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DES 115 Computer Skills

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Lesson1: Information Processing

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Data and Information

A datum is a fact that is accepted at face value. Data is the plural for datum though it is
accepted to use it even in singular terms as data. Data is unstructured, lacks context and may
not be relevant to the recipient. When data is correctly organized, filtered and presented with
context it can become information because it then has "value" to the recipient.

Data which is not information (i.e.: has not yet informed or been given a context) is often called
raw data. Raw data are numbers, characters, images or other outputs from devices to convert
physical quantities into symbols, in a very broad sense. Data happens to be raw facts and
figures that are meaningless until when processed, for example meter readings collected for a
water company, hours worked by employees in a factory, in a banking system, bank charges,
commission etc. Such data are typically further processed by a human or input into a computer,
stored and processed there, or output to another human or computer. This transforms it into
information. Note that data processed at one stage may be the input data for another stage.
The conversion of data into information is called data processing. The diagram in figure 2 below
depicts the most common representation of the computing model: inputs are taken in and
processed (manually or electronically) to produce outputs.

Figure 1: Data Processing Model

Information is a term with many meanings depending on context, but is as a rule closely related
to such concepts as meaning, knowledge, instruction, communication, representation, and
mental stimulus. Simply stated, Information is a message received and understood.

In computing terms, information can be defined as a collection of facts from which conclusions
may be drawn. It is the result of processing, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds
to the knowledge of the person receiving it.
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Information is raw facts and figures that are meaningless until when processed. Examples of
information based on the above data are; water bills, a pay slip and a bank statement.

In information processing, a logical data file is a collection of records with similar characteristics.
Examples of data files include the sales ledger, purchases ledger etc

A record in a file consists of data relating to one logically definable unit of business information.
A collection of similar records makes up a file. For example, the records for a sales ledger file
consists of customer reference number, balance owing and credit limit field

Records in files consist of fields of information, for example, a customers record on the sales
ledger file will include name, address, balance owing.

Records on a file should contain one key field. This is an item of data within the record by which
it can be uniquely identified, for example man number, account number, NRC number and
examination number

Files are conveniently classified into transaction files, and master files

• A transaction file contains latest activities of a business, and it’s the one that is used to
update the master file. Once updating has taken place the file is discarded. In batch
systems, transactions can be bundled up manually or kept in an electronic form but
would only be used on a certain date to update the electronic master file. Transaction
files are at times called by different names such as, changes file, movements file and
amendments files

• A master file is a semi permanent file that is periodically updated by a transaction file in
order for it to show its current status, for example a payroll master file and customers
master file. The updating times vary depending on the application, say weekly,
fortnightly or monthly. In the case of the cinema, this will happen immediately a
transaction occurs.

• Reference file, is also known as standing data file or table file. This contains data that is
“permanent” in nature because it usually changes after along periods of time such as a
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year, for example tax table, price list and tariff tables. This file is usually referred to
when a transaction file is updating a master file.

• Sort file, these are temporal files that are used as an intermediary during file updating

Role of Information in Business

In management, organisations use information in one of the following ways:

• Planning: a forward looking application of information with a view to setting the long-
term objectives of the organisation and meeting long-term targets. Typically information
used in this role will focus on forecasting, historical analysis and will often be qualitative
and quantitative but may also be subjective. It is most likely to be used by senior
managers for strategic purposes

• Control: where the main focus is to ensure that the actual results and performance of
the organisation match the objectives and targets set at the planning phase. Such
information can be used to identify problems and performance that exceeds
expectations. This tactical application of information is the role of middle managers who
also act as the nerve centre of the company passing information up and down the
organisation. This information is characterised by standard summarised reports and
targeted or ad-hoc exception reports.

• Operating: a daily application of information to assist in the day to day running of the
organisation. This operational use of information, mainly by supervisors and junior
managers provides the basis for the information used for control and planning. It is also
this information that will be adjusted to react to or reinforce the problems or
exceptional performance identified by the control process.

Table 1 below summarises the characteristics of information in relation to its use at the various
levels of management within an organisation. What is clear is that information that is used
regularly must be accurate and as such is often acquired from a very narrow pre-defined source.
Information that is used infrequently tends to come from a wider external and undefined source
and this is likely to make far less accurate but nevertheless provides a more general view which
will help shape future decision-making. Such information is likely to be aggregated or
summarised before being presented to the users with irrelevant facts filtered out.
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Table 1: Characteristics of Information

Characteristics of Strategic Tactical Operational
Information
Source Largely external Internal & external Largely
internal
Scope Very Wide Intermediate Narrow & well
defined
Level of Detail Broad and aggregated Aggregated to some extent Detailed
Currency Historical & Forecast Recent Very recent
Timeliness Not urgent Fairly up-to-date Urgent and up-
to-date
Frequency of use Infrequent Regular Very frequent
Required Accuracy Low Fairly accurate Very accurate

Interpreting Information

For information to be useful across the entire organisation, it is important to get a clear and
common understanding of what it means. This implies being able to classify and measure it.
Information can be classified as Qualitative and Quantitive:-

a) Qualitative information: is difficult to assign a numerical value to. It refers to things like
morale, attitude, likelihood, intention to buy and many other such things which are
subjective and may not necessarily result in the same answer for the same conditions at
a later date. Strategic planning however, must still take this information into account
despite the highly likely element of inaccuracy.
i. Quantifying qualitative information: is necessary if the entire organisation
wants to achieve a common interpretation. This can be done by applying a
grading scheme at the point of acquiring the information (e.g. using a scale of 1
to 5 did you enjoy the lecture 1 is did not 3 is neutral and 5 is very much).
ii. The problem with this approach is that it is possible to ask the same questions
later and get a different answer. It also assumes the questions asked are the
right ones and that all possible replies are included.
b) Quantitative information: on the other hand is that which can be expressed in
numerical terms. It is used across all the different management levels.

Qualities of Good Information

i. Timeliness: Information must be delivered soon enough to be meaningful. Last years
accounts are irrelevant with respect to this year’s tax audit.
ii. Sufficiency:
a. Completeness: is there adequate information for the purpose intended
b. A person doing a sales analysis might need more than one year’s information to
reveal seasonal and annual trends. This is because the sample size and time
horizon are inadequate at one year to reveal this.
iii. Level of Detail or Aggregation
a. Is the information broken down into meaningful units
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iv. Redundancy this can be a problem if there is too much redundancy or too little
redundancy
a. It may be intentional e.g. giving both a verbal and written warning to an
employee
v. Understandable: can it be read and interpreted correctly. This means addressing these
issues
a. practicality (do not present too much than is practical to absorb)
b. simplicity
c. minimization of perceptual errors
d. difficulty with encoding (does the reader understand spreadsheets)
vi. Freedom from Bias: information presented with accompanying text or verbal
explanation that is likely to encourage the reader making a supporting decision
vii. Reliability
a. are you sure the information is correct
b. verifiability (can we prove it is correct or at least reproduce it)
viii. Decision-Relevance
a. predictive power as in repeating monthly production figures
b. significance (e.g. exception reports showing large variances)
ix. Cost-efficiency
a. need to consider the change in the decision behaviour after obtaining the
information minus the cost of obtaining it
x. Comparability: last year vs. this year analysis is usually affected by this
a. consistency of format
b. Consistency of aggregation: e.g. are we comparing “like for like” sales or is there
another product or condition this year that we did not have last year that has
skewed the figures.
c. consistency of fields
xi. Appropriateness of format
a. medium of display and transmission e.g. VDU, email, printout
b. ordering of the information
c. graphical vs. tabular display
d. Quantity: more is not better!

Sources of Data and Information

An organization is a formal group of people operating in a systematic way to achieve one or

more shared goals.

The study of organizations is commonly referred to as organisation theory or organisational

behaviour or organisation analysis.

Examples of organizations which are legal entities include: governments, non-governmental

organizations, military, charities, cooperatives and universities. Other examples include
manufacturing firms, public utilities, service providers and retail companies.
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Analogous to the data processing model of Figure 1, an organisation gathers inputs from the
environment, to which it adds value by using its employees or members and internal processes
to generate outputs back into the environment.

Figure 2: The Organisational model

As Figure 2 illustrates, the organisation takes inputs from suppliers, governments, industry
regulators, customers and partners, the environment, the market and other exchanges and
transforms these into outputs. The inputs may be raw materials which then become products
but these inputs are also data and information which the organisation may gather, generate, use
or disseminate.

Consider something like the price of a product that a business sells. The cost information is
collected from the supplier. After adding its own value, the employees tag on a cost related to it.
The organisation then takes in prices from competitors and perhaps pricing guidelines from the
regulator before setting its own price. Government legislation means adding VAT to the price.
Finally the price is published to the market using advertising methods devised by its partners
such as an advertising agency. Later lobbyists might pressure the business to lower or increase
the price by demonstrating that doing so would reduce damage to the environment or help a
social cause.

What the pricing example demonstrates is that data and information come from the
environment in which an organisation is doing business and also from within the organisation
through its processes and employees. The very process of doing business provides the sources of
data and information that an organisation will typically use to create products from raw
materials.
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Flow of Data and Information through the organisation and outside

The activities of an organization are split into functional roles of employees and business
processes which are the routines or tasks that the employees perform. More often than not
because of division of labour and specialization, groups of sequentially related tasks are grouped
together into specific functional units or departments. The split of tasks is essential for
efficiency. The value chain model (see Figure 3) as described by Michael Porter is one of the best
ways of looking at the activities of a business.

Inbound logistics concentrates on the supply side of the business including purchasing and
storage of goods or raw materials, production planning, quality and stock control.

Operations refer to all those processes and activities that take place in order to convert inputs
into outputs. Examples include manufacturing or assembly plants. In hospitals the process of
making appointments to see a doctor and scheduling and performing surgery would be classified
as operations.

Outbound Logistics refers to all the activities required to deliver the finished goods to
customers and include warehousing techniques, stock control and transportation.

Figure 3: The Value Chain

Sales and marketing refers to the activities that a firm engages in so that it can: inform the
customers of its intent to trade its products in the market; match the needs of the customer to
the characteristics of its products or services; and capture and fulfil demand. Sales & marketing
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is all about communication with the customers and setting strategy on issues such as what to
sell, where to sell and at what price. Services or after-sales service refers to the activities that an
organization engages in so that it can support the sale of goods in the market. It includes issues
such as reverse logistics (managing customer returns), selling parts over the lifetime of the
product and customer support (reaction to product failures or training).

The value chain model also lists a variety of support activities. These activities are necessary in
order to keep the organization running. These activities include:

• Human resource management: performs the tasks of hiring and managing the human
labour and developing the firm’s intellectual capital (e.g. promotion and training).
• Technology development: includes IT infrastructure, software, research and design
processes and information management
• Procurement: covers the finance and accounts department which ensures that the
organization has the cash required to run all the operations and the resources needed
to continue production. Typically procurement is concerned with inputs that are not raw
materials or directly related to the production process e.g. printer paper, pens, office
computers

Linkages between Activities

The activities of an organization are split into functional roles as illustrated by the value chain
model. These functions or departments of organisations can often become information and
operation silos whose objectives can sometimes be in conflict with one another. To illustrate,
the inbound logistics team have as an objective the need to keep stock levels as low as possible
in order to avoid obsolescence and reduce costs. The sales team on the other hand need to
satisfy customers quickly and one of the best ways is by keeping a high level of stock. The sale of
stock must be recognised by logistics so as to replenish it on time in the warehouse. At the same
time, the arrival of stock in the warehouse must be recognised by the sales team to ensure that
they start selling it early to keep levels optimised. If both these departments were to operate in
“information silos” the organisation would experience excessive stock levels on some products
and stock-outs on others. Information is passed between departments both formally and
informally and even automatically by computer and machine systems. These department
linkages ensure process and resource optimisation (e.g. stock). To achieve this, the departments
must share information between one another and thus they become the sources and
destinations of information between one another.

Information Flows
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The information from one department often forms the information inputs for another
department and if anything it is likely that information flows both ways between departments.
Studying organisation information flows is the key to developing good computer systems and
optimising the performance of an organisation.

Consider the workings of a complex organisation structure like the intellectual communities in
higher education. In this ecological structure, researchers, lecturers and teachers generate
intellectual output. Information is released as publications in peer reviewed journals while other
actors in the cycle perform the role information aggregators providing access to indexed
information which is used by the information generators to make new discoveries and improve
on older work by accessing past information provided by the aggregators. This cycle of
information flow has accelerated the advance of science allowing mankind to avoid having to re-
invent the wheel every step of the way and to use the knowledge of a vast number of people
past and present.

Figure 31: Information flow for Intellectual communities

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Lesson 2: Computerized Information

System
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Introduction to Computers and Information systems

Definition of a computer, this is an electronic device that is made up of input devices such as
the keyboard and is used to capture data and instructions, with the help of sets of instructions it
will be able to produce results or output through devices such as printers or screens. A
computerised information system on the other hand is a business application of the computer.
It is made up of the database, application programs and manual and machine procedures. It also
encompasses the computer systems that do the processing.

The database stores the subjects of the business (master files) and its activities (transaction
files). The application programs provide the data entry, updating, query and report processing.

The manual procedures document how data are obtained for input and how the system's output
is distributed. Machine procedures instruct the computer how to perform scheduled activities, in
which the output of one program is automatically fed into another

Computers can be classified as follows:

a) Supercomputers
b) Mainframe computers
c) Minicomputers
d) Microcomputers, commonly called PCs

(a) A supercomputer is used to process very large amounts of data very quickly. They are
particularly useful for occasions where high volumes of calculations need to be
performed, for example in meteorological or astronomical applications.

(b) A mainframe computer system uses a powerful central computer, linked by cable or
telecommunications to terminals. A mainframe has many times more processing power
than a PC and offers extensive data storage facilities. Mainframes are used by
organisations such as banks that have very large volumes of processing to perform and
have special security needs. Many organisations have now replaced their old
mainframes with networked ‘client server systems of mid-range computers and PCs
because this approach is thought to be the cheaper and offer more flexibility

(c) A minicomputer is a computer whose size, speed and capabilities lie somewhere
between those of a mainframe and a PC. The term was originally used before PCs were
developed, to describe computers which were cheaper but less well-equipped than
mainframe computers. With the advent of PCs and of mainframes that are much smaller
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than in the past, the definition of a minicomputer has become rather vague. There is
really no definition which distinguishes adequately between a PC and a minicomputer.

(d) Microcomputer or PCs are now the norm for small to medium-sized business computing
and for home computing, and most larger businesses now use them for day-to-day
needs such as word processing. Often they are linked together in a network to enable
sharing of information between users.

Portables

The original portable computers were heavy, weighing around five kilograms, and could only be
run from the mains electricity supply line. Subsequent developments allow true portability.

a) A laptop or notebook is powered either from electricity supply or using a

rechargeable battery and can include all the features and functionality of desktop
PCs.

b) The palmtop or handheld is increasingly compatible with true PCs. Devices range
from basic models which are little more than electronic organizers to relatively
powerful processors running ‘cut-down’ versions of Windows and Microsoft Office,
and including communications features.

Many computers have been designed to achieve faster computational speeds, using different
architectures.

Maths co-processor and Graphics co-processor. Most processors may include specialized and
faster processors (a maths co-processor/graphics co-processor) can be used for applications
requiring high-speed mathematical or graphics computations. Such applications could be
spreadsheet calculations or complex computer-aided design (CAD) work. The maths co-
processor supports the main processor by performing the required calculations more rapidly
than the main processor. In the same way, the graphics co-processor is designed to perform
graphical functions, such as the construction and maintenance of images much faster than the
main processor. The co-processors are under the control of the main processor.

Pipeline machines. In the pipeline machine architecture each stage in the fetch-executive cycle
is handled by a separate machine hardware unit. The first unit fetches an instruction from
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memory. At any one time there may be four or five instructions within the processor each at
different stages of execution in different units.

Array processor. In the array processor there is one control unit but multiple ALUs, which are
able to work in parallel with one another. They are particularly suited to applications in which
sets of values require the same operation to be performed on each value, e.g., converting every
value in a table to a percentage of the total.

Technological Developments in Information Systems

Information Systems is the discipline concerned with the development, use, application and
influence of information systems. An information system, following a definition of Langefors is a
technologically implemented medium for recording, storing, and disseminating linguistic
expressions, as well as for drawing conclusions from such expressions.

The technology that implements an information system need not be a computer technology.
The term “information systems” means the computers, communications facilities, computer and
communications networks, and data and information that may be recorded, processed, stored,
shared, transmitted, or retrieved by them, including programs, specifications, and procedures
for their operation, use and maintenance.

Thus an accounting system will include the application e.g. SAGE Line 500 or SAP, the input
devices like bar code readers for scanning in electronic sales, output devices like printers and
the local area network that joins different parts of the system together.

Evolution of Information Systems

Information systems and in particular business information systems have changed over the last
forty years from performing information processing tasks in the 1950s and 60’s into a strategic
planning and decision making role in the late 90’s and implementing new business models in the
21st century.

In the 1950s and early '60s computing was based around the mainframe computer. The
mainframe was itself a vast machine implemented across acres of space consuming large
quantities of electricity and initially implemented with valve-based technology. This meant that
only the largest organizations (government, big corporations) could afford to own and run them.
Information systems of this era were therefore specialized and typically used to tackle specific
number-crunching problems. Referred to as “electronic data processing systems”, they were
used to record and store accounting information such as ledger accounts. This was strictly an
operations support role.

The invention of the transistor by William Shockley is perhaps one of the greatest inventions of
modern history. This is because the transistor is cheap to build, small, flexible, and reliable and
can be integrated into other electronic circuits. Transistors replaced electronic tubes (valves)
and suddenly the cost and power consumption of computer equipment became affordable for
more organisations.
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Thus the late 1960s saw the advent of the minicomputer. Cheaper than the mainframe, more
organizations could now afford computing power. In the 70’s new programming languages C
and improved operating systems with multi-tasking capabilities (UNIX, MVS for the IBM OS/360)
led to changes in the role of information systems. These machines could perform more than one
task at once and for multiple users (time sharing). More people now had access to information
systems and though they were costly they could now be applied to different problems like
generating a limited range of predefined reports accounting reports such as the profit and loss
accounts, balance sheets, cash flows and sales reports. The aim was specifically to help
management track their performance and make changes. This was the beginning of information
systems as decision support tool and they were called “management information systems”.

Management information systems would themselves be improved by giving users choices of

input and output configurations and customisation of applications. They could apply different
scenarios to the same problem. They could look at the different outcomes and use them to
make decisions. They were also referred to as “decision support systems”.

The Integrated circuit or IC was developed independently by Jack Kilby (Texas Instruments) and
Robert Noyce (Fairchild Semiconductor) in 1959. The integrated circuit allowed for multiple
transistors to be implemented on a single semiconductor wafer of chip. Early technology or
small-scale (SSI) to medium scale (MSI) integration meant that tens to thousands of transistors
could be placed on a single chip. In 1980 VLSI or Very Large Scale Integration enabled millions of
transistors to fit on a chip and for the first time a whole microprocessor, the computer could be
implemented on a single chip. VLSI led to the birth of the microcomputer and the introduction
of decentralized computing.

Prior to this point, an organization would have one large mainframe computer and users would
submit a job to the computer department for batch processing and waiting for job schedulers
and operators to perform the procedure. The advent of the personal computer, specifically the
IBM PC and its compatible rivals meant organizations could afford computing power for
individual users and these users could now process information for their own specific area or
purpose in the organization.

Decentralized computing led to the fragmentation of information. Not only did many users
generate a lot of different information about the company, many generated different
information about the same things. This information overload led to the introduction of
“executive information systems”. They streamlined the process, giving the executive exactly
what they wanted, and only what they wanted. If done properly the EIS worked and gave an
organization a clear picture of what was going on and what decisions to make.

The 1980s also saw the first commercial application of artificial intelligence techniques in the
form of “expert systems”. These programs could give advice within a very limited subject area.
Expert system were supposed to help decision making support, but in practice were limited by
the knowledge of the expert and the ability of the systems to capture the knowledge of the
expert and use it in the correct context.

In the 1990s strategy became an important business subject taught across universities and led
by luminaries such as Michael Porter, Prahalad and Hamel and Tom Peters. Using IT to gain
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sustainable competitive advantage became a big issue and led to the introduction of “strategic
information systems”.

During the late 1980s and all the way through to the 1990s a new approach to computing was
developed based on placing the application at the server and getting users to access it from a
client. Termed client-server technology, it culminated in the development of a system in which
applications were accessed via a common interface called a browser which worked in exactly the
same way from whatever computer system was used. This development was to create a whole
new phenomenon called “The Internet”. What is less well-know is that the success of this new
computing model depended on several inventions: “Ethernet” developed in 1972 by Xerox;
“hypertext” developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1992 and the “Internet Protocol”
developed in 1969 by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the USA.

Ethernet enabled computers to be connected together in a local area network or LAN. This
made it possible to coordinate information across many systems and made decentralized
computing workable. The Internet Protocol which is a communications standard, became the
de-facto standard and together with Ethernet allowed data exchange to occur smoothly
between organisations. The invention of hypertext and the “World Wide Web” (WWW) finally
brought the power of the internet to the masses and with it a whole range of new applications.

By the latter part of the 1990s and the new millennium, the role of business information
systems had now expanded. These systems no longer just supported business and helped make
strategic choices; the systems became business models in themselves and led to the
commercialization of the Internet, and the advent of intranets and extranets.

The future will see the rise of supply chain management systems which focus more on processes
than they do on functional units in order to achieve the aim of the process and hence the
company as opposed to the aims of department or functional “silos”. This development already
underway has led to the rise of topics such as “business process reengineering” championed by
the likes of Hammer and Champy and “total quality management”. Today’s management
information systems carry names like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Supply
Chain Management (SCM) systems.

Table 1summarises the relationship between management systems, information systems and
computer systems which when put together form a computerized information system.
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Table 1: Component of Computer Information Systems

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SYSTEMS
Structure (is) Function (does)
Management System
People Sets organisations goals and objectives,
strategies and tactics, plans schedules and
controls
Machines

Information System
Database Defines Data Structures
Applications Data entry, updating, queries and reporting
Procedures Define data flow

Computer System
CPU Processing
Peripherals Store, retrieve, display
Operation System Control the entire system

Advantages of using a Computer over Manuals Processing

• Speed
• Accuracy
• Convenience
• Economical
• Flexibility

Both manual and computer information processing can be divided into two broad types; namely
batch and real time processing. Batch processing are becoming less common, periodically if the
process concerned have an impact on customers.

Batch processing system, this is a system where data is collected, accumulated for a certain
interval period of time such as weekly or month, and then these transactions are captured as a
unit in order to update the master file. Examples of systems that use batch are payroll, water
billing, and final accounts preparation and examination results production. Because data is not
input as soon as it is received the system will not always be up-to-date.

Real time processing occurs when data is collected and captured right away so that the results
of the processing are known right away. This type of processing is commonly used in banks,
cinema system and student registration.

Online processing involves transactions being input and processed immediately, in ‘real time’.
On-line refers to a machine which is under the direct control of the main processor for that
system. The term ‘on-line’ is also used to describe an active Internet connection. On-line, real-
time processing is appropriate when immediate processing is required and the delay implicit in
batch processing would not be acceptable. On-line systems are practically the norm in modern
business. Examples include the following
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a) As a sale is made in a department store or a supermarket, the barcode on the

merchandise is scanned on the Point-of-sale-systems/ terminal that is directly
connected to a central machine in the supermarket or at head office in order to
facilitate on-line real time processing.

b) In banking and credit card systems whereby customer details are often maintained
in a real-time environment. There can be immediate access to customer balances,
credit position etc and authorization for withdrawals

c) Travel agents, airlines and theatre ticket agencies all use real-time systems. Once a
hotel room, plane seat or theatre seat is booked up everybody on the system must
know about it immediately so that they do not sell the same holiday or seat to two
or more different customers.

Role and use of Computers

• Education

• Health and Medical Research

• Agriculture

• Business(Marketing, Sales)

• Mining

• Real Estate

• Robotics Science

Technological advances in society has had the following effects on society and businesses

a) The type of products or services that are made and sold. For example, consumer
markets have seen the emergence of home computers, compact discs and satellite
dishes for receiving satellite TV; industrial markets have seen the emergence of custom-
built microchips, robots and local area networks for office information systems.
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b) The way in which products are made. There is continuing trend towards the use of
modern labour-saving production equipment, such as robots. The manufacturing
environment is undergoing rapid changes with the growth of advanced manufacturing
technology. These are changes in both apparatus and technique.

c) The way in which services are provided. High-street banks encourage customers to use
’hole-in-the-wall’ cash dispensers, or telephone or PC banking. Most large shops now
use computerised Point of Sale terminals as cash desks. Many organisations are starting
to use e-commerce: selling products and services over the Internet.

d) The way in which employees are identified. Database systems make it much easier to
analyse the market place.

e) The way in which employees are mobilized. Computerisation encourages delayering of

organisational hierarchies, and greater workforce empowerment and skills. Using
technology frequently requires changes in working methods. This is a change in
organisation.

f) Homeworking. Advances in communications technology have, for some tasks reduced

the need for the actual presence of an individual in the office. This leads to cost savings
on office space, if homeworkers are freelance, then the organisation avoids the need to
pay them when there is insufficient work, when they are sick, or on holiday etc

g) The paperless office. There might be less paper in the office (but not necessarily so)
with more data-processing done by keyboard. Data handling is likely to shift from the
traditional movement of paper to the storing of data electronically.

h) Routine processing, the processing of routine data can be done in bigger volumes, at
greater speed and with greater accuracy than with non-automated, manual systems.

i) Customer service, office automation, in some organisations results in better customer

service. When an organisation receives large numbers of telephone enquiries from
customers, the staffs who take the calls should be able to provide a prompt and helpful
service if they have on-line access to the organisation’s data files.

j) Organisation structure, the structure might change. PC networks give local office
managers a means of setting up a good local management information system and
localized data processing while retaining access to centrally held databases and
programs. Office automation can therefore encourage a tendency towards
decentralization of authority within an organisation. On the other hand, such systems
help head office to keep in touch with what is going on in local offices.
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k) Management information, the nature and quality of management information will

change.
• Managers are likely to have access to more information. The range of reports are
likely to be wider and their content more comprehensive
• Planning activities should be more thorough, with the use of models such as
spreadsheets for budgeting and sensitivity analysis
• Information for control should be more readily available
• Decision making by managers can be helped by decision support systems

l) EDI, is a form of computer-to-computer data interchange. Instead of sending each other

reams of paper in the form of invoices, statements and so on, details of inter-company
transactions are sent via telecommunication links, avoiding the need for output and
paper at the sending end, and for re-keying of data at the receiving end.

The way accounts personnel deal with invoices would affect the way they work in an
organisation. Instead of sending each other transactions in the form of invoices and
statements, details of inter-company transactions are sent via telecoms links avoiding
the need for output and paper at the sending end.

m) Video conferencing, this is the use of computer and communications technology to

conduct meetings. Video conferencing has become increasingly common as the Internet
and webcams have brought the service to desktop PCs at reasonable cost.

n) The Internet, the introduction of the Internet has allowed workers to search for
information as well as use email facilities in communicating with customers at a faster
and efficient rate. Attachments can be emailed.

o) Voice messaging systems, these systems answer and route telephone calls. Typically,
when a call is answered a recorded message tells the caller to dial the extension
required, or to hold if they want to speak to the operator. Sometimes other options are
offered, such as press 2 if you want to know about X service and 3 if you want to know
about Y.

p) Computer bulletin boards, this consists of a central mailbox or area on a computer

server where people can deposit messages for everyone to see and in turn read what
other people have left in the system. They are appropriate for a team of individuals at
different locations to compare notes and keep track of progress on a project.
 22

Lesson 3: Basic Computer Structure

 23

Components of a Computer System

This section defines a computer and looks at computer architecture, the components of
a computer and how it works. It also discusses how the peripherals attached to a
computer achieve the input, storage and output necessary to create and operate
computerised information systems.

The computer and all equipment attached to it are called hardware. The instructions
that tell it what to do are called "software." A set of instructions that perform a
particular task is called a "program" or "software program." The instructions in the
program direct the computer to input, process and output as follows:

• Input/Output The computer can selectively retrieve data into its main memory
(RAM) from any peripheral device (terminal, disk, tape, etc.) connected to it. After
processing the data internally, the computer can send a copy of the results from its
memory out to any peripheral device. The more memory it has, the more programs
and data it can work with at the same time.
• Storage By outputting data onto a magnetic disk or tape, the computer is able to
store data permanently and retrieve it when required. A system's size is based on
how much disk storage it has. The more disks, the more data are immediately
available.
• Processing The computer performs all processing by "calculating," "comparing" and
"copying" the data stored in its memory (RAM).
(a) Calculate: The computer can perform any mathematical operation
on data by adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing one set with
another.
(b) Compare The computer can analyze and evaluate data by
matching it with sets of known data that are included in the program or
called in from storage.
(c) Copy: The computer can move data around to create any kind of
report or listing in any order.

By calculating, comparing and copying, the computer accomplishes all forms of data processing.

Computer hardware is made up of four components, namely:

a) Input devices to facilitate data capture

b) Output devices to produce the processed data
c) The central processing unit or processor
d) External storage device or backing store
 24

Most modern computers are based on an architecture created by IBM which they called the IBM
PC (Personal Computer) and licensed. Despite all the modern increases in power, memory and
speed, all modern machines are based on fourth generation microprocessor technology.

A. Computer Hardware

Below is an example circuit diagram of a modern day computer. It is composed of a central

processing unit (CPU), the system bus which is itself split into a higher bandwidth front-side bus
connected to memory and on-board graphics cards for extra speed and a PCI bus connecting
peripheral devices

Figure1 : Computer Architecture (adapted from www.howstuffworks.com)

The CPU is composed of a control unit and arithmetic and logic unit and input/output registers.
The function of the control unit is to fetch and execute programming instructions. It fetches the
next instruction and loads it with associated data into the registers and either performs move,
modify, or store actions. If a computation is required, it instructs the Arithmetic and Logic Unit
(ALU) to perform the action and receives the results and places or outputs them to the correct
registers.

The function of the Control unit is implemented as microcode in non-volatile Programmable

Read Only Memory (PROM). The registers that store the instructions and data are implemented
in fast access volatile memory or RAM (random access memory).
 25

The von Neumann architecture (Figure 2) on which the CPU is based is limited by the speed of
the bus. The CPU is faster and can output more than the bus can carry. While connected
peripherals are even slower. This has led to a permanent quest to find ways to improve the
speed of the bus so that programs can load more instructions and data to utilise CPU speeds.
Thus there have had to be modifications to the von Neumann model.

Firstly there is a permanent request to increase the size of internal storage as in doing so more
of the program can be loaded there at once. Then there is the use of caching to hold instruction
data and results on the same chip as the control unit for extra speed and the implementation of
a faster front side bus for accessing registers (RAM) and separating it from the slower
peripheral bus.

Modern computers also use pipelining. This involves loading more than one instruction in the
instruction registers and beginning the execution process before it is required. This is because
most programs include if … then … else statements. 60% of the time the “then” part is executed
and this is the code in the pipeline. The net effect is to make the CPU operate faster.

Figure 2: CPU based on von Neumann design

All modern computers implement virtual memory techniques. When a program is being
executed, only the code that is currently in focus is required in the CPU. Thus it is possible to
 26

load the instructions from more than one program in the CPU at the same time and have only
the code that is in focus with the rest stored on disk and called when required. Virtual memory
is what makes the computer behave as we know it today. It allows for an operating system like
DOS, Windows, UNIX or Linux to be in memory and control applications which are running
together with it making it easy for users who are not competent with computer programming to
run one or more applications at the same time by simply swapping them in and out of memory.

Another technique associated with the deficiencies of the von Neumann model is spooling or
buffering. Since the peripherals are slow, a program writing to a disk or waiting for printer
would hold up the CPU. Instead, the CPU can write the output for the printer to a spool file
which is actually a location on a disk and the printer would then pick up what to print form this
file without the CPU having to wait for the printer. This allows the CPU to process other jobs in
the pipeline.

All of the computer logic is implemented on a printed circuit board usually referred to as the
motherboard (see Figure 3).

Peripherals are connected to the CPU by the system bus and specific hardware ports (e.g. PCI
slots or device headers) which are placed on the motherboard. They allow the computer to
communicate with the outside world by taking inputs from devices like a mouse or keyboard
and display outputs to printers and visual display units e.g. a monitor or projector.
 27

Figure 3: Typical Motherboard

Summary Details

The processor

The processor is the brain of the computer. The processor may be defined as follows;
it’s the nerve centre of the entire computer system as it is in charge of all the operations
of the machine. It is divided into three elements namely:

• Arithmetic and logic unit

• Control unit
• Main store or memory

The processing unit may have all its elements – arithmetic and logic unit, control unit,
and the input/ output interface on a single “chip”. A chip is a small piece of silicon upon
which is etched an integrated circuit, on an extremely small scale

The chip is mounted on a carrier unit which in turn is ‘plugged’ onto a circuit board –
called the motherboard – with other chips, each with their own functions.
 28

The most common chips are those made by Intel Company. Each generation of Intel CPU
chip has been able to perform operations in fewer clock cycles than the previous
generation, and therefore works more quickly.

Microprocessor. A microprocessor is a component of the computer’s central processing

unit (CPU) and contains circuitry for controlling the entire computer system, for
performing arithmetic and logic operations, for controlling input and output and also
memory circuitry. Usually, the microprocessor circuitry is contained on a single silicon
chip. The microprocessor interprets and executes all the instructions in the computer
system.

All chips containing circuitry that controls the computer and also the computer memory
chips are found on the system board. The motherboard, also called the main board, is a
circuit board whose task is to link all the other chips of the computer. Any expansion
boards that should be installed in the computer are fitted into expansion slots which
hold the boards in place. The slots also give the boards an electronic link to the
motherboard

A chip is a small piece of silicon material which contains microcircuit elements. An

integrated circuit (IC) is combination of circuit elements that are interconnected and
placed on a small chip of silicon. The IC chip is then mounted on to a carrier unit that is
itself plugged on a circuit board with other chips. Although put together on one circuit
board, each IC chip performs its own functions.

MHz and clock speed

The processor receives program instructions and sends signals to peripheral devices.
The signals are co-ordinated by a clock which sends out a “pulse’ – a sort of tick-tock
sequence called a cycle – at regular intervals

The number of cycles produced per second is usually in MegaHertz (MHz) or GigaHertz
(GHz)
 29

• 1 MHz = one million cycles per second

• 1 GHz = one billion cycles per second

A typical modern business PC might run on 2 GHz.

Memory

The computers memory is also known as main store or internal store. The memory will
hold the following.

• Program instructions
• The input data that will be processed next
• The data that is ready for output to an output device

Memory address

Memory address. Memory address refers to storage locations that are found in
memory. Each computer memory has several memory locations which are used to store
data. Since the data needs to be retrieved at a later time so that it can be processed, a
way of finding it uniquely and quickly is needed. For this reason, each memory location
is allocated an identification number by which the memory location is uniquely
identified. This identification number is the address of the memory location. This
concept can be compared to that of our postal addresses.

Core store

Core store is the type of main memory that was used in computers in the early days of
computing. The core itself was a small ring of iron. A wire passed through the core.
Current should be passed in this wire in such a way that the core was magnetized, either
north or south. To represent data, for example, a core magnetized to be North Pole
would be holding a one (1) and the core magnetized as South Pole would be holding a
zero (0). An extra wire was made to go through the core. This wire was meant to sense
the magnetism of the core and so read the stored values from the core
 30

Bits and bytes

Each individual storage element in the computers memory consists of a simple circuit
which can be switched on or off. These two states can be conveniently expressed by the
numbers 1 and 0 respectively

Each 1 or 0 is a bit. Bits are grouped together in groups of eight to form bytes. A byte
may be used to represent a character, for example a letter, a number or another symbol

Business PCs now make use of 2 bit processors. But simply, this means that data travels
around from one place to another in groups of 16 or 32 bits, and so modern PCs operate
considerably faster than the original old 8 bit models

The processing capacity of a computer is in part dictated by the capacity of its memory.
Capacity is calculated in kilobytes (1 kilobyte = 210 (1,024) bytes and megabytes (1
megabyte = 220 bytes) and gigabytes (230). These are abbreviated to Kb, Mb and Gb.

RAM

Random Access Memory is memory that is directly available to the processing unit. It
holds the data and programs in current use. RAM in microcomputers is ‘volatile’ which
means that the contents of the memory are erased when the computers power is
switched off.

RAM on a typical business PC is likely to have a capacity of 1 Gigabyte. The size of the
RAM is extremely important. A computer with 1 GHz clock speed and 512 megabytes of
RAM will not be as efficient as a 2 GHz PC with 1 Gigabyte of RAM

Most of the computer’s immediate access storage (IAS) is RAM (Random Access
Memory). RAM holds the data, information and instructions that the computer needs in
performing particular tasks. During the execution of any program (instructions), that
 31

particular program or part of it has to reside in the RAM memory. The data which the
program is supposed to manipulate and transform into information is also stored in the
RAM memory during processing. The information and also the intermediate results of
processing will also be kept in the RAM before they are finally stored on disk, displayed
on screen or printed. A part of the operating system is also stored in RAM during the
time the computer is in operation. When your computer reads information from a disk,
it stores that information in RAM. In other words, RAM is that storage (memory) which
holds all data and instructions that the computer needs to carry out its current work. A
disadvantage of RAM is that it is temporary storage and when you turn the computer off
all the contents of RAM is lost (unless you have saved the contents to an external,
permanent storage medium). For this reason, RAM is referred to as being volatile
storage.

Cache

The cache is a small capacity but extremely fast part of the memory which saves a
second copy of the pieces of data most recently read from or written to main memory.
When the cache is full, older entries are flushed to make room for new ones.

Mostly, cache memory is used to hold data such as variables of executing programs and
also the parts of a program code that may be required too often for execution. The
main purpose of the cache memory is to bridge the speed imbalance between the
processor and the main memory. The data or program parts that will be required next
in the processing cycle are fetched well in advance from the main memory and placed in
the cache for the processor to find them quickly. In this way, data and program parts
are swapped back and forth between the main memory and cache memory. Although
expensive, the use of cache memory improves the performance of the computer
tremendously because access to cache memory is much faster than to main memory.
 32

ROM

Read Only Memory is a memory chip into which fixed data is written permanently at the
time of its manufacture. When you turn on a PC you may see a reference to BIOS (Basic
Input/ Output System). This is part of the ROM chip containing all the programs needed
to control the keyboard, screen, disk and so on.

Read Only Memory (ROM) makes a smaller part of your computer’s immediate access
storage (IAS). ROM storage is permanent. As such, ROM holds that kind of data and
instructions that the computer needs regardless of the task it performs. The computer’s
basic instructions that tell a microprocessor chip how to perform its functional
operations are stored in ROM. Since ROM storage is permanent, its contents are also
not lost even when power is switched off. Consequently, you can not alter the contents
of ROM in any way other than destroying the ROM chip. ROM is therefore non-volatile.
Since ROM holds the basic instructions that the computer needs in order for it to
operate, it is important that ROM is non-volatile and its contents are non-alterable. This
is a vital safeguard to keep your computer operating properly.

ROM has got other variations. These are the PROM, EPROM and the EEPROM. PROM
(Programmable Read Only Memory) is a type of memory which can be programmed
only once. PROMs are bought without programs (empty). They are programmed by the
user special equipment but once they are programmed, the contents cannot be
changed. PROMs can only be programmed once. Of course, users would require chips
that can be erased and reprogrammed. This demand led to the development of
erasable PROMs. The erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) is usually not
programmed by the manufacturer. Once they are programmed, EPROMs require ultra-
violet light and some special equipment in order for their contents to be erased. This is
a vital safeguard against accidental erasure. An EEPROM is an electrically erasable
PROM.

Virtual memory

Virtual memory is a technique employed to enable computers to run very large

programs in relatively smaller main memories. Using this technique, the large program
that is to be run is split into smaller parts called pages. In this way, only the smaller part
of the program (page) which is currently executing will be loaded into the main memory,
 33

while the rest of the program is on some direct access secondary storage (e.g., disk).
When the next part of the program is needed for execution, it will be loaded into
memory and it will overwrite the previous part and continue being executed. This
technique gives the impression that the main memory is very large, when in actual fact
it is small. Hence he term virtual memory. Virtual memory makes efficient use of the
main memory.

The notable differences between the main memory and backing storage are shown
below:

Topic Main memory Backing storage

1 Speed Main memory provides higher
access speeds than backing
storage because its part and
parcel of the CPU
2 Volatility Main memory is volatile; it can
not be stored for ever. It loses
its contents when power is
switched off
3 Capacity They have smaller capacities
since it’s not possible to
predict in advance how much
space will be needed to store
all the data that will be
processed by a particular
computer in its life time.
4 Representation In memory data is represented
as 0s and 1s. 1 represents the
fact that current is flowing in a
particular circuit while 0
represents the case that no
current is flowing in the circuit.
Data on backing storage devices are
electromechanical, its access at lower
speeds than that of the main memory
Backing storage provides permanent
storage and data stored can stay there
for many years to come even if power is
withdrawn.
Backing storage has larger storage
capacity than memory. Any extra data or
programs will be held in the backing
storage, it would be costly to build very
large memories.
On backing storage data is represented
by the presence of small magnets and
their polarity. Backing storage are
magnetic, a plastic paper or metal
platter coated with magnetic substances
that can easily be magnetized

Input Devices

Computers take inputs and process them into outputs. An input device is a peripheral device
that generates input for the computer such as a keyboard, scanner or mouse.
 34

Methods of Data input

There are in general three classes of data input: online; offline; and task-specific. The type of
input device used depends entirely on the application and the urgency of the inputs.

• Online data input: This is the most common method. The user inputs data directly onto
a backing storage device. In many cases this is the preferred method of input with data
being captured in real-time as instances of it are generated or occur.
• Offline data input: is used when it may not necessarily be desirable (economic), practical
or possible to capture data online. It involves the gathering and preparation of data
away from the computer which is then converted into machine-readable format by a
device and finally the machine-readable format is input to backing store.
• Application-specific input: A computer or a specialised microprocessor can be used to
read specific pre-formatted information. This form of input is now becoming more
common particularly in reducing errors and costs as the machine being used to input the
information is faster than humans, will generate fewer errors and is likely to capture the
information at the earliest possible opportunity.

Online Input Devices are typically general purpose and can be used with more than one
application. They allow the user to issue instructions or enter data to a computer at their point
of choosing. Examples of online input devices include but are not limited to:

• Keyboards

• Positional devices: Joysticks, Gloves and Trackballs

• Pointing devices: Mouse, Stylus, Light Pen, Light Gun, Touch screens

Offline Input Devices are usually associated with batch processing and include but are not
limited to:

• Punched cards

• Key-storage systems

These systems are no longer in common use with online input being the preferred method.

Application-specific Input Devices are characterised by the fact that they work only in a specific
context and can not be applied in general situations. Examples include:
 35

• Barcode readers

• Laser scanners

• Image scanners

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems for mass surveillance operations,
which use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on images to read the licence plates on
vehicles

Video Image recognition systems are used by police or airport authorities to track progress
of passengers and trap criminal elements.

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition: Sometimes classed like bar codes as optical mark
recognition (OMR), MICR technology recognises the numbers or marks on a document
such as a cheque.

Point of sales systems are employed in retail situations.

Selection of input methods

In choosing an input method and hence the type of input devices that can be used, several
criteria are important and apply to the situation as follows:

• Economy: the cost of data capture weighs heavily in the equation since if the input
method used is too expensive, the project or solution cannot be implemented. If
there are not enough volumes bar-coding is too expensive

• Accuracy: the error tolerance level that is acceptable also dictates the choice. If the
ease of detection of errors is good and the ability to correct them post-capture is
also easy then methods with high error rates but low cost are acceptable. In the
even that this is not the case or more expensive but less error prone solution is
necessary.

• Time: If it takes too long to capture the data then the value of the results may not
be useful. In real-time situations, the input methods must be instantaneous.

• Reliability: the cost of a unit being down (e.g. an ATM at a bank) can be high so the
chances of it breaking down and the speed with which it can be recovered as well as
backup routines influence choice.

• Flexibility: so methods are specific others are generic. If there are many purposes
then a generic device for delaing with different types of inputs must be selected.
 36

• Volume: Large volumes of data may require methods that can collect it quickly. As
an example, computer readable forms and marked ballot papers are used for
elections because using people takes too long to collect and count in areas with big
populations

• Compatibility: the selected equipment must work with future as well as present
applications. Features such as network capability and multiplicity of interfaces and
connectors on the device affect the choice.

Input devices

Input devices are hardware components that facilitate the capture of data into the computer
systems through standard input ports. These ports can either be serial or USB.
A keyboard is derived from a standard keyboard; it’s used for the manual capture of data into
the computer system

i) The advantages of using a keyboard for the input of data.

• The person keying in the data can be in a remote location, away from the computer
itself. Data can be transmitted via a communications link
• The person keying in the data can check for keying errors on-screen.
• Keyboard input is convenient for small volumes of data when the time taken up by
data input is relatively short.

ii) The disadvantages of a keyboard for data capture

• It is unsuitable for large volumes of transaction data. Keying data manually

takes time, so is not appropriate in some situations.
• Keyboard input is likely to be error-prone
• There might be security problems. Keyboard input may be overlooked, and
there is the risk that unauthorised people could access a terminal or PC

Originally a workstation was a computer used by one person, particularly for graphics and design
applications, and was used primarily in engineering. It had a fast and powerful central processor,
a high resolution monitor, and a large memory. This enabled complex designs to be easily
manipulated. Similarly it meant a terminal with limited processing power that was connected to
a mainframe computer and used by a user in a remote place for purposes of keyboard-console
 37

data capture. These characteristics, however, are no longer unique to workstations. High
performance personal computers can offer very similar services; so the distribution is a historical
one. The term ‘workstation’ is often used to describe a person’s desk, chair and computer- their
immediate working environment.

In most cases Electronic Point of Sale systems (EPOS) take advantage of bar codes.

Data can be recorded in binary on documents, paper or plastic, using a code of alternating lines
and spaces. A special reading device might have a wand and by passing the wand over the lines,
the data stored in the bar codes can be extracted and used for input to a computer. These bar
codes which are normally contained on the packets or wrappers of goods are commonly used in
supermarkets and other shops,

When a customer buys some bar coded items and takes them to the checkout to pay, the shop
assistant will use a bar code reader (such as a wand or laser scanner), which is capable of
sensing the bar coded data and transmitting it to the central computer in the shop. The
computer then provides the price of the item being purchased (from the price on the price file)
and this is then output to the cashier’s check-out point. The total cost of all the purchases is
similarly calculated, and the customer sees what he or she must pay on a small display screen,
and receives a printed receipt for the goods purchased. Bar codes are often used in electronic
point of sale devices. In this case the data relating to the transaction would be captured by the
device and recorded on sales file or stock file as it occurred. Hence data is captured at the
source, that is, where the data is generated (the point of sale).

Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) means that at the point of sale, when the
customer has brought up his goods to the checkout and the electronic point of sale has
calculated how much the customer has to pay for the transaction, no cash will be handled
physically. Instead, all the cash involved will be handled electronically. This may require the
shop or store to have a computer system that is linked to the customer’s bank.

When the amount to be paid by the customer is shown on the screen, the customer inserts his
bank card into a machine that will identify his account number and other details. The computer
at the shop will then inquire (electronically) from the bank’s account of the customer as to
whether the customer has enough money in his bank account to be able to pay for the goods. If
the money in the account is enough then the customer’s account will be debited by the amount
required to purchase the goods. The shop’s account will be credited by the same amount that
the goods bought by the customer cost.
 38

In this way the goods will be bought without any hard cash being handled. All the cash that is
required has been transferred to the right accounts electronically. All this occurred at the point
where the goods were being sold (point of sale) as such this is called Electronic Funds Transfer at
Point of Sale (EFTPOS).

At the time the shop’s computer inquired about the availability of funds in the customer’s
account from the bank’s computer, the transaction would have been stopped if the customer
did not have enough money in his account to pay for the goods. No transfer of funds would
have taken place and the customer would not have been allowed to carry the goods. Instead
the goods would have been returned to the shelves of the shop.

To avoid such inconveniences, banks do issue credit cards to their trusted customers. The credit
card contains identification details and necessary bank details of the holder. With this card, the
customer can pay for goods and services on credit. When making payment the credit card will
be passed in a card reader that will extract the identification information from it and record it on
computer storage. The amount to be paid will be extracted from the card in the same way. The
store or shop can then send such data to the bank, where the funds will be transferred from the
customer’s account to the shop account. Some credit cards are so smart that they can be used
like electronic wallets. These are called smart cards.

The following are the advantages

(i) Stationery is saved. The paper and ink that was to be used for printing the price tags
would be saved. The money that was to be used for such stationery can then be used
for other ventures that will help to boost business.

(ii) Reduction on labour force with a consequent saving of money. The pricing of items
individually would attract a large manual labour force. This labour force would need to
be paid money. With the use of bar codes such a large labour force wouldn’t be
needed. This would be a saving for the store on funds that could then be channeled
back into business.

(iii) Quick service to customers. When a new consignment of goods comes to the store
then the consignment would wait until the individual items have been stuck with price
tags before customers could buy these items. This might lead to dissatisfaction of
customers who in turn might decide to go to another store where services are offered
quickly. With the use of bar codes, as long as the total number of items is known, the
items can straight away go to the shelves and customers can buy as soon as the items
come.
 39

(iv) Price changes are catered for. In countries where prices are continually adjusted due to
inflation, this could lead to enormous loss of stationery needed to print new price tags.
This would also mean employing extra casual labour to cope up with the job of re-
pricing the individual commodities. The end result is that the store will spend a lot of
money on stationery and on this extra labour force.

Mark sensing. Mark sensing is a method used for data input into computer systems. This
method utilizes pre-printed forms or cards normally for selecting choices in appropriate boxes
on the forms. The selection is made by marking the choice with a line or a cross using a pencil or
pen. When the choices have been marked, the form is then fed into a reading device. The
reading device will then sense the boxes which have a mark on them and then translate these
into machine codes. These codes, in form of electrical signals, are then sent to the computer for
evaluation.

This method of input is called mark sensing because only the marks in the boxes are sensed. It
does not matter what character is in the box, but only the mark matters. This is the type of
system currently used for marking the Grade VII (Seven) examinations. Candidates mark their
answers with a pencil on the answer sheets. The answer sheets are then fed into a scanner that
senses the marks in the appropriate boxes and sends the appropriate signals to the computer
which then evaluates the answer. Mark sensing documents are an example of turn-around
documents.

It is clear that at Grade VII level, children are still at such an academic level that they cannot
write essays in good and readable handwriting. Therefore, the answer sheets of the Grade VIIs
are really appropriate for their level. Reading an essay written by a Grade VII candidate under
examination conditions might be quite difficult. Besides the largest number of candidates at any
examination level is at Grade VII. So it would be very taxing to have human beings mark their
examinations. As far as the current technology stands, mark sensing is the most appropriate
method for marking these exams.

Optical Character Recognition. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a method used for data
input into computer systems. This method utilizes pre-printed forms or cards. The user types in
the characters in particular positions on the form. The characters need to be in a particular
format or style. Such formats are normally used, for example, in big universities where new
students are required to fill in their details on pre-printed forms. These forms are then fed
directly into a computer peripheral (e.g. OCR reader) which then extracts the details of the
students and sends them to the computer for processing or for storage into a database. As can
be seen from this example, these methods of input reduce the involvement of the human being
 40

in the process of data preparation and input. By so doing, errors are greatly reduced. OCR
documents are an example of turn-around documents.

If such computer readable forms like the OCR forms given to university students at registration
were not used, it would mean that the student would type his details on to a form (not
computer readable), and then a data preparation operator would extract the details from the
form into the computer. In this way, there are too many people involved in the data
preparation process. Clearly, there will be multiple errors. So the OCR forms help in reducing
errors in the data capture process.

The function of an optical character reader is to recognize characters encoded on OCR forms.
Optical Character Readers (OCR) use optical sensing methods to recognize characters, which are
normally written in stylized form. OCR can recognize characters that are printed by a
computer’s printer. They can also recognize characters that are block hand written. Optical
Character Readers are therefore used for the preparation of data for input to the computer.
Data prepared by Optical Character Readers can be entered on-line to the computer or saved on
storage media for off-line data entry later.

Advantages of OCR

(a) Computers can produce pre-printed OCR documents which can later be read by
computers (turn-around documents). This is cheaper since no special equipment is
involved.
(b) Data preparation errors are eliminated.
(c) OCR documents are visible records.
(d) A considerable range of OCR document size is catered for.
(e) OCR equipment can be on-line to the computer (but often data is written to magnetic
tape off-line for faster computer input, especially to mainframe).
(f) Source data entry can be automated.
(g) OCR contains data that can be read by human beings and so enabling visual inspection
of data.
(h) OCR has wide applicability

Disadvantages of OCR

a) OCR document must be treated with care so that characters still remain readable.
b) Special measures are required to replace spoilt or lost OCR documents.
c) OCR equipment can be expensive
d) Print quality may be crucial since unclear documents may distort the data
 41

Advantages of MICR

a) The data can be read by human beings and so enabling visual inspection of documents.
b) MICR documents are relatively easy to sort.
c) MICR documents make forgery difficult

Disadvantages of MICR

a) Printing MICR documents requires special equipment

b) The quality of print is important and the amount of ink in a character is critical.
c) MICR has a limited character set in E13B
d) MICR is not fully automatic as the amount of the cheque (in the case of banking) or other
data, must be added manually.

Turn-around document. A turn around document is a document that is initially produced by a

computer (printed by a computer’s printer). The document is then sent out to customers to
record data on it through the inclusion of marks or characters on special places of the
document. Such a document is then returned to the computer and is then input to the
computer using an Optical Character Reader (OCR) or an Optical Mark Reader (OMR). The
Grade VII examination answer sheets used in Zambia currently provide a good example of turn-
around documents using OMR.

Computer terminal
For each branch, each employee signs on (logs on) to the computer every morning when
reporting for work. The computer takes note of the time that the employee logs on. When
he/she knocks off, he/she logs off. Once again the computer takes note of the log-off time and
calculates the total number of hours each particular employee worked for the day. This process
is done locally and every day at each branch for the whole week. The details are kept on file by
the local computer in every branch. At the end of each week, the hours each employee worked
for each day in the week are added up together by the local computer and sent to the central
computer at headquarters. At the central computer, all employee details from all the branches
are consolidated into one file which then used as the input file for the payroll system.

This means that each branch should have a log on computer (terminal) and that the date and
time on this computer can only be changed by the system administrator who has a super
password. This will ensure that employees do not manipulate the time and date any how.
 42

Further, this solution requires that the main office headquarters be networked with each of the
branches.

Since human beings easily make errors, this system should be set up in such a way that the
employee does not actually type in the time of logging in or logging off. Instead, the employee
just types, for example the user name and the words log on when signing on and again user
name and the words log off when signing off. The computer will automatically record the times
when the employee logs on and off.

Output devices

These hardware devices produce processed data or information in printed form or in softcopy.
Or An output device is a peripheral device that allows a computer to display or store results of
actions and/or processes (the outputs) for the computer such as a printers or monitors.

Output Methods

Output devices can be classified by the form that the output takes and whether it is machine
readable or human readable output. Human readable output can itself be classified as transient
(e.g. on monitors) or permanent (paper format from printers) or microfilm.

Machine-readable output devices are those to which data can be written to magnetic disk or
magnetic tape. Before this data can be read again, it must be read and processed by a device
like a disk or tape drive and a computer.

Human-readable output devices: This categorisation can be further broken down into devices
that once switched off do not keep the output and are transient and those devices whose
output is permanent. The most common transient output device is the visual display unit or
monitor. A monitor is typically based on cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD)
technology. LCD technology takes up less space, uses less power and has become the dominant
computer display format. It is the only possible format in some cases like laptops and PDA
devices.
 43

Selection of output methods

The choice of output methods depends on the following issues:

• Size of the display

• The number of colours
• The resolution or sharpness of the output
• The volume of the output
• Whether it will be permanent or transient
• Costs

Printers

Printers generate their output on paper and this output is permanent. There are a variety of
printers the most common of which are discussed here:

Ink-jet printers: operate by guiding a high-speed stream of ink drops onto the paper. The ink
then dries and forms the image. Ink-jet printers with multiple cartridges can do colour
printing.

Laser printers: operate by electrostatic charging of a rotating drum using laser source. The
parts where no characters are required are left blank. The rotating drum then picks up
toner which is held in a cartridge. The toner sticks to the charged parts and as the drum
rolls the toner sticks to the paper. Laser printers print a page at the time and are quiet
and fast. They can print images and so do not need to use pre-printed paper.

Line printers: print one line at a time and are associated with mainframe computers
because of their speed and ability to print high volumes of output. Dot-matrix printers:
use a set of pins or needles (dots) which impact an ink ribbon to form a character. Each
character is built by a rectangular array of dots typically 9 rows by 7 columns.

Plotters: use pens with the ability to move horizontally and vertically across the printing
surface. The pens can be loaded with different inks allowing it to print in colour. Plotters
can print large documents like building plans or production drawings.

Printers are devices that produce printed images on paper. The image to be produced by the
printer is received in form of signals from the controlling device, usually, the central processing
unit. In the case of impact printers these signals activate print elements which are pressed
against the paper through the printer ribbon, to produce the required image. Non-impact
printers, on the other hand, do not require any impact on paper. The ink-jet printer for
instance, simply injects some ink onto the paper to produce the required image.
 44

Using the bus system, the electronic components of the CPU exchange all their signals in
parallel. Peripheral devices like the printer are connected to the computer through ports. Some
ports are parallel, that means, all the 8 bits that make up a character, for example, are sent at
once from the CPU to the parallel port. On the other hand, other ports are serial, that means,
the 8 bits that make up a character, for example, are sent one after the other from the CPU to
the serial port. A printer that is connected to a parallel port and hence receives its data from the
CPU in parallel is a parallel printer. A printer that is connected to a serial port and hence
receives its data from the CPU in a serial manner, is a serial printer. Parallel printers are faster
than serial printers.

Advantages of non-impact printers

(a) Since they are not electromechanical, non-impact printers are generally much faster
than impact printers and they also print quietly.
(b) Non-impact printers offer a wide variety of type faces.
(c) Non-impact printers offer high and good quality resolutions (print images).
(d) Since they have fewer moving parts, non-impact printers are more reliable.

Disadvantages of non-impact printers

a) Non-impact printers may be expensive (although prices are slowly coming down due to
technological advancements).
b) Due to lack of impact on paper, non-impact printers can not produce carbon copies (multi-
part output).
c) Some non-impact printers may require special printing paper which might be expensive to
acquire.

Advantages of impact printers

a) Impact printers offer the advantage of producing carbon copies (multi-part output).
b) Impact printers are cheaper.
c) Impact printers may not require special printing paper but just ordinary paper.

Disadvantages of impact printers

a) Due to the fact that they are electromechanical, impact printers may be slow in operation.
b) Impact printers may not offer the high resolution (good quality print) offered by non-impact
printers.
c) Owing to the many moving parts (electromechanical), impact printers may not be as reliable
as non-impact printers.
 45

Visual display terminals are well suited for applications that involve inquiry and response
without the need for permanent hard-copy records being stored. The terminals are also well
suited for use as graphic display devices in applications that use graphics, e.g., computer aided
design (CAD).

Types of Printers

Dot matrix printer. A dot matrix printer has a head containing a series of pins or needles held
up in form of a matrix. Some dot matrix printers have print heads with a matrix of 9x9, 9x7 or
7x5 pins. To have a character printed, the pins that are required to form the character are
pushed forward out of the matrix slightly and then pressed against the print ribbon, which also
presses against the paper. Thus an impact has to be made on the paper making this printer an
impact printer. The characters appear as consisting of small dots. Each character will depend
on a particular combination of pins. Some dot matrix printers are line printers while others are
character printers. Matrix printers are relatively cheap although they are slowly becoming
outdated. Figure 6 shows a 7x5 matrix print-head whose pins are ready to print the capital
letter A.

OOOOO

OOOOO

OOOOO

OOOOO

OOOOO

OOOOO

OOOOO

Dot matrix print head to print the letter A

An ancillary machine is a machine that is off-line and is not in any way controlled by the
computer, yet it plays quite a role in the overall work done by the data processing department.
Such machines include the guillotine and the shredder, among others.
 46

Plotter. Although certain printers are now available that can produce good quality drawings,
plotters are still very suitable for computer aided design (CAD) jobs since they are designed
specifically to handle sophisticated graphical output. A plotter produces high quality drawn,
rather than printed output. Plotters work on a co-ordinate principle, whereby drawing
movements are executed by pen. All movements are under software control. There are two
types of plotters, the drum plotter and the flatbed plotter. A drum plotter plots on paper that is
fixed to a drum. While the drum revolves back and forth, a bar suspended above the drum and
containing a drawing pen moves from side to side and so plotting the drawing. On the other
hand, the paper on a flatbed plotter is stationary so that only the pen moves up and down the
paper, thus plotting the drawing. While the flatbed plotter can plot larger drawings, the drum
plotter can plot longer drawings because it uses continuous paper.

The flatbed plotter, due to the wider sizes of paper it is capable of taking, would be more
suitable for producing the computer aided design (CAD) drawing on an A3 paper in our question.

Plotters may be operated on-line. If operated off-line, the drawings may be saved on to a tape.
The tape will then be mounted on an off-line drive that will read instructions from the tape and
then drive the plotter to draw the required work. Specialized devices can also be used that
enable designs to be etched and so form master plates for creating manufactured goods.

Due to the ever advancing technology, the distinction between plotters and printers is becoming
more and more blurred. There now exists low cost, high resolution laser printers which are
capable of processing the quality output needed for computer aided design (CAD) applications.

A laser printer does not make an impact on the print paper, hence it is a single-part output
device. Therefore, a laser printer would be unsuitable for this sort of job. Also computer output
on microform (COM) could be used for the archive of pay slips details to enhance transparency
and save storage space.
 47

Figure 4: Input & Output Devices with connectors

Connectors

In order to accept inputs and display or transfer outputs, computers need a mechanism for
transfer of the data. Connectors provide the conduit by which a peripheral talks to the
computer. They are typically implemented as hardware ports. The most common of which are
discussed here:

The PS/2 port is based on a standard used by IBM for the PS/2 PC. Most keyboards, mouse
and barcode readers use a PS/2 wedge cable.

Many devices that send communications in bits one after another (serial communication use
an RS-232 output port so that the decoded characters arrive at the computer via one of
its RS-232 connectors.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is supported by almost all new types of devices and is quickly
becoming the defacto standard. This is manly because of the following advantages: it
can be used for multiple devices so reducing production costs; and it can use the
computer as the power source so requiring no separate power supply in cases where
this would be necessary.
 48

Serial port: is supported by most computers for connecting devices that only send and
receive data in bits one at a time such as modems or WAN routers. The most common
device for use on a serial port is a monitor.

Parallel port: Parallel ports were originally developed by IBM as a way to connect a printer
to a PC. The parallel port uses a 25-pin connector or DB-25 used in conjunction with a
36-pin Centronics connector at the other end of the cable to connect printers to the
computer. Almost all printer manufacturers adopted the Centronics interface and the
parallel port became a de facto standard. When a PC sends data to a printer or other
device using a parallel port, it sends 8 bits of data (1 byte) at a time. These 8 bits are
transmitted parallel to each other, as opposed to the same eight bits being transmitted
serially (one after another) as in a serial port. The standard parallel port is capable of
sending 50 to 100 kilobytes of data per second. Through the same port the printer is
able to communicate with the computer acknowledging receipt of data, sending offline
notification or job ended instruction. Further enhancements were made to the parallel
port design allowing for bi-directional communication with half-duplex (sending in only
one direction at a time) and full duplex (sending in both directions at the same time)
capabilities. This is known as standard parallel port. An additional improvement was
made on the speed of the connectivity enabling it to operate at 500Kbps – 2Mbps and
hence the enhanced parallel port.

Video Graphics Array: or VGA is a computer display standard developed by IBM in 1987. It
was first implemented as a chip by Motorola and hence the reference to programmable
logic array. However it was later implemented as an adapter or graphics card in ISA and
now more commonly PCI standards. VGA has been enhanced in various forms of which
the most common is Super VGA (SVGA). The difference is mainly in response times, and
number of colours and text fonts supported
 49

Storage Devices

Figure 5: Input and Output Ports

Computers use two types of memory: high-cost fast access on-board or on-chip memory
containing data and programs currently being processed; and external storage held on
attached devices for long-term storage of data, programs and output.

Types of storage devices

On-board chip memory

There are several kinds of memory chips which can be classified as non-volatile (cannot be
erased) and volatile (do not hold contents when powered off):

• Read Only Memory (ROM) typically contains data and instructions (programs)
installed by the manufacturer typically required to start a device. The programs may
be referred to as firmware. ROM is non-volatile
• Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM) is a ROM that can be erased
using ultra-violet light and re-programmed.
 50

• EEPROM are EPROM that can be erased using electronic means allowing for
selective re-programming of only the programs and data required.
• Random Access Memory (RAM) is memory that can be used to store data and
programs only required for immediate use. RAM needs to be continuously powered
to keep the data and is thus volatile.

External Storage

External storage devices server the purpose of storing the input and output data
required to operate the computerised information systems. They also store the actual
application programs. External storage devices include:

• Hard disks generally accessed over one of a number of bus types, including
ATA (IDE, EIDE), SCSI, SAS, Firewire or IEEE 1394) USB and Fibre Channel.
• Floppy disks which are read and written by a floppy disk drive or FDD.
• Zip drives which are medium-capacity removable disk storage system, first
introduced by Iomega.
• Tape drives, also known as streamers, which are peripheral devices that read and
write data stored on a magnetic tape. They are typically used for archival storage of
data stored on hard drives. Tape drives are sequential-access, and must wind past
all preceding data to read any one particular piece of data.

Hard disk

Disks offer direct access to data. A modern business PC invariably has an internal hard disk. At
the time of writing the average new PC has a hard disk size of around 40 Gigabytes.

Features of hard disk/ fixed disk

• Recording surfaces are made of metal platters and coated with magnetisable
material
• The metal platters are piled together on a spindle and so forming a disk pack. The
pack can be sealed in a case to protect recording surfaces against dust and other
damage
• The metal platters are not flexible since they are made of metal
• Tracks can be placed closer together leading to higher storage capacities
• Each track on each disk surface has its own read/ write head. Read/write/ heads are
fixed
• The outer-most surfaces of the disk pack are usually meant for protecting the disk
and are not used for recording.
 51

Floppy disks

The floppy disk provides a cost-effective means of on-line storage for small amounts of
information. A 3½ disk can hold up to 1.44 Mb of data.

Features of Floppy disks

• Usually the disk surfaces are made of plastic material that is coated with magetisable
material
• The recording surfaces are divided into concentric circles which are further sub-divided
into sectors
• The disks are covered in a jacket for protection. A small opening is left to alow the
read/write heads access to the data on disk
• There is one read/write head for each disk surface
• Read/ write heads are movable
• Data is read or written by rotating the disk past read/write heads, which can write data
from the CPU onto disk, or can read data the disk for input to the CPU
• Floppy disks exist mainly as 3.5”.

ZIP disk

A Zip disk is a different type of removable disk, with much larger capacity (100 Mb) that requires
a special ZIP drive. A Zip disk is suitable for back-ups or for moving files between computers.
Files are zipped so that they are compressed into a logically smaller file. Some users ‘Zip’ the
contents of multiple file attachments into one Zip file to send via e-mail (some e-mail
programmes do this automatically). To open the Zipped files, you must first unzip (extract) the
zip file using software such as WinZip or PKZip. The extracted files will then show their file
extensions, and may be opened using the appropriate software.

Features of Zip disk

• It’s a different type of a removable disk

• Has much lager storage capacity than floppy’s, about 100Mb
• It requires a special zip drive when used
• It is suitable for back-up storage or for moving files between computers
 52

Flash disks

This has been a recent breakthrough in ICT regarding the storage of large volume data onto a
stick that can be slotted into a USB port

Features of Flash sticks/ disks

• They are portable

• They are enclosed in protective casings
• Contain high storage capacity, for example 256Mb, 512Mb, 1GB, 2GB etc
• It is suitable for back-up storage or for moving files between computers
• Are slotted into a USB port when used

CD-ROM (Compact Disc – Read Only Memory)

• A CD-ROM can store 650 megabytes of data

• The speed of a CD-ROM drive is relevant to how fast data can be retrieved: an eight
speed drive is quicker than a four speed drive
• CD recorders are now available for general business use with blank CDs (CD-R) and
rewritable disks (CD-RW) are now available

DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)

• The CD format has started to be superseded by DVD. DVD development was encouraged
by the advent of multimedia files with video graphics and sound – requiring greater disk
capacity

• DVD technology can store almost 5 gigabytes of data on one disk. Access speeds are
improved as is sound and video quality. Many commentators believe DVD will not only
replace CD ROMs, but also VHS cassettes, audio CDs and laser discs and sound –
requiring greater disk capacity.

Storage Architectures

The magnetic disk is the most common form of storage but the implementation of this
depends on one of several architectures dictated by the application and the needs for
fast accessibility, redundancy and volume of data. There are three types of storage
architectures.
 53

Direct Attached Storage (DAS) is composed of block-based storage devices connected

directly to a host machine — for instance, disk drives connected to a SCSI parallel bus.
DAS is a common choice for applications that require high-performance, but have
limited data sharing among servers. A good example is a small database or a file server.

Figure 6: Storage ArchitectureNetwork Attached Storage (NAS) offers file-based storage to hosts
connected to an IP network. Consequently, NAS offloads the entire file system from the hosts to the file
server. In NAS architecture, multiple hosts can share files. Standard interfaces for requesting these files,
such as CIFS (Common Internet File System) and NFS (Network File System), enable file sharing across
different platforms. NAS is often chosen for applications with a need for cross-platform shared storage.
Good examples are a collection of Web servers in an enterprise, accessing HTML content stored as files,
or a network of workstations in a department.

Storage Area Networks (SAN) replaces the bus-based architecture of DAS with a
switched fabric. Both hosts and devices are then connected to the fabric, allowing for
scalable performance, capacity, and sharing devices among several hosts. SAN
architectures are often chosen for those applications with a need for highly scalable
performance from the storage devices. A good example is a distributed database
running on a cluster of workstations.
 54

Figure 7: Storage Area Network

 55

B: Computer Software
Software

Software describes a computer program or set of programs that operate in tandem to

solve a particular problems or set of problems. The two most common types of software
are:

• System software: to integrate a computer's various capabilities, but typically does

not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user. Operating
systems are typical of systems software. System software acts as an interface
between the hardware of the computer and the application software that users
need to run on the computer.
• Application software: is a loosely defined subclass of computer software that
employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to
perform. The term application refers to both the application software and its
implementation. Application software is designed to solve a particular problem or
serve a specific purpose. Examples of application software include spreadsheets,
database systems, desktop publishing systems, program development software, and
games."

The exact delineation between the operating system and application software is not
precise, however, and is occasionally subject to controversy. For example, one of the
key questions in the United States vs. Microsoft anti-trust trial was whether Microsoft's
Internet Explorer web browser was part of its Windows operating system or a separable
piece of application software.

The diagram below illustrates the relationship between application software and system
software.

Systems Software
Systems Software including operating systems and utilities Systems software refers to programs
or suites of programs that either operate in supervisor mode or control a function of group of
functions that have a direct access to the low-level hardware such as the computer itself or
computer peripherals.

Amongst the most well-known system software is the operating system, device drivers,
the basic/input output system (BIOS) and system utilities like language compliers.
 56

Operating Systems

The operating system is a complex suite of programs sometimes referred to as the

kernel which performs activities on behalf of the operators and user (in the case of a
mainframe) or user for a PC. Also included in its role is the need to achieve maximum
throughput and provide access to resources and other hardware for users and user
programs.

The major functions of an operating system are listed here as:

• Accepting user and operator communications: a program runs in the

background to listen for user commands such a request to load a program
into memory. This includes system calls which can be looked at as user
requests from within a computer program.
• Program loading: the operating system can invoke loaders and linkers from
program libraries which it uses to place an application into memory
• File system control: the OS maintains a file system table to ensure that files
can be stored and retrieved in the future and that these files are the correct
files and for the correct users.
• Peripheral control: A set of routines would typically be included which
provides the code for controlling peripherals. It does this by spooling (saving
input data to backing store before processing and output to backing store
before sending it to the device). This prevents programs from holding onto
the CPU until they have finished communicating to a peripheral.
• Multiprogramming: the OS enables multiple user programs to run
simultaneously. It does this by:
• Allocating memory to every program and its data and keeping track of which
program no longer needs its memory so that it can start other programs.
• Sharing the CPU time between the programs
• Preventing programs that fail from crashing the entire system. This is
achieved by ensuring that a program cannot write to memory outside of that
which it was allocated and certainly not into system memory which is
allocated to the operating system and supervisor programs like itself.
 57

Figure 2: Operating System Functions

Figure1 is a representation of the functions of the operating system at different “layers”

of operation. The lower the layer the more removed from the user the function is and
the closer it is to the physical hardware. There are relationships between the layers.
Applications are how the users interact with a computer. The I/O management layer
processes and passes on information between applications to and device drivers, while
the memory management layer dictates which applications run in memory and can then
be passed them on to the CPU which in turn runs the hardware. The operating system is
itself an application. It runs as a privileged application. It cannot be removed from
memory.

How the Operating System functions

Nutt [1997] identifies four common types of operating system strategies on which
modern operating systems are built: batch, timesharing, personal computing, and
dedicated. According to Nutt, "the favoured strategy for any given computer depends
on how the computer is to be used, the cost-effectiveness of the strategy
implementation in the application environment, and the general state of the technology
at the time the operating system is developed." The table below summarizes the
characteristics of each operating system strategy as described by Nutt [1997].

Batch This strategy involves reading a series of jobs (called a batch) into
the machine and then executing the programs for each job in the
batch. This approach does not allow users to interact with
programs while they operate.
Timesharing This strategy supports multiple interactive users. Rather than
preparing a job for execution ahead of time, users establish an
interactive session with the computer and then provide
commands, programs and data as they are needed during the
session.
Personal Computing This strategy supports a single user running multiple programs on
a dedicated machine. Since only one person is using the machine,
more attention is given to establishing predictable response
times from the system. This strategy is quite common today
because of the popularity of personal computers.
Dedicated This strategy supports real-time and process control systems.
These are the types of systems which control satellites, robots,
 58

and air-traffic control. The dedicated strategy must guarantee

certain response times for particular computing tasks or the
application is useless.

Batch Systems (1960s)

A batch system is one in which jobs are bundled together with the instructions
necessary to allow them to be processed without intervention. Often jobs of a similar
nature can be bundled together to further increase economy

The basic physical layout of the memory of a batch job computer is shown below:

--------------------------------------
| |
| Monitor (permanently resident) |
| |
--------------------------------------
| |
| User Space |
| (compilers, programs, data, etc.) |
| |
--------------------------------------

The monitor is system software that is responsible for interpreting and carrying out the
instructions in the batch jobs. When the monitor started a job, it handed over control of
the entire computer to the job, which then controlled the computer until it finished.

A sample of several batch jobs might look like:

$JOB user_spec ; identify the user

$FORTRAN ; load the FORTRAN compiler
source program cards
$LOAD ; load the compiled program
$RUN ; run the program
data cards
$EOJ ; end of job

$JOB user_spec ; identify a new user

$LOAD application
$RUN
data
$EOJ

Often magnetic tapes and drums were used to store intermediate data and compiled
programs.

The advantages of batch systems are

• They move much of the work of the operator to the computer

 59

• There is increased performance since it was possible for job to start as soon as the
previous job finished

The disadvantages however are crucial:

• turn-around time can be large from user standpoint

• more difficult to debug program
• due to lack of protection scheme, one batch job can affect pending jobs (read too
many cards, etc)
• a job could corrupt the monitor, thus affecting pending jobs
• a job could enter an infinite loop and no other job runs

As mentioned above, one of the major shortcomings of early batch systems was that
there was no protection scheme to prevent one job from adversely affecting other jobs.
The solution to this was a simple protection scheme, where certain memory (e.g. where
the monitor resides) were made off-limits to user programs. This prevented user
programs from corrupting the monitor.

To keep user programs from reading too many (or not enough) cards, the hardware was
changed to allow the computer to operate in one of two modes: one for the monitor
and one for the user programs. I/O could only be performed in monitor mode, so that
I/O requests from the user programs were passed to the monitor. In this way, the
monitor could keep a job from reading past it's on $EOJ card.

To prevent an infinite loop, a timer was added to the system and the $JOB card was
modified so that a maximum execution time for the job was passed to the monitor. The
computer would interrupt the job and return control to the monitor when this time was
exceeded.

Spooling Batch Systems (1970s)

One difficulty with simple batch systems is that the computer still needs to read the the
deck of cards before it can begin to execute the job. This means that the CPU is idle (or
nearly so) during these relatively slow operations.

Since it is faster to read from a magnetic tape than from a deck of cards, it became
common for computer centres to have one or more less powerful computers in addition
to the main computer. The smaller computers were used to read a deck of cards onto a
tape, so that the tape would contain many batch jobs. This tape was then loaded on the
main computer and the jobs on the tape were executed. The output from the jobs
would be written to another tape which would then be removed and loaded on a less
powerful computer to produce any hardcopy or other desired output.
 60

It was a logical extension of the timer idea to have a timer that would only let jobs
execute for a short time before interrupting them so that the monitor could start an I/O
operation. Since the I/O operation could proceed while the CPU was crunching on a user
program, little degradation in performance was noticed.

Since the computer could now perform I/O in parallel with computation, it became
possible to have the computer read a deck of cards to a tape, drum or disk and to write
out to a tape printer while it was computing. This process is called SPOOLing:
Simultaneous Peripheral Operation OnLine. Spooling batch systems were the first and
are the simplest of the multiprogramming systems.

One advantage of spooling batch systems was that the output from jobs was available
as soon as the job completed, rather than only after all jobs in the current cycle were
finished.

Multiprogramming Systems (1960s - present)

As machines with more and more memory became available, it was possible to extend
the idea of multiprogramming (or multiprocessing) as used in spooling batch systems to
create systems that would load several jobs into memory at once and cycle through
them in some order, working on each one for a specified period of time.

--------------------------------------
| Monitor |
|(more like modern operating systems)|
--------------------------------------
| User program 1 |
--------------------------------------
| User program 2 |
--------------------------------------
| User program 3 |
--------------------------------------
| User program 4 |
--------------------------------------

At this point the monitor is growing to the point where it begins to resemble a modern
operating system. It is responsible for:

• starting user jobs

• spooling operations
• IO for user jobs
• switching between user jobs
• ensuring proper protection while doing the above

As a simple, yet common example, consider a machine that can run two jobs at once.
Further, suppose that one job is I/O intensive and that the other is CPU intensive. One
way for the monitor to allocate CPU time between these jobs would be to divide time
 61

equally between them. However, the CPU would be idle much of the time the I/O bound
process was executing.

A good solution in this case is to allow the CPU bound process (the background job) to
execute until the IO bound process (the foreground job) needs some CPU time, at which
point the monitor permits it to run. Presumably it will soon need to do some I/O and the
monitor can return the CPU to the background job.

Timesharing Systems (1970s - present)

Back in the days of the "bare" computers without any operating system to speak of, the
programmer had complete access to the machine. As hardware and software was
developed to create monitors, simple and spooling batch systems and finally
multiprogrammed systems, the separation between the user and the computer became
more and more pronounced.

Users, and programmers in particular, longed to be able to "get to the machine" without
having to go through the batch process. In the 1970s and especially in the 1980s this
became possible in two different ways.

The first involved timesharing or timeslicing. The idea of multiprogramming was

extended to allow for multiple terminals to be connected to the computer, with each in-
use terminal being associated with one or more jobs on the computer. The operating
system is responsible for switching between the jobs, now often called processes, in
such a way that favored user interaction. If the context-switches occurred quickly
enough, the user had the impression that he or she had direct access to the computer.

Interactive processes are given a higher priority so that when IO is requested (e.g. a key
is pressed), the associated process is quickly given control of the CPU so that it can
process it. This is usually done through the use of an interrupt that causes the computer
to realize that an IO event has occurred.

It should be mentioned that there are several different types of time sharing systems.
One type is represented by computers like VAX/VMS computers and UNIX workstations.
In these computers entire processes are in memory (albeit virtual memory) and the
computer switches between executing code in each of them. In other types of systems,
such as airline reservation systems, a single application may actually do much of the
timesharing between terminals. This way there does not need to be a different running
program associated with each terminal.

Personal Computers (1980s-present)

The second way that programmers and users got back at the machine was the advent of
personal computers around 1980. Finally computers became small enough and
 62

inexpensive enough that an individual could own one, and hence have complete access
to it.

Real-Time, Multiprocessor ,& Distributed/Networked Systems

A real-time computer is one that executes programs that are guaranteed to have an
upper bound on tasks that they carry out. Usually it is desired that the upper bound be
very small. Examples included guided missile systems and medical monitoring
equipment. The operating system on real-time computers is severely constrained by the
timing requirements.

Dedicated computers are special purpose computers that are used to perform only one
or more tasks. Often these are real-time computers and include applications such as the
guided missile mentioned above and the computer in modern cars that controls the fuel
injection system.

A multiprocessor computer is one with more than one CPU. The category of
multiprocessor computers can be divided into the following sub-categories:

Shared memory multiprocessors have multiple CPUs, all with access to the same
memory. Communication between the processors is easy to implement, but care
must be taken so that memory accesses are synchronized.

Distributed memory multiprocessors also have multiple CPUs, but each CPU has its
own associated memory. Here, memory access synchronization is not a problem,
but communication between the processors is often slow and complicated.

Related to multiprocessors are the following:

• Networked systems consist of multiple computers that are networked together,

usually with a common operating system and shared resources. Users, however,
are aware of the different computers that make up the system.
• Distributed systems also consist of multiple computers but differ from
networked systems in that the multiple computers are transparent to the user.
Often there are redundant resources and a sharing of the workload among the
different computers, but this is all transparent to the user.

Operating system types

As computers have progressed and developed so have the operating systems. Below is a
basic list of the different operating systems and a few examples of operating systems
that fall into each of the categories. Many computer operating systems will fall into
more than one of the below categories.
 63

GUI - Short for Graphical User Interface, a GUI Operating System contains graphics and
icons and is commonly navigated by using a computer mouse. See the GUI definition for
a complete definition. Below are some examples of GUI Operating Systems.

System 7.x
Windows 98
Windows CE

Multi-user - A multi-user operating system allows for multiple users to use the same
computer at the same time and different times. See the multi-user definition for a
complete definition for a complete definition. Below are some examples of multi-user
operating systems.

Linux
Unix
Windows 2000

Multiprocessing - An operating system capable of supporting and utilizing more than

one computer processor. Below are some examples of multiprocessing operating
systems.

Linux
Unix
Windows 2000

Multitasking - An operating system that is capable of allowing multiple software

processes to run at the same time. Below are some examples of multitasking operating
systems.

Unix
Windows 2000

Multithreading - Operating systems that allow different parts of a software program to

run concurrently. Operating systems that would fall into this category are:

Linux
Unix
Windows 2000

Troubleshooting

Common questions and answers to operating systems in general can be found on the
below operating system question and answers. All other questions relating to an
operating system in particular can be found through the operating system page.
 64

Linux / Variants
MacOSMS-DOS
IBM OS/2 Warp
Unix / Variants
Windows CE
Windows 3.x
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows 98 SE
Windows ME
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7

Operating system listing

Below is a listing of many of the different operating systems available today, the dates
they were released, the platforms they have been developed for and who developed
them.

Operating system Platform Developer

AIX / AIXL Various IBM

AmigaOS Amiga Commodore

BSD Various BSD

Caldera Linux Various SCO

Corel Linux Various Corel

Debian Linux Various GNU

DUnix Various Digital

DYNIX/ptx Various IBM

 65

HP-UX Various Hewlett Packard

IRIX Various SGI

Kondara Linux Various Kondara

Linux Various Linus Torvalds

MAC OS 8 Apple Macintosh Apple

MAC OS 9 Apple Macintosh Apple

MAC OS 10 Apple Macintosh Apple

MAC OS X Apple Macintosh Apple

Mandrake Linux Various Mandrake

MINIX Various MINIX

MS-DOS 1.x IBM / PC Microsoft

MS-DOS 2.x IBM / PC Microsoft

MS-DOS 3.x IBM / PC Microsoft

MS-DOS 4.x IBM / PC Microsoft

MS-DOS 5.x IBM / PC Microsoft

MS-DOS 6.x IBM / PC Microsoft

NEXTSTEP Various Apple

OSF/1 Various OSF

 66

QNX Various QNX

Red Hat Linux Various Red Hat

SCO Various SCO

Slackware Linux Various Slackware

Sun Solaris Various Sun

SuSE Linux Various SuSE

System 1 Apple Macintosh Apple

System 2 Apple Macintosh Apple

System 3 Apple Macintosh Apple

System 4 Apple Macintosh Apple

System 6 Apple Macintosh Apple

System 7 Apple Macintosh Apple

System V Various System V

Tru64 Unix Various Digital

Turbolinux Various Turbolinux

Ultrix Various Ultrix

Unisys Various Unisys

Unix Various Bell labs

 67

UnixWare Various UnixWare

VectorLinux Various VectorLinux

Windows 2000 IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows 2003 IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows 3.X IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows 7 IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows 95 IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows 98 IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows CE PDA Microsoft

Windows ME IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows NT IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows Vista IBM / PC Microsoft

Windows XP IBM / PC Microsoft

Xenix Various Microsoft

Utilities

System utilities are usually associated with the operating system more because they are
often used in tandem with OS activity or may be invoked by the OS. They are not part of
the operating system though even though some of them may operate in supervisor
mode. They include:

Linkers and loaders: for loading programs and including (linking) libraries
 68

Assemblers, Compilers and Interpreters: for translating programs into machine

code

Editors and Debuggers: for creating files and correcting programs

Command shells: for entering system commands

There are other system programs like device drivers but they are far less important from
a system point of view in that they are specific to some device and will not cripple the
machine if they are missing. Example of device drivers include printer and monitor
drivers which if not installed may not necessarily stop the device from working but may
produce poor output or less than expected performance.

Utilities can be described as applications that help users to run other applications.

Application software

As defined earlier application software solves a specific user-defined task or set of tasks.
Such software may be acquired off-the-shelf or bespoke (implemented or developed
just for one custom user). Typical examples of software applications are word
processors, spreadsheets and media players.

Multiple applications bundled together as a package are sometimes referred to as an

application suite. Microsoft Office and Open Office.org, which bundle together a word
processor, a spreadsheet, and several other discrete applications, are typical examples.
The separate applications in a suite usually have a user interface that has some
commonality making it easier for the user to learn and use each application. And often
they may have some capability to interact with each other in ways beneficial to the user.
For example a spreadsheet might be able to be embedded in a word processor
document even though it had been created in the separate spreadsheet application.

User software tailors systems to meet the user's specific needs. User software includes
spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations and graphics and
animation scripts. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this
software themselves and often overlook how important it is.

In some types of embedded systems, the application software and the operating system
software may be indistinguishable to the user, as in the case of software used to control
a DVD player.
 69

Programming languages are used to write programs and hence software is the product
of programming languages.

The selection of the correct programming language for creating software is critical. If the
software is likely to interface with hardware then a low-level language with in-built
constructs for hardware support and control is important. For example most device
drivers are written in C because it can make system calls directly to the operating
system without the need to write special functions for it. If the software will be a web-
enabled database application, a language like PHP would be better as it has direct
support for accessing databases and support for HTML and cascading style sheets.

Programming Languages

A programming language is a standardized communication technique for describing

instructions for a computer. Each programming language has a set of syntactic and
semantic rules used to define computer programs. A language enables a programmer to
precisely specify what data a computer is to act upon, how these data are to be stored
or transmitted, and what actions are to be taken under various circumstances.
Programming languages are a type of computer languages, excluding pseudo-code
which is exclusively for human communication.

Since a computer transfers data between memory locations and the CPU, it has been via the
system bus, it has been suggested in some circles that programming languages and programs
are simply a way of overcoming the von Neumann bottleneck.

History of Programming Languages

A computer accepts machine code as input which it translates into actions performed by
the hardware. Thus machine code is the lowest level of programming possible and in the
beginning it was the only means available for programming a computer hence it is
considered as a 1st generation language.

Machine code is illegible to many people, difficult to understand and does not produce
easy code to debug when there are errors. It is difficult to follow jumps in code which
are executed as numbers. Assembly Language was developed to deal with these issues.
It allowed humans to use mnemonics such as ADD, SUB, MOV to describe actions. These
commands translated directly in to machine code and an assembler was used to put the
machine code together into a loader and create the program. Assembly Language made
it easier to write programs and follow code and even understand it later and is referred
to as a second generation language.

Machine code and assembly language are referred to as low-level languages because of
their closeness to the hardware.
 70

Despite being an improvement on machine code, assembly language was still

cumbersome. Abstract concepts like data structures were difficult to capture and
represent in assembly language. The code generated was easier to read but still complex
to follow particularly when programs grew in size and nature. In 1954 the programming
language FORTRAN was developed. Short for Formula Translation it was targeted at
solving mathematical and scientific problems and allowed the programmer to use
English phrases in the code. It allowed the representation of data structures like arrays
and included programming construct like loops. FORTRAN and languages like COBOL, C,
ADA and C++ began to proliferate and a multitude exist today, many initially targeted at
solving different problems but which have become general purpose third generation
languages. Most third generation languages are high-level languages because they do
not translate directly into machine code and have to be compiled or interpreted before
they can be executed.

4th Generation Languages

Despite the progress made by third generation languages, applications were still
complex and took a long time to build. This led to the development of new
programming concepts and techniques which integrated many constructs into one
command and therefore allowed users to quickly implement code and actions.

A fourth-generation programming language (4GL) is a programming language designed

with a specific purpose in mind, such as the development of commercial business
software. Such languages arose after the introduction of modern, block-structured third
generation languages, which improved the process of software development. However,
it was still frustrating, slow, and error prone to program computers. This led to the first
"programming crisis", in which the amount of work that might be assigned to
programmers greatly exceeded the amount of programmer time available to do it.
Meanwhile, a lot of experience was gathered in certain areas, and it became clear that
certain applications could be generalized by adding limited programming languages to
them.

All 4GLs are designed to reduce programming effort, the time it takes to develop
software, and the cost of software development. They are not always successful in this
task, often resulting in inelegant and difficult code. However, given the right problem,
the use of an appropriate 4GL can be spectacularly successful.

A number of different types of 4GLs exist:

Report generators: take a description of the data format and the report to generate and
from that they either generate the required report directly or they generate a program
to generate the report.

Forms generators: manage online interactions with the application system users or
generate programs to do so.
 71

More ambitious 4GLs (sometimes termed fourth generation environments) attempt to

automatically generate whole systems from the outputs of Computer Aided Software
Engineering (CASE) tools, specifications of screens and reports, and possibly also the
specification of some additional processing logic e.g. Code Charge Studio by Yes
Software for producing web-enabled applications.

Figure 3: Generations of Programming Languages

Features of programming languages

Each programming language can be thought of as a set of formal specifications

concerning syntax, vocabulary, and meaning.

These specifications usually include:

• Data types
• Data Structures
• Instruction and control flow
• Design philosophy
• Compilation and interpretation

Those languages that are widely used – or have been used for a considerable period of
time – have standardization bodies that meet regularly to create and publish formal
definitions of the language and discuss the extension of existing definitions.

Data types

Internally, all data in modern digital computers are stored simply as zeros or ones
(binary). The data typically represent information in the real world such as names, bank
 72

accounts and measurements, so the low-level binary data are organized by

programming languages into these high-level concepts. A data type therefore is an
abstract structure that is used in a programming language to encapsulate (capture the
description of) the real world.

The particular system by which data are organized in a program is the type system of
the programming language; the design and study of type systems is known as type
theory. Of particular importance in programming is whether languages are strongly or
weakly typed.

Strongly typed languages do not permit the usage of values as different types; they are
rigorous about detecting incorrect type usage, either at runtime for dynamically typed
languages, or at compile time for statically typed languages. Ada, Java, ML and Oberon
are examples of strongly typed languages.

Weakly typed languages do not strictly enforce type rules or have an explicit type-
violation mechanism, often allowing for undefined behavior, segmentation violations, or
other unsafe behavior if types are assigned incorrectly. C, C++, Assembly Language and
Tcl are examples of weakly typed languages.

Note that strong vs. weak is a continuum; Java is a strongly typed language relative to C,
but is weakly typed relative to ML.

The importance of the distinction arises from the fact that software is error-prone and
one of the major causes of this is bad programming e.g. the use of a single variable to
represent both a number and text which are different data types. A strongly-typed
language would never allow this to happen and therefore is less likely to generate
errors. The issue of data types can be discussed further but this is beyond the scope of
this study guide.

Data structures

Most languages also provide ways to assemble complex data structures from built-in
types and to associate names with these new combined types (using arrays, lists, stacks,
files).

Object-oriented languages allow the programmer to define data-types called "Objects"

which have their own intrinsic functions and variables (called methods and attributes
respectively). A program containing objects allows the objects to operate as
independent but interacting sub-programs: this interaction can be designed at coding
time to model or simulate real-life interacting objects. This is a very useful, and intuitive,
functionality. Languages such as Python have developed as OO (Object oriented)
languages. They are comparatively easy to learn and to use, and are gaining popularity
in professional programming circles, as well as being accessible to non-professionals. It
 73

is commonly thought that object-orientation makes languages more intuitive, increasing

the public availability and power of customized computer applications.

Instruction and control flow

Once data has been specified, the machine must be instructed how to perform
operations on the data. Elementary statements may be specified using keywords or may
be indicated using some well-defined grammatical structure.

Each language takes units of these well-behaved statements and combines them using
some ordering system. Depending on the language, differing methods of grouping these
elementary statements exist. This allows one to write programs that are able to cover a
variety of input, instead of being limited to a small number of cases. Furthermore,
beyond the data manipulation instructions, other typical instructions in a language are
those used for control flow (branches, definitions by cases, loops, backtracking, and
functional composition).

Design philosophy

For the above-mentioned purposes, each language has been developed using a special
design or philosophy. Some aspect or another is particularly stressed by the way the
language uses data structures, or by which its special notation encourages certain ways
of solving problems or expressing their structure.

Since programming languages are artificial languages, they require a high degree of
discipline to accurately specify which operations are desired. Programming languages
are not error tolerant; however, the burden of recognizing and using the special
vocabulary is reduced by help messages generated by the programming language
implementation.

There are a few languages which offer a high degree of freedom in allowing self-
modification in which a program re-writes parts of itself to handle new cases. Typically,
only machine language, Prolog, Postscript and the members of the Lisp family provide
this capability. In MUMPS language this technique is called dynamic recompilation;
emulators and other virtual machines exploit this technique for greater performance.

Compilation and interpretation

There are, broadly, two approaches to execute a program written in a given language.
These approaches are known as compilation, done by a program known as a compiler;
and interpretation, done by an interpreter. Some programming language
implementations support both interpretation and compilation.

An interpreter parses a computer program and executes it directly. One can imagine this
as following the instructions of the program line-by-line. In contrast, a compiler
 74

translates the program into machine code – the native instructions understood by the
computer's processor. The compiled program can then be run by itself.

Compiled programs usually run faster than interpreted ones, because the overhead of
understanding and translating the programming language syntax has already been done.
Compilers also allow modules to be developed and compiled separately. However,
interpreters are frequently easier to write than compilers, provide security and
portability and can more easily support interactive debugging of a program.

Many modern languages use a mixture of compilation and interpretation. For example, the
"compiler" for bytecode-based language translates the source code into a partially compiled
intermediate format, which is later run by a fast interpreter called a virtual machine. Some
"interpeters" actually use a just-in time compiler, which compiles the code to machine language
immediately before running it. These techniques are often combined. Like other aspects of
programming languages, "compiled" and "interpreted" may be best understood as opposite
ends of a spectrum, rather than the only two options.

Classification of Programming Languages

Programming Languages are can be classified by several methods amongst which are the
paradigms that they follow, the intended use or purpose of the language and whether they are
low or high level languages.

Classification of Programming Languages

A programming paradigm is a way of expressing computation. The most common paradigms are

• Imperative

• Functional

• Logic and

• Object-oriented

Other paradigms include dataflow, coordination, algebraic, graph-based and parallel computing.
In practice, the distinction is typically fuzzy with languages like Ada being both imperative and
object-oriented. It is important to note that techniques from another paradigm can be used in a
program implemented with a language built under a different paradigm.

The imperative or “command driven” paradigm is one in which programs are essentially a series
of commands that the computer must execute. Computation is expressed by repeated
modification of an implicit store (i.e., components command a store modification). Iteration or
 75

looping provides control of the flow. Examples of these languages include Ada, ALGOL, FORTRAN
and COBOL.

In the functional paradigm, computation is expressed by function application and composition.

There is no implicit store. Results of one function are passed directly into another. Recursion is
used to provide control.

The logic paradigm expresses computation by a proof search or through recursive definition of
relations. Again there is no implicit store, all intermediate results are stored in variables and
recursion is used for control.

The object-oriented paradigm is the most popular paradigm in use today. Computation is
expressed by the creation of a data structure (the object) and defining all the properties and
actions that can be performed on it. Many Object-oriented programming (OOP) languages are a
combination of imperative and OO techniques. Purely OOP languages like Miranda use objects
entirely, with all the results stored in object variables with recursion for control. One of the main
objectives of the OO paradigm is reusability. Objects can be created for one application but later
be re-used in a different application, saving on costs, time and errors.

General and Special purpose languages

General purpose languages were built with the idea that they will be used to solve many
different classes of problems. They are not tailored to one specific application area. Examples
include but are not limited to Ada, PL/1, Basic, Pascal, ALGOL and SNOBOL

Special-purpose languages on the other hand are designed to support a specific application.
They generally solve a particular problem and do it well. Examples include HTML for creating
web pages, SQL for creation and manipulation of databases, shell scripting for controlling
operating system activity and macros for extending the capabilities of off-the-shelf applications
like spreadsheets.

High and Low Level Languages

High level languages are general purpose and problem-oriented. One line of code translates into
multiple lines of machine code. They are portable (machine independent). Strictly speaking this
is not always true because they must be recompiled for different computer architectures and
operating systems. They are easy to learn and require less programming effort and skill than low
level languages. They also have the advantage of closely resembling a human language and so
are easy to read and understand.
 76

Low level languages on the other hand are machine-oriented and produce one for one lines of
code with machine code. They are specific to the machine that the language was made for. They
produce fewer lines of code and use less space than high-level languages and though this code
may be complex, it is at least ten times faster.
 77

Lesson 4: Basics in using the Microsoft

Windows Operating System
 78

The most popular computer operating system, particularly for PCs is Microsoft
Windows. As discussed previously, an operating system is executive software that
provides the bridge between applications software and the hardware. It facilitates
communication between the user and the computer and automatic loading of programs
into RAM in order to provide a continuous flow of operations

• Initial set-up of the computer, when it is switched on

• Communication between the user and hardware
• Calling up of files from storage into memory
• File management

The most popular computer operating systems are Microsoft Windows, Linux and UNIX.

Microsoft Windows includes the following features.

i) A desktop from which everything in the system branches out. Disk drives,
folders(directories), applications and files can all be placed on the desktop

ii) A taskbar which includes a start button and buttons representing every open
application

iii) Long file names are supported (up to 256 characters)

iv) There is a Recycle Bin for easy deletion and recovery of files

v) Easy integration with widely used networking software is possible

vi) Multitasking is available, allowing more than one program to be active at

one time.

vii) The Microsoft Internet Explorer browser is included to facilitate Internet

access

viii) User-friendly, user interface enhancements include easier navigation, such

as single-click launching of applications, icon highlighting, forward buttons,
and an easy to customize Start Menu

ix) Web integration, there are a variety of features designed to enhance

Internet access and use of Internet facilities and technologies and integrate
them with the users system

x) Reliability
 79

• Windows can be set up to regularly test the users hard disk, system files,
and configuration information to increase the system reliability, and in
many cases fix problems automatically
• Enhanced backup and restore functions

xi) Graphics. Windows has graphics and video capabilities and support for
games hardware such as joysticks, it supports digital video disks (DVD)

xii) More manageable for businesses, tools such as Dr. Watson and System
Information utility make it easier for IT support staff to diagnose and correct
problems

a) Windows has graphics and video capabilities and support for games hardware
such as joysticks. It supports digital video disks (DVD)

User Interface characteristics

i) GUI, this stands for Graphical User Interface. GUIs were designed to make
computers more user-friendly. A GUI involves the use of two design ideas and
two operating methods which can be remembered by the abbreviations WIMP
(Windows, Icons, Mouse and Pull-down menu. Most dialogue between the user
and software that uses WIMP features is conducted through the mouse and on-
screen images rather than typed text.

ii) The desktop, in Microsoft Windows, the initial screen is called the desktop. The
desktop screen typically contains icons that provide easy access to a range of
software programs. Programs may be started from the desktop using either an
icon or shortcut or by navigating through the menus that branch out from the
START button. Each active program or activity is launched in a separate window

iii) Task bar, as with many Microsoft Windows operations, there is more than one
way to switch between open applications. The popular method of switching
between applications is to simply click on the icon of the relevant open
application displayed on the Windows Taskbar. The Taskbar usually shows at the
bottom of the screen, although some systems are set-up to ‘hide’ the Taskbar

iv) Title bar, it’s shown in a strip at the top of the window. It comprises the default
menu items which when selected pulls down another menu that pertains to that
particular choice. The main menu items are File, Edit, View, Insert etc. This is
sometimes called a title.
 80

v) Recycle bin, this is a folder or directory that keeps all files that are deleted from
the hard disk or fixed disk. Logically the files are deemed to have been deleted
but physically they are usually still on the disk. When the user selects an option
called empty the recycle bin that’s when the bin is emptied and the files are no
longer accessible

Directory or folder

This is a sub division of a disk. Users can create a folder or a directory so that files that
pertain to a common subject are stored in there for easy reference or location. Folders
such as My Pictures, My Documents etc are typical examples.
 81

Lesson 5: Using Application Programs

APPLICATION PACKAGES

Application packages fall in the category of application software. The most common application
packages are word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations and desktop publishing.
Application software also includes electronic mail and browser software.

Word processors

Figure 1: Microsoft Word - a word processing application

A word processor (also more formally known as a document preparation system) is a

computer application used for the production (including composition, editing,
formatting, and possibly printing) of any sort of viewable or printed material.

They are descended from early text formatting tools (sometimes called text
justification tools, from their only real capability). Word processing was one of the
earliest applications for the personal computer in office productivity.

Although early word processors used tag-based markup for document formatting, most
modern word processors take advantage of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Most are
powerful systems consisting of one or more programs which can produce any arbitrary
combination of images, graphics and text, the latter handled with full-blown type-
setting capability.

Word processing typically refers to text manipulation functions such as automatic

generation of:

• batch mailing using a form letter template and an address database (aka mail merging);
• index of keywords and their page numbers;
• table of contents with section titles and their page numbers;
• table of figures with caption titles and their page numbers;

Page number and footnote information is extremely hard to maintain without a word
processor because addition or deleting of text can affect pagination; that is, page
numbers can change in each edition.

Other word processing functions include spelling and grammar checking. The word
processor has become a central component of the office suite and is increasingly only
available in this form, rather than as a standalone program.

Word processing is a classification of application software that focuses on the ability to

handle text. The computer does this by assigning each letter of the alphabet and each
other character on the keyboard a specific numeric code. These numeric codes are
translated into binary notation, and stored in the computer's memory. Because the
information is in the memory, it is very easy to change and manipulate. This is the key to
the success of word processing.

To edit a document, users access the tool bar (usually at the top of the page) which
shows a range of editing facilities and features. Selecting text and clicking on a feature
causes the word processor to apply it to the selected text. An example is to make the
text in this paragraph partly bold, italicised and justified.

The advantages of word processors include but are not limited to:

• The ability to alter text or copy while typing without the need to physically rub it
out
• The ability to import text from many different sources (images, media) into the
document.
• This ability to export text to different people who use the same application or
can convert it to another application. With a typed document, this was not
possible. The other person would have to photocopy or receive a fax. If they
wished to edit it they would be forced to type the whole document.
• Another advantage is that it can be used to cheaply create common user
documents like application forms, invoices, sales orders, reference letters and

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 many others which are then stored in a common location as templates and
reused later simply by changing the details relevant to the specific situation and
leaving the rest of the document, the common part unchanged. This saves time
and increases productivity.

Desktop publishing (also known as DTP) combines a personal computer, page layout
software and a printer to create publications on a small economic scale. Users create
page layouts with text, graphics, photos and other visual elements using desktop
publishing software such as QuarkExpress, CorelDraw and Adobe Photoshop. For small
jobs a few copies of a publication might be printed on a local printer. For larger jobs a
computer file can be sent to a vendor for high-volume printing.

Desktop publishing began in 1985 with the introduction of Aldus Pagemaker software
and the Apple LaserWriter printer for the Apple Macintosh computer. The ability to
create WYSIWYG page layouts on screen and then print pages at crisp 300 ppi resolution
was revolutionary for a personal computer system. The term "desktop publishing" is
attributed to Aldus Corporation founder Paul Brainerd, who sought a marketing catch
phrase to describe the small size and relative affordability of this suite of products in
contrast to the expensive commercial phototypesetting equipment of the day.

In the modern day, virtually all publishing is "desktop publishing." The superior flexibility
and speed of desktop publishing systems has greatly reduced the lead time for magazine
publication and accommodates elaborate designs and layouts.

Desktop publishing helped to condition a generation of personal computer users to be

on the lookout for "the next big thing." In the late 80s, developers hopefully applied the
"desktop" prefix to potential new markets like "desktop presentations," "desktop
forms" and "desktop video." All of these markets proved to be important. The
development of presentation graphics systems like PowerPoint and the portable
document format (PDF) by Adobe Systems is testimony to the success of DTP
applications.

Another common multimedia application is the presentation graphics suite.

Presentation software enables a user to create a document to accompany a speech or a
lecture which can then be displayed on a screen for other to either watch or follow.
Presentation graphics can include extracts from other applications and can even include
media like video embedded in the application. Microsoft PowerPoint is an example of
presentation software.

A media player is a piece of application software for playing back multimedia files. Most
media players support an array of media formats, including both audio and video files.
Some common media players include Apple QuickTime Player, Nullsoft Winamp,

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MusicMatch Jukebox, Real Player and Microsoft Windows Media Player. Media players
work by decoding files using pre-determined formats and codes referred to as codecs.
So long as a media player can decode the format it will playback any audio or video files.
Most modern media players also perform encoding. This has led to digital rights issues
with copying and sharing of CD and DVD content.

Analytical Software

Some software was built purely to solve very specialised cases of user problems dealing
with large for example large volumes of data for which multiple and numerous
conclusions may be drawn and from which valuable information could be gleaned for
either better, more precise reaction to situations or simply to gain competitive
advantage.

People working in business intelligence have developed tools that ease the work,
especially when the intelligence task involves gathering and analyzing large quantities of
unstructured data

Tool categories commonly used for business intelligence include:

• Data Mining
• Data Warehouses
• Decision Support Systems
• Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems simply called "Analytics" (based on
dimensional analysis and the so-called "hypercube" or "cube")

Database Management Systems

A database management system (DBMS) is a set of computer programs designed to

manage a database (a large set of structured data), and run operations on the data
requested by numerous clients. A DBMS can be an extremely complex set of software
programs that controls the organisation, storage and retrieval of data (fields, records
and files) in a database.

A database application is computer software written to manage the data of a particular

application or problem.

There are many types of database but here concentrate on the relational database
whose development is attributed to E.F Codd, which is by far the most common
database system in use today.

The relational model stores data in tables which are composed of rows (records) and
columns (fields). These tables are split into a series of normalized tables, with optional

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elements being moved out of the main table to where they would take up room only if
needed.

Figure: Normalised Database tables

As a whole section was dedicated to database systems earlier the text will not dwell on this
subject within this section.

Business Software

Business software is generally any software program that helps business increase
productivity or measures their productivity. The term covers a large variation of uses
within the business environment, and can be categorized by using a small, medium and
large matrix:

• The small business market generally consists of home accounting software and office
suites like QuickBooks and Microsoft Office
• The medium size market has a broader range of software applications, ranging from
accounting, groupware, customer relationship management and HR applications like
payroll, and other productivity enhancing applications.
• The last segment covers enterprise level software applications, such as those in the
fields of Enterprise Resource Planning and Product Lifecycle Management. These
applications are extensive in scope, and often come with modules that either add native
functions, or incorporate the functionality of third-party software programs.

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Examples of Business software also include accounting systems, customer relationship
management systems and sales orders processing systems. A new and growing area is
the e-commerce/e-business class of applications.

Spreadsheets

A spreadsheet appears as a grid or table divided into rows and columns. Each cell in the grid has
a cell address or reference, for example C5 means column C row 5. A range of cells can be
referred to as a single unit, for example E4:E12 means all the cells from E4 to E12 inclusive. Cells
can contain numbers, text or a formula.

The simple example in Figure4 below illustrates the concept.

A grocer uses a mobile shop to sell groceries to customers who live a long way from
the shops. He uses a spreadsheet to keep a record of the daily sales:

Figure 4: Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet

1. Cells A1 and B1 contain the day and date.

2. Column A and B contain text.
3. Column C contains the number sold and column D contains the price in currency format.

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 4. Column E contains a formula to work out the sales (the formulae are hidden - only the
results are displayed). For example, cell E4 contains the formula =C4×D4; cell E5
contains the formula =C5×D5 and so on.
5. Cell E12 contains a formula to add the numbers from E4 to E10. This could be entered
=SUM(E4:E10). It is much better to use this formula than =E4+E5+E6+E7+E8+E9+E10
which will give the same result but is difficult to read and it is easy to make a mistake.
Note that you should only use the =SUM function when adding a range of cells.

The main advantages of using a spreadsheet as opposed to a calculator or pen are:

1 - More effective data handling

• It is easy to change the data and the spreadsheet instantly recalculates the totals for
you. For example, the builder can change his call-out charge and instantly recalculate
the totals of the bills.
• You can carry out "what if?" investigations. For example, the grocer could increase his
prices to see the effect on sales and the builder could increase his hourly charge to see
the effect on his daily total.
• The information can be presented in different ways. For example, the grocer could
produce a graph of fruit and vegetable sales by choosing the ranges A4:A10 and E4:E10
in order to make the graph.
• It is easy to make these changes, save your work and print it out again.

2 - More flexible presentation

• You can alter column widths and easily delete or add columns and rows
• You can underline, embolden text and use different fonts and graphics
• You can justify your data to the left, centre or right
• You can control the types of numbers you enter - for example you can choose
percentage, currency or set the number of decimal places

Spreadsheets for Information Modelling

A spreadsheet can be used as a modelling tool. The model is controlled by a set of rules
produced by the formulae. These rules can be changed easily to vary the model, and
provide information about, e.g., running costs and profit margins. In fact financial
modelling is the most common use of spreadsheet applications.

For example, suppose a company wants to know, "What if we reduce the price of our
product? What effect is this likely to have on our income from sales?" Using a
spreadsheet, you just vary the data in the Price column and the data in the Income from
Sales column will automatically be recalculated (downwards). And if the reduced price
makes sales go up - simply adjust the data in the Number of Sales column, and the
Income from Sales data will again be recalculated (upwards).

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Being able to answer "What if?" questions like this is vital for enabling a company to
predict future trends in its income and outgoings. In spreadsheet terminology this is
referred to as scenario analysis.

As well as financial modelling, spreadsheet software can be used for many other kinds of
computer model, for example:

- Modelling supermarket queues

- Modelling the stresses which will be borne by a new bridge
- Modelling traffic flow in a new road system

• Computer models are cheaper to set up than other methods of predicting what will
happen in a system - for example, building a prototype

• You can make alterations and quickly see the outcomes

• You can repeat tests as often as you like

• You can look at "what if?" scenarios

• You can model dangerous situations safely

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Microsoft Word

ord is currently the world’s leading word processing application. According to

the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, word processing is “the
creation, input, editing, and production of documents and texts by means of computer
systems.” In other words, if you have used a computer to write essays, research papers,
lab reports, letters, or even your résumé, you have used word processing.

Many people have learned the bare necessities for using Word without any outside
training. However, there are many benefits to becoming more familiar with Word,
whether for school, for business, or for fun. Word’s features make it easy to
organize complex documents containing vast amounts of textual and visual
information into an application type material. PowerPoint and Access, is easier to
learn once one knows Word because their interfaces are highly similar to the Word
interface. This manual aims to provide people of any experience level with clear,
detailed instruction in the fundamental aspects of Word, as well as in many of its
lesser-known but highly useful capabilities.

It is by far the most widely used computer application. It allows the user to key in text and to
manipulate the text until it is exactly as required before printing. The text can be stored for
later re-use. Word Processing is of significant value to an organisation where the typing
requirement consists of a high volume of work such as quotations, estimates, minutes or
standard letters where much of the document remains unchanged or can be constructed from
standard paragraphs.

Some advantages of Word processing include:

1. The ability to make corrections to a document without the need to re-key the entire
document.

2. The facility to store standard paragraphs on disk for later use.

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3. Documents need never have another spelling error! Spellcheckers are provided for
several languages as well as built-in-thesaurus for improving writing style.

4. Professional letters can be easily and quickly generated for mailshots.

5. Presentation of written material is greatly enhanced by the use of special fonts,

character sizes and graphics as well as underlining, boldfacing and italics.

The word wrap facility

In MS-Word, when a line is filled with text, the cursor automatically moves to the start of the
next line. This means that there is no need to press Enter at the end of each line.

There are three cases where Enter is used:

1. To insert a blank line.

2. When you reach the end of a paragraph.

3. When you are typing short lines.

The Shift Key

To enter a capital letter, hold Shift down with one finger while the letter to be entered is typed.
Release Shift.

Starting MS-Word

There are two ways of staring MS-Word

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Either

Click the Start button, and select Programs / Microsoft Word.

Click Microsoft Word

Or and preferably, from the desktop menu

Double Click on the WORD Icon, pointed to below:

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MS-Word screen is then started.

The following screen will appear. In some cases, the Tip of The Day is displayed.

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Title Bar

Menu Bar

Standard Tool

Formatting Tool

Ruler

Document
Window

Status Bar

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The MS Word work environment

The Word Start Up screen is made up as follows:

1. The Title Bar displays the Application name and the current document name

2. The menu Bar displays the main Menu Options

3. The Standard Toolbar provides shortcut icons from frequently used tasks

4. The Formatting Toolbar provides shortcut icons for formatting text

5. The Ruler Bar provides icons for indenting text and setting tabs

6. The Document Window where you type your text

7. The view Selector provides icons to view the document in different ways

8. The Status Bar displays the current page number, cursor position, current time and
keyboard status

Using the mouse

The mouse is a hand-held device which is used for pointing to and selecting text in the
document. It is important that you understand the difference between the mouse pointer and
the insertion point

Mouse Pointer: An icon that moves as you move the mouse. The

95
shape of the mouse depends on its location. For example, it appears as an outline

arrow when you are selecting commands from a menu, and hourglass (
) when

Word is processing a command, and an I-beam (I) when you are entering text.

Insertion Point: An icon that shows where you are currently positioned on the page. The
insertion point is always a blinking vertical bar <|> and works in the same way as a cursor in a
text based environment.

Positioning the insertion point

Using the mouse point to the required location

Click the Left Mouse Button to position the insertion point

Scrolling through a document

Scrolling means moving through the document window to bring different parts (i.e. pages) of
the document into view. It does not move the I-beam.

At the far right side of the screen you will see the vertical scroll bar with two arrows inside it. At
the bottom of the screen you will see the horizontal scroll bar.

To:

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1. Scroll one line up or down: Click the up or down scroll arrows on the vertical scroll bar.

2. Scroll left or right: Click on the left or right scroll arrow on the horizontal scroll bar.

3. Scroll a percentage of the document length: Drag the scroll box.

4. Scroll a percentage of the document length: Drag the scroll box up or down the scroll
bar.

Some scroll bars are horizontal, e.g.

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Moving the insertion point

To move the insertion point:

1. A word right: Ctrl Right Arrow

2. A word left: Ctrl Left Arrow

3. Beginning of Document: Ctrl Home

4. End of Document: Ctrl End

5. Paragraph Up/Down: Ctrl Up Arrow/Down Arrow

6. Beginning of a line: Home

7. End of a line: End

8. Previous Page: Ctrl Page Up

9. Next Page: Ctrl Page Down

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10. Go to a particular page: Ctrl G or F5 (Goto key) type page
No and click Go To

Using the Menu

The Word Menu Option can be activated in two ways:

a) Using the Mouse

Point to the Menu option, Click the Left mouse button to display the menu choices

Point and click on the required command

b) Using the keyboard

Hold down ALT and press the underlined letter of the required menu option

Press the underlined letter of the required command

If the command is followed by an ellipses (three dots) this indicates that a further list of options
will be displayed. An arrow indicates further options available.

Typical menus are:

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1. File menu:

2. Edit Menu

100
3. View Menu:

101
4. Insert Menu

102
5. Format Menu:

103
6. Tools Menu:

104
7. Table Menu:

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Two other menu commands are available, the Window Menu and Help Menu commands.

These will be accessed in the same way, click the menu and a pull down menu appears.

For example a Print Dialog box will

Using a Dialog Box

A Dialog box is a window that displays all the available options for a selected command. A
dialog box usually has an OK and Cancel button

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For example a print dialog Box will look as follows:

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The box may or may not have other tabs which can be activated by clicking them.

Activating a Shortcut Menu

The Shortcut menu is an abbreviated version of the main Menu where the most frequently used
commands are combined on one menu option. Shortcut menus are context sensitive and
contain commands related to the item you are currently working with

To activate the Shortcut Menu click the Right mouse button or press [Shift + F10]

A typical Shortcut menu as the one below appears:

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Working with the Toolbar

MS-Word provides a Standard toolbar with icons to represent frequently used tasks. To invoke
a task, point the required icon and click the Left mouse button

To display more information about the toolbar icon point to the icon. The name of the icon
appears on the screen, and additional information about the function of the icon appears in the
Status Bar at the bottom of the screen.

To display additional Toolbars

1. Point to the Toolbar area of the screen

2. Click the Right mouse button once

3. Point and Click the Toolbar you want to activate

CREATING / SAVING / OPENING / CLOSING / DOCUMENTS

Creating a document

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Each time you load MS-Word you will be presented with a new document. The window title bar
will be documented as Document 1. At this point you are ready to start typing your document.

Saving a document

As Document 1 is not a legitimate name for the document, the first time you save the document
you need to give it a name with SAVE AS command.

1. Choose Save As from the File Menu

2. Enter the filename in the File Name box. Unless you select or type another directory,
the document will be saved in the current directory.

3. Click on OK

The document stays on the screen after you save it so you can continue working on it. Notice
the title bar now displays the new document name.

Note: A typical and good filename can consist of up to 8 characters. MS-Word

however can take long file names. It will assign a further three character
extension of DOC to all data files and DOT to all template files. The filename
and extension are separated by a full stop and should only contain characters A-
Z or 0-9. Even spaces are now allowed unlike in earlier versions. MS-Word does
not distinguish between UPPER and lower case characters in a filename.

e.g. filename.doc

MS-WORD Intro

Saving an existing document

If the document has already been saved, but you want to update the disk with any changes
which may have been made, you use the Save command.

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1. Choose the Save command from the File Menu.

By using the above command, the dialog box will not be displayed.

Each time a document is saved, the on-screen information replaces the previously saved
document on disk.

Alternatively you can use the Save Icon on the toolbar.

Closing a document

This option is used when you are finished working on your document, have saved it and want to
remove it from your screen and create a new file.

1. Choose Close from the File Menu

If you try to close a document without first saving all the changes, the system will prompt you
that you have not saved the changes and give you the option now to save them.

2. Click Yes to save changes, No to discard changes, or Cancel to cancel the command.

Opening an existing document

1. Choose the Open command from the File Menu, or click the File Open Icon on the
Standard Toolbar

2. Ensure that correct drive and directory is currently selected. (If not, point to the
required drive name (eg. A: drive in the Open dialog, then the directory name and
double-click).

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3. Locate the required file, you may have to use the vertical scroll bar on the right of the
list box

4. Click on the require file, and click OK

Note: When you open a file, MS-Word will always create an new window for the
selected file, this means that several file windows can be open simultaneously.

Creating a new file

1. Choose New from the File Menu

2. Click on the required template and click OK

or

3. Choose the File New Icon from the Standard Toolbar

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Word for Windows will open a new window for the document and assign the new sequential
document number to the window. If there are other documents open, they will not be lost.
MS-Word can hold up to 9 Document Windows.

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TEXT ENHANCEMENT

Selecting text

Selecting text is a process of highlighting text that needs to be worked with. In Word for
windows you must always select text before applying any changes to it.

Text can be selected with a mouse or with the Shift and arrow keys

To select by dragging the mouse:

1. Position the insertion point at the beginning of the text to be selected

2. Click and hold the left mouse button, drag the mouse over the required text

3. Release the left mouse button

To cancel a selection, click the left mouse button

Quick ways of selecting text

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Selection Method Effect

Double Click Selects the current word

Ctrl Click Selects the current sentence

With the pointer in the Selects the current paragraph. (The selection bar is
selection bar Double-Click the white space to the left of the left margin

With the pointer in the Selects the whole document

selection bar Ctrl Click

Selecting text with the keyboard

Selection Method Effect

Shift Right Arrow Selects the next character

Ctrl Shift Right Arrow Selects the current word

Ctrl Shift Down Arrow Selects the current paragraph

Ctrl 5 (numeric keypad) Selects entire document

Applying text enhancements

Text attributes are enhancements such as Bold, Underline, Italics, SMALL CAPS etc.

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Using the formatting toolbar to apply enhancements

The Formatting Toolbar is displayed on screen each time you load MS-Word. This Toolbar is
designed to make formatting features more accessible when using a mouse.

1. Point and click on the Icon on the Formatting bar i.e.

B for bold

I for italics

U for underline

2. Type the text

3. Point and click on the Icon on the Formatting bar to turn it off

Applying the enhancement to existing text

1. Select the text you wish to apply the enhancement to

2. Point and click on the enhancement on the Formatting bar

Note: Many enhancements can be applied to the text once it is selected, just point
and click on the required enhancement.

Applying the enhancement using the menu

Enhancements can be applied using the Menu Bar also. Select the text in the usual manner and
when selected move the Pointer to the Menu bar and click on FORMAT. Next click on FONT.
Make sure that the FONT Sheet Tab is chosen. Click on the various enhancements you require
and then click on OK. Using this method you will be able to apply a large amount of

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enhancements including Bold, Underline, Italics, Small Capitals, Strikethrough, Subscript,
Superscript, Fonts, Point Sizes and Colour.

Removing enhancements

If you wish to de-select any of these functions simply go through the same procedure one again.

TEXT ALIGNMENT

Text alignment refers to the positioning of the text between the left and right margins. Again,
alignment selections can be made from the Formatting toolbar or the Format menu.

Aligning text from the formatting toolbar

The following icons are displayed on the Formatting Toolbar

This text is Centre Aligned

This text is Left Aligned

This text is Right Aligned

1. Point and click on the icon representing he required alignment

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2. Type the text and press <Enter>

3. Point and click the <Left align> icon to turn off the alignment and return to the left
margin

Changing the alignment of existing text

1. Select the text you wish to change

2. Point and click the icon representing the required alignment

Applying the alignment using the menu

Text alignment can be applied using the Menu Bar also. Select the text in the usual manner and
when selected move the Pointer to the Menu bar and click on FORMAT. Next click on
PARAGRAPH. Make sure that the INDENTS AND SPACING Sheet Tab is chosen. Click on the
ALIGNMENT and choose the required alignment and then click on OK.

Font Attributes

Fonts

A font is made up of three elements i.e.

Typeface (Times, Roman, Helvetica, Courier)

Weight (Bold, Italic)

Size (10 point, 12 point, 8 point)

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The fonts you have available for working with will be controlled by the version of Windows and
the type of printer you have currently selected.

Font Examples:

This is an example of Times New Roman

This is an example of CG Times

This is an example of Courier

This is an example of Arial

This is an example of Lucida Handwriting

Font sizes:

This is size 12

This is size 14

This is size 16

This is size 18

This size 20

This is size 24

Selecting a font using the toolbar

1. Point to the Font box in the Formatting Toolbar

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2. Click on the Down Arrow (to the right of the Box)
3. Scroll through the available fonts using the vertical scroll bar, click on the required font
4. Point and click on the Down arrow in the Font Size Box on the Formatting Toolbar
5. Click on the required Font Size for the current font

Note: Font selections can also be made from the Font option in the Format Menu

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PRINTING

Printing a document on screen

1. Choose PRINT from the File Menu

2. The Print dialog box will be displayed

3. At the top of the dialog box the current printer is displayed, if you wish to change this
click on Printer

4. In the Page Range section you can specify which part of the document you wish to print.

5. In the Copies section you can specify the number of copies for printing

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6. Once all the selections have been made, Click OK to print

The printer icon on the toolbar can also be selected for printing text

Printing from the toolbar

Point to the Printer Icon and click, the default print selections will be used for the printed text

Print Preview

It is always a good idea to view a document before you print it.

Choose Print Preview for the File Menu

or

Click the Print Preview Icon on the Standard Toolbar

The Print Preview screen will appear showing you the page on which your cursor is located. The
mouse pointer will now take the shape of a magnifying glass with a little + sign in it. Click once
with the left mouse button and a magnified view of the page will appear on your screen. If you
click once again you will zoom out to a full page view again.

You will only see one page in Print Preview. With the Multiple Pages button you can see up to
six pages at one time. When you click on the Multiple Pages button a menu will appear. Click
on the second page and this will display two pages of the document.

When you click on the Print button you will send the document to the Printer. The Printing
message box will appear. You can stop the printing by clicking on the Cancel Button. You must
wait until the Printing message box disappears before you can continue printing.

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Click on Close Print Preview. You will return to the Normal View screen.

Multiple pages can also be view by clicking the multiple pages icon of the Print Preview toolbars.
The appearance of the multiple pages can be selected from the given option. Up to six pages can
be viewed at once and the result may appear as follows:

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124
DELETING AND INSERTING TEXT

Inserting text

1. Move the insertion point to where the text is to be inserted.

2. Type the text to be inserted. Word for Windows is automatically in insert mode, which
means that wherever you place your I-Beam and type the new text will be inserted
within the existing text without typing over anything.

Deleting Text

Text can be deleted using the following selections

Type of deletion Keystroke

Character before the insertion point Backspace

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Character after the insertion point Delete

Word before the insertion point Ctrl Backspace

Word after the insertion point Ctrl Delete

Note: Larger amounts of text can be deleted using the selection process

1. Select (highlight) the text to be deleted

2. Press Delete

Overwriting existing text

1. Position the insertion point at the beginning of the text to be overwritten

2. Press INSERT (the OVR flag will be displayed in the Status Bar)

3. Type the new text

4. Press INSERT to turn off overwrite mode

You can also overtype text by first highlighting the text you wish to overwrite and just type the
new text. Word for Windows will automatically delete the old text and insert the new text.

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To restore deleted text

1. Choose Undo from the Edit Menu or press the Undo Icon on the Toolbar.

Note: The Undo command from the Standard Toolbar stores the last One Hundred
commands and any of those commands can be undone by choosing the
command from the list box. However because several changes in sequence
often depend on preceding changes, you cannot select an individual action
without undoing all the actions that appear above it in the list.

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TABS AND INDENTS

MS-Word has pre-set tabs at every .5" between the left and right margin. The default tabs can
be changed or individual tabs may be set.

Tab alignments

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The following is a sample of the different tab alignment options available in Word for Windows:

Left Tab Center Tab Right Tab

Decimal

Text Aligns Left Text Centred at tab stop 175

12,234.95

Left Centre 123,789

25.24

Note: When you set an individual tab in MS-Word, all the default tabs up to that point
are cleared.

Setting tabs using the ruler

You can use your mouse to set tabs directly on the Ruler.

1. Point and Click on the required tab type on the extreme left of the ruler (L). (If you click
on this symbol it will change to different symbols representing the different kinds of
Tabs)

2. Point and Click on the required position in the Ruler area where you wish to set the tab

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each tab you want to set

Setting tabs using the menu

1. Choose Tabs for the Format Menu

2. In the Tabs Stop Position Box enter the Tab position as a numeric value

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3. Choose the Alignment option you require

4. Click on the SET button which will now enter this position on the Ruler Line.

5. After entering all the Tabs you click on the OK BUTTON.

Clearing tabs with the mouse

1. Point to the Tab icon that you wish to clear

2. Click and drag the icon into the document area of the window

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each tab to be cleared

Clearing tabs with the menu

1. Choose Tabs from the Format Menu

2. To clear all of the current tabs point and click on the Clear All button

3. To clear individual tabs point and click on the tab you wish to clear

4. Click on Clear

5. Click OK when done

Repositioning tabs after the text has been typed

1. Select the text which is currently being controlled by the tab settings.

2. Point to the Ruler area of the screen

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3. Click and drag the tab stops around until you are happy with the layout of the text.

Note: It is very important to select all of the text being effect by the existing tabs
otherwise you may just change the text position of just a line in the group of
lines of text.

Indenting text

There are two type of indentation which can be applied to text

(1) Full Left Indent:- Where all of the text in the paragraph is indented from the left
margin.

This is an example of a full left indent because all of the text in this paragraph is
indented by .5"

(2) Hanging Indent:- Where the first line of text in the paragraph remains at the left
margin and the rest of the text in the paragraph is indented.

a) This is an example of a hanging indent where the first line of text starts at the left
margin (the letter a) and the rest of the text is indented by .5" Hanging indents are
usually associated with paragraph numbering

Creating a left indent using the menu

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1. Choose Paragraph from the Format Menu

Make sure the Indents and Spacing Tab Sheet is displayed.

2. Type in the numeric value in the Left Indentation box.

3. Click on OK.

Creating a left indent using the ruler

1. Click the paragraph indent marker to the required position on the ruler line.

The paragraph indent marker is the little square under the triangles on the ruler line.
Both the bottom and the top triangles should move when you drag the square. If only
one triangle moves, it means the mouse pointer dragged a triangle instead of the
square.

Creating a left indent using the quick function keys

1. Position the insertion point where you want to create the indented paragraph

2. Press CTRL + M

3. Type the text for the paragraph

4. Press CTRL + SHIFT + M to turn off the left indent

Creating a hanging indent using the menu

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1. Choose Paragraph from the Format Menu.

Make sure the Indents and Spacing Tab Sheet is displayed.

2. Click on the down arrow underneath the heading Special and click on Hanging.

3. Type in the numeric value in the By box

4. Click on IL.

Creating a hanging indent using the ruler

1. Click the bottom triangle and drag it to the required position on the ruler line.

Creating a hanging indent using the quick function keys

1. Position the insertion point where you want to create the hanging indent

2. Press CTRL + T (Notice that the bottom triangle on the ruler line moves in).

3. Type the first piece of text at the left margin (usually a paragraph number)

4. Press TAB

5. Type the remainder of the text for the paragraph. When you press Enter you will be
taken back to the left margin to type in your next point.

6. Repeat the above steps for the remainder of the points and paragraphs.

7. Press CTRL + SHIFT + T to turn off a hanging indent.

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COPY AND CUT TEXT

Copy text

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Note: The Clipboard is a temporary storage area for text which is being copied or
moved. When you use Copy or Cut, the selected text will replace anything
currently in the Clipboard, and will remain there until something else is copied
or cut

The copy text command enables you to repeat selected text within the document or paste it in
another document.

1. Select the text you wish to copy

2. Click on the Copy Icon to copy the selected text to the Clipboard

3. Position the insertion point where you wish to copy the text to

4. Click on the Paste Icon to paste the text at the new location

Cut

The cut command enables you to move text from one location to another within a document or
to another document. However, it is not advisable to move text from one document to another,
text should always be copied between documents.

1. Select the text to be cut

2. Click on the Cut Icon to cut the selected text to the clipboard

3. Position the insertion point where the text is to be pasted

4. Click on the Paste icon to paste the text at the new location

Cut and Paste are available in the Edit Menu.

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Using drag & drop

Drag & Drop enables you to move and copy text using mouse actions.

Using Drag & Drop to Move

1. Select the text you wish to move

2. With the mouse, point into the selected text

3. Click and drag the mouse to the new location for the text (you should see an rectangular
symbol attached to the mouse pointer)

4. Release the mouse at the required location, the selected text should now be moved to
the mouse pointer location.

Note: To copy text using Drag & Drop, at step 3 above hold down the Ctrl key.

before Clicking and Dragging the mouse

Coping text between documents

1. Open the document you want to copy the text from

2. Open the document you want to copy the text to

3. Choose the Window menu option

4. Click on the document you are copying from in the list of open documents

5. Select the text to be copied and Click on the Copy Icon

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6. Choose the Window menu option

7. Click n the document you are copying to in the list of open documents

8. Position the insertion point where you want the copied text

9. Click on the Paste Icon to paste the copied text

10. Close down any unused documents

FIND AND REPLACE

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MS-Word allows you to search within a document for any combination of characters. It also
allows you to replace this word with another word. It allows you to decide whether the replace
should be carried out automatically or by pausing for confirmation at each potential
replacement to allow the user to confirm whether it should be replaced or not.

Find

1. Position the insertion point at the top of the document

2. Choose FIND from the Edit Menu

3. Type the text you wish to find in the Find What Text box

4. Click Find Next

5. To repeat the Find click Find Next

Replace

1. Position the insertion point at the top of the document.

2. Choose REPLACE FOR THE Edit Menu

3. Type the text to be replaced in the Find What box

4. Type the replacement text in the Replace With box

5. Choose Find Next

6. Choose Replace - By choosing this option Word for Windows asks for confirmation
before replacing each occurrence of the text.

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 Choose Replace All - By choosing this option Word for Windows automatically replaces
all occurrences of the text.

SPELLER AND AUTOCORRECT

Speller

The Word for Windows Speller checks through the document for miss-spelt words. Word for
Windows will consider any word which it does not have in its dictionary to be a miss-spelt word.
It will also check for double words.

Words can be added to the Word for Windows dictionary

1. Choose Spelling from the Tools Menu or choose the Speller Icon from the toolbar.

2. Word for Windows will start spell checking the document, if it finds a miss-spelt word
the Spelling dialog box will appear

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3. If Word for Windows suggests the correct spelling for the word, click on the correct
word and click on Change All

4. To add a new word to the dictionary click on Add

5. To ignore every occurrence of a word click on Ignore All

6. To cancel the spell check click on Cancel

Using autocorrect

AutoCorrect is another way of capturing frequently used text or it can be used to pre-empt
typing mistakes that occur regularly. If you are in a habit of typing teh instead of the you can
store teh to be replaced with the in AutoCorrect, this means that every time you type the
followed by a space Word will automatically replace it with the. You should used AutoText if
you do not want text to be replaced automatically.

Creating an autocorrect entry

1. Choose AutoCorrect from the Tools Menu

2. Type the incorrect entry in the Replace Box

3. In the With box, type the entry itself

4. Choose Add

5. Choose Close

Activating autocorrect

140
The AutoCorrect option is activated each time you type and AutoCorrect Entry Name followed
by a space or a punctuation mark.

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PAGE FEATURES

Inserting a hard page break

A page break can be inserted manually if you wish to end one page and begin another. The page
break is represented by a dotted line across the document window with the description Page
Break centred

142
1. Press <Ctrl + Enter> to break a page

Converting upper/lower case

1. Select the text you wish to convert

2. Press <Shift + F3> to convert the selected text

Note: Shift F3 is a toggle key and will rotate between Upper / Lower and Combination
case each time you use it.

Line spacing

The default line spacing is single, to change the line spacing make one of the following
selections:

Selection Effect

Ctrl + 1 Single line spacing

Ctrl + 2 Double line spacing

Ctrl + 5 Line and a half spacing

1. Position the insertion point where you want to change the line spacing

2. Press <Ctrl + 2> for double spacing or <Ctrl + 5> for 1.5 spacing

Changing existing text

If the text has already been typed, first select the text and repeat step 2 above

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Note: You can have different line spacing in different parts of the document, if the text
has already been typed, just select the section and apply the new line spacing,
or select the line spacing before you start typing, and change it when ever you
require to do so.

Changing the margins

1. Choose Page Setup from the File Menu

2. The Page Setup dialog box will be displayed

3. To change the Left or Right Margins, point and click or relevant margin box and type the
new margin setting in inches

4. To change Top or Bottom Margins, point and click on the relevant margin box and type
the new margin setting in inches

5. If you want the new margin setting to be the default setting for every document you
create, point and click on Default

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HEADERS AND FOOTERS

Headers and footers

145
A Header is text that is repeated at the top of every page in a document.

A Footer is text that is repeated at the bottom of every page in a document.

Adding a header to a document

1. Choose Header/Footer from the View Menu

2. Choose Header and Click OK

3. The Insertion point is then positioned in the Header Window

4. Type the <Header Text? Using the <TAB> key to centre or right align the header text

5. Click on Close when finished.

Adding a footer to a document

1. Choose Header/Footer from the View Menu

2. Choose Footer and Click OK

3. The Insertion point is then positioned in the Footer Window

4. Type the <Footer Text> using the <TAB> key to centre or right align the footer text

5. Click on Close when finished.

Automatic Page Numbering, Date and Time of Printing can be applied to Headers and Footers by
clicking on the relevant Icon on the Header/Footer Toolbar.

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TABLES

The tables features enables you to work with columnar text, applying line drawing and creating
a word wrap effect within each column of the table.

With Tables you can arrange columns of numbers and text in a document without using tabs.
Tables also provide a convenient way to present text in side-by-side paragraphs.

Tables allows you to perform calculations in the same manner as a spreadsheet.

Creating a table

1. Choose Insert Table from the Table Menu

2. Specify the number of columns in the Number of Columns box

3. Specify the number of rows in the Number of Rows box

4. Click OK to create a table with columns of even width.

A gridlike structure will appear on the screen. This grid structure will not print - Borders
and Gridlines must be added if you want the grid to print.

5. You can also create a Table by clicking on the Table Icon on the Toolbar and highlighting
the number of columns and rows you require.

Entering information in a table

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Use the mouse to lace the Cursor in a cell and start typing. Move from cell to cell using the TAB
and Up/Down/Left/Right Arrow Keys.

* To jump back a cell within the table press Shift and Tab.

If you press the Return key in table you will add an extra line to the row you are in. If you do this
in error use the Backspace key to remove it.

You will notice that all inserted text and numbers in the table will automatically be left aligned.
You will often need to right Align numbers.

Selecting the table

Highlight the entire table by:

1. Using the left button on the mouse and dragging (in the same manner as you would
highlight a paragraph of text).

2. Bringing the mouse to the top grid like of the first column until the mouse pointer
resembles and down pointing arrow, then click to select the entire column and drag to
highlight the rest of the table.

Setting tabs within the table

1. Select the Column you want the tabs to take effect in.

2. Set the tabs in the usual manner.

3. To use the actual tab feature within a Table press CTRL and TAB.

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 By pressing TAB you will move from cell to cell by pressing CTRL and TAB you will stay
within the cell and just move to the Tab position. However if the first tab within the cell
is a Decimal Tab and you press Tab to move into this cell the cursor will position itself at
the Decimal Tab location.

Changing the column widths

1. Point and click anywhere inside the table area

Notice that the Ruler changes when the cursor is within the Table indicating the
different column boundaries (Small grid buttons).

2. Point to the Button icon in the Ruler area which represent the current column width

3. Click and drag the Button icon to increase or decrease the width of the required column.

Adding borders to the table

1. Select the table

2. Choose Borders & Shading from the Format Menu

3. Point and Click on the Grid option which will insert the default outline on you table and
internal gridlines.

4. You can choose from a selection of Line Styles for the border by clicking on the down
arrow under Line Style and choose a style of line.

5. When finished click on OK.

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Shading cells in a table

1. Select the cells you wish to apply the shading to

2. Choose Borders & shading from the Format Menu

3. Choose Shading

4. Specify the depth of shading required in the Shading box

5. Click OK

Borders and Shading can also be applied to the Table using the order Icon on the Toolbar and
immediately a new button bar appears at the top of your screen.

Merging cells in a table

Merge cells combines the contents of adjacent cells into one single cell. This command is
available only when you select two or more cells in a row. You can only merge cells horizontally.

1. Select the Cells you wish to merge

2. Choose Merge Cells from the Table Menu

Word automatically inserts a return to increase the size of the row, you may deleted this return
by pressing the delete or backspace key.

Inserting a column in the table

1. Select the column to the right of where the new column is to be inserted

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2. Choose Insert Columns from the Table Menu

Deleting a column in the table

1. Select the column you wish to delete

2. Choose Delete Columns from the Table Menu

Inserting a row at the end of the table

1. Position the insertion point in the last cell of the table

2. Press <Tab> to add a new row to the table

Inserting a row in the table

1. Select the Row where you wish to insert the extra row.

2. Choose Insert Rows from the Table Menu

Deleting a row in the table

1. Select the row you wish to delete

2. Choose delete Rows from the Table Menu

3. Click OK.

Note: All of the Font, Enhancements and Alignment features covered in earlier
sections can be used when working with tables.

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Calculating numeric data in a table

Word Table feature can be used as a mini-spreadsheet to carry out calculations. You can quickly
add numbers in a row or column, you can add, subtract, multiply, divide and average numbers.
You can calculate percentages and find the minimum and maximum value for a range of cells.

The following keys may be used when calculating.

+ Addition

/ Division

- Subtraction
* Multiplication

as with Microsoft Excel, cells are referred to as A1, A23 B1, B2 and so on, with the letter
representing a column and the number representing a row.

A B C D

Insert the numeric values into the table

1. Position the insertion point where the result of the calculation should be placed

2. Choose Table from the menu bar and then choose Formula

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3. To sum the cells above on to the right accept the prompt in the dialog box and choose
OK
Changing the numeric format

1. From within the Formula option in Tables choose Number Format.

2. Click on the down arrow to display the various selections available.

3. Click on the required format and choose IL.

Paste function

Paste Function lists the functions e.g. Average, Min, Max, Count etc. you can use to calculate
numbers. If you select a function from this list it automatically appears in the formula box.

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 Microsoft Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet program that organizes and keeps track of data, which can be
used to create charts, worksheets, and databases. Excel is frequently used for its ability
to perform mathematical calculations with large volumes of data. It also produces
graphs and charts with ease. This manual aims to help people of any experience level
become
familiar with working in Excel and to provide direction in employing some of Excel’s
more sophisticated features.

Basics
To open Excel from the UM computer labs, click on the Start button in the lower-left
corner of the screen and select PROGRAMS > MS OFFICE > MICROSOFT EXCEL. You
should see a screen that looks similar to this:

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The Excel Environment

At the top of the window is a blue bar called the title bar. The title bar contains the
name of the application, Microsoft Excel, and the name of the workbook you are
working in, which Excel automatically calls Book1 until you name it otherwise. A
workbook is the file in which you work and store your data. The title bar also contains
the minimize button, the maximize/restore button, and the close button.

The largest portion of the screen is taken up by a view of the worksheet area.
Worksheets are used to list and analyze data. At the bottom left of the screen are
worksheet tabs that indicate the active worksheet. By default, new workbooks
contain

At the bottom and right of the screen are scrollbars, which can be used to view parts
of the worksheet that are off screen.

155
Along the left and top of the worksheet area are row headings and column headings.
Rows are denoted by numbers and columns are denoted by letters.

The thick black rectangle indicates the selected cell. A cell is the intersection of a
row and a column. The selected cell’s reference, A1, appears in the name box. The
cell reference is composed of the column letter followed by the row number.

To the right of the name box is the formula bar, which is where text and formulas
are entered and edited for each cell.

Below the title bar is the menu bar, containing lists of commands you use to give Excel
instructions.

The standard toolbar resides below the menu bar, and contains buttons with images
that correspond to some frequently-used menu commands.

The formatting toolbar is usually located below or next to the standard toolbar. It
contains buttons that correspond to several commands for formatting cells.

Managing Workbooks

The most effective menu for managing your workbooks is the FILE menu,
under which you will find the following useful commands:
NEW – asks what type of new workbook you want to create
OPEN – brings up a dialog box so you can select an already-existing
workbook to work with CLOSE – closes the workbook you are currently working in SAVE
– saves current workbook under the name it has already been
given SAVE AS – brings up a dialog box so you can enter
a name and location for the workbook PAGE SETUP –
allows you to adjust page settings, margins, the header
and footer, titles, and other print options PRINT AREA –
sets the selected cells as the only area to be printed
PRINT PREVIEW – displays the workbook as it will
appear on paper PRINT – brings up a dialog box asking
which printer to send workbook to EXIT – closes all
workbooks and exits Excel
Although there are additional options under the FILE
menu, the ones discussed in this manual are those
which you will probably find yourself using the most.

156
Toolbars may be moved by clicking on their “handles” (located in their uppermost left
corner) and dragging them to other locations. If a toolbar is in its own window, it can
be relocated by clicking and dragging its title bar.

If the workbook has not been saved before, Excel automatically brings up the Save As
dialog box.

Entering Data

Cells can contain text, numerical values, formulas, or functions. To enter data into a cell,
select the cell by clicking on it, and begin typing. The text will appear in the formula bar.
When the entry is complete, press Enter. If the text does not fit in the cell, it will overlap
if the adjacent cells are empty. If the adjacent cells are not empty, part of the entry
remains covered, and the complete entry must be viewed from the formula bar. This
can be resolved by resizing the column width (see Cell Manipulation below). Text is
automatically left aligned, whereas numerical values are right aligned.

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The EDIT menu contains commands that you may find helpful when changing
information in cells. UNDO – reverses your last command or deletes typing REPEAT –
repeats your last command, if possible CUT – removes selected text and temporarily
saves it on the clipboard COPY – places a copy of selected text on the clipboard PASTE –
inserts contents of clipboard at insertion point PASTE SPECIAL – pastes the contents of
clipboard in format you specify FILL – see AutoFill, below CLEAR – removes the specified
data without placing it on the clipboard DELETE – removes selected data DELETE SHEET
– removes entire spreadsheet from the workbook MOVE OR COPY SHEET –
moves/copies an entire spreadsheet within a workbook FIND – searches for
text/formatting you specify REPLACE – finds and replaces specified text/formatting

AutoFill: Excel can use initial values in a few cells to create a logical list of entries, like
numbers following a pattern, words (such as the days of the week), or alpha-numeric
entries. For example, if you wanted to create a list of even numbers, enter “2” in one
cell, “4” in the next cell, then select both cells. Click on the lower right-hand corner of
the selection rectangle. The pointer will become a black cross. Drag for as long as you
want your list. Excel will fill in the data it assumes you want.

Another feature that may be helpful when working with data is Sort. Cells can have their

158
values specifically sorted by selecting the group of cells to sort then choosing DATA >
SORT. This feature can be used to put lists into alphabetical, chronological, or numerical
order.

Modifying Workbooks

Excel allows you to alter the sizes and locations of rows, columns, and cells in a
spreadsheet. You can also add, remove, and reorganize worksheets in your
workbook to create an accommodating workbook.

Cell Manipulation

• Adding/Removing: A cell may be added or removed by using:

o The mouse by right-clicking on the desired cell then choosing:
. Insert: An additional cell, row or column will be added before
the corresponding selection. If a cell is inserted an additional
options will appear asking in which direction to shift the
existing cells.
. Delete: The selected cell, column or row will be removed along
with all values and formulas existing in it.
o The INSERT menu option and choosing Cells/Rows/Columns: An
additional cell, row or column will be added before the corresponding
selection. If a cell is inserted an additional options will appear asking
in which direction to shift the existing cells.
• Merging: Two or more adjacent cells may be merged by selecting the desired
cells then clicking the Merge and Center button on the formatting toolbar.
• Resizing: A cell may be resized by adjusting the width of the column or the
height of the row using:
o The mouse to left-click on the appropriate divider in the row or column
label and then dragging it to the desired size.
o The FORMAT menu option and choosing:
.S ize: A manual setting for the desired height or width.
. AutoFit: An automatic adjustment to fit the largest item
in the selected row or column.

• Freeze Pane/Split Screen: Creates a portion of the worksheet that remains on

159
 the screen while the rest of the worksheet scrolls. This is useful when you have a
long list and want to simultaneously view the headings and the values that are
toward the end of the list. To use Freeze Pane/Split Screen select the desired
row, column or cell(s) and then choose WINDOW > FREEZE PANE or WINDOW >
SPLIT. The difference between Freeze Pane and Split Screen is that Freeze Pane
keeps all the data in one window whereas Split Screen creates smaller separate
windows for each split data.

Worksheet Manipulation

Renaming: A worksheet may be renamed by:

o Right-clicking on the desired worksheet tab and selecting Rename, or
o Double-clicking on the worksheet name and typing in a new one.

Adding: Additional worksheets may be added by:

o Choosing INSERT > WORKSHEET, or
o Right-clicking on the worksheet tabs and selecting Insert.

Removing: A worksheet may be removed by:

o Choosing EDIT > DELETE SHEET, or
o Right-clicking on the worksheet tabs and selecting Delete.

Reorganizing: The order in which the worksheets are arranged can be changed by:
o Left-clicking on the desired worksheet tab and dragging it to the new
location in the worksheet order, or
o Right-clicking on the worksheet tab and selecting Move or Copy…,
then choose a location

Copying: A worksheet may be copied by:

o Choosing EDIT > MOVE OR COPY SHEET and checking “Create a
copy” in the dialog box
o Right-clicking the worksheet tab, selecting Move or Copy…, and
checking “Create a copy”

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Formatting Cells

The appearance of cells can be formatted to create an attractive workbook. Cells may
be formatted using various pre-defined options that Excel provides. To format cells,
first select the desired cells, then either:
• right-click on the selection and choose Format Cells… or
• choose FORMAT > CELLS from the menu bar.

The Format Cells dialog box contains options Excel provides for cell formatting are:
• Number: displays numerical values in a specific format using symbols, decimal
places or other commonly used formats.
• Alignment: controls the vertical and horizontal positioning of the text, as well as
the way text appears in cells
• Font: controls the font sizes, colors and styles cell(s).
• Borders: controls if borders will exist around the selected cell(s) and how the
borders will be displayed.
• Patterns: controls the background colors or for giving a background pattern to
the selected cell(s).

The formatting toolbar provides an easy way to apply some of the same formatting:

Font Size
BoldItalicsUnderline Left AlignCenter Align Right Align Merge and Center

Currency Style
Percent StyleComma Style Increase DecimalDecrease DecimalDecrease IndentIncrease IndentBorders

Fill Color

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Font Color

Formulas
A formula can be used to calculate a value for a specific cell based on the values of any
other number of cells. All formulas begin with the equal sign (=). Formulas appear in the
formula bar, but their results are displayed in the cell. Formulas often refer to other
cells. For example, if the formula =A1+A2+A3 were entered into cell A4, then the value
“16” would be displayed in A4.

Cell References

A reference identifies a cell or a

range of cells on a worksheet,
for use in a formula. Excel refers
to columns with letters and to
rows with numbers. To refer to a
cell, enter the column letter
followed by the row number.
For example, D5 refers to the
cell at the intersection of
column D and row 5.

To refer to a range of cells, enter the reference for the cell in the upper-left corner of
the range, a colon (:), and then the reference to the cell in the lower-right corner of the
range. In the diagram, the selected range can be referred to as B3:D5. When copying
and pasting cell references, it is helpful to recognize the difference between relative and
absolute references. If you were to paste the formula =A1+A2+A3 into cell B4, the
formula would be pasted as =B1+B2+B3 because the cell references are relative,
meaning Excel changes the cell references depending on their location. Because the
formula was pasted in column B, Excel changed the A’s in the formula to B’s.

162
The dollar sign ($) is used to indicate absolute references. The formula
=$A$1+$A$2+$A$3 would return the same value as =A1+A2+A3. The difference is that
it could be pasted anywhere in the worksheet and it would still be pasted as
=$A$1+$A$2+$A$3, because the dollar signs indicate that the row and column
references are absolute – they will not be changed by Excel.

To enter cell references in a formula, you can type them in manually or click on the
cells you want in the formula. That is, type an equals sign, then click on a cell and Excel
will enter the cell reference into the formula. You can even refer to cells in other
worksheets and other workbooks this way.

163
When creating formulas keep in mind:
• Excel performs the operations from left to right according to the order of operator
precedence.
• Use parentheses to control the order of operations by grouping operations you want
performed first.
• You may use arithmetic and logic operators from the “Calculation operators in
formulas” handout.

Functions

Functions are predefined formulas. The SUM function could be used to return the
same value as the formula =A1+A2+A3 by entering =SUM(A1,A2,A3). An abbreviated
way would be to use a range. So,
=SUM(A1:A3) would also return “16” in the cell that the function was entered into. Excel
already has a wide variety of functions. See if one of those will accomplish your task
before creating

your own formula. Choose INSERT > FUNCTION or click the function button on the
standard toolbar, and select the function you want to use. Excel will then ask you to fill
in information that you want used in its calculations. You can either enter cell references
or click on the cells you want to use, or type in additional information manually.

164
 Here is a list of some common functions that you may find useful: AVERAGE displays the
arithmetic mean of the cells referred to in parentheses. COUNT displays the number of
numerical values in the cells referred to in parentheses. COUNTA displays the number of
non-empty cells among those referred to in parentheses. MAX displays the highest value
among the cells referred to in parentheses. MIN displays the lowest value among the
cells referred to in parentheses. RAND displays a random value that is at least zero but
less than 1. ROUND displays the value in cell D7 rounded to the number of decimal
places after the comma in the parentheses (4). SUM displays the sum of the values in
the cells referred to in parentheses. TODAY displays the current date.

Remember that functions, like formulas, must begin with an equals sign (=) and
must be followed by parentheses, even if no reference is required between the
parentheses (as in the RAND and TODAY functions). If you enter a function without
a preceding equals sign, Excel treats it as text and will not perform any calculations.

There are hundreds of other functions in Excel which may help you accomplish your
purpose, but if all else fails, you can just create your own formula from scratch.

Microsoft Excel 2000 Manual

165
Chart Wizard

A graphical depiction of a worksheet can be created using the Chart Wizard. To use the
chart wizard choose INSERT > CHART or left-click on the Chart Wizard button on the
toolbar.

Menu Item Option Description

Step 1 of 4 “Chart Type”
Chart Type Select which type of chart to use
Chart Sub-Type Select variations of the Chart Type
Custom Types Select from more Chart types
View Sample Used to preview Chart Type using values from the selected cells
Next > Move on to the next step
Step 2 of 4 “Chart Source Data”
< Back Go back to the previous step
Data Range Specify or modify the source of the data in the chart
Series in: Rows Use selected cells for series in rows
Columns Use selected cells for series in columns
Add Add another row or column of values to the chart
Remove Remove the selected series from the chart
Name Enter the name to use for the series
Category (X) axis labels: Enter a label to use for each value in the X-axis
Next > Go to the next step
Step 3 of 4 “Chart Options”
< Back Go back to the previous step
Titles, Axes, Gridlines, Add titles, labels, choose whether gridlines, legends, labels, data

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 Legend, Data Labels, table should appear
Data Table
Next > Go to the next step
Step 4 of 4 “Chart Location”
< Back Go back to the previous step
Place chart:
As a new sheet: As Place the chart into an its own separate sheet Place the chart into
object in: the selected sheet
Finish Inserts chart

Pictures

• Inserting: An image may be imported into a spreadsheet for display. Choose

INSERT > PICTURE > CLIP ART – to select a picture from clip art gallery > FROM FILE – to
select a picture saved on your computer
> AUTOSHAPES – to bring up the AutoShapes
toolbar and insert shapes which can contain text
> ORGANIZATION CHART – to chart an
organizational hierarchy
> WORDART – to create text effects using the
WordArt toolbar on words you enter.

• Resizing: Once an image is inserted into a spreadsheet it may be resized by:

o Left-clicking on the border of the image and dragging it to change the
size.
o Right-clicking on the image and selecting Format Picture.
• Floating: When an image is inserted into a spreadsheet it “floats” above the data
instead of occupying a cell. To move the image simply click on it then drag it
around.
• Format Picture: Format Picture provides a few simple options for editing the
appearance of an inserted image.
o Colors and Lines allow you to change the picture’s
fill color and the appearance of borders
o Size alters the size and angle of the picture
o Picture crops picture and alters brightness/contrast
o Protection locks picture from being altered if the
spreadsheet is protected (see Tools)
o Properties controls how the position is changed
o Web displays alternative text while picture loads

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Headers and Footers

To add headers and footers (information that repeats at the top and bottom of every page),
choose either VIEW > HEADERS AND FOOTERS or FILE > PAGE SETUP and choose the
Header/Footer tab. You can select a preset one or customize your own. When customizing your
own headers and footers, text can be positioned on the left, center, and right of the page. Some
of the fields you can insert include page number, date, time,

Tools

There are a few options under the TOOLS menu which you may find useful under
certain circumstances. They include:
• Protection: Restricts others from changing values and formulas of selected cell(s) or
spreadsheet.

• Goal Seek: Determines what value a cell must be changed to in order to produce a
desired result in another cell. For example, if you spend $50 per week, your Excel chart
indicates that you will spend $300 before you go home for the semester. If you only
have $250 available for spending, you can use Goal Seek to figure out how much you
should spend per week before going into debt. It turns out you need to spend $42 per
week rather than $50.

• Scenarios: Allows you to change the values of several cells and save the results as a
scenario within the same workbook. Excel will ask you to enter the new values for the
changing cells. You can view other scenarios by selecting one and clicking Show.

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Microsoft Access

• The Open dialogue box appears

• In the Open dialogue box, under File Name, type the location of your PFM Microsoft
Access tables. In order to find the location of your Access tables, go to the PFM Main
Menu, click on the User Settings button and then the Paths tab. Write down your
Database location. The Access tables are located on the root of the PFM data directory,
something like this:
\\ntserver\apps\pfmdata\access\pfm97.mdb. Call PFM (610-668-1655) if you

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 have trouble finding your Access tables.
• The Microsoft Access database contains Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Macros, and
Modules. You will be using Tables, Queries, and Reports.

IMPORTANT: All the data in the PFM Tables is LIVE data.

It comes from and is directly linked to PFM. DO NOT MAKE

These are the standard data tables contained in PFM. ANY CHANGE TO THE DATA IN THE TABLES.
Double-click the table name to open it.

• AirplaneInfo=Aircraft database

Tables tab
• Airport2=Airport database
• AirportInfo=Primary airport database info
• Authorizers=Record keeping auth per leg
• ChargeAcctInfo=Pax database
• CrewData=Record keeping: crew per leg
• CrewRatings=Ratings from crew database
• Crewsched=Crew from scheduling
• Dispatch=Scheduling module
• FBO=Airport database
• Flightlog=Record keeping, front page, mostly
• Flitelog2=More record keeping
• Hotel=Airport database/hotels
• paxData=Pax data from record keeping (per leg)
• PaxInfo=Pax database

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• PaxSched=Pax from scheduling

• Pilot=Crew database
• XtraPax=More pax database
• XtraPax2=Even more pax database
• Tables. The table is the basic data container in Microsoft Access. All data contained in the
PFM Access Interface is contained in tables. Each table contains information from a
specific section of PFM, such as FlightLog. However, as PFM has grown, we have created
additional tables to accommodate the extra data. Thus you will see not only a FlightLog
table, but also Flitelog2. Even so, each table contains unique data, with no overlap
between tables. It will most likely be necessary to consult with PFM about which table
contains the information you are looking for until you get more familiar with the table
structure.
• Fields. A field is a category of information such as tail number, trip number, or date.
Please note that the field names are generic and refer to specific parts of the internal
PFM code. Sometimes, you will find field names that are confusing, however, you can
usually determine what the field represents by just looking at the data in that field. If
you need further assistance, please call PFM.
• Record. A record is the set of fields for a specific item. Thus, reading from left to right
across the first record will tell you that the aircraft number is 3 (the PFM physical aircraft
number), the PFM pointer is 8 (the internal number PFM tracks unique records by), the
tail number is N46MW, the trip number is 8 (the eighth flight log of the year, for that
aircraft), the date is 1/14/2000 which is the first month (1), fourteenth day (14), etc. In
order to see all the data contained in the record, use the scroll bar at the bottom of the
screen.

Field caption
Records

Fields

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Total number
of records
Selected record

Queries: Creating Queries Using a Single Table

Queries are created by combining fields in single or multiple tables and then filtering (or
limiting) the output in order to
achieve the desired results.

• The first step is to decide what information you want to see. Next, you determine what
table or tables that data are stored in. In some instances, only a single table will be
necessary for the query. When two or more tables are necessary, the tables must be
related. The only requirement for relating two tables in a query is that they share unique
common data in fields with the same data type and size. In other words, a Tail number
would not be considered as unique data because you might have reused the same tail
number when you purchased a new aircraft. However, in PFM the physical aircraft
number is unique because as you enter a new aircraft into PFM, the system assigns it a
new physical aircraft number and that number is never reused by a different aircraft.
Refer to page 12 for a table of unique fields.

You have been asked to determine:

How many times each aircraft has flown
to a city pair over a date range.

• On the Queries tab, click the New button.

The New Query dialog box appears. Double-click Design view.
New query dialog box
• A New Query window and the Show Table dialog box appear. The Show Table box
contains a list of all the PFM Access tables. Double-click Flightlog then close the Show
Table dialogue box.
• The Flightlog table (list of fields) is added to the table pane (top of the screen) of the
query window.
• In the Flightlog table, double-click the
Tail# field. The Tail # field is added to the QBE (query by example) grid.
• Double-click the ORG field and the DES field. (You will have to scroll down in the Flightlog
table to locate these fields.) As you double-click each field, it is added to the QBE grid.
• Double-click the TRP# field. This field is necessary in order to have the query display a
count of each unique city pair. Otherwise, the query would show that 151AE went from
DAL to BDL, but not how many times.
• Double-click the Date field to add it to the QBE grid.
• These are all the data fields you need for your query. Now we need to fine-tune the
query to display exactly what you want to see.

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• The TRP# field has to be told that it has to actually COUNT the number of unique city
pairs, not just display the TRP# for each pair.
• Go to View and double-click on Totals. The Totals line is added to the QBE grid.
• Click in the Totals line, under TRP# (it probably says Group By). You will get a drop-down
box. Select Count by single-clicking.
• The final part of the query is to establish the required Date Parameters. (See p.14 for a
discussion of Parameters.)
• Click in the Totals line, under the Date field. From the drop-down box, select Where. (As
in “Where the desired date is between this year/month/day and that year/month/day.)
. • In the Criteria line, type the following exactly: Between [start date] And [end
date].

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176
Your query design is now complete.
• To run your query, click the ! on the
toolbar.

Run

query a start date. Type in the desired Start date using mm/dd/yyyy format. Then click the OK
button.
• You will be prompted to type in
• You will now be prompted to enter the desired end date. Proceed as above and click OK.
• Your query will now run. Depending on the size of the date range you have chosen (and
thus the amount of data Access has to sort through) your query make take a few minutes
to run.

The completed query

Your query will appear in Datasheet view, similar to a table, except that the Title Bar
says Select Query.
• The records are displayed in the order in which they were entered into the table.
• In order to sort by Tail Number, put the cursor Tail Number field and click the AZ
button on the toolbar.
• In order to sort by Origin or Destination, follow the same procedure.
• In order to sort by the most frequently visited city pair, put the cursor in the
Trip# field and click the ZA button on the toolbar.
• Save your query by clicking File/Save and typing in the desired name for the
query, City-Pairs.

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Reports

Reports are based on queries. The query contains only the details you want to show in
the report and the resulting report loads faster.
• Select the Reports tab, then click the New button. The New Report dialog box
will be displayed. Double-click Report Wizard. The Report Wizard starts and the
first step appears.
• In the Tables/Queries combo box, click the down arrow. Then, select Query:
CityPairs.
• The field names in the CityPairs query appear in the Available Fields list.

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• Click the right double arrow to move all four fields into the Selected Fields list.
• Click the Next button.
• The second Report Wizard step appears.
• The CityPairs report will be grouped by Tail number. This makes the Tail number
display only once, with the corresponding City Pairs grouped under it.
Otherwise, the Tail number would be repeated for each city pair displayed on
the report..
• Double-click Tail number to move it into the Grouping box at the right.
• Click Next.
• The third Report Wizard step appears. In this step, you’re setting the sorting
protocol for the list: you will sort alphabetically by Origin. In box 1, click the
down arrow.
• Click ORG.
• The sort button next to ORG shows an ascending icon (A-Z) because that’s the
default sort order. If you click the button, the sort order is set to descending (Z-
A).
• Click the Next button
• The fourth Report Wizard appears and shows the report layout. The default
layout (stepped and portrait) is good for this report.
• Click the Next button.
• The fifth Report Wizard appears and gives you six styles to choose from.
• Click to display the various layout styles. Then click to select the one you like and
click the Next button.
• The sixth Report Wizard step asks you for a name for your report. It is best to
rename it CityPairs Report so that it has a name which differentiates it from the
query “CityPairs.”
• Click Finish
• The Wizard creates your report. See page 11 for the finished report.
• You may want to Modify the Layout of the report.
• Choose Modify the Reports Design
• Then click Finish.
• The report is displayed in Layout view.
• In order to add an additional label to the reports title, for instance a printed date
range, click the Aa button.
• Then move your mouse to where you want the new label and click and drag to
draw a box.
• You can then type the desired information into the box, i.e., Jan 1, 2000March 1,
2000.
• When you are satisfied with the layout of your report, click the Datasheet view
button.
• You will be prompted to specify the Start date, as we set up in the Query.
• Type in the Start date using mm/dd/yyyy format.
• Click the OK button.
• Type in the End date using mm/dd/yyyy format.

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• Click the OK button.
• The finished report will be displayed. Click File/print to get a printed copy of the
report.

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183
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PFM Access Tables and Unique Field Identifiers

Table Name Location of Data Unique Field

AirplaneInfo Aircraft Database ACNumber
AirportInfo Airport Database Air ident
Airport2 Airport Database Airport ID
Authorizors Record Keeping Auth Tab YR+AC#+PFMprt+Authpos
Charge AcctInfo Pax Database Rec ID
CrewData Recordkeeping YR+AC#+Ptr+POS
CrewRatings Crew Database Crew_Number+Aircraft_Type
Crewsched Crew from Scheduling Pilot+Date+Aircraft
Dispatch Scheduling Module Aircraft+Phystrpdate+Thisleg
FBO Aircraft Database FBOID
Flightlog Record Keeping Yr+AC#+PFMptr
Flitelog2 Record Keeping Yr+AC#+PFMptr
Hotel Airport database/Hotels Unique_ID
PaxData Record Keeping Yr+AC#+Ptr+POS
PaxInfo Passenger Database PFMAcct
PaxSched Passengers in Scheduling Tripdate+Leg+Index+Aircraft
Pilot Crew Database Crew#
XtraPax Passenger Database Acct
XtraPax2 Passenger Database Acct+Company

A unique Field Identifier, also known as a Primary Key, is the field that uniquely
identifies each record.
• Sometimes, there is only one Unique Field Identifier. An example of this would
be the PaxInfo table which stores the passenger database information. The only
Primary Key needed for this table is the PFM Account number (the PFM “S”
code.) As each “S” Code is used only once for each passenger in PFM, that is all
that is necessary to identify a passenger in the passenger database.
• HOWEVER, in the PaxSched table, which contains the data from the Scheduling
module, you need to use four Primary Keys to identify a unique record: Aircraft,
Tripdate, Leg, and Index. Aircraft is the physical aircraft number, Tripdate
represents the date of the trip, Leg is the leg number for that day, and Index is
the PFM S-code for the passenger. These four data fields will uniquely tell
Access that Mr. Smith (S-code SEQFQ) flew on aircraft #4 (N123CF), on

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 November 10, 2000, leg #3.

Adding Criteria to a Query

A criteria is a rule or filter that tells Access which records you want to see. (See the
table
on p. 15 for more information on criteria.) For example, you can set a criteria in your
query to display only records from specific destination airport identifiers. This would
answer the question: “How many times did we fly into Philadelphia (PHL) and Wings
airport (N67) over a specified date range.

• On the Queries Tab, single click the CityPairs query to select it.
• Click the Design button.

The CityPairs query opens in design view. You’ll set the criteria for Philadelphia (PHL)
and Wings (N67) in the DES (destination) field.
• In the Criteria row of the DES column, type PHL or N67.
• Click in a different cell. When you click in a different cell, the criteria you type is
surrounded by quotation marks.

"PHL" Or "N67"

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• On the Toolbar click the View button
• The query switches to Datasheet view.
• Enter the Start and End dates as prompted, then click OK
• The records for N67 and PHL are displayed in the query datasheet. You can sort
the DES field by clicking in it and then clicking the AZ button from the toolbar.
The records will be sorted, with N67 displayed first.
• Close the query by clicking the X at the top right of the screen and save the query
when prompted.

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 Page |
189

Setting Parameters

It’s great to be able to set criteria to get specific records you want, but each time you change your criteria, you
have to open the query in Design view and set new criteria.
If you change criteria often (for example, if you want to see a new date range each time or a specific tail
number) you can set up Parameters which asks you for the criteria each time you run the query.

Using parameters is a more “user-friendly” way of displaying the desired information rather than redesigning
the query in Design view. You already have seen an example of parameters when we inserted a date field in
the City-Pairs query on pp. 5-6. We will set up a parameter that allows you to select the desired tail number
for the query.

• Open the CityPairs query in Design view.

• In the Criteria cell in the Tail# column, type

[What tail number do you want?]

Be sure that you type the square brackets.

• Now every time you run the query, a dialog box will ask you which tail number you want, as well as the
date range you want.
• On the toolbar, click the View button or the!
• In the Enter Parameter Value box, enter the desired dates and then the tail number and click OK. The
query will run and return the records you want.
• Click the X to close the query and save your changes when prompted.
Table of Common Criteria used by Queries

Criteria Location Purpose Example

(in
Design
View)
And Criteria: Records having one Using the Hotel Database, create a query finding all records containing
characteristic AND BOTH the words Courtyard and Marriott. Like "*COURTYARD*" And
another characteristic Like "*MARRIOTT*"
 The word Like means that Courtyard and Marriott are only a part of
the text in the record. The * before and after Courtyard and Marriott
means that there might be more text before or after Courtyard and
Marriott. (Note: Access 97 is case sensitive, while Access 2000 is not.)
Records having one
Or Criteria: Find only records containing PHL or N67 (as in the example on p. 12).
char-
acteristic OR another "PHL" Or "N67"
char-
acteristic
Not Criteria: Records that DO NOT Finds all records WITHOUT the words Courtyard and Marriott. Not like
have a specified “*COURTYARD*” and not like “*MARRIOTT*” See And, above.
characteristic
& Field: Concatenates fields. Using the Hotel Database, create a query which concatenates the fields
(Concatenate: To join Address, City, and Zip into one field, labeled Location, with the correct
together two or more punctuation.
fields
or lists to form one big Location: [address] & ", " & [city] & " " & [zip]Location: is the new
one. name of the concatenated field.
Definition courtesy of [address] is the name of the first field to be concatenated. (Note the [
www.foldoc.org (Free ] indicates that this word is a field name.) [city] is the name of the
Online Dictionary of second field to be concatenated. [zip] is the name of the last field to
Com-puting.ORG.) be concatenated. (Note: the field names must match EXACTLY the way
Check it out!! the field names are spelled,
including punctuation and spaces, if any, however, they are not case-
sensitive.)
& joins the fields. ", " " " The quotes enclose the punctuation:
comma+space in the first instance, space (only) in the second.

Like Criteria Records having the

criteria as part of the Find all records that start with the letter A. Like "A*" Find all records
field. that end with LTON
Like "*ILTON"
Find all records that start with the letters C-F
Like "[C-F]*" Find all records that contain the letter sequence RRIOTT.
Like "*RRIOTT*"

Between.. Criteria Records having a value Find all records with Zip Codes between 11434 and 22202
And between the two values Between "11434" And "22202"
you specify.
Is Null Criteria Records having no entry Find all records without an address.
in the field Is Null

Records having an entry

Is Not Criteria Find all records with an address
in
Null the field. Is Not Null

= Criteria Equal to
Find all Zip Codes equal to 61701 ="61701"
<> Not equal to Find all Zip Codes except 61701 <>"61701"
> Greater than Find all Zip Codes greater that 61701 >"61701"

< Less than Find all Zip Codes less that 61701 <"61701"
Lesson 6: The Internet
Using the Internet & E-mail facilities

The Internet is the name given to the technology that allows any autonomous computers within a building or outside the
country with a telecommunications link to send, receive and access information from any other suitably equipped
computer via Internet Service Providers.

Internet Service Providers, these are organizations that allow several autonomous computers to be connected to them as
part of the Internet, for example in Zambia there is Zamtel, Zamnet, Coppernet and Microlink. Clients have to initially pay
for the connection fees and then monthly charges based on 40 hours per week access and an extra charge for hours
above 40 hours.

ISPs provide the following services:

• Connecting users to the International network

• Developing websites on behalf of clients
• Web hosting, that is storing information on behalf of clients for other Internet users to access
• Allows clients to have e-mail addresses on the ISPs machine

An extranet is an intranet that is accessible to authorised outsiders, using a valid username and password. Private
intranets that are extended to users outside the company are called extranets. For example, authorised buyers could link
to a portion of a company’s intranet from the public Internet to obtain information about the cost and features of its
products. The company can use firewalls to ensure that access to its internal data is limited, and remains secure; and to
authenticate users, making sure that only those who are authorised to access the site can be identified.

Extranets are especially useful for linking organisations with customers or business partners. They are often used for
providing product-availability, pricing and shipment data and electronic data interchange (EDI), or for collaborating with
other companies on joint development or training efforts.

An Intranet is like a mini version of the Internet. Organisation members use networked computers to access information
held on a server. The user interface is a browser that is similar to those used on the Internet. The intranet offers access to
information on a wide variety of topics, and often includes access to the Internet
 i) Users access the Internet through interface programs called browsers. The most popular and best known is
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox and Netscape Navigator. Browser software packages provide facility to
store Internet addresses so that users can access frequently-visited sites without having to go through long
search process. Thus in business use, workers who regularly need up-to-date information, say, on stock
market movements, or new government legislation, or the activities of a competitor, can simply click on the
appropriate entry in a personal ‘favorites directory and be taken straight to the relevant site.

Searching the net is done using a search engine. Popular search engines include Google, Lycos, AskJeeves,
WebCrawler, Yahoo! and AllTheWeb. These guide users to destinations throughout the web: the user simply
types in a word or phrase.

ii) The problems that are brought about by the introduction of the Internet in an accounting department are:

• Since the Internet has too much information it leaves much to be desired because the quality of the
information the accounts people will be producing will be compromised
• Speed is a major issue. Data only downloads onto the user’s PC at the speed of the slowest
telecommunications link – downloading data can be a painful slow procedure especially if there are
deadlines to be met
• The Internet has so much information and entertainment available such that employers worry that their
staff will spend too much time browsing through non-work related sites, this does happen and it affects
the company’s productivity
• Connecting an information system to the Internet exposes the system to numerous security issues such as
hackers, eaves droppers and spam mail.
• Pornographic materials can be accessed by accounting staff, by so doing cases of sexual harassments at
work places may increase
• Job searches, since some organisations advertise on the Internet, employees will spend and waste a lot of
valuable company time searching for better jobs on the net
• The organisation accounting information is venerable to Internet viruses during downloads of
attachments from emails.
• Spy ware, when accounting staff visit unauthorised sites, the site visited will store the computers address,
and then send a program to the server so that it can copy important information which will be sent back
to that site that was earlier visited. This program is called spy ware.

iii) Computer users may know the precise address of an Internet site that is to be visited, perhaps because you have
seen or heard it on TV or radio or read it in a newspaper or magazine. Typically the format is something like
‘http://www.bbc.co.uk’. The address is called a URL or Uniform Resource Locator as Uniform Resource Location
Communication software

Electronic mail or email is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic
communication systems. The term e-mail applies both to the Internet e-mail system based on the Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and to intranet systems allowing users within one company or organization to send
messages to each other. Often these workgroup collaboration systems natively use non-standard protocols but
have some form of gateway to allow them to send and receive Internet e-mail. Some organizations may use the
Internet protocols for internal e-mail service.

Figure 5: How Electronic mail works

The diagram above shows a stereotypical sequence of events that takes place when Alice sends an e-mail to
Bob.

1. Alice composes a message using her mail user agent (MUA) like Outlook Express. She types in, or selects from an
address book, the e-mail address of her correspondent. She hits the "send" button. Her MUA formats the
message in Internet Email format and uses SMTP to send the message to the local mail transfer agent (MTA) for
example sendmail in UNIX systems in this case smtp.a.org, run by Alice's Internet Service Provider (ISP).
2. The MTA looks at the destination address provided in the SMTP protocol (not from the message header), in this
case bob@b.org. A modern Internet e-mail address is a string of the form localpart@domain.example. The part
before the @ sign is the local part of the address, often the username of the recipient, and the part after the @
sign is a domain name. The MTA looks up this domain name in the Domain Name System (DNS) to find the mail
exchange servers accepting messages for that domain.
3. The DNS Server for the b.org domain, ns.b.org, responds with a mail exchange or MX record listing the mail
exchange servers for that domain, in this case mx.b.org, a server run by Bob's ISP.
 4. smtp.a.org sends the message to mx.b.org using SMTP, which delivers it to the mailbox of the user bob.
5. Bob presses the "get mail" button in his MUA, which picks up the message using the Post Office Protocol (POP3).

This sequence of events applies to the majority of e-mail users. However, there are many alternative
possibilities and complications to the e-mail system:

• Users may use a client connected to a corporate e-mail system, such as IBM’s Lotus Notes or Microsoft’s Exchange
Server. These systems often have their own internal e-mail format and their clients typically communicate with
the e-mail server using a vendor-specific, proprietary, protocol. The server sends or receives e-mail via the
Internet through the product's Internet mail gateway which also does any necessary reformatting. If users work
for the same company, the entire transaction may happen completely within a single corporate e-mail system.
• A user need not have a MUA on their computer but instead may connect to a web mail service.
• The user's computer may run its own MTA, so avoiding the transfer at step 1.
• Other users may pick up e-mail in many ways, for example using the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), by
logging into mx.b.org and reading it directly, or by using a mail hosting service like Google Mail.

Domains usually have several mail exchange servers so that they can continue to accept mail when the main mail
exchange server is not available

Browsers
Web browsers are used to view web pages. However, browsers are capable of a lot more than just viewing Web pages
and they are not restricted to a computer - browsers can be used by TV and mobile phones. They can be customized
them to your preference (like setting text sizes), choose what type of information they do (or do not) display and you can
even use them to send e-mail.
 Figure 6: The Mozilla Firefox web browser

How a Web browser works

When your Web browser reads a document, the hyperlinks to other Web pages or Web sites appear as text
highlighted in another colour or as a graphic. When you click on the highlighted text or the graphic with your
mouse, you are transported to that site (in reality, the data from the site is transported to you, not vice versa).
You never see the code. It merely acts as an instruction to your Web browser to go to another location on the
Web.

What actually happens is that hyperlinks are included in the Web document, as a computer code called HTML (Hyperlink
Text Mark-up Language). HTML uses the HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) invented by Tim Berners-Lee [1992] and
allows the Web site operator to include cross-references to other documents within the site, and from there, to other
sites or documents within those sites. Using something called "Meta-tags" the Web site operator or designer can also
insert keywords to help search engines locate your site when someone is searching for information you provide at the
site.

To enter the page a user is looking for, an Internet or web address called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is
entered in the address bar of the browser." Each part of the URL means something different, and is separated
by dots from the other parts of the URL.
When you type a URL into your browser it breaks the URL into three parts: protocol (http), server name
(www.awebsite.com) and file name (index.html) as follows: http://www.website.com/index.html.

The protocol part simply refers to and identifies a Web transmission. The first part of an URL is the "scheme." It
tells you where on the Internet the information you are seeking is located. (Remember that there's more to the
Internet than the Web.) The most common scheme, since the development of the Web is HTTP. The letters
"http" in the URL tell you that it's a Web address.

Communicating with a domain name server, the browser translates the server name into an IP (Internet
Protocol) address (the code a machine uses to recognize domain names - we only see them written in words to
make it easy for users but you can type the IP address of a Web site - if you know it - into your browser and it
will still take you there) so that it can connect to that server machine on port 80 (the standard port for web
traffic).

Once connected, the browser sends what is termed a GET request for the file name specified in the URL (in other words, it
asks the server to send the information). The server sends the file's HTML to the browser; the browser reads the HTML
tags and translates them to what appears on your monitor.

A browser can also use the POST method to accept input form the user. This makes for two-way communication is what
makes browsers so attractive for use in web applications. Browsers provide a common interface for all users (you see the
same web page from whatever location). The net result is that when an application changes all users see the change at
once and no one needs to install changes on their computer.

The World Wide Web ("WWW" or simply the "Web") is a global, read-write information space. Text documents, images,
multimedia and many other items of information, referred to as resources, are identified by short, unique, global
identifiers called Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) so that each can be found, accessed and cross-referenced in the
simplest possible way.

The term is often mistakenly used as a synonym for the Internet, but the Web is actually something that is available via
the Internet, just like email and many other Internet services.

An internet is any network or collection of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching
using TCP/IP, or in short IP, the Internet Protocol.

The Internet is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of all such interconnected computer networks. It is a "network
of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together
carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages
and other documents of the World Wide Web.

The World Wide Web is the combination of 4 basic ideas:

 • Hypertext: a format of information which allows one, in a computer environment, to move from one part of a
document to another or from one document to another through internal connections among these documents
(called "hyperlinks");
• Resource Identifiers: unique identifiers used to locate a particular resource (computer file, document or other
resource) on the network;
• The client-server model of computing: a system in which client software or a client computer makes requests of
server software or a server computer that provides the client with resources or services, such as data or files; and
• Mark-up language: characters or codes embedded in text, which indicate structure, semantic meaning, or advice
on presentation. Hypertext and the Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) were created by Tim Berners-Lee in
1992 at CERN in Switzerland.

On the World Wide Web, a client program called a web browser retrieves information resources, such as web
pages and other computer files, from web servers using their Uniform resource locators (URL) and displays
them, typically on a computer though many other network capable devices can be used (e.g. mobile phones
and PDA units). A user can then follow hyperlinks in each page to other resources on the World Wide Web
whose location is provided by these hyperlinks. It is also possible, for example by filling in and submitting forms,
to post (send) information back to a web server for it to save or process in some way. The act of following
hyperlinks is often called "browsing" or "surfing" the Web. Web pages are often arranged in collections of
related material called "websites."

Intranets and Extranets

An intranet is a private computer network that uses TCP/IP as the protocol for connectivity, and possibly the public
telecommunication system to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with its employees.
Sometimes the term refers only to the most visible service, the internal website. The same concepts and technologies of
the Internet such as clients and servers running on the Internet Protocol are used to build an intranet. There is often an
attempt to use Internet technologies to provide new interfaces with corporate 'legacy' data and information systems.

To build an intranet, the organisation will set up the following:

1. A web server or group of servers that will host the intranet applications. This may require EAI tools to integrate
with existing applications which are not Internet ready.
2. Provide access to the web server using a TCP/IP network. For most firms this means having a local area network
(LAN) using Ethernet.
3. Installing the user programs on all required computers (usually a browser and for some applications Java or
ActiveX capability).
4. Finally, create a homepage in HTML for the system and web pages for all the applications and information that a
user will access.

Companies typically use intranets for some of the following reasons:

 • Document sharing: so that every employee has common access to information such as expense claim
forms, holiday forms, etc.
• Information Bulletin Boards: for making common announcements and discussions
• Roaming access: like web-based mail so employees can read their mail from any location in the world
• Data entry: so that users e.g. salesmen on the road can access the Intranet to pick up useful information
like the current prices or generate new orders from whatever location so long as they can access the
Intranet.

The advantages of an Intranet are:

1. Workforce productivity: Intranets can help employees to quickly find and view information and applications
relevant to their roles and responsibilities. Via a simple-to-use web browser interface, users can access data held
in any database the organization wants to make available, anytime and - subject to security provisions - from
anywhere, increasing employees' ability to perform their jobs faster, more accurately, and with confidence that
they have the right information.
2. Time: With intranets, organizations can make more information available to employees on a "pull" basis (i.e.:
employees can link to relevant information at a time which suits them) rather than being deluged indiscriminately
by emails.
3. Communication: Intranets can serve as powerful tools for communication within an organization, vertically and
horizontally.
4. Web publishing: The use of intranet, permits information to be published using hypermedia technologies.
5. Business operations and management: Intranets are also being used as a platform for developing and deploying
applications to support business operations and decisions across the enterprise.
6. Application Deployment: Intranets in general are a fast way of deploying a common application to the entire
organisation. As users access it using a browser, changes need only be made at the server level not to each
individual user.

There are also disadvantages such as:

1. Management could lose control of the material provided in the intranet

2. There could be security concerns with who accesses the intranet, plus abuse of the intranet by users (e.g.
publishing company information that should not have been placed on the Intranet.
3. Intranets may cause "information overload", delivering too much information to handle resulting in low usage
levels.

An extranet is a private network that uses Internet technology and the public telecommunication system to securely
share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses. An
extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is extended to users outside the company. An extranet
extends a capability or function of the organisation to a partner or customer that would otherwise require them to either
physically come in to use or deliver it or send it by other means such as fax.

An extranet requires security and privacy. These can include firewall, server management, the issuance and use of digital
certificates or similar means of user authentication, encryption of messages, and the use of virtual private networks
(VPN) that create a tunnel through the public network, enabling secure communication over the shared network between
the organisation and its partners.
Companies can use an extranet to:

• Exchange large volumes of data using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

• Share product catalogues exclusively with wholesalers or those "in the trade"
• Collaborate with other companies on joint development efforts
• Jointly develop and use training programs with other companies
• Provide or access services provided by one company to a group of other companies, such as an online banking
application managed by one company on behalf of affiliated banks
• Share news of common interest exclusively with partner companies
• Enable customers to generate orders themselves

Though typically not viewed as extranets, hosted email services (e.g. Hotmail) and electronic storefront applications
(eBay) are extranets. They provide customers with access to company resources without the need to physically be in a
location of the hosting organisation. Other examples of extranets are Internet banking applications which allow the end-
user to do their banking from home avoiding queuing or having to wait for a bank clerk to do things for them.

The advantages of an extranet are:

1. Extranets can improve organization productivity by automating processes that were previously done manually
(e.g.: reordering of inventory from suppliers). Automation can also reduce the margin of error of these processes.
2. Extranets allow organization or project information to be viewed at times convenient for business partners,
customers, employees, suppliers and other stake-holders. This cuts down on meeting times and is an advantage
when doing business with partners in different time zones.
3. Information on an extranet can be updated, edited and changed instantly. All authorised users therefore have
immediate access to the most up-to-date information. Extranets can improve relationships with key customers,
providing them with accurate and updated information
4. An extranet, extends the hours of operation of a company. Continuing with the banking example, an online bank
is accessible for 24-hours a day, 7 day a week. The same cannot be said of a physical bank.

The disadvantages of an extranet are that:

1. They can be expensive to implement and maintain within an organisation (e.g.: hardware, software, employee
training costs).
2. Security of extranets can be a big concern when dealing with valuable information. System access needs to be
carefully controlled to avoid sensitive information falling into the wrong hands.
3. Extranets can reduce personal contact (face-to-face meetings) with customers and business partners. This could
cause a lack of connections made between people and a company, which hurts the business when it comes to
loyalty of its business partners and customers.

Figure 1 shows the infrastructure of both Intranets and Extranets, the type of devices that can be used to access them and
the types of users. The content management system (CMS) is used to deploy information to both the Intranet and
Extranet. Users access the information through a portal, which is a common web site that provides links to the available
information. Depending on the type of users, and the device they are using, the CMS uses profiling to display only relevant
links on the portal. The various end users access the portal using a variety of network capable devices.
 Figure 7: Extranet, Devices and Users

Types of e-business
E-Business refers to implementation of any business process as an electronic transaction or series of transactions. E-
business can be split further into e-Commerce which refers to the buying and selling of goods using electronic means e.g.
a virtual storefront on the World Wide Web, electronic data interchange and enterprise application integration.

E-Commerce itself has more than one form:

• B2B: as in a business selling to one or many other businesses electronically. B2B exploits Internet and other
technologies to change processes along the value chain resulting in lower costs, shorter lead times and order
cycles, improved efficiency and better customer service.
• B2C: as in a single business selling to one or many consumers. B2C potentially widens the market for a business
but correspondingly increases its exposure to competition while at the same time provide consumers more
choice, a better and more informed shopping experience but also greater exposure to mass marketing and fraud.
• C2C: as in consumers selling directly to other consumers. This is usually achieved through information
intermediaries like online auction sites e.g. EBay
• B2E: represent a business model where the employees access information and execute processes in their
workflow using an internet based technology like an Intranet.
 Figure 8: E-business model

Figure2 shows that e-business simply replaces the normal processes of the business system with electronic equivalents.
Inputs (B2B, Extranets) are acquired from suppliers and partners, processed internally (B2E, Intranets) to generate outputs
that are sent or sold to customers (B2C, C2C, Extranets). E-business simply uses electronic forms to achieve these same
objectives.

Figure 9: E-business Applications

Figure 3 is a breakdown of the e-business model. It shows the type of applications of e-business and the purpose they
serve. It can be used to explain the various types of e-business and what applications are associated with each class of e-
business.

B2B

B2B is typically associated with the supply side of business (inputs). Typical applications and infrastructure include:

• VPN links to supplier networks over which the organisation runs applications such as Electronic Data Interchange
(EDI) which automate procurement and improve delivery times and accuracy (logistics). EDI was popularised by
supermarkets to automate the stock ordering and shelf-replenishment process. Systems link directly into the
supplier application allowing the supermarket to see their stock levels and therefore decide what brands to place
on the shelf at what times. If the stock levels are known, there is no point of placing a purchase order for goods
that the supplier cannot deliver anyway. This improved availability and increased sales and profit.
• The other function of EDI was electronic supplier payment and automated returns management where damaged
goods are accounted for electronically resulting in automated credits.
• Extranets implemented as web portals which allow partners like advertising agents, resellers, part manufacturers
and others to exchange information using collaborative tools like Lotus Notes to pick up information,
communicate product schedules or create new designs. Resellers e.g. could use the portal to collect the latest
product brochures or software upgrades to products.

B2E

B2E is usually associated with the internal work practices of a business (processing). Typical applications and
infrastructure include:

• Intranets implemented as a web portal. Employees use the intranet to access common information and
documents such as expense claim forms, attendance forms and records and company information directories like
telephone numbers and locations of relevant employees. Intranets include communication systems like email that
employees use to communicate with customers.

B2C

B2C is usually associated with the selling side of a business (outputs). Typical applications and infrastructure include:
 • Electronic Storefronts from which customers can order goods and services, make payments, track their order
status and even manage their returns if products have warranty associated with them should they fail.
• Portals which are web sites that the organisation uses to communicate product changes (e.g. software upgrades,
new models) and also to deliver product support (e.g. email facility for customer to talk to an expert)
.

Advantages of E-business

The main advantages of E-business are:

• Improved Internal & External communication: Technologies like email, web sites and file transfer are instant, can
reach many people at once, or at their convenience and at same time carry a higher payload. A person using ftp
can download an entire CD worth of data (700MB) for less than ZMK100 in less than 10 minutes on a reasonably
fast connection and as technology improves the payloads will increase while the times will shorten. The net effect
is that today’s organisation can deliver a lot of information in a very short time, to many different organisations or
individuals. Inside an organisation, these same communication systems together with new models like company
intranets, allow people to share and distribute company information across the entire organisation quickly making
issues like reorganisation simpler and quicker but also flattening company hierarchy in the process.

• Extended market reach and brand recognition: by simply having a web site, a company has a world wide market
reach. Not only that, a well-designed and managed web site can give a small third world company the same image
as a large multinational from a developed nation. With clever marketing techniques (such as strategic placement
of web search results, a company can get its brand recognises across the world by far more people than its
advertising budget warrants. In theory, a company’s reach will have extended to everyone who has access to the
Internet and the World Wide Web (estimated currently at 1 billion people).

• Improved revenue and customer service: A web site reaches many people at once but more importantly it
reaches them when they wish to be reached or at their convenience. One result of this is that a firm can operate a
24-hour shopping or after-sales service. This allows the firm to operate with very low costs and achieve massive
sales growth (world wide market shopping all the time). The best example of this is Amazon.com It has no physical
retails shops but customers order from all over the world throughout the entire day. But Amazon also allows the
users to register dissatisfaction with their service as and when they wish to do so in the knowledge that there are
systems in place to answer all their queries at all times. The other result is that businesses can also track what a
user does throughout the entire buying experience and use this to sell more to them and make the entire buying
experience a better-informed and more satisfying process. Once again Amazon provides a good example of this
mass customisation. Users are given accounts when they shop at Amazon and they can use these accounts to
place orders which they can hold until they are ready to order. When they choose an item they can see reviews
from others who purchased the item or can also see what other items people who purchased it also purchased.
Past purchases are also remembered and used to make purchasing suggestions to the customer at a future date.
Customers can also purchase gifts for other people with delivery handled by Amazon at their request. Mass
customisation is the future of business.
 • Faster order cycles: The on-line computer retailer DELL sells computers by phone order or via their web sites. This
means that DELL already knows what their customers have ordered before making it. They can therefore order
the correct products from suppliers and build to the customer’s specification. This business model not only allows
them to keep inventory low but they can turn keep the time between a customer making an order to the time of
delivery to less than 7 days. It has allowed DELL to take advantage of lower supplier prices and newer components
before competitors can and consequently offer lower prices and better specifications and transformed the
company to the market leader that it is. E-business allows the company to recognise the customer requirements
at the earliest possible stage in the order cycle.

• Disintermediation: refers to the gradual elimination intermediaries (middlemen) from the value chain as
organisations rely on the potential of electronic networks to establish direct linkages with customers and
suppliers. Using network applications, such as middleware, and electronic markets, organisations can internalise
activities that in the past have been performed by intermediaries (such as wholesalers, retailers, agents,
distributors, brokers, warehousing operators, forwarders) and reduce the cost of the value chain. For
organizations in developing countries, disintermediation can finally increase their share in the profits of the
industry. They can finally market their products to the customers higher up in the value chain and therefore
extract a higher price while still delivering better value (lower cost) to their customers.

Web – DBMS Integration

The typical web based application works in the following way (see Figure 4). A user accessing the application through a
web browser and an Internet connection accesses the web server which in turn services the request by accessing an
application server and displaying the results of the request as web pages back to the user. The application server itself is
composed of a series of program files which are run depending on what the user requests. Typically, the application
server uses a database to store information that it uses.

Consider an electronic storefront like Amazon.com. The user will access the web site for the first time and be served web
pages with images of products and their prices from the product catalogue. When the user decides to order a product,
they will be asked to create an account and enter their payment details (e.g. credit card information). Once this
information has been gathered, the order is taken and the user is given an order number. Later on the user returns to the
site and uses the tracking number to see the progress of their order. Once the order has been fulfilled, the order
information is place in history. When the user next makes an order, the details they first entered are used and this
information is the basis of their next order.

The application server runs the programs that perform account creation and order processing. The application also
controls how a product is added to the catalogue and how information is updated e.g. new prices. The database holds
product catalogue and information such as prices. It also holds the account information which the user first entered.
The web server displays the pages generated by the application and thus the end user can see how their order is
progressing and what they have ordered as well as enter information into the system. For such a system to work, the web
application server must be closely linked to a database management system.

Figure 10: Typical Web Application

The integration of database management systems with web applications has therefore become an industry in itself with
many enterprise application integration (EAI) tools in use today such as IBM Web Sphere whose sole purpose is to enable
web applications to integrate with legacy databases and database applications.
 Figure 11: Web-database integration (Source: O’Reilly Associates)

These applications form a middle tier of programs or scripts. These scripts provide an access layer that enables the web
server to seamlessly and securely read and write data to and from a database system and capture data from users as well
as provide them with reports. This addresses several issues:

• Security: the users in the client tier do not connect directly to the database and need not know even what the
database management system is (or that there is indeed a database). Only the scripts on the web server access
the database.
• Application independence: the scripts also mean that the web server and any application running on it
(sometimes these may be distinct machines or server clusters) does not have to include database specific
information. This way the application database management system could be changed and the application need
not be re-written to accommodate the changes. Application independence also reduces complexity.
• Efficiency: more servers can be added at the application and database layers since these are separate from one
another. The result is a more efficient system that can adapt to system load changes and be more redundant.

Web and application software package integration

Web-based Internet applications with HTML user interfaces are the most common new application type. Almost every
modern application built today is designed with a browser-based HTML user interface (web-enabled).

Web application integration has become a common practice. It is used to clip static data or snapshots of web sites. The
data or snapshots can then be combined with other data or snapshots to offer users access to more information in a
single Web or HTML page.

One of the main uses of web application integration is in providing access to legacy applications. Many of the most
powerful applications in use today were built in an era when the World Wide Web was not in common use and the
Internet did not exist. To rewrite these applications would be costly and time-consuming while adding no further value. A
better approach would be to provide access to these applications by using a web integration tool. This makes the
application accessible to users without the need to install it where they are and without paying for user licenses.

There are many examples of Web-enabled applications used to perform various functions such as: to order supplies, to
track shipments (DHL.com, FedEx.com), to book travel (expedia.com) or get to a map or driving directions
(multimap.com). These entire applications share one common thread, they are web-based applications providing access
to parts of systems that already existed and were used internally by the organisation but are now available to the public.

The best example is perhaps shipment tracking. Federal Express built a shipment tracking application for use within the
organisation. Soon customers began to ask where their shipments and packages where. Some of these customers were
big companies like car manufacturers and their part suppliers, so their shipments were critical. FedEx set up call centres
where clients could phone to ask for the location of their packages. The operators would use the FedEx system to check
where the package was using an airway bill (an order number) associated with the package.

FedEx found that they were spending a lot of money on call centre staff and operations just to tell customers what was on
their system. A better way would be to provide access to the tracking component of the system to customers. They began
to install the client side application on terminals at customer sites. Several issues immediately came to light: firstly it was
costly to implement thus only large customers could have it; secondly customers had different operating systems so
Fedex had to write several different client applications for UNIX, Windows and VAX/VMS systems using different
programming teams; and finally they had to physically deploy terminals throughout client sites which were in different
parts of the world.

FedEx dealt with this problem by creating a web application which used web integration to pick only the information from
the tracking part of the application to provide information. Customers simply entered their airway bills on a web page and
all the tracking information was immediately available to them at their convenience. There was no need to call an
operator. FedEx benefited because the web-enabling their application made the company savings worth US$2 million a
year. These savings arose because there was no need to have three teams of programmers creating client software; there
was no need to deploy terminals clients already had browsers by default on their computers and users including the very
small customers could now access the tracking system. Within a year DHL, UPS and many other shipping companies had
adapted web-enable tracking as a feature in their own web sites.

Enterprise Application Integration Tools

There are many tools used to achieve and create web-enabled applications. Amongst the most common are the
.NET and J2EE environments which support application integration directly in programs. These are development
environments that allow a programmer to include in their code, programming constructs that achieve
integration functions such as picking data from a database and displaying it to the screen in one line of code.

Web services are the latest in a wave of integration technologies. They are software systems designed to
support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. The term usually refers to those
services that use SOAP-formatted XML envelopes and have their interfaces described by WSDL. Core to web
services are the concepts of SOAP, WSDL, XML and UDDI.

• SOAP: is an XML-based, extensible message envelope format, with "bindings" to underlying protocols (e.g., HTTP,
SMTP and XMPP).
 • Web Services Description Language (WSDL): An XML format that allows service interfaces to be described, along
with the details of their bindings to specific protocols. Typically used to generate server and client code, and for
configuration.
• Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI): A protocol for publishing and discovering metadata
about Web services, to enable applications to find Web services, either at design time or runtime.

Web services are software components that can be accessed over the Web through standards-based protocols such as
HTTP or SMTP for use in other applications. They provide a fundamentally new framework and set of standards for a
computing environment that can include servers, workstations, desktop clients, and lightweight "pervasive" clients such
as phones and PDAs. Web services are not limited to the Internet; they supply a powerful architecture for all types of
distributed computing.

Figure 12: How Web services work

Figure 6 illustrates how web services function. The service consumer which is usually a web application requests the UDDI
registry for a service. The UDDI registry points the application to the correct web service which in turn begins
communication with the application using SOAP. The web service can function in many ways either collecting data from or
outputting information to the application. What a web service does is provided in a description held in a WSDL file.

The web services could be accessing legacy applications to extract information for display on a portal or web page. It could
just as well be collecting information such as order quantities from the web application to be used as input to a legacy
application or another web application.

Figure 7 is an example of the Jacada WebFuse (http://www.jacada.com) web application integration package. It shows
how web services and other integration tools can be used to provide access to backend legacy systems with all the
information presented in web pages to the end users. The non-invasive process optimisation platform is really just a set of
web integration tools that access legacy and other systems to create a series of web-based applications that provide users
with a view to these applications.

With one single login, users have access to all these different applications. If there was no application integration, the user
would have to logon to every single application individually and maintain different usernames and passwords for each of
them. Of course the advantages are immense for having such a system but security concerns should be very obvious.

Figure 13: Jacada Webfuse Web Application Integration

Advantages & Limitations of Web applications

Web applications provide various advantages to both implementers and users: To the implementers they:

• Provide a common and easy interface for the application to all users.
• Make changes applied to the application available at once to all users at the same time. There is no need to go
and make changes on each individual users machine
• They are easy to deploy; Users simply access the web site and they all have browsers. Thus deployment is faster
and less costly.
• Are easy to maintain because of the reasons given above. It has over 10 million users. Consider the upgrade of
the email client Outlook Users have to download it from the Internet first then apply it and then use it. They all do
not upgrade at the same time so there is a potential risk. Hotmail on the other hand, can upgrade their
application on the server and web site and in one stroke all the 10 million plus users will be using a new version.
• Increase security: Users only have access to what they are shown and can be made to follow specific rules even
without their knowledge. Hotmail as an example also scans email for viruses on behalf of users even if they do not
have anti-virus software. This is enforced by the application not the user.

For users web-based applications provide the following benefits: there is no need to install anything (browser is
usually already installed); and there is sometimes no need to buy anything e.g. search engines like Google, Yahoo
are free to use.

Lesson 7: Computer Security

1. What is Computer Security?
Computer Security is the protection of computing systems and the data that
they store or access

2. Why is Computer Security Important?

• Enabling people to carry out their jobs, education, and research.
• Supporting critical business processes
• Protecting personal and sensitive information

Good Security Standards follow the “90 / 10” Rule:

• 10% of security safeguards are technical
• 90% of security safeguards rely on the computer user (“YOU”) to adhere to good
computing practices

Example: The lock on the door is the 10%. You remembering to lock the lock, checking to see if
the door is closed, ensuring others do not prop the door open, keeping control of the keys, etc. is
the 90%. You need both parts for effective security.

What Does This Mean for Me?

• This means that everyone who uses a computer or mobile device needs to understand
how to keep their computer, device and data secure. Information Technology Security is
everyone’s responsibility

3. Computer Security Threats

Viruses have been around for almost as long as personal computers. By definition, a computer
virus is “a self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable
code or documents.” Very much like a real virus, a computer virus alters the code of an existing
program to “infect” it and begins to replicate itself. Often viruses have a separate function, such
as to delete certain files or cause various effects on a computer. There are actually many
different types of viruses. These types include:
Macro Viruses: Macro Viruses use commands (macros) embedded in other software to infect
and spread to other files viewed by that software. E.g. Word and Excel have macros, and macro
viruses can spread by exploiting these commands.
Worms: Worms duplicate themselves and use communications such as e-mail to spread. They
can look at your e-mail address book and send themselves to users in your address book.
File Viruses: File viruses attach themselves to other software. When the software is run, the virus
loads itself into memory so that it can further infect other files or begin damaging the computer.
Trojan Horses: Trojan Horses are programs that claim to perform a particular function but in fact
do something different. E.g. they could infect your computer with a virus or erase your files.
Backdoor Trojans: Backdoor Trojans are programs that allow other computer users to remotely
control your computer via a local area network or the Internet.
Boot Sector Viruses: Boot Sector Viruses are an older type of virus and not so common. They are
used to infect a computer's startup program so that the virus would become active as soon as
the computer started up.

The most common type of virus today is the Worm. Well known viruses such as the "I Love You"
virus and "Bagle" are worms. They spread themselves via e-mail attachments. When the user
opens the attachment, it infects the computer. It then sends an e-mail with itself as an
attachment to everyone in that computer’s e-mail address book. Worms are also often designed
to use up resources on that computer, such as memory and processing power. Once infected, a
computer will run considerably slower and often strange errors will appear. If infection is allowed
to go on long enough, a computer can become unusable.

Another very popular type of virus is the Backdoor Trojan. This is a virus, often disguised as
another useful program, that gives remote access to your computer to a malicious user. The
malicious user can then load programs on that computer, such as a keystroke logger, to obtain
passwords and credit card numbers. Obviously this is a very bad thing and why it is very
important to use an Anti Virus program on your computer.
4. How to Prevent Computer Security Threats

• Virus Scanners
Enterprise version 8. Other popular, though less well known, antivirus
programs include AVAST and NOD32. Because we use McAfee on
campus, and because we offer it for free on our ConnectWright website, I
will be covering how to update and run McAfee. Other antivirus
programs tend to be very similar, so if you use something else, this
should help you as well
• Use of Firewalls
Firewalls such as Microsoft ISA can also prevent threats in your network
• IT Policies and law
These may prevent hackers as well.
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