CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1.0
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
It
is safe to say that most activities such as apartment allocation carried out in
most cities in Nigeria are done manually. Therefore, there is a lot of strain
on the individuals running the apartment. An Apartment Management system is
simply software developed for managing most activities that take place in the apartment
with the help of apartment administrator.
The
goal of this research work is to provide a solution to the problem of apartment
management, by designing a computerized system which is user-friendly and
GUI-oriented that will be compatible with the existing manual systems. The
software to be developed will solve the problem of apartment management; thus
helping to reduce problems associated with the manual apartment management
system. The project uses Spring Light apartment as Case Study.
1.2.0
INTRODUCTION
This
chapter introduces the study and provides relevant information on the
background of the study. It begins with problem definition (statement of the
problem) which describes the major problems associated with manual apartment
management. This is followed by the research objective putting in a nutshell
what is to be achieved by the study. Subsequently, the Research Justification
is presented, which justifies the essence of the research. The Research
Methodology describes the procedures used in conducting the research. Scope and
Limitation discusses the area the research is limited to and also highlights
the constraints encountered during the course of this work. Finally, there is
definition of terms and chapter layout which defines peculiar terms related to
the study alone and summarizes the entire chapters respectively.
1.3.0
PROBLEM DEFINITION
Problems
associated with hostel records when manually handled by the Landlord in spring
Light apartment include:
·
Records are manually written and stored
in various registers.
·
Lots of human errors are encountered
when records are hand-written.
·
The use of numerous registers for hostel
allocation can be very cumbersome, hence tracing records become tedious.
·
Difficulty in maintaining or updating
the records, hence, retrieval of a certain dataset from a bunch of registers is
almost impossible.
·
Loss or damage of any of the registers
leads to damage of lots of important files at a time.
·
Lack of data security.
1.4.0
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The
objective of this study is to develop an application that will ease the stress
associated with the existing manual system as earlier stated, while focusing on
the Spring Light apartment.
This
study aims to achieve the following;
i.
To create a database management system
(DBMS) this allocates storage to student data and also provides security for
the stored data.
ii.
To provide quick and efficient means for
gathering the student information along with their rooms, fees, etc.
iii.
To find out the possible benefits that
will be obtained from the new system.
iv.
At the completion of this work, this
system will improve the management of student hostels in the spring light
apartment.
1.5.0
RESEARCH JUSTIFICATION
The
proposed research can be justified by providing answers to the questions below:
i.
Does the research extend the understanding
of the phenomenon being investigated?
ii.
Does it elaborate, extend or fill in
gaps in present knowledge?
iii.
Finally, will it give the expected
results result?
After
putting these aforementioned questions into consideration, I believe that this
research is worth doing. Using Spring light as the existing system to be
investigated, in which the mode of operation is done manually, a certain level
of bias will be experienced. The new system to be developed is to manage the
allocation process.
1.6.0
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In
order to realize the objectives of this research, it is important to apply the
appropriate strategy in achieving the set goals. The methodology employed in
the course of this study is to first outline the set of requirements to be met
by the proposed system, where information related to the research work will be
derived from the area of study (Spring Light apartment and tenant Affairs);
then envisage and implement the design of the system, using HTML and PHP for
the design and MySQL for building the database.
1.7.0
SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF STUDY
In
terms of geographical coverage, spring light apartment, was studied.
This
study suggests means of gathering information about the tenants and ways of
easily managing the apartment details, room details, records, easy way of room
allocation and room attendance. Subsequently, software will be written in the
implementation phase which will enable the program to run.
In
addition to this, a number of things occurred which slowed down the process in
the research work. They include:
i.
Time constraint for proper analysis, design
and implementation of the Apartment Management system.
ii.
Poor internet facilities and
inaccessible websites.
iii.
Limited access to administrative
information.
1.8.0
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Database
Management System (DBMS): is software that enables you
store, modify, and extract information on a database.
Apartment
Management System: is a computerized system for managing
various activities in the apartment.
MySQL:
MYSQL
is a relational database management system written in C and C++ that runs as a
server providing multi user access to a number of databases.
PHP:
Hypertext Preprocessor is a scripting language originally designed for
producing dynamic web pages.
Unified
Modeling Language (UML): It is used to specify, visualize,
modify, construct, and document the artifacts of an object-oriented
software-intensive system under development.
1.9.0
CHAPTER LAYOUT
This
study is presented in five chapters.
Chapter
One:
deals with the introduction, which provides preamble or background to the
study. It also introduces the study and provides relevant information on the
background to the study, problem definition, objectives of study, justification
and methodology of the research, definition of terms and chapter layout.
Chapter
two: is a review of literature relevant to the research
topic; introduction to the chapter, overview of an apartment and brief history
of apartment management will be discussed. Also to be discussed are the type of
apartment found in the cities and rural and a quick look on several literature
on this work before ending with my proposed contribution.
Chapter
three: presents system methodology which analyzes the
current system, indicating the shortcomings and finding possible solutions by
designing and developing a new system. System requirements and specifications
are also discussed.
Chapter
four: focuses on system implementation which aims at
ensuring that the system works accurately and efficiently and also tested for
possible errors before making it available to the users.
Chapter
five: provides a summary of the findings, drawing
conclusions based on the findings as well as the relevant recommendations