A WWW Collaboration System
Keiron Skillett, BEng Project 2000
 

Design & Methodology

3.1 User Interface

The design of the system will be such that it allows computer users from novice to expert, to navigate around the system with ease. It must be secure, not allowing unauthorised users to access the wrong accounts.

The best way to achieve this in Java is by creating a series of “Cards” which the applet can swap between as necessary. The cards to be used are listed below along with rough sketches of each card.
  • Login (Figure 3.1)

    The Login Panel hides the users password and only allows users through to main panel after login has been validated.


    Figure 3.1 - Login Screen Design
     

  • Info (Figure 3.2)
    The Info Panel can be called from anywhere in the program, to display information such as error messages.


    Figure 3.2 – Info Screen Design
     

  • Main (Figure 3.3)
    The Main Panel shows how many messages are waiting for a user and allows access to all other parts of the system.


    Figure 3.3 – Main Screen Design
     

  • Messages (Figure 3.4)
    Display all messages, Update button refreshes the message list, Send button allows the user to send a message and  Delete button deletes all messages to current user.


     Figure 3.4 – Message Screen Design
     

  • Send Message (Figure 3.5)
    User must address message to a particular user or the word “GROUP” (sending to all members of users group). After sending confirmation should be displayed.


Figure 3.5 – Message Send Screen Design

  • Contacts (Figure 3.6)
    Screen lists Personal and Group contacts and allows user to copy between the two.


Figure 3.6 – Contacts Screen Design

  • Contact Information (Figure 3.7)
    Screen for entering new contact or viewing existing ones.


Figure 3.7 – Contact Data Screen Design

  • File areas (Figure 3.8)
    Screen for uploading and downloading files.


Figure 3.8 – File Screen Design

  • Calendar (Figure 3.9)
    Screen for storing information about meetings.


Figure 3.9 – Calendar Screen Design

  • Meeting Data (Figure 3.10)
    Screen for entering or viewing data about a particular meeting.


Figure 3.10 – Meeting Screen Design
 

3.2 Data

All data for this system will be held within a Microsoft Access database containing various tables. Access is the chosen database because it uses the most commonly used programming interface for relational databases – Microsoft’s ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity). JDBC (the standard for connecting databases to Java) can be used with the JDBC-ODBC Bridge to connect to an Access database, which will handle SQL (Structured Query Language) statements well.
 
Tables to be included:
 
Table Name: USERS
Data: Contains login and group information for each user
Fields: UName Text[15], No Duplicates
  UID Text[06], No Duplicates
  UGroup Text[15]
  UPassword Text[15]
     
UName UID UGroup UPassword
JBloggs 3453 car_owners password
 
Table Name: MESSAGES  
Data: Contains messages sent between users
Fields: MSGTo Text[15], Indexed
  MSGFrom Text[15]
  MSGContent Text[15]
     
MSGTo MSGFrom MSGContent
3453 JSmith Test Message
 
Table Name: CONTACTS  
Data: Contains user and group addresses
Fields: Owner Text[15], Indexed
  Name Text[30]
  Telephone Text[20]
  Fax Text[20]
  Address Text[30]
  Town Text[20]
  County Text[20]
  Country Text[20]
  Email Text[30]
     
Owner Name Telephone Fax Address Town County Country Email
                 
 
Table Name: FILES  
Data: Contains links to file in the file areas on the server.
Fields: Owner Text[15], Indexed
  FileTitle Text[30], Indexed
  FileLocation Text[50]
     
Owner FileTitle FileLocation
3453 Financial Report c:\users\files\report.doc
 
Table Name: CALENDAR  
Data: Contains user and group appointment data.
Fields: Owner Text[15], Indexed
  Date Date/Time, Indexed
  Time Date/Time, Indexed
  Title Text[20]
  Location Text[20]
  Attending Text[20]
  Notes Text[50]
Owner Date Time Title Location Attending Notes
3453 12/11/2000 13:00 AGM Grand Hotel All Employees Casual
 
Each of the data structures above will be represented as tables in Microsoft Access and these tables can therefore mirrored as classes in Java (with JDBC). Making the transfer from Microsoft Access to Java very easy.
 

3.3 Structure
The structure of the movement between cards is shown in Figure 3.11.


Figure 3.11 - Card Structure Design

Each of these cards will be held as part of a card panel, which along with a layout controller class will control the movement between screens. The information panel shown must always be able to return to the screen from which it was called.

The Server must be multithreaded, to allow multiple users to read and write to the database at any one time (the intial version should have a maximum of 10 threads/users), and should display what each thread is doing on the screen, to allow monitoring of user activity.

The client should not contain a continuous connection to the database, this allows for other users to access and to avoid data corruption if the Internet connection is lost. So the client must log in to the database, perform what ever is necessary and logout whenever necessary.
 

3.4 Classes and Pseudocode

Pseudocode - MyWebDeskClient (Extension of Applet)

Init() Set applet size, create card panels and CurrentUser.
Start() Create RMI reference to the database.
PadString(String, int) Utility function for padding strings to a length with spaces.
ShowMessage(String) Use the Information Screen to display a message.
  Do NOT make the information panel the current screen.
updateScreens(String) Update specified screens in system.
ContactData(String) Retrieve a contact and place details in contact details screen.
MeetingDate(Meeting) Retrieve a meeting and place details in meeting details screen.
 

Class: CardPanel (Extension of Panel)

CardPanel() Constructor Create all Panels, set Login Screen to be displayed
setMsg(String) Set message to be displayed on information screen.
update(String) Update screens specified with data for current user
aContactUpdate(Contact) Update Contact details screen with relevant data.
aMeetingUpdate(Meeting) Update Meeting details screen with relevant data.
 

Class: MyWebDeskScreensLayout (Extension of CardLayout)
MyWebDeskScreensLayout(String) Constructor
  Creates Layout Manager and sets its current screen.
setCurrent(String) Sets Current Screen.
show(Container, String) Show Screen and set to current screen.
show(Container, String, Boolean)
  Show Screen and set to current if necessary.
showCurrent(Container) Show Current Screen.
 

Class: LoginPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

LoginPanel() Constructor Creates Login Screen (as shown in Figure 3.1).
  Ensure character for password is '*'.
getLogin() Returns the users ID who is attempting Login.
getPassword() Returns the users password who is attempting Login.
Login(String, String) Set Login to False.
  Check Login Details in Database.
  If passwords match, set Current User and login returns true.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "Login" clicked. Attempt to login.
  If login is valid then update all screen with the users data and set the screen to main.
  If login is invalid inform user and return to login screen.
 

Class: InfoPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

InfoPanel() Constructor Creates Information Screen (as shown in Figure 3.2).
setMsg(String) Sets the message on the information screen.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "OK" clicked. Return to previous screen.
 

Class: InfoPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

MainPanel() Constructor Creates Main Screen (as shown in Figure 3.3).
Update() Searches database for messages and for current user.
  Displays results on Main Screen.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  Display appropriate screen based upon button press.
 

Class: MessagePanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

MessagePanel() Constructor
  Creates Message Screen (as shown in Figure 3.4).
Update() Search Database for messages for current user.
  Display in list box on Message Screen.
Delete() Delete all messages in database for current user.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "Update" clicked, call Update().
"Delete" clicked, call Delete().
"Send" clicked, show SendMessage Screen.
"Cancel" clicked, show MainScreen.
 

Class: SendMsgPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

sendMsgPanel() Constructor
  Creates Send Message Screen (as shown in Figure 3.5).
getMsgTo() Return the recipient entered by user.
getMsgContent() Return the message being sent.
getID(String) Return the User ID of the recipient from the database.
SendPersonalMsg(String, Message)
  Add the message to the table of messages.
SendGroupMsg(String, Message)
  Check for members of the group and perform SendPersonalMsg for each.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "Cancel" clicked, return to messages screen.
"Send" clicked, check if group or personal message
If a group message call SendGroupMsg() otherwise check user exists and call SendPersonalMsg().
Show Information Screen, how many messages were sent.
 

Class: ContactsPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

ContactsPanel() Constructor
  Create Contacts Screen (as shown in Figure 3.6).
Update() Fill Personal and Group contact lists with contacts.
View(String, String) Fill aContact screen with data to be reviewed.
Delete(String, String) If executed on a personal contact, delete personal contact.
  If executed on a group contact, delete group contact.
Call Update().
Swap (String, String) Make a copy of contact and give ownership to user or group.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "New Contact" clicked, show blank aContact Screen.
"View Contact" clicked, show filled aContact Screen.
"Delete Contact" clicked, call Delete().
"Available to Group" clicked, call Swap().
"Copy to Personal" clicked, call Swap().
 

Class: aContactPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

aContactPanel() Constructor
  Create aContact Screen (as shown in Figure 3.7).
Empty() Empty Screen of old data.
FillData(Contact) Fill Screen with contact data returned from query.
Save() Save current details in Database.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "Save" clicked, call Save()
"Exit" clicked, show Contacts Screen
 

Class: FilesPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

FilesPanel() Constructor Creates Files Screen (as shown in Figure 3.8)
Update() Update Personal and Group file lists.
Upload(String, String) FTP Receive file and create a record in the database.
Download(String, String) FTP Download file.
Delete() Delete file from server and remove a record of it from database.
MakeGroup(String, String) Create a copy of file and place in group file area.
  Create a copy of record and change owner to name of group.
MakePersonal(String,String) Create a copy of file and place in personal file area.
  Create a copy of record and change owner to User ID.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "Update" clicked, call Update.
"Upload" clicked, call Upload.
"Download" clicked, call Download.
"Delete" clicked, call Delete.
"Allow Group Access" clicked, call MakeGroup.
"Make a Personal Copy" clicked, call MakePersonal.
 

Class: MeetingPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

MeetingsPanel() Constructor
  Create Meetings Screen (as shown in Figure 3.9).
Update() Fill personal and group lists with data as required.
View(String, String) Fills a Meeting Screen with data to be viewed.
Delete(String, String) Deletes a meeting.
Swap(String, String, String) Makes a copy of a meeting and gives ownership to group or personal necessary.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "View Meeting" clicked, call filled aMeeting Screen.
"Delete Meeting" clicked, call Delete().
"Available to Group" clicked, call Swap().
"Make a Personal Copy" clicked, call Swap().
"New Meeting" clicked, call aMeeting Screen.
"Exit" clicked, call Main Screen.
 

Class: MeetingPanel (Extension of Panel, Implementation of ActionListener)

aMeetingPanel() Constructor
  Create aMeeting Screen (as shown in Figure 3.10).
Empty() Empty screen of old data.
FillData(Meeting) Fill with Meeting being returned from query.
Save() Saves a Meeting into the Meeting table.
ActionPerformed (ActionEvent)
  "Exit" clicked, Meetings screen.
"Save" clicked, Save data and return to Meetings screen.
 

Pseudocode - MyWebDeskThread (Extension of Thread)

Class: MyWebDeskThread() (Extension of Thread)

run() Hold the thread open so that remote objects can call its methods.
openMyWebDesk() Open the database for connection using JDBC-ODBC Bridge.
closeMyWebDesk() Delete all old results, statements and connections.
searchMyWebDesk(String) Perform an SQL query on MyWebDesk Database.
UpdateMyWebDesk(String) Perform an SQL update on MyWebDesk Database.
getNextUser() If there is another user in the results set, create as a new object and return it. Else return null.
getNextMessage() If there is another message in the results set, create as a new object and return it. Else return null.
getNextContact() If there is another contact in the results set, create as a new object and return it. Else return null.
getNextMeeting() If there is another meeting in the results set, create as a new object and return it. Else return null.
 

Pseudocode - MyWebDeskServer (Application)

Main() Set Security Manager.
  Bind Server to RMI Registry.
OpenMyWebDesk() Find an empty thread and return to user.
  Create a new MyWebDeskThread for user and start it.
  Call openMyWebDesk() for new thread.
CloseMyWebDesk() Call closeMyWebDesk() for thread.
  Stop the thread.
  Create pointer from thread to null.
SearchMyWebDesk() Call searchMyWebDesk() for thread.
UpdateMyWebDesk() Call updateMyWebDesk() for thread.
getNextUser() Return next user for thread.
getNextMessage() Return next message for thread.
getNextContact() Return next contact for thread.
getNextFile() Return next file for thread.
getNextMeeting() Return next meeting for thread.