Extreme coding workshop

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Extreme coding workshop

• Tick-tock.

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Extreme coding

• A just get it done mode
• dont know the language?
• learn it! The basics are the same
• a loop is a loop is a loop
• dont know how to do a specific thing?
• look it up, and get it done!!!!
• We will skip some of the official steps of the
  system life cycle
• focus will be on the design and development of
  the forms and code behind the forms
• selected functionality will be targeted initially
• selection of different functionalities and span
  of design and coding considerations
• time permitting, we will revisit and develop more
  of the application

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Scenario

• Build an investigative case management system
• Utopia Police Depts Detective Squad
• keep track of investigations of complaints
• maintain status of investigations
• monitor investigative activity
• produce reports
• etc

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Sample screen
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UPD

• Utopia Police Department
• Four (4) precincts
• 001,002,003,004
• each precinct has a detective squad
• referred to as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th squads
• The precinct is a command
• The squad is a separate command

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What is a case?

• Investigation based on a complaint received at
  the UPD precinct (4 pcts)
• complaints are numbered sequentially within each
  precinct
• starts at 1 with the new year
• Not all complaints result in investigations
• Most (but not all) investigations are based on a
  NYS penal code infraction
• each case uniquely identified within each
  detective squad by a case number
• starts at 1 with the new year
• case number is not the same as the complaint
  number
• case may be based on complaint from another
  precinct
• cases must be uniquely identifiable

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Who works in the squad?

• Uniformed (investigators and investigative
  supervisors)
• Capt
• Det Lt (CDS)
• Lt
• Det Sgt (SDS)
• Sgt
• Detective 1st (Det1)
• Detective 2nd (Det2)
• Detective 3rd (Det3)
• Police Officer (PO)
• Civilian (clerical)
• Administrative Aide (AA)
• Principal Administrative Aide (PAA)

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Access Levels

• New case
• Anyone with authorization
• Deletions
• Supervisory (Sgt or above) uniforms with
  authorization
• Edits
• Supervisory (Sgt or above) uniforms with
  authorization
• Case Sign-off
• Supervisory (Sgt or above) uniforms with
  authorization

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Form

• Splash screen
• initial screen
• announces application
• presents Visual content while housework is
  performed (as opposed to blank screen)
• Consider a Main Form, or Switchboard Form
• presents a logo (optional)
• allows user interaction to major functions of
  application
• Suggestion
• Make a main form, which contains several
  functions
• Login is one of these functions
• all other functions (other than quit) will be
  disabled until login completed successfully
• Personnel function
• allows for the administration of system personnel
  (users)

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Major (high level) functions

• Login
• allows a user access to other application
  functions
• Cases
• enter, view, query cases
• Personnel
• administer personnel
• System
• perform maintenance on system tables
• import, export, backup, defaults, etc
• Quit

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Task

• Build a form allowing the user to
• display, enter, modify, delete personnel in the
  system
• minimum fields for each personnel record
• Rank, Last name, First name, Employee ID,
  Command assigned, level of access
• Access levels
• Administrator clearance for all SYSTEM functions
• User discriminate between view, enter, modify
  and delete
• Can someone be both?.... Yes for this application
• you must check for valid entries
• disallow if not legal or missing required field
• should the user start over?
• or should you simply flag which field is bad..?
• who should be able to access this new form once
  its available?
• if nobody in the system is privileged, then how
  do the users initially enter personnel
  information?
• Is this the only personnel function?
• if so, bring this up when Personnel selected
  from MAIN form
• otherwise, a sub-menu (new form) needs to be
  selected

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Windows management of Forms

• SDI versus MDI
• single document interface
• each form is independent
• if calling form is closed, the new form remains
• can be placed anywhere on screen
• even outside border of the form which invokes it
• multiple document interface
• invoked by a forms code
• new form is a child form
• contained within the boundaries of the parent
• if parent is closed, then all children go away
  with it

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Windows management of Forms

• Modality
• Form A opens Form B as modal
• Form B must be closed before user can interact
  with other forms/windows on the screen
• example
• pop-up error message requesting Yes, No, or
  Cancel
• respond or close that window in order to continue
  with any other window

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Displaying of Forms

• Open
• form is brought into memory (loaded) and
  displayed to user
• Close
• from is removed from memory (and view),
  unavailable
• Show and Hide
• form remains in memory, but controls user
  visibility of form
• Load
• brought into memory but not displayed
  (subsequently displayed by showing it)
• Unload
• taken out of memory

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Storyboarding

• Drawing of forms
• functions on each form
• Arrows pointing to other forms
• icons can determine which objects allow user
  interaction
• buttons, drop-down lists (list box, combo box)
  check or radio buttons, text box or other text
  entry box, tabbed forms, tree listings, etc
• allows for rapid development of the form
• consistency
• preview of users experience and usability
• Visual tool depicting the WHAT to be done, not
  the HOW
• Develop a hierarchical picture of form flow (and
  function flow)
• if a called form pointed to by a calling form
  should not allow backward transferal (unless its
  closed) to another form, then it should be Modal

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Data

• The database for the application is currently
  maintained in an MS-Access 2003 database
• tables are already developed
• personnel table is MOS (member of the service)
• linked tables
• Ranks
• Cmds