E-PHARMACY
A Case of Alaale Hospital Pharmacy
By
Abdirahman Ali Dahir
(Reg. No: 8081)
A Project Proposal Submitted to the Faculty of Computing
and ICT for partial fulfillment of the requirements of a
Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology of
Amoud University
©
30th Sep, 2018
DECLARATION AND APPROVAL
Declaration
I the undersigned hereby declare that this Project Proposal entitled “E-Pharmacy”-A case of
Alaale Hospital Pharmacy- is the effort of my work and that the proposal has not been submitted
to any other institution for purposes of examination.
Name: Abdirahman Ali Dahir
Signature: _____________ Date: ___________
Approval
We the undersigned hereby declare that this Project Proposal entitled “E-Pharmacy”-A case of
Alaale Hospital Pharmacy- has been proposed by the above student under ours guidance as the
university supervisors.
Name: Richard A. Nginja
Signature: _____________ Date: ___________
Subject Lecturer
Name:
Signature: _____________ Date: ___________
Project Supervisor
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My gratitude goes to all those who have walked with me from the start of my long journey in
education and helped me complete this project. I also thank to my Teacher Mr. Richard for
Sparing a lot of his time for me and for his wisdom and guidance. I also thank my brother
Mohamed Ali Dahir who is always available for consultation. And finally, I thank my family for
paying my school fee to help me learn and get this valuable education. Lastly, I Thank Amoud
University staff and management for allowing me to develop this system for their organization
and for their co-operation. Thank you all.
iii
DEDICATION
This project is dedicated to my beloved parents & family for their love, endless support,
encouragement & sacrifices.
iv
ABSTRACT
This project E-PHARMACY A case of Alaale Hospital Pharmacy is developed to automate the
manual system that Alaale Hospital Pharmacy uses currently, the main objective is to develop
the system and the system will cover the inventory functions of the pharmacy, I have reviewed
other systems like Kroll™ pharmacy Management System which is an application designed to
ease the work of a pharmacy, it has many features including Drugs, Patient and Doctors and the
proposed system has the features like generation of reports, Drugs, Warehouses and staff also I
have a Waterfall model as the SDLC method for the development of the system from the
beginning to the end also I have interview for the collection of the requirements, the system will
use PHP as the front end and MySQL as the back end, furthermore the testing methods will be
used including Unit, Integration and System testing, this system will change the way that Alaale
Hospital Pharmacy works completely from manual system to automatic system that will be very
benefit able and human energy saving.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
DECLARATION AND APPROVAL .......................................................................................................... ii
Declaration ................................................................................................................................................ ii
Approval ................................................................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................................... iii
DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................. iv
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................................. v
TABLE OF CONTENT ............................................................................................................................... vi
TABLE OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................................... x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1
1.1
Historical Background .................................................................................................................. 1
1.2
Problem Statement ........................................................................................................................ 1
1.3
Main Objective.............................................................................................................................. 1
1.3.1
Specific Objectives ................................................................................................................... 1
1.4
Significance................................................................................................................................... 2
1.5
Justification ................................................................................................................................... 2
1.6
Scope ............................................................................................................................................. 3
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 4
2.1
Introduction to Pharmacy Management Information System ....................................................... 4
2.2
Current System of Alaale Hospital Pharmacy Review ................................................................. 5
2.3
Ifahja Pharmacy Management System .......................................................................................... 5
2.4
Medeil Pharmacy Management System ........................................................................................ 6
2.5
ERP Pharmacy Management System ............................................................................................ 7
2.6
Kroll™ pharmacy management solution ...................................................................................... 7
vi
2.7
Proposed Pharmacy Management System Description for Alaale Hospital Pharmacy ................ 7
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 9
3.1
3.1.1
3.2
3.2.1
3.3
General SDLC Methods ................................................................................................................ 9
Waterfall Model ........................................................................................................................ 9
Planning and Requirements Collection Methods .......................................................................... 9
Interview ................................................................................................................................. 10
Requirements Analysis and Specification Methods .................................................................... 10
3.3.1
Requirements Analysis ........................................................................................................... 10
3.3.2
Requirements Specification .................................................................................................... 11
3.3.2.1
User Requirements .................................................................................................................. 11
3.3.2.2
System Requirements .............................................................................................................. 11
3.3.2.3
Functional Requirements ........................................................................................................ 12
3.3.2.4
Non Functional Requirements ................................................................................................ 12
3.4
System Design Methods.............................................................................................................. 12
3.4.1
User Interface Design.............................................................................................................. 12
3.4.1.1
Graphical User Interface (GUI) .............................................................................................. 13
3.4.2
Database Design...................................................................................................................... 13
3.4.3
Logical Design ........................................................................................................................ 13
3.4.3.1
Use Case Diagram................................................................................................................... 14
3.4.3.2
Data Flow Diagram (DFD) ..................................................................................................... 14
3.4.3.3
Flowchart ................................................................................................................................ 14
3.4.4
Architectural Design ............................................................................................................... 15
3.5
System Implementation............................................................................................................... 15
3.5.1
Front End ................................................................................................................................ 15
3.5.2
Back End ................................................................................................................................. 15
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3.6
System Testing Methods ............................................................................................................. 16
3.6.1
Unit testing .............................................................................................................................. 16
3.6.2
Integration Testing .................................................................................................................. 16
3.6.3
System testing ......................................................................................................................... 17
3.6.4
Acceptance Testing ................................................................................................................. 17
3.7
Systems Changeover Methods .................................................................................................... 17
3.7.1
Parallel Changeover ................................................................................................................ 17
3.7.2
Direct Changeover .................................................................................................................. 18
3.7.3
Phased Changeover ................................................................................................................. 18
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 19
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 20
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................ 21
Appendix A: Waterfall Model Diagram ................................................................................................. 21
Appendix B: Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) ................................................................................. 21
Appendix C: Use Case Diagram ............................................................................................................. 22
Appendix D: Data Flow Diagram (DFD) ............................................................................................... 22
Appendix E: Flowchart Diagram ............................................................................................................ 23
Appendix F: Architectural Design .......................................................................................................... 24
Appendix G: Project Schedule ................................................................................................................ 24
Appendix H: Budget Plan ....................................................................................................................... 25
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Waterfall Model ............................................................................................................................ 9
Figure 2: Entity Relationship Diagram ....................................................................................................... 13
Figure 3: Use Case Diagram ....................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 4: Data Flow Diagram (DFD) .......................................................................................................... 14
Figure 5: Flowchart Diagram ...................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 6: Architectural Design .................................................................................................................... 15
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CASE: Computer Aided software Engineering ............................................................................ 10
DB: Database ................................................................................................................................ 14
DFD: data Flow Diagram.............................................................................................................. 13
ERD: Entity Relationship Diagram .............................................................................................. 12
GUI: Graphical User Interface ...................................................................................................... 12
IDE: Integrated Development Environment ................................................................................. 15
MIS: Management Information System.......................................................................................... 4
OOA: Object Oriented Analysis ................................................................................................... 10
OOD: Object Oriented design ....................................................................................................... 11
PHP: Hypertext Pre processor ...................................................................................................... 14
PMS: Pharmacy Management System ............................................................................................ 6
POS: Point of Sale .......................................................................................................................... 6
PS: Pharmacy System ..................................................................................................................... 8
RDMS: Relational Database management Systems ..................................................................... 14
SDLC: System Development Life Cycle ........................................................................................ 9
SSA: Structured System Analysis ................................................................................................. 10
SSADM: structured System Analysis and Design Methodology ................................................. 10
UAT: user Acceptance Testing ..................................................................................................... 16
UML: unified Modeling Language ............................................................................................... 13
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Historical Background
Alaale Hospital Pharmacy is established in 2013 it is located inside Alaale Hospital in the south
of the Borama town since the hospital is established in 2009 the hospital has no pharmacy so the
drug has to be taken from the town and the hospital is located 5Km far from the town and that
was problem to the patients and their relatives who care with them, they have to go to the town
every time they want a drug, after a lot of people complained to the manager of the hospital they
established this pharmacy so the people have not to go to the town they can find the drugs there.
The pharmacy has six staffs who work in shifts the first two work the morning, the second two
work the afternoon and the other two work the night until the morning, the work in the pharmacy
is divided in that two staffs one is salesman and the other cashier who collects the money and
keep the transactions safe.
1.2 Problem Statement
As I mentioned before the pharmacy was needed by the people and there is no other pharmacy
located in that area, for that the pharmacy is too busy any time so they have a lot of customers
also there are a lot of records they have to keep it, now they are using a manual system for
storing the records and they really want a computerized system that help them keep their records
safely and easily, another reason that they want the computerized system is that they cannot find
the transaction they want easily they have to search it from all the papers they stored before and
this system will help them search what they need and find it easily.
1.3 Main Objective
The main objective of this proposed system is to design and develop a Pharmacy Management
System for Alaale Hospital Pharmacy.
1.3.1 Specific Objectives
i)
To register all permanent customers.
ii)
To register all drugs in the pharmacy.
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iii)
To register all staffs in the pharmacy.
iv)
To maintain warehouse records.
v)
To keep track all sales process.
vi)
To save purchase records.
vii)
To keep suppliers record.
viii)
To generate useful reports.
ix)
To create access control for the users of the system
x)
To create backup
xi)
To create authentication
1.4 Significance
This system will help the employee to serve the customers easily by using the system and this
will be very important to the whole pharmacy as the pharmacy will grow very fast, also the
customers will get efficiency work from the pharmacy as they cannot spend more time in the
pharmacy, also the manager will get advantage by using this system so he can analyze the data
stored in the systems database to take a smart decisions, also this system will lower the cost that
the pharmacy uses as the input also it will save time, the pharmacy management system operates
its function in small amount of time which is less than five seconds and can be accessed by one
user at a time or concurrently.
1.5 Justification
Compared to the current manual system, the implementation of Pharmacy management system
will reduced the time spent for paperwork, the current manual system cannot cover all the needs
of the employees, customers and also the owners, so this proposed system will help them to
make their requirements be achieved, With the proposed system, the pharmacist will be able to
monitor the movement of the drugs with ease. It also monitors the drug’s movement history, thus
leads to better inventory management of money allocated for the purchase of drugs.
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1.6 Scope
The system handles all aspects of the inventory control functions, it allows the pharmacist to
receive new batches of drugs, delete obsolete drugs and modify the current dosage and
identification of drug in the database. Furthermore, the system eases the process of stock
replenishment.
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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction to Pharmacy Management Information System
According to (Rouse, 2012) a system is a collection of elements or components that are
organized for a common purpose. The word sometimes describes the organization or plan itself
(and is similar in meaning to method, as in "I have my own little system") and sometimes
describes the parts in the system (as in "computer system") a computer system consists of
hardware components that have been carefully chosen so that they work well together and
software components or programs that run in the computer.
According to (Zwass, 2017) Information System, an integrated set of components for collecting,
storing, and processing data and for providing information, knowledge, and digital products.
Business firms and other organizations rely on information systems to carry out and manage their
operations, interact with their customers and suppliers, and compete in the marketplace.
Information systems are used to run inter-organizational supply chains and electronic markets.
For instance, corporations use information systems to process financial accounts, to manage their
human resources, and to reach their potential customers with online promotions. Many major
companies are built entirely around information systems.
According to (Beal, 2016) Management information system, or MIS, broadly refers to a
computer-based system that provides managers with the tools to organize, evaluate and
efficiently manage departments within an organization. In order to provide past, present and
prediction information, a management information system can include software that helps in
decision making, data resources such as databases, the hardware resources of a system, decision
support systems, people management and project management applications, and any
computerized processes that enable the department to run efficiently.
According to
(Ahmed, 2018) Computerized Pharmacy Management Systems put patient
profiles, medication, inventory, pricing, and other essential information within easy access for
pharmacists and pharmacy technicians the programs automate elements such as label printing,
inventory management, stock reordering and billing. As a result, pharmacies are more timeEfficient, and dispense more prescriptions and information while ensuring the safe and effective
4
use of pharmaceutical drugs. Pharmacy computer software is usually purchased ready-made or
provided by a drug wholesaler as part of their service. Various pharmacy software operating
systems are used throughout the many practice settings of pharmacy across the world.
2.2 Current System of Alaale Hospital Pharmacy Review
According to (Walhad, 2018) Alaale Hospital Pharmacy is established in 2013 it is located
inside Alaale Hospital in the south of the Borama town since the hospital is established in 2009
the hospital has no pharmacy so the drug has to be taken from the town and the hospital is
located 5Km far from the town and that was problem to the patients and their relatives who care
with them, they have to go to the town every time they want a drug, after a lot of people
complained to the manager of the hospital they established this pharmacy so the people have not
to go to the town they can find the drugs there.
The pharmacy has six staffs who work in shifts the first two work the morning, the second two
work the afternoon and the other two work the night until the morning, the work in the pharmacy
is divided in that two staffs one is salesman and the other cashier who collects the money and
keep the transactions safe, in addition the pharmacy uses books to store the orders from
customers, the sales and the purchases.
2.3 Ifahja Pharmacy Management System
According to
(Abdoulkalam, 2016) Ifahja Pharmacy Management System is a software
application that helps your pharmacy’s overall productivity with tools to simplify workflow,
process claims, manage inventory, thus delivering better care through a more efficient and
automated process.
Pharmacy stores/chains competing for growth in the face of significant competitive challenges,
face a dire need to improve productivity (to cope with the severe shortage of trained pharmacy
staff) and revenue (in the light of reducing reimbursements from insurance and government). To
address these challenges, the need is for streamlined operations aligned with their business
objectives. So selecting the right system can provide a definitive competitive edge in the
marketplace.
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Our dedicated team of highly trained and qualified System Analysts, Software Developers and
other experts can customize this software to meet your needs and hence promises cost reduction,
smoothen workflow, improved performance, real-time reporting, grouping of prescriptions, point
of sale (POS), order-to-promise, order/inventory management etc.
Our system offers the following features; Reports generation, Production of Inventory/Stock
versus sale/prescription reports, Exporting reports to spreadsheet software to analyze the buying
patterns of a customers, Tracking purchase history of the customers and analyze opportunities
for up-selling and cross-selling in future/season, Can be run on Network
2.4 Medeil Pharmacy Management System
According to (wilson, 2009) Medeil - PMS (Pharmacy Management System) is a software
application to manage the day-to-day business activities of pharmacy retailers. Medeil PMS
enables pharmacy's to transform from a predominantly ledger-based documentation to a systemenabled solution that is better aligned with their goals of improving quality of care with
increased efficiency and accuracy. Medeil PMS has been built as a stand-alone application.
Medeil is built upon a Database and Application architecture that is both strong and robust
resulting in a highly scalable product that can handle heavy usage. Medeil is, built using Java, a
platform independent application that can run on any operating system.
Medeil Pharmacy Management System Features; Staff management: Plan and distribute staff
rosters, and oversee and approve worked hours. The system also includes a suite of loss
prevention tools, Configurable graphic interface: Customize the look of the POS. Choose your
brand colors and change the size and positioning of buttons to make it simple and fast to use for
your staff, Support for growth: Our scalable solution will support the evolution of your business,
and grow with you, Flexible payment options: With our versatile POS you’ll be able to accept
various methods of payments – cash, smart cards, foreign currency, vouchers, gift cards and
more – even in the same transaction, Reports and analyses: Our system’s in-depth reports will
help you reduce costs and prevent losses thanks to the real-time insights into your business’s key
data, Management of expiry dates: The system helps you keep better control over your stock
with the capture of lot number.
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2.5 ERP Pharmacy Management System
According to (Shilpa, 2017) ERP Pharmacy Management system is an application designed to
ease the work of a pharmacy. It was developed to revolutionize how stores are managed and to
integrate aspects of pharmaceutical operations. ERP helps in the quick retrieval and easy
management of data. It tracks records and simplifies the stocking process, from initial ordering
through notification when products are reaching their expiration. The system automates
otherwise tedious processes related to sales, purchasing, and billing. Keeping records in one
place streamlines employee workflow and enables more customers to be assisted. Furthermore, it
assures the complete security of data, so that employees and customers alike feel safeguarded.
ERP software is customizable to suit the needs of any pharmacy. It has a wide range of
capabilities and modules, making it the complete package for all types of pharmaceutical stores.
The software creates reports to assist in pharmacy management, helping to create a clear picture
of current status, past growth, and future trajectory.
2.6 Kroll™ pharmacy management solution
According to (Rob, 2015) Efficient, innovative and user-friendly, the Kroll™ pharmacy
management solution (PMS) is used by a diverse group of pharmacy clients including chains,
banners, institutions, independents, long-term care facilities and specialized clinical settings.
Backed by more than 30 years of experience and customer satisfaction, Kroll™ PMS continues
to evolve to support the ongoing evolution of the pharmacy practice.
Kroll™ pharmacy management solution features; Patient: easily view patient information with
customizable sorting, patient pictures, allergy information, family member links and more, Drug:
the drug information you need including ordering, inventory, drug usage graph, pictures for easy
ID, alerting printouts and more, Doctor: save signature for quick reference to help to prevent
forgeries, record multiple addresses, license and specialties, automatic fax and more.
2.7 Proposed Pharmacy Management System Description for Alaale Hospital Pharmacy
With the proposed system, the pharmacist will be able to monitor the movement of the drugs
with ease, It also monitors the drug’s movement history, thus leads to better inventory
7
management of money allocated for the purchase of drugs, the system will solve the problem of
the current system by minimizing time wastage and reduce resources which simply change
manual based system to computerized system.
Alaale Pharmacy Management System Features; Generate report: the pharmacy management
system generates report weakly on information about the drugs and it exports the information as
output document, Store the necessary information of the drugs: The PS (pharmacy system) stores
the detail information about each medicine including Actual name, formula of medicine and how
it is importance and for which diseases is required. Since the information for each drug were
required in some cases like the use of drugs, when use drugs and for whom is given, Search
Medicine data effectively , Update, delete, and Edit medicine information , Changing login
password, Have the system document how to use the system.
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CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 General SDLC Methods
Software development life cycle (SDLC) is a series of phases that provide a common
understanding of the software building process. How the software will be realized and developed
from the business understanding and requirements elicitation phase to convert these business
ideas and requirements into functions and features until its usage and operation to achieve the
business needs Therefore, it may be required to choose the right SDLC model according to the
specific concerns and requirements of the project to ensure its success.
The most common types of Software developing life cycles (SDLC): Waterfall Model, V-Shaped
Model,
Evolutionary
Prototyping Model,
Spiral Method
(SDM),
Iterative
and
Incremental Method, Agile development. In my case I will use waterfall model for this software
so let me explain what Waterfall Model Is.?
3.1.1 Waterfall Model
The Waterfall Model is a linear sequential flow. In which progress is seen as flowing steadily
downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of software implementation. This means that
any phase in the development process begins only if the previous phase is complete. The
waterfall approach does not define the process to go back to the previous phase to handle
changes in requirement. The waterfall approach is the earliest approach and most widely known
that was used for software development.
Figure 1: Waterfall Model
I choose waterfall model because waterfall is a model that focus on changing requirements, very
easy to explain to the users, structured approach, stages and the activities are well defined and it
help you to plan and schedule your project.
3.2 Planning and Requirements Collection Methods
There are many different methods for collecting the requirements like Brainstorming, Document
Analysis, Focus Group, Interface Analysis, Interview, Observation, Prototyping, Requirements
9
Workshop, Reverse Engineering, Survey. In my case I will use interview for collecting the
requirements so what is interview.
3.2.1 Interview
An interview is one of the most popular investigation technique used by Business Analysts. It is
a qualitative investigation technique where the interviewer formally or informally asks questions
to a stakeholder to obtain answers that will be used to create formal requirements. One-on-one
face-to-face interviews are most common. In a group interview (with more than one interviewee
in attendance) the interviewer must be careful to elicit responses from all attendees.
I choose interview because in my case (Alaale Hospital Pharmacy) there is only two employees
and the interview is best for the organizations that has fewer employees, also the interview is
useful to obtain detailed information about personal feelings, perceptions and opinions the
interviews usually achieve a high response rate that’s why I choose interview.
3.3 Requirements Analysis and Specification Methods
3.3.1 Requirements Analysis
There many requirements analysis methods including Object Oriented Analysis (OOA) and
Structured System Analysis (SSA), I will use SSA so let me explain by what is Structured
System analysis, Structured systems analysis and design methodology (SSADM) is a set of
standards for systems analysis and application design. It uses a formal methodical approach to
the analysis and design of information systems, The SSADM is an open methodology based on
the waterfall model. It has been used by many commercial businesses, consultants, educational
establishments and CASE tool developers.
SSADM follows the waterfall life cycle model starting from the feasibility study to the physical
design stage of development. One of the main features of SSADM is the intensive user
involvement in the requirements analysis stage. The users are made to sign off each stage as they
are completed assuring that requirements are met. The users are provided with clear, easily
understandable documentation consisting of various diagrammatic representations of the system.
SSADM breaks up a development project into stages, modules, steps and tasks. The first and
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foremost model developed in SSADM is the data model. It is a part of requirements gathering
and consists of well-defined stages, steps and products. The techniques used in SSADM are
logical data modeling, data flow modeling and entity behavior modeling: Logical Data
Modeling: This involves the process of identifying, modeling and documenting data as a part of
system requirements gathering. The data are classified further into entities and relationships;
Data Flow Modeling: This involves tracking the data flow in an information system. It clearly
analyzes the processes, data stores, external entities and data movement; Entity Behavior
Modeling: This involves identifying and documenting the events influencing each entity and the
sequence in which these events happen.
3.3.2 Requirements Specification
Software requirements specification is a description of a software system to be developed, It is
modeled after business requirements specification , also known as a stakeholder requirements
specification . After analyzing the data collected, I formulated a number of requirements namely
user requirement, these were grouped as user, functional, non-functional and systems
requirements.
3.3.2.1 User Requirements
User requirements include the font style, color and the color of the interface that the user will use
also the users vary in the system including Admin, Pharmacist so admin should add, modify and
delete other users also the pharmacist should add new drugs and make sales and purchase
transactions.
3.3.2.2 System Requirements
System require a local server like XAMPP or WAMMP for the scripting of PHP code because
the PHP is a server side scripting language also the MySQL the RDMS we will use is included in
the package of the local server, the system doesn’t require internet because I will use local
server.
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3.3.2.3 Functional Requirements
The following is the desired functionality of the new system. The system should keep records of
the forms of drugs, staff, and warehouses at the submitting point. The system should perform
analysis of Pharmacy management. The system should authenticate the users of the system. The
system should generate reports on request. The system should only allow the administrator to
delete records in the database.
3.3.2.4 Non Functional Requirements
The system should must verify and validate all user input and users must be notified in case of
errors detected in the course of using the system. The system should allow room for expansion.
A system should have a high performance and reliability level
3.4 System Design Methods
Systems design is the process of defining the architecture, modules, interfaces, and data for
a system to satisfy specified requirements. Systems design could be seen as the application
of systems theory to product development, in the system design section I will mention the most
important designs that I will apply in this project.
There are different methods of design that can be applied in the systems the main two methods
are SSD and OOD, in this proposed project I will use SSD because the SSD is a very structured
method of creating information systems, It exercises control over every aspect of the creation
process, this control is one of the major reasons it has become the standard, because it leaves
very little room for error.
3.4.1 User Interface Design
A user interface, also sometimes called a human-computer interface, comprises both hardware
and software components. It handles the interaction between the user and the system, There are
different ways of interacting with computer systems which have evolved over the years, and
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There are two main types of user interface: command line, graphical user interface (GUI), in my
case I will use the Graphical User Interface (GUI) method.
3.4.1.1 Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Graphical user interfaces (GUI) are sometimes also referred to as WIMP because they
use Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointers. Operators use a pointing device (such as a mouse,
touchpad or trackball) to control a pointer on the screen which then interacts with other onscreen elements. It allows the user to interact with devices through graphical icons and visual
indicators such as secondary notations. The term was created in the 1970s to distinguish
graphical interfaces from text-based ones, such as command line interfaces. However, today
nearly all digital interfaces are GUIs.
3.4.2 Database Design
I will use Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) to show the relationships among different entities
so what is entity relationship diagram, an entity relationship diagram (ERD) shows the
relationships of entity sets stored in a database. An entity in this context is an object, a
component of data. An entity set is a collection of similar entities. These entities can have
attributes that define its properties, by defining the entities, their attributes, and showing the
relationships between them, an ER diagram illustrates the logical structure of databases.
ER diagrams are used to sketch out the design of a database, this is an ERD example that shows
the structure of internet sales database.
Figure 2: Entity Relationship Diagram
3.4.3 Logical Design
Logical design pertains to an abstract representation of the data flow, inputs, and outputs of the
system. It describes the inputs (sources), outputs (destinations), databases (data stores),
procedures (data flows) all in a format that meets the user requirements.
13
While preparing the logical design of a system, the system analyst specifies the user needs at
level of detail that virtually determines the information flow into and out of the system and the
required data sources. Data flow diagram, E-R diagram modeling are used.
In the logical design I will some UML diagrams and other diagrams that will be very helpful in
the design of the system, the diagrams I will use include Use Case Diagram, Data Flow Diagram
(DFD), and Flowchart Diagram.
3.4.3.1 Use Case Diagram
A use case diagram is a dynamic or behavior diagram in UML. Use case diagrams model the
functionality of a system using actors and use cases. Use cases are a set of actions, services, and
functions that the system needs to perform. In this context, a "system" is something being
developed or operated, such as a web site. The "actors" are people or entities operating under
defined roles within the system
Figure 3: Use Case Diagram
3.4.3.2 Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
Data flow diagrams visually represent systems and processes that would be hard to describe in a
chunk of text. You can use these diagrams to map out an existing system and make it better or to
plan out a new system for implementation. Visualizing each element makes it easy to identify
inefficiencies and produce the best possible system.
Figure 4: Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
3.4.3.3 Flowchart
A flowchart is a diagram that depicts a process, system or computer algorithm. They are widely
used in multiple fields to document, study, and plan, improve and communicate often complex
processes in clear, easy-to-understand diagrams. Flowcharts, sometimes spelled as flow charts,
use rectangles, ovals, diamonds and potentially numerous other shapes to define the type of step,
along with connecting arrows to define flow and sequence.
Figure 5: Flowchart Diagram
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3.4.4 Architectural Design
Software architecture is the process of converting software characteristics such as flexibility,
scalability, feasibility, reusability, and security into a structured solution that meets the technical
and the business expectations
Figure 6: Architectural Design
3.5 System Implementation
Implementation is the process that actually yields the lowest-level system elements in the system
hierarchy (system breakdown structure). System elements are made, bought, or reused.
Production involves the hardware fabrication processes of forming, removing, joining, and
finishing, the software realization processes of coding and testing, or the operational procedures
development processes for operators' roles. If implementation involves a production process, a
manufacturing system which uses the established technical and management processes may be
required, The purpose of the implementation process is to design and create (or fabricate) a
system element conforming to that element’s design properties and/or requirements. The element
is constructed employing appropriate technologies and industry practices.
3.5.1 Front End
There are many different front end programming languages such as VB.net, Java, Python, PHP,
C# and so many others, in my case I will use PHP for front end of my project because PHP is, an
application that can be run on various platforms, the most important advantage of PHP is the
developer need not have to worry about the operating system the user is working on, as the PHP
code run properly and smoothly on all operating systems. Furthermore, the server-side scripting
language or PHP hosting service providers can easily be found.
3.5.2 Back End
There are a variety of back end databases used in the different systems the most used RDMS are
MySQL, SQL Server, MS Access, Oracle, Mongo DB and others, in this project I will use
MySQL as the back end because MySQL is a free-to-use, open-source database that facilitates
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effective management of databases by connecting them to the software. It is a stable, reliable and
powerful solution with advanced features
3.6 System Testing Methods
Software testing methodologies are the various strategies or approaches used to test an
application to ensure it behaves and looks as expected. These encompass everything from front
to back-end testing, including unit and system testing. This article is designed to highlight the
myriad of testing techniques used by quality assurance professionals.
These testing methods are usually conducted in order and include: Unit testing, Integration
testing, System testing.
3.6.1 Unit testing
Unit testing is the first level of testing and is often performed by the developers themselves. It is
the process of ensuring individual components of a piece of software at the code level are
functional and work as they were designed to. Developers in a test-driven environment will
typically write and run the tests prior to the software or feature being passed over to the test
team. Unit testing can be conducted manually, but automating the process will speed up delivery
cycles and expand test coverage. Unit testing will also make debugging easier because finding
issues earlier means they take less time to fix than if they were discovered later in the testing
process. Test Left is a tool that allows advanced testers and developers to shift left with the
fastest test automation tool embedded in any IDE.
3.6.2 Integration Testing
Integration testing after each unit is thoroughly tested, it is integrated with other units to create
modules or components that are designed to perform specific tasks or activities. These are then
tested as group through integration testing to ensure whole segments of an application behave as
expected (i.e. the interactions between units are seamless). These tests are often framed by user
scenarios, such as logging into an application or opening files. Integrated tests can be conducted
by either developers or independent testers and are usually comprised of a combination of
automated functional and manual tests.
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3.6.3 System testing
System testing is a black box testing method used to evaluate the completed and integrated
system, as a whole, to ensure it meets specified requirements. The functionality of the software is
tested from end-to-end and is typically conducted by a separate testing team than the
development team before the product is pushed into production.
3.6.4 Acceptance Testing
An acceptance test is performed by the client and verifies whether the end to end the flow of the
system is as per the business requirements or not and if it is as per the needs of the end user.
Client accepts the software only when all the features and functionalities work as expected. It is
the last phase of the testing, after which the software goes into production. This is also called as
User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
3.7 Systems Changeover Methods
As technologies change, many businesses find themselves needing to change over their computer
information systems. Upgrading these systems helps them optimize their efficiency and remain
competitive. Common changeover areas include security systems, database systems, accounting
systems and managerial information systems. Deciding which changeover technique will work
best for a particular company depends on the type of changeover and degree of risk for the
company.
3.7.1 Parallel Changeover
In a parallel changeover, the new system runs simultaneously with the old for a given period of
time. Of all the techniques, this tends to be the most popular, mainly because it carries the lowest
risk. If something goes wrong at any point, the entire system can be reverted back to its original
state. A primary disadvantage in running two systems at the same time is higher costs. The
parallel changeover process also can be quite time-consuming.
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3.7.2 Direct Changeover
Direct changeover, also referred to as immediate replacement, tends to be the least favorite of the
changeover techniques. In a direct changeover, the entire system is replaced in an instant.
Basically, as soon as the new system is powered up, the old system is shut down. This type of
changeover carries the most risk because, if something goes wrong, reverting back to the old
system usually is impossible. Using the direct changeover technique tends to work best in
situations where a system failure isn't critical enough to result in a disaster for the company.
3.7.3 Phased Changeover
The phased changeover technique is considered a compromise between parallel and direct
changeovers. In a phased changeover, the new system is implemented one stage at a time. As an
example, consider a company working toward installing a new financial system. Implementing
the new system one department at a time, the company converts accounts receivable, accounts
payable, payroll, and so on. Advantages to phased changeovers are their low cost and isolated
errors. The main disadvantage is the process takes a long time to complete because phases need
to be implemented separately.
So in this project I will make the changeover using the first method which is parallel changeover
because if something goes wrong at any point, the entire system can be reverted back to its
original state that is the main advantage that forces me to choose this method.
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CONCLUSION
Pharmacy management system is actually a software which handle the essential data and save the
data and actually about the database of a pharmacy and its management. This software help in
effectively management of the pharmaceutical store or shop. It provide the statistics about
medicine or drugs which are in stocks which data can also be updated and edited. It works as per
the requirement of the user and have options accordingly. It allow user to enter manufacturing as
well as the expiry date of medicine placing in stock and for sales transaction. This software also
have ability to print the bill and invoices etc. The record of suppliers can also be saved in it.
There are other function available too. The main purpose is effectively and easily handling of
pharmacy data and its management.
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REFERENCES
Abdoulkalam, H. (2016, June 12). IT and Software. Retrieved from Ifahja:
http://www.ifahja.com/portfolio-item/pharmacy-management-system
Ahmed, I. (2018, September 17). Pharmacy Management System. Retrieved from Academia:
http://www.academia.edu/download/33169467/PHARMACY_MANAGEMENT_PROJECT_Ahmad
_Ibitoye.docx
Beal, V. (2016, May 12). MIS - management information system. Retrieved from Webopedia:
https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/MIS.html
Mohamed, O. (2018, October 15). Alaale Hospital Pharmacy Background. (A. Ali, Interviewer)
Rob, T. (2015, February 19). Home. Retrieved from Kroll: https://www.kroll.ca/
Rouse, M. (2012, June 23). System. Retrieved from Tech Target:
https://searchwindowsserver.techtarget.com/definition/system
Shilpa, H. (2017, August 18). Pharmacy Management System. Retrieved from Coelentera Technologies:
http://www.coelentera.com/ERP-Pharmacy-Software.aspx
Walhad, A. (2018, October 19). Manager of Alaale Hospital. (A. Abdirahman, Interviewer)
wilson, B. (2009, January 11). Pharmacy Software. Retrieved from Capterra:
https://www.capterra.com/p/117249/Medeil/
Zwass, V. (2017, December 28). Information System. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/information-system
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APPENDICES
Appendix A: Waterfall Model Diagram
Appendix B: Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
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Appendix C: Use Case Diagram
Appendix D: Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
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Appendix E: Flowchart Diagram
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Appendix F: Architectural Design
Appendix G: Project Schedule
Table 1: Project Schedule
Activity
Duration
Milestone
Proposal
12 Weeks
Proposal Document
Requirements Collection, Analysis 4 Weeks
and specification
Requirements analysis
Document
Design
2 Weeks
Design
Implementation
4 Weeks
Design with code
Testing
5 weeks
System with no errors
Changeover
2 weeks
Final product
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Appendix H: Budget Plan
Table 2: Budget Plan
Item
Des
Cost
1
Printing Cost
$6
2
Transportation
$4
3
Flash disks
$3
4
Selling Cost
$1000
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