Term Project Instructions

The class will be divided into groups who will work on the project as a team. Each team will develop a database model using the CA ERwin Data-modeling tool. The database system will consist of creating the data model and then forward engineer the model into scripts that, when ran, will create the database tables.

Teams will select an appropriate business organization e.g., a college/university, a mail order business, an accounting firm, et al.

Below you will see sample SQL DDL script for a University database system, and a Mail Order Company database system. You will also find copies of the table layouts, and a simple ERD for each of these sample companies. Additionally, you will most likely find it necessary to research various business entities, to determine what type of data they store and how it is used in the conduct of their business.

A copy of the Community edition of CA ERwin r8 is on the XenDesktop. It is recommended that you use that for completion of all of your class assignments. If you have your own personal computer, you can install the software yourself and use it there, but be mindful that I will be  grading it based on the XenDesktop image of the software; in other words, it must work there to be acceptable.

Each team will prepare a written and oral presentation of their project designed to explain the design of each of the systems to individuals that will be using the system. The written presentation will be written using APA standards and will contain (1) a description of the company for whom you are designing the database; (2) the specific division/section of the company that is requesting the database design; (3) identify the entity types that are required to develop the database; (4) provide the naming conventions that will be used in the design; (5) identify all relationships that will be required between entities; (6) determine and list all constraints that each of the entities will require; (7) normalize the database to, at least, 3NF preferably BCNF; (8) provide a copy of the final ERD developed in ERwin; (9) provide the scripts forward engineered from ERwin; and, finally, (10) some sample data input screens and reports.

We will go over some of these areas while working on the ERwin system.  The oral portion will be a verbal presentation of the items 1-10 listed above. You may use Big Blue Button software to prepare and submit your presentation. Each presentation should allow for 10-12 minutes of content, so time it carefully.

This project will enable you to develop a real-world prospective on what database system developers achieve during their day to day assignments.