ARCHITECTURE FOR A SYSTEM

Fig:Detailed Architecture of University Timetabling Information

System.

Once the student information system database is enriched with classified

data, it allows efficient administration of the university timetabling function as
well as generates timetable views. To further enhance the administration function,
these timetable views allow the information to be queried from various
perspectives namely: rooms, student, staff and courses. These views generate
manual and automated timetables and provide not only screen viewing but also the
ability to print hardcopies. Furthermore an ad hoc report generator, embedded in
the application, allows for the creation of management report from both the
Maintenance and Administration modules.

The above mentioned information system architecture was designed during

the requirement specification process. It entailed the detail view of the system,
which comprises of ERD’s, data structures and Data Dictionary. These
components of the requirements specification document are illustrated and
discussed later in this chapter. Furthermore, the proposed output, derived from
the requirement specification was classified into manual as well as automated
timetables and management reports. Hence the requirements of the system
entail a relational database that allows the logical storage of data with minimal
redundancies. This will allow the university timetabling application to maintenance
data and provide information to management for university administration. The
system should also encapsulate a timetable generator that allows for both manual
and automated timetables. The outputs of the system are the various
management and timetabling reports.

The manual timetable generator creates timetables that assist

administrators in a decision support system capacity by the provision of informed
information. It allows the user to create timetables from the data in the student
database system and facilitates manual allocation. The core strategy adopted was
developing an application from an IS perspective to encapsulate key
administrative functions and enhancement of the overall timetable generation
process. With manual timetable generation that supports the core timetabling
process, the system with its automated timetable generator, acts as a support
facility to the core process. Furthermore the application encapsulates not only
the manual and automated timetable generators but also provide an integrated
solution to the other administrative functions of the university. Thus the system
generates manual timetables and management reports from the data stored in
the database and generates automated timetables using this data and a Dynamic
Slot Table Algorithm (DSTA). However, the focus of the university timetabling
information system is on decision based timetable generation as opposed to
algorithm- based generation