1.

Abstract

The term “virtual university” is used to describe an open-learning institution that uses the
Internet, to create an imaginary university environment, in which the students, faculty,
and staff can communicate and share information at any time, regardless of location. In
many respects, it is commonly associated with the field of advanced learning technology,
which deals with both the technologies and associated methodologies in learning using
networked and/or multimedia technologies. This VU project envisages the design and
development of multimedia course that is web-enabled that goes towards the curriculum
of a full-fledged degree program.It strives for structural changes in the university
infrastructure. Networks of scholars within a discipline carry out collaboration, division
of labour and specialization in both teaching and research. This virtual university
attempts to mirror all parts of a real university in a computer and internet-based
environment. Its components comprise different kinds of courses as well as
communication and administration activities.

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2. Introduction

2.1 Overview of the System

The Education broadcasting in a virtual university project aims at creating a website or

portal that creates an imaginary university environment coordinating various activities
related to student and faculty in pursuing various courses,studying in which is in a way
beneficial than studying in a brick and mortar university. This creates myriad new
alliances as traditional educational institutions can join with business organizations and
companies to provide a cost-effective professional upgradation to their employees even.
Virtual University allows students to follow its rigorous programs regardless of their
physical locations.This acts as an information "container" to supplement classroom
education with text (course notes, pointers to external web sites), and other types of
media (graphics, videos etc.). Apart from supplementing classroom education it also
provides e-mail discussion facility for the instructor to communicate asynchronously
(not in real time) with students to help guide their understanding of content and exercises
with desktop sharing as an added feature that facilitates easy monitoring the students
problems . The instructor can also develop an online student assessment application
which allows students to take some tests online and submit them electronically.This
portal also provides the administrator with a screen through which he can make and
manage all the resources.

2.2 Advantages

1. Increasing of quality and attractiveness of offered study specializations and study

,Sharing all educational activities and events guaranteed by leading and experienced
specialists from various regions.

2. Increasing of possibility of creation individual study plan by selection from

substantially wider offer of educational subjects and increasing variety and versatility of
educational needs.

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3. Flexibility of study as to place and location. Time flexibility is an organic result of
combined/distance form of study and learning. Stu-dents can themselves devote study
activities time interval which is to their individualtime schedule. Time management may
lead to higher efficiency comparison with classical form of centrally made scheduling.

2.3 Application, objective and benefits

Application
Students located at remote areas will be able to access the tutorials and can
enhance their skills at their own time.
Objectives
To facilitate student community to enhance their skills.
Benefits
Without expensive infrastructure excellent teaching material prepared by trained
faculty members can be shared with the student community.

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3. System Analysis

System analysis is a detailed study of various operations performed by a system and their
relationships within and outside the system. It deals with defining the boundaries of the
system and determining whether or not candidate systems should consider other related
systems. For analysis, data is collected from available fields, decision points and
transactions handled by the present system.

3.1 Study of the Existing System

The education being provided currently in the university is more or like the traditional
guru-shishya form of education where the student and the faculty exist in a face-to-
face environment.To make the best possible use of time it is mandatory for the
student to be in the vicinity of the institution. Its tedious to group the top class
proffersors to deliver their lectures at a particular place. The gap that arouses from
absence of a lecture is not easy to be bridged.This system is not flexible for the
student to work at his own pace.

3.2 The Proposed System

The proposed system intends to create a new structure that takes the advantage of the
Internet and other technologies to increase access to and improve the qual-ity of
higher education. . This system envisages the design and development of multimedia
course that is web-enabled that goes towards the curriculum of a full-fledged degree
program .VU courses are hand-crafted in meticulous detail by acknowledged experts
in the field.This is cost-effective as there are no buildings and no campus to go
because students study on the Internet. In most cases, only a personal computer and
an Internet connection are needed. Through this connection students access the virtual
university and then do the same as other students do: attend classes, access course
material , discuss cases, take tests,ask questions, etc. Likewise they communicate
with lecturers, tutors, administrative staff, etc., but it happens over the Internet. Since
these courses are web-enabled, the student can work in his own comfortable
environment and is not restricted to the classroom.Moreover he can work at a pace

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 with which he finds convenient. Additionally, students can use the lectures to review
an entire course before their examinations – a facility simply not available in the
conventional face-to-face environment. Virtual programs are best suited for people
who appreciate flexibility. "Study anywhere at any time".

Major Functions of the Proposed System

• Authentication and authorization

• Registration of the users.
• Administring the structure of courses
• Uploading course materials( Audio, Video, Text)
• Online Examinations
• Administering Library
• View Course Contents
• Facilitating interaction.

3.3 Constraints on the system

o Only Authorized persons who are registered with the site are permitted to use this
Site .

o Though every thing is claimed to be done over the internet,subjective test for
certifying the degree is not done online, and even the documents claiming the
prequalification have to be sent to the administration office.

o To avail the added desktop sharing feature the sent software installation is to be
supported .

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3.3 Module Description

This Project consists of three modules.

 Account Creation and Authentication Module

 Student Information and Services Module:
 Administrator Module:

3.3.1 Module 1 : Account Creation and Authentication Module

Authentication is the process of determining whether someone or something is, in fact,

who or what it is declared to be. In private and public computer networks (including the
Internet), authentication is commonly done through the use of logon passwords.
Knowledge of the password is assumed to guarantee that the user is authorized.First an
account is created for the student with his basic details.If these satisfy the required
specifications and later when he logsin with this accountid the basic information related
to the university are made available.In the registration phase the user(ie the student or the
faculty)provides the details required and then access is provided only after verifying and
validating information provided in the registration form by the administrator.

3.3.1.1 Functionalities:

Following functionalities need to be made available before the Authentication takes

place:
• Registration of New User:
This may be required in a scenario when the user(student or faculty)is new to the VU.

• Password Prompts:
User will be prompted with a success message or rejected message accordingly. This
may be required for security reasons to ensure protection of the account.

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3.3.2 Module 2: Student Information and Services Module:

In this module the authenticated student can view the details regarding the courses and
the sessions,fee related to these courses offered. From this point acesss to various
services is course specific.The user is provided access to course syllabus,course
material(lecture handouts,videos) which can be downloaded.As a facility for the student
to evaluate his performance self-assessment quizzes are also provided.Apart from these
the user is also granted with a service to acess library.An important added service is the
desktop sharing,where the Instructor can share his/her desktop with students so that they
can see how the Instructor is working or viceversa.

3.3.2.1 Functionalities

• View Course material

An authenticated user can view the course specific contents like the
syllabus and also the material provided in various formats like text,videos etc..

• Download files:
An authenticated user can download the course lecture handouts and
videos related to it along with the library contents made available.

• Online Examination:
This feature is exclusively meant for the students. After going through
the lessons in the portal, he may wish to test his level of understanding and
evaluate his performance. This can be achieved by taking an online exam
provided to him.

• Interaction facility
The student can get his doubts clarified by posting the query to the
faculty through email.The other facility provided is desktop-sharing where the faculty
can virtually take over the desktop of the student to monitor his work.

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3.3.3 Module 3:Administrator Module:

As the administrator is the whole and sole authority and the only handler of
the database directly,this module deals with the automation of the administrator
functionalities.The adiminstrator is responsible for the authentication of a user in the
VU,by cross checking the details provided during the registration and the posted
documents.He can insert or update courses,sessions and fee related to them,course
material contents,library information.Administrators functionality also includes the
preparation of quizz paper under the intimation from the faculty.

3.3.3.1 Functionalities

• Authentication

The administrator is responsible for assigning userids and passwords to the

users.If the details provided during registration are found to be valid and if they fit into
the criteria of the university ,he confirms the registration of the user.

• Uploading/Updating content

The administrator can either insert new content to database relating to

various courses or can edit the already present contents pertaining to courses like the
sessions,fees,tutorials,library etc..

• Examination

Under the instructions from the course related faculty the administrator can
set the quiz paper for the student .

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4 . Feasibility Analysis

A feasibility study is an analysis of the viability of an idea. The feasibility study is a

management –oriented activity.The feasibility analysis is designed to determine whether
or not, given the project environment, a project will be successful (in virtually any
interpretation of that word). In other words, feasibility analysis is the measure of how
beneficial or practical the development of information system will be to an organization.

4.1 Operational Feasibility

Operational Feasibility defines the urgency of the problem and the acceptability of any
solution ie if the system is developed,it deals with the study of whether it will be used,
how well the system can perform the operations that are assigned to it,how do the end-
users feel about their role in the new system. Thus it refers to the feasibility of the
product to be operational. It is observed that the proposed system is very user friendly
and has all the features mentioned above

4.2 Financial Feasibility

A financial feasibility analysis provides decision-makers information as to whether or not

they can afford to do the project, as well as successfully operate it once constructed. It
deals with establishing the cost-effectiveness of the proposed system. The technologies
and the hardware used in the development are under the acceptable costs , which can be
acquired by anyone and even provided by the institution if needed, and moreover they
promise portability, security, reliability and easy maintainability.

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4.3 Technical Requirements
The technologies and the standard used for the development of the project are as follows:

4.3.1 Dot Net Technology

It is a Microsoft operating system platform that incorporates applications, a suite of tools
and services and a change in the infrastructure of the company's Web strategy.
There are four main principles of .NET from the perspective of the user:
(a) It erases the boundaries between applications and the Internet. Instead of
interacting with an application or a single Web site, .NET will connect the
user to an array of computers and services that will exchange and combine
objects and data.

(b) Software will be rented as a hosted service over the Internet instead of
purchased on a store shelf. Essentially, the Internet will be housing all
where applications and data.

(c) Users will have access to their information on the Internet from any
device, anytime, anywhere.

(d) There will be new ways to interact with application data, such as speech
and handwriting recognition.

4.3.1.1 Features Of Dot Net

Consistency
Using Master Page, Themes and using Cascaded Style Sheet feature of ADO.NET, one
can achieve this feature.

Personalization
This is done in regards with the Users taste. It may be in terms of colors, font size,
background colors, and look and feel with respect t the application. After gathering

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requirements from the user by making use of and using Themes, Skin and Cascaded Style
Sheet feature of ADO.NET we can achieve personalization.
Themes and skins
These are new feature of ASP. Net. By this way you can customize your sites look and
feel. Like the master pages they also improve the maintainability of your site and avoid
unnecessary duplication of code for shared style.

A theme is a collection of property settings that allow you to define the look of pages and
controls, and then apply the look consistently across pages in a Web application, across
an entire Web application, or across all Web applications on a server.

A skin file has the file name extension. Skin and contains property settings for individual
controls such as Button, Label, Textbox, or Calendar controls. Control skin settings are
like the control markup itself, but contain only the properties you want to set as part of
the theme.

Tools for Navigation

Every site requires tools for navigation. The List of Navigation tools available in
.NET is as follows:

Menu Pull down / Drop down menu

Fig 4.1 Menu control for navigation

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Tree View These are structured links. User can know where they are currently located

Fig 4.2 Tree View control for navigation

Breadcrumbs Renders tabs indicating parent and current web page.

The new Site Navigation features in ASP.NET 2.0 can make building navigation
structures across a web-site much easier.
At a high-level, the new Site Navigation features allow you to define (outside of code or
pages) the “site map” structure of how your site is laid out. Specifically, it allows you to
define the relationships between pages on the site – what is the “home” entry-point, what
are the sub-sections of it, and how individual pages fit within it. This information is
cached by ASP.NET, and you can then get access to this sitemap structure at runtime.

ASP.NET includes a basic built-in XML based SiteMap provider that allows you to
define this site structure within an XML file whose default name is “web.sitemap” (note:
you can change the name if you want). For example, web.sitemap XML file can contain
several levels of hierarchy (a homepage root, then three sub-nodes, and under the
products node three additional sub-nodes).

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Security
In .NET security considerations can be verified by carrying out authentication of entries,
password checking, password reminders and facility to create new users. It helps in
permitting authorized users and denies access to unauthorized users.
Wizard
NET provides a wizard called as “Web Site Administrative Tools” which facilitates in the
• Database Providers
• Security Management – Provides security consideration like password and
username checking
• Roles Management – Which pages and folders a user is permitted to view.
With built in Windows authentication, you can be assured that your applications are
secure.

Database controls
These controls are used to connect with the database and then retrieve, display or edit the
contents of the database. They can be categorized as:

Data Source Control

These offer the behavior of connecting to sources of data.
Examples of Data source Controls are SQL Data Source, Site Map Data Source, XML
Data Source, Object Data Source.

Data-bound Controls
These perform the task of taking information provided by Data Source Controls and
render it into HTML. Examples of Data Bound controls are Grid View, Data List, Details
View, Form View and Repeater.

Componentization
Code for the various parts of the page can be handled independently.
• Code for the presentation layer can be kept in a separate file i.e. ‘default.aspx’
file.

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 • Code for the execution is kept in a separate file i.e. ‘default.aspx.cs’ file.

Web Services

Web Services are methods of making information available in a standardized way that
could be accessed by any developer’s application over the web. A web service on its own
• Is not an application
• Can’t be seen as web pages.
• Can’t be seen as an .exe files.
• They come as part of user interface.
• Helps in preventing code duplication & thus save time.
They can be created & exposed to web for other applications to share it or one can
search for web service to add to his own application

Deployment

• In the past series of steps were required to be carried out to register and configure
the site on the host machine.
• ASP .NET 2.0 has devised DOS XCOPY type of folder copying mechanism.
• This XCOPY deploys your site from the development machine to the deployment
host.
• All registration and machine level customizations occur automatically when the
first request hits the site.
• XCOPY/ FTP will suffice for simple applications – for more sophisticated
requirements it may well be preferable to create a Windows Installer based setup
package.
• There are many common installation tasks that are not possible via XCOPY, some
of which are
• Creating IIS web sites or virtual directories
• However, if you do need any of these you have Microsoft Windows Installer at
your disposal

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4.3.1.2 Summary of ASP .NET

ASP.NET is a programming framework built on the common language runtime that can
be used on a server to build powerful Web applications. ASP.NET offers several
important advantages over previous Web development models:
Enhanced Performance:
ASP.NET is compiled common language runtime code running on the server. Unlike its
interpreted predecessors, ASP.NET can take advantage of early binding, just-in-time
compilation, native optimization, and caching services right out of the box. This amounts
to dramatically better performance before you ever write a line of code.
World-Class Tool Support:
A rich toolbox and designer in the Visual Studio integrated development
environment complement the ASP.NET framework. WYSIWYG editing, drag-
anddrop server controls, and automatic deployment are just a few of the features
this powerful tool provides.
Power and Flexibility:
Because ASP.NET is based on the common language runtime, the power and
flexibility of that entire platform is available to Web application developers. The
.NET Framework class library, Messaging, and Data Access solutions are all
seamlessly accessible from the Web. ASP.NET is also language-independent, so
you can choose the language that best applies to your application or partition your
application across many languages.
Simplicity:
ASP.NET makes it easy to perform common tasks, from simple form submission
and client authentication to deployment and site configuration. For example, the
ASP.NET page framework allows you to build user interfaces that cleanly
separate application logic from presentation code and to handle events in a
simple, Visual Basic - like forms processing model. Additionally, the common
language runtime simplifies development, with managed code services such as
automatic reference counting and garbage collection.

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 Security:
With built in Windows authentication and per-application configuration, you can
be assured that your applications are secure.

Language Independency:
ASP.NET is language-independent, so you can choose the language that best
applies to your application or partition your application across many languages.
ASP .NET 2.0 supports more than 20 different languages.
Irrespective of language the code is converted to Intermediate Language prior to
execution.

4.3.2 SQL Server

SQL Server has many advanced features like:

Database mirroring
Database mirroring is a new high-availability feature in SQL Server 2005. It's similar to
server clustering in that fail over is achieved by the use of a stand-by server; the
difference is that the fail over is at the database level rather than the server level. The
primary database continuously sends transaction logs to the backup database on a
separate SQL Server instance. A third SQL Server instance is then used as a witness
database to monitor the interaction between the primary and the mirror databases.

Database snapshots
A database snapshot is essentially an instant read-only copy of a database, and it is a great
candidate for any type of reporting solution for your company. In addition to being a
great reporting tool, you can revert control from your primary database to your snapshot
database in the event of an error. The only data loss would be from the point of creation
of the database snapshot to the event of failure.

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CLR integration
With SQL Server 2005, creation of custom .NET objects is possible with the database
engine. For example, stored procedures, triggers, and functions can now be created using
familiar .NET languages such as VB and C#. Exposing this functionality gives tools that
never had access to before such as regular expressions.

Service Broker
This feature gives the ability to create asynchronous, message-based applications in the
database entirely through TSQL. The database engine guarantees message delivery,
message order consistency, and handles message grouping. In addition, Service Broker
gives you the ability to send messages between different SQL Server instances. Server
Broker is also used in several other features in SQL Server 2005. For example, defining
Event Nonfictions in the database to send a message to a Queue in the database when
someone attempts to alter a table structure, of if there is a string of login failures.

DDL triggers
DDL triggers are defined at the server or database level and fire when DDL statements
occur. This gives the ability to audit when new tables, stored procedures, or logins are
created.

Ranking functions
SQL Server 2005 provides the ability to rank result sets returned from the database
engine. This allows customizing the manner in which result sets are returned, such as
creating customized paging functions for Web site data.

XML integration
SQL Server 2005 introduces the new XML data-type. Using this feature, full XML
documents in this new data-type, and validations can be placed on the well-formed
documents in the database. Additional enhancements include the ability to query the
XML documents and create indexes on the XML data-type.

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TRY...CATCH
Use of new TRY...CATCH constructs in SQL Server 2005 helps to catch and handle
deadlocks when they occur in the database. This long-awaited feature simplifies error
handling in the database.

Database Mail
Database Mail, the eventual successor to SQL Mail, is a greatly enhanced e-mail solution
available in the database engine. With Database Mail, there is no longer a dependency on
Microsoft Outlook or MAPI e-mail clients. Database Mail uses standard SMTP to send e-
mail messages. These messages may contain query results, attachments (which can be
governed by the DBA), and is fully cluster aware. In addition, the e-mail process runs
outside of the database engine space, which means that messages can continue to be
queued even when the database engine has stopped.

Fast Recoveries
A new faster recovery option improves availability of SQL Server databases.
Administrators can reconnect to a recovering database after the transaction log has been
rolled forward.

Standards-based Information Access

Any object, data source, or business intelligence component can be exposed using
standards-based protocols such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP)—eliminating the need for a middle-tier listener, such as IIS, to
access a Web services interface that is exposed by SQL Server 2005.

Security Enhancements
The security model in SQL Server 2005 separate users from objects, provides fine-grain
access, and enables greater control of data access. Additionally, all system tables are
implemented as views, providing more control over database system objects.

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Web Services

With SQL Server 2005 developers can develop Web services in the database tier, making
SQL Server a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) listener and providing a new type of
data access capability for Web services-centric applications.

T-SQL

T-SQL (Transact-SQL) is the primary means of programming and managing SQL Server.
It exposes keywords for the operations that can be performed on SQL Server, including
creating and altering database schemas, entering and editing data in the database as well
as monitoring and managing the server itself. Client applications, both which consume
data or manage the server, leverage SQL Server functionality by sending T-SQL queries
and statements which are then processed by the server and results (or errors) returned to
the client application. SQL Server allows it to be managed using T-SQL. For this it
exposes read only tables from which server statistics can be read. Management
functionality is exposed via system-defined stored procedures, which can be invoked
from T-SQL queries to perform the management operation.

Replication Monitor

With its intuitive user interface and wealth of data metrics, Replication Monitor is a tool
that sets a new standard for ease of use in managing complex data replication operations.

Cross-Tier and Cross-Language Debugging

SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 together provide even deeper integration in the
area of application debugging. The combination lets you seamlessly debug both CLR and
Transact-SQL code using the same Visual Studio debugging interface, and enables you to
debug from CLR to Transact-SQL and back again, regardless of the location of the code,
whether it is on the developer computer or stored in the SQL Server database

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4.3.3 Standards used

SCORM stands for "Shareable Content Object Reference Model", is a standard for
developing, packaging and delivering high-quality training materials for online training
Courses. We are following SCORM standards in our project. SCORM was developed
based on the concept of "using a common e-learning Standard to modernize education
and training courses". Now, with the SCORM standard, and more specifically SCORM
compliant tools/platforms, you can find, import, share, reuse and export learning contents
through compliant web-based learning systems.
The benefits of using SCORM standards are as follows:

Reusability

Lowers cost because learning contents can be used many times. SCORM incorporated
contents can be easily incorporated into multiple applications, allowing for learning
contents to be easily modified and used by different tools and platforms. This allows you
to spend less effort in creating new contents from scratch and focus more on
incorporating existing contents to meet the specific needs of the learner and corporation.

Accessibility
Increased access to learning information. The SCORM standard offers you the ability to
access learning contents from anywhere and at anytime. It enables you to customize the
delivery of your learning contents from one remote location and deliver them too many
other locations. It allows you to search, identify, access and retrieve contents that are
widely distributed in SCORM compliant repositories. This way, it is easier for learners to
identify, retrieve, and incorporate valuable content from many trusted sources.

Interoperability
Systems work efficiently together. SCORM provides an extension for compliant
courseware and similar tools/platforms to communicate under a common interface. With
consistent content production specifications, learning contents developed using one set of
tools/platform can be easily identified, and launched with a different set of tools/platform.
In other words, SCORM compliant learning contents can be authored and/or launched by
any SCORM compliant authoring tools and/or platforms, providing maximum flexibility.

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Durability
Learning contents will not easily become obsolete. SCORM is becoming the
technological standard for the e-Learning industry because SCORM compliant contents
are preserved and portable even when base technology (tools/platform) changes. This
means learning contents do not need to go through a Redesign or redevelopment process,
even when technology changes (platforms, tools, Access, devices, products, vendors).

Manageability
A track of system usage and learning experience can be maintained. SCORM can keep
track of the learners' learning experiences and activities, and more Specifically how
learning objects are created, stored, assembled, and delivered to individuals. Also it
provides tracking based on an individuals learning assessment, which gives a better
evaluation reference for determining the learning results. Thus, corporations purchasing
SCORM compliant software (such as TCMS 2.0 or Stream Author 2.5) can better assess
their e-Learning environment and provide a more detailed measurement for their ROI.

4.4 Hardware and Software Requirements

4.4.1 Hardware Requirements

• Pentium 4 processor
• Minimum 256 MB memory
• 10 GB Hard disk
• Modem / Network card

4.4.2 Software Requirements

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Version 2002 or above

• C# with ASP.NET 2.0
• SQL server 2000 / 2005

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5. System Design

5.1 Introduction

Systems design is the process or art of defining the architecture, components, modules,
interfaces, and data for a system to satisfy specified requirements. Once the software
requirements are analyzed and specified, the software design involves three technical
activities-- design, code generation and testing that are required to build and verify the
software. The design activities are of main importance in this phase because in this
activity decisions ultimately affecting the success of the software implementation and its
ease of maintenance are made. These decisions have the final bearing upon the reliability
and maintainability of the system. Design is the only way to accurately transfer the
customer requirements into a finished software or system.

5.2 UML Diagrams

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standard language for specifying,

visualizing, constructing, and documenting the artifacts of software systems, as well as
for business modeling and other non-software systems

5.2.1 Use case diagram

A use case diagram is a type of behavioral diagram defined by the Unified Modeling
Language(UML). Its purpose is to present a graphical overview of the functionality
provided by a system in terms of actors, their goals represented as use cases and any
dependencies between those use cases.

Use Case

A use case describes a sequence of actions that provide a measurable value to an actor. A
use case is drawn as a horizontal ellipse on a UML use case diagram.

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 Fig 5.1 Use Case

Actor

An actor is a person, organization, or external system that plays a role in one or more
interactions with your system (actors are typically drawn as stick figures on UML Use
Case diagrams)

Fig 5.2 Actor

Relationships

There are several types of relationships that may appear on a use case diagram:

Include

In one form of interaction, a given use case uses another. The first use case often depends
on the outcome of the included use case. This is useful for extracting truly common
behaviors from multiple use cases into a single description. The notation is a dashed
arrow from the including to the included use case, with the label "«include»".

Extend

In another form of interaction, a given use case (the extension) may extend another. This
relationship indicates that the behavior of the extension use case may be inserted in the
extended use case under some conditions. The notation is a dashed arrow from the
extension to the extended use case, with the label '«'extend'»

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Generalization

In the third form of relationship among use cases, a generalization/specialization

relationship exists. A given use case may be a specialized form of an existing use case.

Module 1

Fig 5.3 Use Case Diagram for account creation/authentication module

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Module 2

Fig 5.4 Use Case Diagram for information/services module

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Module 3

Fig 5.5 Use Case Diagram for Administrator module

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5.2.2 Sequence diagrams:

Sequence diagrams demonstrate the behavior of objects in a use case by describing the
objects and the messages they pass.A sequence diagram shows, as parallel vertical lines,
different processes or objects that live simultaneously, and, as horizontal arrows, the
messages exchanged between them, in the order in which they occur.

Basic Sequence Diagram Symbols and Notations

Class roles
Class roles describe the way an object will behave in context

Fig 5.6 Representation of an object

Activation
Activation boxes represent the time an object needs to complete a task. Activation boxes,
are opaque rectangles drawn on top of lifelines to represent that processes are being
performed in response to the message.

Lifelines
Lifelines are vertical dashed lines that indicate the object's presence over time. The dotted
lines extending downwards indicate the lifeline.

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Messages
Messages are arrows that represent communication between objects. The arrows
represent messages (stimuli) from an actor or object to other objects.

Loops
A repetition or loop within a sequence diagram is depicted as a rectangle. Place the
condition for exiting the loop at the bottom left corner in square brackets [ ].

Module 1

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Fig 5.7 Sequence Diagram for account creation/authentication module

Module 2

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 :Student :Course_info :CourseAdmin :Course DB :Library DB

1: View course material

2: Access library

3: Display(library)
4: Take Quiz()
5: Store(quiz)

6: Ack()

7: View(Quiz)

8: Display()

9: Post results()

10: Ack()

11: View results()

12: Display()

Fig 5.8 Sequence Diagram for information/services module

Module 3

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Fig 5.9 Sequence Diagram for Administrator module

5.2.3 Class Diagram

Class diagrams are the backbone of almost every object-oriented method including UML.
They describe the static structure of a system.

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Basic Class Diagram Symbols and Notations
Classes represent an abstraction of entities with common characteristics. Associations
represent the relationships between classes.

Fig 5.10 Sample representation of a class

Classes
Classes are represented with rectangles divided into compartments. The name of the
class is placed in the first partition , the attributes are listed in the second partition, and
operations are written into the third.

Active Class
Active classes initiate and control the flow of activity, while passive classes store data
and serve other classes.Active classes are illustrated with a thicker border.

Visibility
Visibility markers are used to signify who can access the information contained within a
class. Private visibility hides information from anything outside the class partition. Public
visibility allows all other classes to view the marked information. Protected visibility
allows child classes to access information they inherited from a parent class.

Associations
Associations represent static relationships between classes.

Generalization
Generalization is another name for inheritance or an "is a" relationship. It refers to a
relationship between two classes where one class is a specialized version of another

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Class diagram

Fig 5.11 Class Diagram for the entire system

5.2.4 Activity Diagrams

An activity diagram is to model the workflow behind the system being designed. . An
activity represents an operation on some class in the system that results in a change in the

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state of the system. Typically, activity diagrams are used to model workflow or business
processes and internal operation.

Basic Activity Diagram Symbols and Notations

Action states
Action states represent the noninterruptible actions of objects.

Fig 5.11 Activity

Action Flow
Action flow arrows illustrate the relationships among action states.

Initial State
A filled circle followed by an arrow represents the initial action state.

Fig 5.12 Initial node in an activity diagram

Final State
An arrow pointing to a filled circle nested inside another circle represents the final action
state.

Fig 5.13 Final node in an activity diagram

Swimlanes
Swimlanes group related activities into one column

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Activity diagram

Fig 5.14 Activity diagram for the system

5.3 Architecture Diagram

The architecture of a software system defines its structure. In fact, it defines several
structures, each of which comprises elements and the relationships among those

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elements. The elements may be computational entities related by control flow or business
entities connected by semantic constraints. It is a multi-perspective, quality-based
approach to ensuring that software is built to fit its purpose.
The architecture below explains the complete flow of the project:

Fig 5.15 Architecture Diagram

5.4 Database Tables Used for The Design

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 Database tables are used to organize and group the data by common
characteristics or principles. The database can contain as many tables as needed to
organize the data. Database tables involved in this project for storing and
retrieving the data/information are as following:

• Login Table

Fields Type Max Length

User ID int 4
User Name String 50
User Password String 50
DOB Date time 8
Contact Number Numeric 13

• Register Table

Field Type Max length

Student ID int 4
Name String 50
Qualification String 50
Course String 50
Session details String 50
Session ID String 50
Course ID String 10
DD Amount float 8
DD No Numeric 9
Bank String 50
Email String 50

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 User Name String 50
Password String 50

• Faculty table

Fields Type Max Length

Faculty ID String 50
Course String 50
First Name String 50
Last Name String 50
DOJ Date time 8
Qualification String 50
Gender String 50
Mobile No Numeric 9
Landline No Numeric 9
Email String 50
Address String 50
Course ID String 50
User Name String 50
Password String 50

• Course Details Table

Fields Type Max Length

Course ID String 50
Course Name String 50
Date of Starting Date time 8
Date of Completing Date time 8
Session Code String 10

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• Session Details Table

Field Type Max length

Course name String 50
Course ID String 50
Session ID String 10
Session details String 50

• Fee Details Table

Fields Type Max Length

Course Id String 50
Fees Amount String 50
Last date of Payment String 50

• Java Library Table

Fields Type Max Length

Content String 1000
Course ID String 50
Book ID int 4
Author String 50
Book Name String 1000

• Tutorials

Fields Type Max Length

Content String 1000
Course ID String 50
Tutorial ID String 50
Tutorial Name String 1000

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• Syllabus Details

Fields Type Max Length

Course Name String 50
Course ID String 50
Topic Title String 50
Topic Details String 1000
Topic No String 10

• Video Table

Fields Type Max Length

Content String 1000
Course ID String 50
Video File Name String 1000

• Exam Table

Fields Type Max Length

Course ID String 50
Tutorial String 50
Q No int 4
Question String 1000
Option 1 String 1000
Option 2 String 1000
Option 3 String 1000
Option 4 String 1000
Correctans String 1000

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• Result Table

Fields Type Max Length

Student ID String 50
Course ID String 50
DOE Date time 8
Marks numeric 9
Toe Float 8

6.Testing

In general, testing is finding out how well something works. In computer hardware and
software development, testing is used at key checkpoints in the overall process to
determine whether objectives are being met. For example, in software development,
product user representatives test product objectives. When the design is complete, coding
follows and each programmer tests the finished code at the unit or module level, at the
component level by the group of programmers involved; and at the system level when all
components are combined together. At early or late stages, a product or service may also
be tested for usability. Software testing is a critical element of software quality assurance
and represents the ultimate review of specification design and code generation.

6.1 Testing Objectives

• Testing is a process of executing a program with the intent of finding an error.

• A good test case is one that has a high probability of finding an as yet
undiscovered error.
• A successful test is one that uncovers an as yet undiscovered error.

6.2 White -Box and Black-Box Testing

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Software testing methods are traditionally divided into black box testing and white box
testing. These two approaches are used to describe the point of view that a test engineer
takes when designing test cases.

6.2.1 White –Box Testing

White box testing is a security testing method that can be used to validate whether code
implementation follows intended design, to validate implemented security functionality,
and to uncover exploitable vulnerabilities. White box testing is performed based on the
knowledge of how the system is implemented. White box testing includes analyzing data
flow, control flow, information flow, coding practices, and exception and error handling
within the system, to test the intended and unintended software behavior. White box
testing requires access to the source code.

Using white-box testing we can derive test cases that

• Guarantee that all independent paths within a module have been exercised at least
once.
• Exercise all logical decisions on their true and false sides.
• Execute internal data structures to assure their validity.
By the test cases each of the modules have been executed at least once and tested for
bugs. All the logic decisions on their true and false sides are executed so that the system
will perform well.

6.2.2 Black –Box Testing

Black box testing is based on the software’s specifications or requirements,

without reference to its internal workings. Black box testing attempts to derive
sets of inputs that will fully exercise all the functional requirements of a system.
This type of testing attempts to find errors in the following categories:
• Incorrect or missing functions.
• Interface errors.
• Errors in data structures or external database access.

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 • Performance errors
• Initialization and termination errors.
All the modules have been thoroughly tested in order to find if all the functions,
interfaces designed for the user, all the data structures used are working as per the
intended requirement.

6.3 Unit Testing

Unit testing is a procedure used to validate that individual units of source code are
working properly. This would test the interaction of many functions but confine the test
within one unit. Unit testing involves only those characteristics that are vital to the
performance of the unit under test. This encourages developers to modify the source code
without immediate concerns about how such changes might affect the functioning of
other units or the program as a whole. Unit testing must be done with an awareness that it
may not be possible to test a unit for every input scenario that will occur when the
program is run in a real-world environment.

Keeping in mind the above rules, each and every module of our project was tested
individually and seen that all the modules are working in an error-free manner.

6.4 Integration Testing

Integration testing is a logical extension of unit testing. In its simplest form, two units
that have already been tested are combined into a component and the interface between
them is tested. A component, in this sense, refers to an integrated aggregate of more than
one unit. Integration testing can expose problems with the interfaces among program
components before trouble occurs in real-world program execution. Simulated usage of

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shared data areas and inter-process communication is tested and individual subsystems
are exercised through their input interfaces.

After testing the individual modules, we have combined all the modules and tested if all
the modules as a whole are working properly or not.

6.5 System testing

System testing of software or hardware is testing conducted on a complete, integrated

system to evaluate the system's compliance with its specified requirements . System
testing falls within the scope of black box testing, and as such, should require no
knowledge of the inner design of the code or logic. As a rule, system testing takes, as its
input, all of the "integrated" software components that have successfully passed
integration testing and also the software system itself integrated with any applicable
hardware system(s). The purpose of integration testing is to detect any inconsistencies
between the software units that are integrated together (called assemblages) or between
any of the assemblages and the hardware. System testing is a more limiting type of
testing; it seeks to detect defects both within the "inter-assemblages" and also within the
system as a whole

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7. Implementation

The first page that is displayed to the visitor gives an overview of the virtual education
and also answers to the frequently raised doubts .If the student wants to know more
information about the university he needs to create an account .If the details entered are
according to the specification he is granted to use the account id and password he has
chosen, then the details of various courses offered along with their session, fee details can
be known. Now if the student is interested in registering he should fill the online
application form and send the copy of certificates to the university .If the student logs in
with the registered id and password he is provided access to various course specific
services like he can view the syllabus ,tutorials(lecture handouts),video of the lectures.
Authenticated student is also granted access to library .To facilitate the student to
estimate his knowledge ,self assessment quizess also provided ie..he needs to take a
online examination which is evaluated and the result is made known to him immediately .
If the student needs to clarify his doubts ,he can post the doubt to any of the course
related faculty as their email ids are listed to him. Apart from this an added service is the
desktop sharing through which the virtually overtaking of the desktop is possible through
which the difficulties can be monitored. once the faculty gets registered by he filling in
the details and the administrator validating them he gets his login id and password. The
faculty service includes viewing the course tutorials , videos ,syllabus, library.Faculty can
also set the quiz paper for the student. The administrator who is whole and sole authority

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of the database is also provided with an interface to automate some of his activities .
Firstly the registration details of the users(students, faculty) are listed which can be
verified with the documents he received and if they are found to be valid and if they fit
into the criteria of the university ,the administrator then assigns them their respective ids
and passwords and intimates through email .The admin can now insert new course ,
session, fee , tutorials , syllabus ,videos and library details as well as can edit the existing
details through the interface.

7.1 Sample Screens

This section is to provide the sample screens of the virtual university for education
broadcasting.
These screen shots provide an insight into the general working of the system.

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Fig 7.1 home page of the virtual university

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Fig 7.2 Page displaying the information about virtual learning

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 Fig 7.3 Page displaying the frequently asked questions about university
education system

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Fig 7.4 Account creation for new user (student)

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Fig 7.5 Page displaying the basic information links for account created student

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Fig 7.6 list of various courses offered

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Fig 7.7 session details of various courses offered

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Fig 7.8 fee details of various course sessions offered

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Fig 7.9 student registration page

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Fig 7.10 Page displaying various services offered to students

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Fig 7.11 Page displaying the syllabus details of the course

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Fig 7.12 Page displaying the tutorial contents

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Fig 7.13 Page displaying the video links for the course content

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Fig 7.14 Demo of the video file

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Fig 7.15 Page displaying the library service

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Fig 7.16 Online examination for student

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Fig 7.17 Displaying result for the exam taken

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Fig 7.18 Page Displaying email ids of the course related faculty

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Fig 7.19 Faculty registration

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Fig 7.20 Page displaying various services offered to faculty

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Fig 7.21 Setting the question paper for quizz

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Fig 7.22 Page displaying the activities of the administrator

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Fig 7.23 Administrator authenticating student

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Fig 7.24 Administrator authenticating faculty

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Fig 7.25 Inserting new course details and viewing the record

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Fig 7.26 updating course details and viewing the modified record

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Fig 7.27 Inserting new fee details and session details

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Fig 7.28 Inserting new syllabus details and library details

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8. Conclusions and Scope for Future enhancements

8.1 Conclusions

This virtual university attempts to mirror all parts of a real university in a computer and
internet-based environment. It allows authenticated students to follow its rigorous
programs regardless of their physical locations. The web-enabled course contents
facilitates the student to work in his own comfortable environment unlike restricting to
the classroom. Moreover he can work at a pace with which he finds convenient. It
enhances the time management skills which is supposed to be the greatest of the greater
skills.

8.2 Future Enhancements

o The scope of the project is high,Apart from making them avail a degree ,the
university can make an attempt to offer the student the training required for the
student to get placements through the portal itself.
o Disscussion rooms can be provided for the students to share their ideas and grow.
o Video conferencing for the live interaction can be provided.

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9. References

o Microsoft Press, SQL SERVER 2005

o Roger.S.Pressman ,SOFTWARE ENGINEERING .

o Matthew MacDonald, Robert Standefer., ASP.NET: The Complete Reference,

McGraw-Hill/Osborne, Active server pages, Published 2002

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