Pet Adoption Software

Project Manager: Rebekah Smith

Technical Experts: Alicia Strupp, Jeff Schmidt, Jeremy Wheeler, Nick Ives

The following progress report on the Pet Adoption Software provides a summary of the activity to date on the project, and the remaining steps to be implemented during Phase II. This report will focus on the technical and programming aspects of Phase I, and give a brief introduction on the purpose of the software. Phase I was programmed by implementing the ideas and practices of "Extreme programming."

Background Information

In February 2002, Rebekah Smith was assigned a group of programmers to develop a software program that implemented pet adoption on the Internet, and in turn help SPCAs and other related organizations with the adoption process.

The group met three times a week throughout February 2002 to code and debug practice programs in order to familiarize themselves with the concepts and practices of Extreme programming.

In March 2002, the group started the development of the pet adoption software. The administrative page, user page, and message board were to be completed by March 29, 2002, and Phase II was to started the following week, and be presented during the week of April 8, 2002.

The programmers were split into two groups because of work issues, and each group was given an assignment each week that related to a specific phase of the project.

Project Description

The Pet Adoption Software's main purpose is to aid SPCAs and other similar organizations that promote pets for adoption. The software is to be implemented by using a graphical message board, however it is not limited to these adoption tools. It will show the pets to be adopted, and allow users to add, and adopt pets on a daily basis. Each pet added will be given the option of descriptors, and also the chance to express other attributes that may not be descriptive features (i.e., breed, sex, etc.). Administrators can add, delete, and modify users and pets on a daily basis, and modify the message board. All coding will be done in PHP and MySQL.

The Pet Adoption Project has the following objectives:

  • Primary objective. Produce a user-friendly page that allows users to log in quickly and easily, develop an adoption message board, and develop and administrative page.

  • Secondary objective: Create a user-friendly and graphical message board with up-to-date security features.

Scheduling Considerations:

The project has been broken down into two phases:

  • Phase I (Deadline March 29, 2002). The software allows user to easily view pets for adoption and also add pets for adoption, and administrators will be allowed to view user status, and add, delete, and modify users and pets. The first phase was to develop a user log in page, administration page, and adoption message board.

  • Phase II (Deadline week of April 8, 2002). The second stage is considered the design phase. It will make the message board more user-friendly and implement security features.

Requirements

In order to create a functioning software program, the following issues must be addressed:

  • System Functionality


  • Technical Specifications
         o Hardware
         o Implementation
         o Information Support
         o Existing system modifications

    Database Design
  • The database used in the implementation of the pet adoptions software is currently located at www.muserver.com. These four tables are named: p_p1_user, p_p1_session, p_p1_log, p_p1_description. You can see the fields of these tables and their appropriate relations below.

    Figure 1. Pet Software ERD


    Recent Developments

    As of March 29th, the following feature of the pet software application have been implemented.

    User Interface:
       •A general index page has been created for non-registered users to see.
       •A link has been created from the index to a login page where administrators and      normal users may login.
       •From the login page, new users can register.
       •The general user page allows registered users to search and sort through pets.
       •The users may then logout from the registered user site.

    Administrative Interface:
       •From the login page, administrators can login to see a modified user page.
       •The modified user page contains normal pet descriptions with links above each pet      pet picture that will allow the administrator to edit the picture, edit the pet      description, or delete the pet.
       •A menu bar appears at the top of the screen allowing the administrator to view pets      and users in a condensed manner, add new users and pets, delete users, and view      the log file.
       •The view users and view pets page come with the options of adding a new pet or      user, editing existing information pertaining to the pet or user, and deleting the pet      or user.
       •The view pet page has an additional option of editing pet picture.
       •The view log page allows the administrator to empty the log file.
       •Added general security features, such as checking for user type, and valid session.
       •The administrator may then logout from the modified user page.

    Ongoing Developments

    Phase two of the adoption software development will consist of the following features:

       •Add more security features for administrators and users.
       •Allow registered user to edit their own information.
       •Condense similar code into a smaller number of files by the use of adding more      functions.
       •Focus on interface design of all sites.
       •Add any functionality that is presented at presentation on Friday, March 30th.

    Conclusion

    Production of the pet adoption software is coming along smoothly. We are overall satisfied with the current status of the software. At the present time there are no major problems and we look forward to finishing the rest of the implications desired for phase two.