THIS PROPOSAL CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT IS PROPRIETARY TO
ACME COMMUNICATIONS, INC. NO PART OF THIS PROPOSAL MAY BE
DUPLICATED OR USED FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES WITHOUT THE PRIOR
CONSENT OF ACME COMMUNICATIONS, INC. THIS PROPOSAL IS VALID
FOR 30 DAYS.
Acme Communications, Inc.
1234 Revenue Blvd., 5th Floor
Richtown, MD 20076
Tel: (301) 555-6999, Fax: (301) 555-6899
September 1st, 2007
Background and Implementation Notes
This proposal outlines a design for a web-based version of the ZYXW computer-based timesheet training program. The web version is based on the PC version of the program which is currently in use. This document supercedes the previous one submitted to ZYXW and does not include some of the features originally described in order to keep within the budget for the project, particularly the exam questions and set up databases.
The design presented here represents the user exam interface, which includes user registration and the complete timesheet training exam, and the administrative interface. Once the program is set up and in use, most of the administration of user information and report generation can be done online by administrators at ZYXW. New or modified test questions will need to be done by ACME since that portion will not be programmed into a database that is easily modified.
This training program will run on Acme’s ABCD server, which currently hosts some of ZYXW’s web pages. It will have one main database for all the user information. The database application that implements this system will be MySQL 3.21, an AEIO compliant database which has high performance (ACME uses this database for many critical applications, including BBBB, and has a license to use it for additional databases so ZYXW will not have to pay for the license). The graphical interface will be HTML and will contain elements of ZYXW’s current web page design and elements of the PC version of the timesheet training program.
The system will be implemented using Perl in order to keep this version of the software simple to develop and maintain. We suggest that when time comes to license the software to other firms, that we either 1) develop it for the computer platform they intend to run it on (and charge them for the development so that it does not cost ZYXW anything) or 2) set them up to use it on Acme’s servers, which would be a quick set up plus a nominal monthly hosting fee (e.g., $100/month or so) for the additional disk space needed. Acme’s fees for implementing the system for other firms are not included in this proposal.
User Login
The user login is the entry point into the program:
There will be several valid ID/password pairs. One will allow access to the administrative functions. The others will allow user access to the training exams. Each exam has a different ID/password pair.
User Registration
Users must input information before taking the training exam:
Once users submit all the information correctly, they are allowed access to the exam. The data is entered in the user database only after the user has successfully completed the entire training exam. If a user is already in the database, the program checks to see if that user’s training is up to date.
Time Sheet Training Exam
The timesheet training exam will look similar to the PC based version of the program. Below is an example question:
An incorrect answer produces an output screen with the correct answer and an instruction to go back and answer the question correctly. A correct answer lets the user go on to the next question.
Administration
If the user enters an Administrator password at the login prompt, the administration menu is displayed. This menu provides functions to view and manipulate the question database, the user database, and the exam setup database. It also provides functions to create reports. These functions are detailed below:
User Database
- Look up / Edit / Delete individual user information.
- List / delete groups of users based on dates they took the exam, the exam they took (and the version), and/or their location, supervisor, office code, and/or department.
- Sort the list output by user ID, user name, or any of the above attributes.
Question List
- List all questions in the specified exam.
Report Generator
- Produce reports on groups of users based on dates they took the exam, the exam they took (and the version), and/or their location, supervisor, office code, and/or department.
- Sort the report output by user ID, user name, or any of the above attributes.
- Select which user information will be included in the report.
- Report in HTML (to view in browser or to print), plain text (to import into word processing programs), or tab- delimited text (to import into spreadsheet programs).
The user database query page is shown as an example below. The interface for the other administrative features is similar.
Cost Estimate
Acme’s cost for developing the entire system as described herein shall not exceed $x and shall be completed within approximately 4 weeks of approval to commence work (time estimate includes discussion time back and forth between Acme’s developers and ZYXW point of contacts). There may be an addition of $x/month to ZYXW’s current web site hosting fee at a later point to accommodate extra disk space that is needed (ACME charges $x per 10 MB of additional space so the exact fee will depend on how many users will be stored in the databases).
