TLR Example
Contents
Executive Summary
I
Introduction
2
Customer Profile
3
Scope
3
System Definition
4
Database
Interface
Security
System Objects
Student Advising Object
Course
Student
Grade
Graduation Requirements
Roles and Responsibilities
Deliverables
Appendix A
Advanced Graduation Analysis Module
Appendix B
Course Planning Module
Appendix C
Security Module
Glossary of Terms
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Executive Summary
The Top Level Requirements (TLR) document is a high level analysis and design overview of the
Systematic Tracking of Academic Records (STAR) system. The TLR is not intended to provide a
comprehensive analysis of the system but instead summarizes the system functionality. In contrast, the
Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document provides the detailed description of the system
requirements. STAR is an automated interface to the mainframe based Student Information System (SIS)
at East Tennessee State University (ETSU). STAR will provide the ETSU Computer and Information
Science (CSCI) Department with the ability to review student information off line from the mainframe
system. The goal of STAR is to provide the ETSU CSCI department with an automated tool that will
assist faculty advisors and CSCI students in course selection and planning.
The STAR database will contain student personal data and course history. In addition, the database will
contain information regarding courses offered at ETSU. STAR will display the student's personal data
such as name and address. STAR will also display the student's course history. The course history will
include: course identification, course tide, number of credit hours, student's grade and term.
STAR will only allow authorized users access to the system An authorized user will be able to display
student information based on the student's identification number The user will be able to view the student
information using various sorting criteria The system will display the education requirements for
graduation that have been completed by the student. In addition, the system will also show the graduation
requirements which have not been completed by the student.
STAR will display student information in a clear and understandable manner The system will provide the
CSCI faculty advisor with the capability to review a student's course history and performance. As a result,
the advisor will be better equipped to assist students in planning their course selection.
STAR is designed to be an integrated system consisting of a core functional module with additional
functionality to be provided as needed. The main body of this document describes the core functionality
of the STAR system. The additional functionality is described in the appendix. Each additional module
will be analyzed and designed prior to integration with the core system. The developers and ETSU must
agree on the analysis and design of each additional module before the implementation of any of the
additional functionality will begin.
Introduction
The Top Level Requirements Specification is an overview of the software system. This document is not
designed to be a comprehensive description of the system, but a high level discussion of the requirements
and design. The comprehensive description of the system is contained in the Software Requirements
Specification.
STAR is designed to be an integrated system consisting of a core functional module with additional
functionality to be provided as needed. The main body of this document presents the core functionality of
the STAR system with additional functionality described in the appendix. Each additional module must
be analyzed and designed prior to integration with the core system. The developers and ETSU must agree
on the analysis and design of each additional module before beginning the implementation of any of
additional functionality.
The ETSU Computer and Information Science Department is responsible for the advising of students
majoring in computer science. The faculty advisor assists the student in the planning and scheduling of
courses which will meet the matriculation requirements for both the Computer and Information Science
Department and the university. The current mainframe based Student Information System (SIS) contains
the student academic records including transcript information. CSCI faculty use the information provided
by 515 to advise students.
The existing mainframe based Student Information System requires a terminal style interface which has
certain limitations. For example, the navigation format uses a prompt style interface which requires the
user to enter a code number for a specific screen. In addition, the user can only page forward through a
multiple page display. In order to review a page which has already been viewed, the user must either page
forward through the multiple page display until returning to the previously viewed page or enter a specific
page number. STAR will provide a graphical user interface which will provide an easier to use interface.
In addition, STAR will include graphical displays of student progress as well as textual reporting
capability.
STAR will store the academic records of students majoring in computer science. These records will
include the student's undergraduate record, the student's academic record at ETSU, the student's
concentration, and any transfer information from other colleges or universities. This information will be
used by ETSU faculty to assist students in the planning and scheduling of courses in order to complete
their graduation requirements.
Student information is confidential and must be kept secure. STAR will only operate on
Microsoft Windows NT workstations. NT provides C2 level security at the operating system
which only allows authorized users access into the system. Therefore, STAR will use the NT
security system as its primary security mechanism. In addition, STAR will provide a mechanism
to distinguish between faculty and student users of the system.
Customer Profile
ETSU Computer and Information Science Department faculty advisors are the principal customers for
STAR. The faculty advisors are responsible for assisting students in the planning and scheduling of their
courses for the current semester. In addition, STAR will be made available for students to review their
own academic record. The faculty will have the ability to review any student's academic record whereas
students will only be able to review their own record. The users want to be able to review the information
in both an overview format and a detailed format. The display of data includes textual reports and
graphical displays.
Scope
STAR will store student academic information for retrieval and display. The data for STAR will be
provided by the mainframe based SIS program. The student academic records are stored and maintained
on a VAX mainframe at ETSU. Ml of the data for STAR will be imported into the system from an ASCII
file downloaded from the mainframe system. The information within STAR will be updated from the
mainframe system on a semester basis. The users will be able to display various reports and graphs
regarding a student's academic progress. The system will provide specified queries for the display of
student information.
STAR data will consist of the student's academic record. This information will come from the student's
transcript record as provided by the mainframe SIS. The transcript record includes the student's academic
history at ETSU and any other university the student may have attended. STAR will provide a means to
evaluate a student's academic progress towards completion of graduation requirements. For example,
STAR will provide a check list format which will provide a detailed display of the student's completion of
required courses. In addition, STAR may provide a graphical display of the student's academic progress.
System Definition
STAR will maintain student academic records downloaded from the existing mainframe system.
STAR will provide a graphical user interface by which the user can choose various views of the data.
Student academic information can be displayed on the screen or sent to a printer. Figure 1 illustrates
the relationships between the mainframe system (i.e., SIS), STAR, and the users.
SIS
Student Academic
Record
ETSU CSCI Faculty
and Students
STAR
Reports
Figure 1 STAR Top Level Diagram
STAR will be deployed on Windows NT workstations at ETSU. The system will be developed using
Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 and Microsoft Access 7.0. STAR will be developed at Oak Ridge and
Knoxville locations using PCs running Microsoft Windows 95. It is the responsibility of the
developers to ensure that STAR will operate correctly on the NT workstations.
Database
The PC system database stores and maintains information provided by the mainframe SIS. The
information is downloaded from the mainframe system and imported into the PC system. ETSU will
provide an initial file of current student academic information in ASCII format. Additional student
information in ASCII format will be incorporated into the database each semester.
The system will store course information in the database such as department name, course title, and credit
hours. Tables I to 4 illustrate possible data items which may be stored within the system database. These
tables are the product of the initial data analysis and as such are subject to change as a result of future
analysis. The data model will be developed in conjunction with the SRS. It is expected that the data model
will also be modified as a result of the information acquired during the system development process.
Table I Course Information Data Items
Item
Description
Department Name
Department Code
Course Number
Course ID
Course Title
Credit hours
The name of the department (e.g., Computer and Information Science)
The department acronym (e.g., CSCI)
The catalog number assigned to the course
Department Code + Course Number
The tide of the course
The number of credit hours assigned to the course
The system will also maintain student personal information within the database. Student personal
information could consist of the student's address and contact information. Table 2 shows some of the
information which may be maintained for each student.
Table 2 Student Personal information Data Items
Item
Description
Student ID
The student identification number
Student Name
The name of the student
Address
The student's street address
City
The name of the city where the student resides
State
The name of the state where the student resides
zip code
The zip code for the student's address
Home Telephone
The student's home telephone number
Work Telephone
The student's work telephone number
FAX
The student's FAX number
Email
The student's email address
Major
The student's major program
Concentration
The student's concentration within a major program
Notes
Any notes about the student
The system must retain the student's grades for every course completed by the studenL This information
will be updated from the mainframe system each semester. Student course grade information is
represented in Table 3.
Table 3 Student Course Grade Information Data Items
Item
Description
Student ID
The student identification number
Course ID
Department Code + Course Number
Semester Code
The code for the semester the course is offered
Grade
The student's grade in the class
Notes
Any notes about the student for this class
In addition, the system must supply Grade Point Average (GPA) information to the faculty advisor and
the student. This information could be supplied from the mainframe system and retained in STAR.
However, STAR will compute GPA information from the student's course history automatically instead
of storing the data within the database. The GPA data items are shown in Table 4.
Table 4 Student Grade Point Average (GPA) Data Items
Item
Description
Semester GPA
Overall GPA
The student's GPA for me semester (Calculated value)
The student's overall GPA (Calculated value)
Interface
The customers consider the existing Student Information System difficult to use. Therefore, the STAR
interface will be designed for ease of use by the users. In addition, STAR will present the student
academic information in a format approved by the customer and designed in association with the
customer. The detailed design phase will rely heavily on the expected users of the system to provide
feedback regarding the user interface. The interface will be developed using a prototyping methodology
in order to solicit the maximum amount of information from the customer.
The system interface allows the user to interact with the data stored in the database. The users will display
the data using various report formats and in graphical displays. The interface will be composed of various
screens, pull down menus, and text, The STAR user interface will be consistent with the NT 4.0 and
Windows 95 interface.
Security
STAR will only allow authorized users access to the student information database. All users will
be required to provide a valid access code in order to use STAR. The system will distinguish
between user groups based on specific user characteristics. The system will define three classes
of users: super user, ETSU faculty, and ETSU students. The super user account will have full
access to all of the system features. In addition, the super user account will have the authority to
edit authorized user list. The system will provide the user with a mechanism for adding, deleting,
and updating the list of authorized users. ETSU faculty will be able to review any student's
academic record but will not be able to access any system administrator functions. ETSU
students will only be able to view their own academic record. Students will not be able to view
any other student's records or access the system administrator functions.
It will be the responsibility of ETSU to maintain the security of the student information database. The
system will distinguish between user groups (i.e., super user, faculty, and students) but it is the customer's
responsibility to enforce security. The customer will assume responsibility for any and all actions that
may arise due to privacy concerns or confidentiality issues.
System Objects (Not Necessary)
This section provides the descriptions of the high level objects identified for STAR. Figure 2 shows the
primary function of STAR which is Student Advising. ETSU Computer and Information Science faculty
are responsible for the advising of students. The faculty must review the student's academic record and
suggest courses which lead to the student's graduation. Each faculty member must be familiar with the
student's graduation requirements both within the department and within the university. The faculty
advisor will be able to use STAR to easily review the student's record. STAR will provide a mechanism
which will identify the graduation requirements completed by the student.
STAR
Student
Advising
Figure 2 STAR High Level Design
Student Advising Object
The Student Advising object is decomposed further in Figure 3. Figure 3 shows the Student Advising
object as composed of a course information object, a student information object, a grade information
object, and a graduation requirements object. The information provided by these objects will support
the student advisement process.
Student
Advising
Course
Student
Grade
Graduation
Requirements
Department
Course
Time
Location
Name
Address
Telephone
Fax
Email
Student ID
Course ID
Semester Code
Grade
Notes
Course ID
Degree
Major
Required
Reqt Satisfied
Figure 3 Student Advising Object
Course
The course object contains information about the department, course details, and scheduling information.
The department information consists of the department name (e.g., Computer and Information Science)
and department code (e.g., CSCI). In addition, the course is identified by a course number and section
number. The course identification number is composed of the department code, and course number.
Student
The student object contains contact information about the student. The object contains the student's name,
address, telephone numbers, FAX number and email address. The student object also contains a note field
in which the advisor can enter comments.
Grade
The grade object contains information regarding the student's performance in a specific class. The grade
object contains the course identification number as well as the student's identification number. The grade
object also has the grade that the student received for the course. The notes attribute provides a
mechanism for recording any comments about the student and the course.
Graduation Requirements
The graduation requirement object evaluates the students' academic progress towards completing their
graduation requirements. This object examines the student's course history and performance and
compares the information with the departments standards for graduation. This object supports the
planning and advising functions by identifying the graduation requirements which have been successfully
fulfilled by the student. In addition, this object also will highlight any requirements which remain. This
object may also provide suggested courses which would work towards the completion of the graduation
requirements.
Roles and Responsibilities (Not
Necessary)
In order for the development of STAR to be successful both the customers and system developers need to
assume certain roles and responsibilities. The system developers and ETSU Computer and Information
Science faculty play key roles in the development of STAR. The following list identifies the
responsibilities of the developers and the customers:
System Developers
 Conducting the requirement analysis
 Conducting the user review sessions
 Implementing user requested functionality into the system
 Developing the final system
 Developing the associated documentation
 Meeting deliverables within an agreed time frarne
 Provide training in the use of the system
ETSU Faculty
 Provide requested information as needed for prototyping
 Provide frequent user feedback on system prototype
 Review documentation in a timely manner
 Sign off on deliverables as they are accepted
 Assume responsibility for any actions that might arise due to legal concerns or privacy issues
Deliverables (Not Necessary)
The system development team is responsible for several products associated with STAR. ETSU faculty is
responsible for reviewing all of documents and providing timely feedback on each document. In addition,
ETSU must signoff on each document and the final system to indicate customer acceptance.
The following items will be delivered to the ETSU Computer and Information Science Department:
 Top Level Requirements (TLR) document. The TLR provides a high level overview of the system's
functionality. The TLR also provides the initial direction for the software development effort.
 Software Requirements Specification (SRS). The SRS specifies in detail the requirements of the
software system. This document serves as an agreement between the system developers and ETSU on
the requirements of the final system.
 Design Documentation. The design documentation will describe the system implementation.
 Data Dictionary. The Data Dictionary contains the list of all data items within the software system.
Each item within the data dictionary will include a description of the item, the item's data type, and
any allowed values or restrictions.
 User's Manual. The user's manual will provide a detail description of the process for using the
system's functionality.
 Maintenance Manual. The maintenance manual will provide the system source code and database
model.
 STAR software system.