CPS 109: Spring 99 Projects

1. Personal MIME Server

   • Client: Jeff Chase and Amin Vadaht, Department of Computer Science
   • Motivation
     More detail later. Click below.
   • Project Description
     More detail later. Click below.
   • Additional Information
   
   

2. HTTP MIME activated Multi file upload/download tools for Win9x/NT clients

   • Client: Greg Monroe, Center for Innovation in Global Business Education (CIGBE), Fuqua School of Business
   • Motivation
     We have a dynamic Web-based application called DEEP that manages various Fuqua Distance Learning programs. A portion of this handles student assignment submissions via HTTP upload forms. In addition, we are expanding this to support "course materials" submission and retrieval. HTTP uploads can be problematic, so we would like to supplement/replace this process with an FTP based Win 9x/NT client.
   • Project Description
     This client would be activated as a MIME type handler in response to a link on an HTML page. The upload client would allow non-technical users to easily select multiple files to be uploaded, package them as a single "ZIP" file, and FTP it to the server. The download client would take a server prepared ZIP file and let the user select where to store the expanded files. The utility should handle potential errors such as transmission problems and allow for clean user cancellations. It should include a user-friendly interface and installation routine.

     The Team will work with the CIGBE developers to determine the appropriate tools/methods to use in developing this tool. Once this is done, the team can decide how to best separate and perform the component development (e.g., A works on upload, B works on download, C handles testing and installation issues). The team will need to document and demonstrate the error conditions trapped and the handling of them. They will need to supply an end user installation process and documentation.

   • Additional Information
   
   

3. Analysis of CS Administrative Processes and Some Fixes

   • Client: Keith Hurka-Owen, Senior Administrative Manager, Computer Science, Duke University
   • Motivation
     There are a number of administrative computing processes in the Computer Science Department. Some of these take place on different platforms with various incompatibilities. Macs, Windows based, and Unix based machines are all in use. Often, when information needs to go from one system to the other, it is re-keyed, with attendant inefficiencies and chances for error. It would seem that there is much room for improvement.
   • Project Description
     This project would be unusual in that it would start with a two or three week analysis phase in which the team would study current procedures and then make a report with suggestions for improvement.

     The second phase would then consist of implementing one or more of the recommendations in the report. The team addressing this project should include at least one member with expertise in use of the Mac and one with Windows experience. (Unix is assumed...)

   
   

4. New article in newsgroup notify utility

   • Client: Greg Monroe, Center for Innovation in Global Business Education (CIGBE), Fuqua School of Business
   • Motivation
     Fuqua's Distant Learning programs and other organization use NNTP (Usenet) newsgroups as a discussion tool. These groups become like e-mail inboxes that have to be check on a regular basis to keep current. Currently, this is a manual process of logging onto one or more news servers and checking for new articles. We would like to develop a utility to do this similar to the way E- mail clients monitor inboxes for incoming mail.
   • Project Description
     This program would be a Win 9x/NT program that a user could configure with the newsgroups that they want to monitor. This would support multiple news servers and authentication. The user should be able to set a check time interval. The utility would notify the use of new articles via either a sound, flashing icon, icon change or a combination of these. Ideally, the user should be able to select a "notification priority" on a group by group basis, e.g. Make a sound and icon flash if group X gets a message, but just change the icon for group Z. The user should see what group has new messages and be able to launch their newsreader with this group active. The program should be installable and usable by non-technical users.

     The Team will work with the CIGBE developers to determine the appropriate tools/methods to use in developing this tool. Once this is done, the team can decide how to best separate and perform the component development (e.g., A works on Sockets/NNTP communication, B works on the user interface, C handles testing and installation issues). The team will need to document and demonstrate the error conditions trapped and the handling of them. They will need to supply an end user installation process and documentation.

   • [Note: this may not be enough for a semester project. However, it may be possible to add elements to the project. dr]
   • Additional Information
   
   

5. Group Communications and Decision Documentation System

   • Client: Dan Plonski, Supervisor, The Administrative Development Group (ADG), Duke Medical Center Information Systems (MCIS)
   • Motivation We need to improve our communication as a group and to document the decisions that get made in informal discussions (as opposed to decisions made in formal analysis and design meetings). One problem is that there is no obvious way to find the particular document or even the particular discussion thread that answers a question, due to the large number of (unorganized) entries. There needs to be a good mechanism for tracking open issues. It needs to be easy to determine when an issue has been resolved.
   • Project Description The system we are proposing to have developed would be a team collaboration, or groupware, system. The system would need to provide a good mechanism for carrying out informal discussions of issues as they arise. It would also need a mechanism for tracking open issues and documenting decisions as they get made. In addition to dealing with issues, it would be nice to have a "bulletin board" type of area for announcements. In all cases, the above information should be easily organized to aid in finding relevant information quickly. In addition, it would be helpful to have some mechanism to allow a user to quickly determine if there were new entries in the system that needed their attention. Finally, the system should be easily extensible should we desire to add additional types of communication forums.
   • Additional Information
   
   

6. Font Handling System

   • Client: Dan Plonski, Supervisor, The Administrative Development Group (ADG), Duke Medical Center Information Systems (MCIS)
   • Motivation
     We currently have a user requirement for the ability to insert Greek and other special characters into text fields. Currently the only character set supported is standard ascii.
   • Project Description
     The application is written in Smalltalk, using the VisualWorks development environment. Future deployment will be web based, using a pluggable Java architecture that leverages the existing Smalltalk base. Specifically, what is needed is a discrete, pluggable component written in Java, with a predefined API that we can hook into. This component would essentially be a "special character picker", which would display, and allow users to copy and paste, special characters such as the Greek alphabet and extended ascii characters (very similar to the Insert->Symbol dialog found in Microsoft Word). The pasted text would need to be displayable in the text widget. A corresponding module written in Smalltalk, with a similar API, would also be required.
     
   • Additional Information