ICS 465 Midterm ProjectICS 465 Midterm Project

By David Neely and Brandon LeeBy David Neely and Brandon Lee

After you graduateAfter you graduate

• You may not have all of the answers.• What should you expect in the real world

after you graduate?• How do you find a job?• How do you search for internships?

Who should you rely on Who should you rely on for this kind of help?for this kind of help?Your classmates and the Alumni of Your classmates and the Alumni of

the ICS department at UH.the ICS department at UH.

Your fellow Alumni are Your fellow Alumni are your Network.your Network.

How do you keep this network How do you keep this network alive with the least amount of alive with the least amount of

pressure?pressure?

Keep in touch.Keep in touch.

Constantly.Constantly.

Keeping in touch is hard.Keeping in touch is hard.

In a field like ours, it is essential.In a field like ours, it is essential.

Change is inevitableChange is inevitable

It’s a fact of life that as times It’s a fact of life that as times change, information changes. change, information changes.

It evolves.It evolves.

Change is inevitableChange is inevitable

• Email addresses change without warning.• People move from place to place now

more than ever.• Even people’s names change.• As you get older, networking becomes

even more important.

Constant change is hard for one Constant change is hard for one person to track.person to track.

• Many copies of the same piece of data lead to data inconsistencies

• The Solution must be centralized.• The Solution must be dynamic.• The Solution must be scalable.• The Solution must be easy-to-use.

There has to be a simple and There has to be a simple and centralized way to keep in centralized way to keep in

touch with your classmates…touch with your classmates…

We propose…We propose…

A dynamic flash-based ICS Alumni A dynamic flash-based ICS Alumni mapmap

Benefits of a dynamic flash-based Benefits of a dynamic flash-based ICS Alumni mapICS Alumni map

• Centralized data source. – Not only can you access this information from any

internet-enabled computer in the world, you can also update it.

• Up to the Minute Information– Display up-to-the-minute information

• 90 percent browser saturation– Flash is the most downloaded plug-in on the internet.

It is on almost 90 percent of all computers connected to the internet.

Use a combination of toolsUse a combination of tools

• Microsoft Access Database• Macromedia Flash MX 2004• Active Server Pages

One table contains…One table contains…

• First name• Last name• Email address• Graduation Year• Type of Major (BA/BS)• Photograph (url)

How do you get the How do you get the database to talk to flash?database to talk to flash?

Use Active Server PagesUse Active Server Pages

• Add a new user• Update a user• Delete a user• Display all graduates• Display only BS graduates• Display only BA graduates

Using ASP, Flash can now Using ASP, Flash can now communicate with the databasecommunicate with the database

ASP

ASP

DATABASE

FLASH

The prototypeThe prototype

Potential ObstaclesPotential Obstacles

• We need to decide the scale of the project. Could this be extended to a world map later?

• Zip codes. This makes the precision of the map much more accurate. However the implementation still needs to be worked out.

• Flag collisions. How do we represent multiple flags at the same x and y coordinate.

• Obtaining test data.

In Conclusion…In Conclusion…

• A centralized source, accessible from any internet enabled device.

• No duplicated information• Data consistency• Infinitely expandable• Graphical representation of data

Dynamic Alumni MapDynamic Alumni Map