

CHAPTER FOUR: Design of the new system, the thing in the present system and also the new items or structure that needed to enhance the new or furthermore file structure was designed with which can append records update records, delete records and print output

CHAPTER FIVE: Describes the programming phase and its objectives what the new system must input so that it economize and reliantly performs its designated task.

CHAPTER SIX: Describes the documentation of the program.

CHAPTER SEVEN: Describes the conclusion of this project.

REFERENCE: It is where  research were made.

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       Introduction

1.1              Background of the study

1.2              Statement of the problem

1.3              Aims and objectives of the study

1.4              Significant of the study

1.5              Scope of the study

1.6              Limitation of the study

1.7              Definition of terms

CHAPTER TWO

2.0       Description and Analysis of the existing system

2.1              Fact finding methods

2.1.1        Interview method

2.2.2        Personal observation

2.2.0        The Analysis of the Existing System.

2.2.1        The functionality of the existing system.

2.2.1.1              The objective of the existing system

CHAPTER THREE

3.0              The input prices analysis

3.1              The output analysis

3.2              The prospect / advantages of the existing system

3.3              The problems / disadvantages of the existing system

3.4              The justification for the new system.

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0              Design of the new system

4.1              Output Specification design

4.2              Input Specification Design

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0              Implementation

5.1              Program Design

5.2              Program flow chart

5.3              Pseudo code

5.4              Field design

5.5              Master file.

5.6              Transaction file

5.7              Procedure chart

5.8              System flow chart

CHAPTER SIX

6.0              Documentation.

CHAPTER SEVEN

7.0              Conclusion.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

            The study “Design and Implementation of a Personal digital Assistance” (P.D.A) is aimed at developing a software package that will provide the user with a good environment to organizing the personal data and records for easy access and retrieval of information that are in constraint use. Software is the general name for all programs executable by computer system in order to produce the desire result.

            A program is defined as a list of logically arranged instruction that is executable by the computer system in order to give the desired result. Therefore software based personal organizer, in this study, refers to the application of computer software in the storage, retrieval and organization of personal data and information. There is no individual, no matter his/her level of responsibility who has ever had the need to keep any sort of records be it mere thought, facts and figures keeping records is like breathing. In human perspectives breathing is good but there is something more than breathing that is being alive.

            In the early biblical days facts and figures were kept by making impressions on sticks and stones. When an invitation to attend a meeting for instances is made the inviter usually will give the invitee a stick or palm tree leaf which serves as reminder to the invitee and which the invitee must return to the inviter as the appointed date and time. The invitee will usually lace this sticks or palm tree leaf at his door. This was not a serious problem because in those days there were fewer or no invitations.

            In recent times, the volume of records keeping has greatly increased and man has come up with several ways of accomplishing this and these include:

i.                    Journals are kept to record events that have occurred.

ii.                  Diary planners are employed to better co-ordinate ones movement and action.

iii.                Address books are kept to store pertinent reformation such as contact addresses and phone numbers of friends, relatives, business associate and acquaintances ad

iv.                Memo pads for jotting down all purpose notes which are kept within easy reach.  All these could be grouped under one namely “DIARY”.  The diary can be annual, bi-annual or even perennial sparing five to ten years or more.

This form of diary is called manual type.  In the manual type input is made manually hence correcting and updating of information is done by cancellation and rewriting, standard output is by browsing through the pages of the book.

            There is another form of organizer named electronic personal organizer.  It is an electronic device which look like a calculator which adds digital members.  It has a very small screen and an input keyboard.  However this type of organizer it not with out it’s short comings some loose all the information stored in them the moment the system battery runs down these electronic organizers the battery operated with low memory capacity.

            Today the world is in a state of flux and experiencing quantitative revolution: the primitive intuitive or questionable approach to problem solving, data analysis, storage, retrieval and update are rapidly becoming out molded.  The volume of data and information  required for storage and easy retrieval has become very large and complex.  More so in this ere of e-mail and interface connections with their attendant volume of addresses and business information contacts, there is modern quest for objectives bases for all kinds of decision based on data storage and organization.

            A more cursory glance at recent issues of professional and learned journals, internet, or even newspaper and trade journals prove conclusively that there is an increasing use of data, facts and figure.  To substantiate business and personal activities and then research conclusion.

            Again collection of facts and figures are useful only when they can be stored correctly, organized properly and retrieved quickly.  This is another reason why the researcher are embarking on the is very important study.

1.2              STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Historically, there has existed major problems involved on date collection, storage, organization and retrieval.  As a result many people still embark on manual organizer of collecting facts and figures.  The problems identified or associated with this manual means of data storage and retrieval could be classified as follows:

i.                    For voluminous data, retrieval of information is difficult and tire some and can be quite frustrating and time wasting;

ii.                  To update information in manual organizer involves cancellation and alteration of records thereby rendering the job untidy.

iii.                Even with the electronic organizer the limited memory space makes it possible for valuable information to be eraser in order to store current information or current information not stored at the expense of important information previously stored which must not be erased; and manual organization are subjected to unauthorized access and retrieval since one who lays hands on it has access to it.

1.3              AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

A personal organizer is purely on information management system having features including accuracy clarity and conciseness.  The purpose of this study therefore is to identify the problem encountered in the manual organizer using the above qualities of good information system as criteria and to design and implement a personal digital assistance (PDA) for effective.  Data storage and retrieval.  In view of the problem identified in the manual organizer as stated in 1.2 above, the aims and objectives of this study there fore is to design a personal digital assistance (PDA) having specified features.

i.                    Fast and easy retrieval of data and information

ii.                  Quick updating of information; and

iii.                Data security and integrity checks.

1.4              SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

A personal digital assistance (PDA) is purely an information management system (IMS) having many features such as accuracy, clarity etc.  the significance of the study therefore is that it will provide possible solutions to the problems encountered in the manual organizer.  With the electronic personal digital assistance (EPDA) one can save or rather store as many data as possible ranging from names, addresses, important dates, schedules and so on, where the retrieval is easy and without stress.

1.5              SCOPE OF STUDY

According to sanders (1990)

            Whatever you can imagine, conceive and believe in your heart you can computerized.  All aspect of personal digital can be computerized but due to time and cost the scope of the personal digital include all data and information that can be classified as:

i.                    Addresses: phone numbers, fax numbers e-mail and internet addresses.

ii.                  Appointment schedules: birthday, meeting and wedding etc.

iii.                Simple personal budgeting for personal income and expenditure accounts

iv.                Important personal events such as year of marriage, graduation etc. and password protection for both identification and authentication.