1. Where will the database be located?
·
At your office?
1.
You can update the data
via desktop applications
2.
Your office must
provide 24x7 operations (what happens if there is a power failure over a long
weekend?)
·
At a “hosting service”?
1.
24x7 operation
2.
Data can only be
updated over the web or you can periodically send updates
2. What will Web users do with the application?
·
Review Data
·
Add Records
·
Update Data
·
Search for Data
3. What kind of security is required?
·
For review, add,
update, delete, administer?
·
On a table or field
level?
·
Per individual user or
for groups of users?
·
If passwords assigned
for groups of users, prompt for a user name anyway?
4. How complicated is the database structure?
·
“Flat file” with lookup
tables
·
Parent/child
relationships
·
Required fields
·
Default values
·
Data validation
requirements
·
Masks
·
Boolean/Logical fields
– displayed as other than “True/False”
·
Fields with decimal
places
·
Currency fields
5. How many records are in each of the main tables?
6. What types of forms/pages will be in the application?
·
Logon Screen
·
Main Menu
·
For each Web Database
Application
q Filter form
q List form
q Record form
q Report form
q Export form
·
Help Forms
q General (per form)
q Context sensitive (per field)
7. Demonstration/Tutorial
·
Is one needed?
·
Where does he user access
it?
·
How many demos??
·
How detailed?
·
What should be covered?
8. Opening Page
The opening page often provide the user with information about the database
·
Purpose (what the
application is to be used for)
·
Audience (what people
will be using the database application)
·
Information in the
database (what kind of information is in the database)
·
How to use the database
(how user’s go about using the application)
·
Will the opening page
be
q A separate page
q The Logon Form
q The Menu
q The Filter form for a specific table
q The List form for a specific table
9. Logon Form
·
Include the ability to
email the passwords?
·
Separate logon forms
for “readers” and “updaters”?
·
Include text or buttons
for “Help” or “About”?
10. How sophisticated are the “filtering” requirements?
·
Which fields should be
included and in what order?
·
What “input format”
should be used for each field?
q Range of values (numeric and date fields)
q Single value per field
o
Exact match (where wild
cards can be used and multiple values can be searched for)
o
Combo box
o
Combo box, but can
enter text in a separate field
o
Starting value entered
(where wild cards can be used and multiple values can be searched for)
q Full text search (“any value can match” or all
“values must match”)
q Radio button – show all valid values plus “All”
q Logical field (ratio buttons – show all valid values
plus “Both”)
·
Which fields should
have “combo boxes”? (note that all of the fields for a combo box will be sent
to the browser – if there are less than 100 or so fields, this should be OK;
but if there are more than several hundred – e.g., organization name – this
might not make sense and it can take a long time to generate the values for the
comb box)
·
“Restrictive” for all values entered - “LastName = Smith or State=VA - or
“additive” – allowing for “LastName = Smith or State=VA)
·
Allow filtering based
on values from “child” tables?
·
Are there fields which
should be grouped for “or” (e.g., the table has logical fields for all possible
job titles, and the user needs to be able to select people with any one of
several titles)
·
After the user enters
the selection criteria, does the system need to limit the results to a maximum
number of records?
·
Include text or buttons
for “Help” or “About”? How detailed
should the Help be?
·
What buttons are
needed?
·
Is there a need to
create an index for each field?
11. How sophisticated are the forms which display the
detailed information for each record?
·
Very simple – all the
data can be displayed in one column
·
Simple – several
columns are needed
·
Complex – “tabbed”
forms are needed
·
More complex – data
from “child” tables must be displayed
·
Very complex - the user
need to be able to update the data in “child” table
·
Which fields should be
included and in what order?
12. What are the data entry/edit requirements?
·
Required fields
·
Default values
·
Range checks
·
Hyperlinks
·
Email address
·
Radio buttons
·
Masks
·
Numeric fields with
decimal places
·
Can the user
“hyperlink” to another page from a data field?
·
Can the user invoke the
email program and automatically fill in the email address from the form?’
·
Include text or buttons
for “Help” or “About”? How detailed
should the Help be?
·
What buttons are
needed?
13. How sophisticated are the forms which list the data
in “spread sheet” format?
·
Need to sort some/all
of the columns?
·
Need to change the sort
order?
·
Need to select records
based on the first character of data in one or more fields
·
Which fields should be
included and in what order?
·
Can the user
“hyperlink” to another page from a data field?
·
Can the user invoke the
email program and automatically fill in the email address from the form?’
·
Include text or buttons
for “Help” or “About”? How detailed
should the Help be?
·
What buttons are
needed?
14. Does the user need to be able to export the data?
15. What kinds of reports are needed?
·
How complex are the
reports?
·
Very simple – one
record per line (“spreadsheet”)
·
Simple – one
record/line with totals
·
Complex – one
record/line with subtotals, hide fields with duplicate values
·
More complex – data
from child tables
·
From a single table?
·
From multiple tables?
·
How highly formatted?
·
How sophisticated is
the “selection criteria”?
16. Do files need to be uploaded or downloaded?
17. Which Web Browsers must be supported
·
Internet Explorer
·
Netscape
·
Others?
18. Other Requirements
·
Is there a logo and/or
text to be displayed on each form?