University Of Bahrain

College of Information Technology

Department of Information Systems
IT Auditing
IT IS 444 / IT BIS 445
Tutorial 1

Tutorial Objectives
By the end of this tutorial you should;
- Understand and be able to navigate the ACL environment
- Be able to open and examine a project’s contents
- Be able to generate basic statistical (using statistics and profile) reports
- Be able to create and apply basic filters and sorting techniques

Exercise 1 – The ACL Environment

Go ahead and launch ACL.
On the main screen you will notice the following components;
1. The Project Navigator Pane
a. Overview Tab
b. Log Tab

Exercise 2 – Open and Examine a Project’s Contents

Exercise 2.1 – Opening a Project
After opening ACL, we will begin by opening our first sample file.
1. Go to File -> Open Project ->browse to the Sample Data Files folder -> select
Metaphor_Employee_Data.ACL and click Open.
Exercise 2.2 – Examine Project Content
1. In the Overview Tab -> right-click on Metaphor_Employee_Data.ACL -> select Properties, Notes
Tab.
2. Open Agents_Metaphor -> select Analyze -> Count Records -> from the “Count Dialog” click Ok.
3. In the Log Tab; notice the changes made.
4. Repeat the count on Employee_List.

Exercise 3 – Generate Basic Statistical Reports

For this exercise, we will use the “Statistics” and “Profile” commands. Both are used to provide you a
quick statistical insight, however “Statistics” works with numeric and date fields – while “Profile” is more concise
and only works with numeric fields.
*Command – name of a specific pre-defined action taken in ACL.
Exercise 3.1 – Using the “Statistics” command
1. With the Employee_List table active -> select Analyze -> Statistical -> Statistics.
2. With the Statistics dialog box open -> click “Statistics On” -> with the Selected Fields dialog
box -> click “Add All” -> Okay.
3. Statistics dialog box -> Output Tab -> select to: “Screen” -> Okay.
4. Examine the result.
Exercise 3.2 – Using the “Profile” command
1. With the Employee_List table active -> select Analyze -> Statistical -> Profile.
2. With the Profile dialog box open -> select all the fields -> Okay.
3. Examine the result.

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Prepared By: Ahmed Ramadan
 University Of Bahrain
College of Information Technology
Department of Information Systems
IT Auditing
IT IS 444 / IT BIS 445
Exercise 4 – Creating and Applying Filters and Sorting Techniques
For this exercise, we will look for duplicates, and apply basic filtering techniques of some data fields. The
filtering techniques used here are very similar to SQL Queries.
Exercise 4.1 – Identifying Duplicates and Applying Sorting Techniques
To use sorting techniques in ACL, we use the Quick Sort feature which works temporarily only on the
view, you may turn it off to display records as they have existing in the table.
1. With the Employee_List table -> right click on “Salary” column header -> select Quick Sort
Descending.
2. Repeat the previous step but sort using Ascending. Then turn it off. Be careful when applying Quick
Sort with large files.
To ensure data integrity, we usually check for duplicates in our data before beginning our analysis.
There are several different ways to identify duplicates; hence it may be lengthy depending on the scenario.
In the following task, we will check for duplicates in Employee Last Name and Number.
1. With the Employee_List table -> select “Analyze” -> select “Look for Duplicates”.
2. Click “Duplicates On” -> select only the “Last_Name” field -> Okay
3. Click “List Fields” -> select All Fields -> Okay
4. Go to the Output tab -> select “Screen” -> Okay
5. Examine the results. Examine a Hyperlink; which displays a filtered view on Employee_List table.
Examine the filter query used and then remove it.
6. Repeat the previous steps and don’t select any fields for “List Fields”.
7. Repeat the previous step using “Emp No” instead of “Last_Name”.
Exercise 4.2 – Using the “Total” command
Suppose you were asked the following “What is the total bonuses that were paid out in 2002?” – You
would have to execute the Total command, which will sum up all the values in a given data field.
1. With the Employee_List table -> select “Analyze” -> select “Total Fields”.
2. Click “Total Fields” buttons -> select the “Bonus_2002” field only -> Okay -> Okay.
3. Go to the Total Tab -> the total should be 1,016,483.76
4. Examine the result. Go to the Log tab and examine the command executed.
5. Examine how to re-execute commands from the Logs tab; using this history, you can always go back
to results achieved before. Nothing is lost, unless deleted or unsaved.
Exercise 4.3 – Using Logical Expressions in filters
Suppose you were asked the following “What is the number of people who were hired in 2002?” – You
would have to create a logical expression to specifically filter the records according to your needs.
*Expression – set of operators, values that you use to perform calculations, tests, or to create calculated fields
ACL Expressions can include; data fields, calculated fields, operators, constants, functions and variables.
1. With the Employee_List table -> click the Edit View Filter button; the Edit View Filter Dialog Box is
where you can create your expression.
2. In the “Available Fields” list -> double click “HireDate” -> enter “>=” -> click on “Date” and
locate January 1, 2002 -> click OK. (HireDate >= ‘20020101’)
Note: The quotation marks used for date are reverse single quotation marks; this can’t be used for other
expressions.
Also note, this result will give us all employments after January 1, 2002 – however, we need to restrict it
to be only the year of 2002.
3. Change the expression to be (HireDate >=`20020101` AND HireDate <=`20021231`) -> click Ok.
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Prepared By: Ahmed Ramadan
 University Of Bahrain
College of Information Technology
Department of Information Systems
IT Auditing
IT IS 444 / IT BIS 445
4. Examine the result and count the records. *Recall how to use Count Records Command.
Exercise 4.4 – Using Computed Fields with Logical Expressions in filters
Suppose you were asked the following “What is the ratio of bonus to salary for each employee in 2002?”
– You would have to create a logical expression to specifically filter the records according to your needs;
however in this expression you would require a computed field. A computed field is like a calculated field in
other programming languages.
1. With the Employee_List table -> remove the previous filter.
2. Go to “Edit” -> click Table Layout -> ensure you are on the Edit Fields/Expressions Tab.
3. Click “Add a New Expression” from the left
a. Name: Bonus_Percent_Salary
b. Click on “F(x)” to view the Expression Builder (similar to the Edit View Filter)
c. In the “Expression” -> enter (BONUS_2002 * 100.00) / Salary -> click OK
d. Format -> enter 999999.99%
e. Save changes by click on green check mark -> close the Table Layout window.
Note: the new field will not be visible in the Employee_List View because you have to add it.
Right click on the “CardNum” column header -> Add Columns -> select the
“Bonus_Percent_Salary” field -> click OK.

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Prepared By: Ahmed Ramadan