Initial Project Description

This semester's CSC 223 project involves a Web-based system for maintaining a person's schedule. The specific target audience involves faculty members. The class will need to consider whether other audiences also might find such a system valuable.

The envisioned system would have at least three different user groups: the instructor, students, and the off-campus viewer. Some desired capabilities and some open issues are described below for each audience.

• Instructor

  • Capabilities
    • View current schedule:
      • some pieces are generic -- that is the same from week to week (e.g., classes)
      • some pieces are specific for a given day (e.g., meetings)
      • some pieces apply to a given range of days (e.g., a trip)
    • Make schedule changes (add or modify any appointments as desired)
    • Annotate any item on the schedule
    • Print schedule either with or without annotations.
  • Some Open Issues
    • What should happen if a desired schedule change conflicts with an existing commitment?
    • If an existing appointment must be canceled or changed, how will the relevant people be notified?
    • How will an instructor enter the system? What would a log-in page look like?
    • How would an instructor create an initial schedule for a semester?
    • What views/screens will the instructor see?
    • How will an instructor request the various operation?
    • How will an instructor receive a special request for an appointment, and how will the instructor be able to respond?
    • What test cases and desired responses cover the full range of instructor options?

• Student

  • Capabilities
    • View a generic schedule
    • View a schedule for a specific week, including open office hours, office hours reserved by someone, and office hours reserved by this specific student (times reserved by others should be blocked out, but listed anonymously)
    • Sign up for any office hour that is free (a day's notice may be needed)
    • Request an office hour at a non-regular time (again with adequate notice)
    • Cancel a previously requested office hour
  • Some Open Issues
    • How will the student enter the system? What would a log-in page look like?
    • What views/screens will students see?
    • How will students request various operations?
    • How will students request appointments at non-office-hour times?
    • How will students be notified if requested appointments have been scheduled?
    • How should advanced notice requirements be enforced?
    • What test cases and desired responses cover the full range of student options?

• Outside Viewer

  • Capabilities
    • View a generic schedule
    • View a schedule for a specific week (with appointments shown anonymously)
    • Request an appointment
  • Some Open Issues
    • How will the outside user enter the system?
    • What views/screens will the general user see?
    • How will the outside user request appointments? Must the user request a specific time or a range of times? If a range of times is allowed, how broad should that range be?
    • What verification of the user's identify will be sought, and how will the user receive confirmation regarding any requests for appointments?
    • How will an outside user be notified in case of a change in the appointment?
    • How much advanced notice should an outside user give for an appointment, and how should that notice be enforced?
    • What test cases and desired responses cover the full range of outside user options?

Schedule Updates: As the scheduling program is used, one might expect that an instructor will keep a copy of the current schedule running on her or his workstation. Also, from time to time, students or outside users will be checking the schedule and perhaps making updates. When a schedule change occurs, to what extent should the open copies of the schedule also be updated? For example,

• Should the update be ignored -- if a user tries to schedule a time previously reserved, then an error message could be generated?
• Should the user be asked to refresh the schedule periodically?
• Should the user's Web-based display ask for a revised copy of the schedule periodically?
• Should updates be passed along to all Web-based displays as they arrive?

This document is available on the World Wide Web as

     http://www.cs.grinnell.edu/~walker/courses/223.sp02/project/index.html

created January 26, 2002 last revised January 26, 2002
For more information, please contact Henry M. Walker at walker@cs.grinnell.edu.