Question

Software Engineering Course

Directions: Read the Initial System Requests below and than answer the identify actors and identify use cases questions.

Initial System Requests

Wylie College is planning to develop a new online Course Registration System. The new Web-enabled system replaces its much older system developed around mainframe technology. The new system allows students to register for courses from any Internet browser. Professors use the system to register to teach courses and to record grades.

Because of a decrease in federal funding, the college cannot afford to replace the entire system at once. The college will keep the existing course catalog database where all course information is maintained. This database is an Ingres relational database running on a DEC VAX. The legacy system performance is poor, so the new system accesses course information from the legacy database but does not update it. The registrar’s office continues to maintain course information through another system.

Students can request a printed course catalog containing a list of course offerings for the semester. Students can also obtain the course information online at any time. Information about each course, such as professor, department, credit hours, and prerequisites assists students in making informed decisions.

The new system allows students to select four course offerings for the coming semester. In addition, each student indicates two alternate choices in case the student cannot be assigned to a primary selection. Courses have a maximum of ten and a minimum of three students.

The registration process closes on the first or second day of classes for the semester. Any course with fewer than three students enrolled on the day registration closes is cancelled. All courses without an instructor on the day registration closes are cancelled. Students enrolled in cancelled classes are notified that the course has been cancelled, and the course is removed from their schedules. The registration system sends information about all student enrollments to the Billing System so that the students can be billed for the semester.

For the first two weeks of the semester, students are allowed to alter their course schedules. Students may access the online system during this time to add or drop courses. Changes in schedules are immediately sent to the Billing System so that an updated bill can be sent to the student.

At the end of the semester, the student can access the system to view an electronic report card. Since student grades are sensitive information, the system must employ security measures to prevent unauthorized access. All students, professors, and administrators have their own identification codes and passwords.

Professors must be able to access the online system to indicate which courses they want to teach. They also need to see which students signed up for their course offerings. In addition, professors can record the grades for the students in each class.

Identify Actors

Who uses the system?                                                             

Who gets information from the system?                              

Who provides information to the system?                          

Where in the organization is the system used?                  

Who supports and maintains the system?                           

What other systems use this system?                                   

Identify Use Cases

What are the goals of each actor?

• What will the actor use the system for?

• Will the actor create, store, change, remove, or read data in the system?
• Will the actor need to inform the system about external events or changes?
• Will the actor need to be informed about certain occurrences in the system?

Does the system supply the business with all of the correct behavior?

Answer 1

Answer:
Identify Actors:
Question 1)
Answer: Students, professors, administrators, and the registrar’s office use the system. The students would use the system to register for courses using any Internet web browser software. Professors also use the system. Professors use the system for registering so they can teach students courses and record students' grades. Also, professors are able to access the online system, read the existing course details, and indicate which courses they want to teach their students. They even see or view which students signed up for their course offerings. Professors are able to record, add, and store the grades for the students in the system. Administrators also use the system. Administrators use the system to maintain, manage, and administer it. The administrators administer and maintain all the course information in the existing course catalog database.

Question 2)
Answer:
All four- students, professors, administrators, the registrar’s office, and the billing system get information from the system for different purposes, however, the two main people who get and make use of the information from the system the most are, the students and the professors.

The billing system gets information about all student enrollments from the registration system so the Billing System can bill the students for the semester. Also, changes made in the registration system by the students are sent to the billing system to bill the students accordingly per the changes made, thus updating the bill, and which later can be sent to the student.

Students also view an electronic report card for their semester.

Question 3)
Answer:
Both, students and the professors provide information to the system, the most. The students would use the system to register for courses using any Internet web browser software. Professors use the system for registering so they can teach students courses and record students' grades.

Question 4)
Answer:
The system is used online on the Internet in the organization. It is used as a web-enabled system to be accessed and used by any Internet web browser.

Question 5)
Answer:
Administrators use the system to maintain, manage, and administer it. The administrators administer and maintain all the course information in the existing course catalog database. Also, the registrar’s office supports and maintains the system by maintaining course information through another system. The existing or legacy course catalog Ingres relational database system running on a DEC VAX maintains all course information in it.

Question 6)
Answer:
The billing system uses this registration system. Also, the existing or legacy course catalog Ingres relational database system running on a DEC VAX maintains all course information in it. The new registration system accesses course information from the legacy database, however, it does not update it. Vice versa, the legacy course catalog Ingres relational database system accesses the registration system.

Identify Use Cases

Question 7)
Answer:
The students would use the system to register for courses using any Internet web browser software. Professors also use the system. Professors use the system for registering so they can teach students courses and record students' grades. Also, professors are able to access the online system, read the existing course details, and indicate which courses they want to teach their students. They even see or view which students signed up for their course offerings. Professors are able to record, add, and store the grades for the students in the system. Administrators also use the system. Administrators use the system to maintain, manage, and administer it. The administrators administer and maintain all the course information in the existing course catalog database.

The registrar’s office gets information from the system. The registrar’s office supports and maintains the system by maintaining course information through another system.

Question 8)
Answer:
Students use the system to view an electronic report card and the grades of their semester. They register, add, edit, or remove courses from the system.

Professors use the system for registering so they can teach students courses and record students' grades. Also, professors are able to access the online system, read the existing course details, and indicate which courses they want to teach their students. They even see or view which students signed up for their course offerings. Professors are able to record, add, and store the grades for the students in the system. Administrators also use the system.

Administrators use the system to maintain, manage, and administer it. The administrators administer and maintain all the course information in the existing course catalog database.

The registrar’s office gets information from the system. The registrar’s office supports and maintains the system by maintaining course information through another system.

Question 9)
Answer:
Yes, the actors- students and professors will access, create, store, print, change, remove, or read data in the system. Students are allowed and they will alter or change their course schedules. Students, in case, they have a need, will access, read data in the online system and create and add, or remove or drop courses in the system. Students will view and read an electronic report card in the system.

Even professors can put the grade to students, generate an electronic report card for the students, can offer the courses they are willing to teach by updating the course details in the system.

Question 10)
Answer:
The actor such as the student will need to inform the system about external events or changes while editing or making any changes, addition, or removal of course details providing a valid or genuine reason. Even professors should update their availability and timings details in the system so students can view them for informed decisions, or notifications must be sent to the students.

Question 11)
Answer:
Yes, the unavailability of a professor for a course needs to be reflected in the system or the students must be notified so they do not register for the course. Any changes in course, timings, duration, the change in the professors, etc must be reflected in the system for the students to view them or simply they must be notified through a notification system. Also, professors should receive notifications on which students registered for their offered courses.

Question 12)
Answer:
Yes, the system supplies the business with all of the correct behavior. It has an authentication mechanism for all the students, professors, and administrators to possess and use their own identification codes or usernames and passwords to login to the system with their respective accounts, based on their roles, to start with.

All courses without an instructor can be removed (to make the system efficient) from the schedule, even before the students register for the courses, thus avoiding students from wasting their time, which would otherwise will only later inform the students of the unavailability of the instructor and cancel the course from the schedule.

The system, software, webpages, transactions, files, folders, and all student's data, marks, and information should be encrypted using the strongest encryption algorithm. The system is yet to have the capabilities so professors can access the online registration system indicating which courses they want to teach, so to avoid students registering for courses no professor is ready to teach and thus avoiding any cancellation and removal of a course from the schedule due to the unavailability of a professor, thus making the system more efficient. The system should have the capability so professors can view the details on which students signed up for their course offerings, or the system can simply send a notification on any new registration completed by a student for a course the professor had offered to teach. Finally, the system should have a feature or a functionality where professors are able to record the grades for the students in each class, thus assessing students' assessment, assignments, exams, etc. The recorded grades should also be viewable to students in the system and could also be sent by the system to students as a notification.