Requirements Specification Document

Purpose:

The online PDA application should provide an interface that allows a user to store and retrieve addresses, memos, to-do lists, and appointments. The application will maintain a list of users that are allowed to access the system. Once logged on, the user will be able to view items in one of 4 services: the address book, memo pad, to-do list, and date book. The address book will consist of names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. The memo pad will consist of short text messages. The to-do list will contain text messages and their associated due dates. Finally, the date book will contain the user’s scheduled appointments. This group of services will be available to a registered user from any computer with Internet access via the World Wide Web.

Scope:

The online PDA is not intended to compete with some of the more widely used personal assistant type applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, etc. The main goal of this application is to provide a user with a simple application in which to store useful data that can be easily accessed through the web. The application will be primarily list orientated in that as user will be presented with a small amount of options in order to navigate the services and will select items from a textual list. The user will be solely responsible for the organization and maintenance of the contents of the service; the application will not offer automated features other than editing, saving, viewing and deleting entries. Similarly, the application will not support any formatting of messages beyond the standard, simple layout provided and will not provide any amount of customization.

For this project, a relatively small maximum amount of subscriptions will be allowed in order to limit the service size.

Definitions and Acronyms:

Account	A subscription to the system that is necessary for the user to login
Address book	A list of entries, each containing a name, mailing address, phone number, and email address
Appointment	An entry contained in the Date book service
Contact	An entry contained in the Address book service
Date book	A chronological list of appointments
Due date	Date and corresponding time by which a task should be completed
Edit	Change the contents of an entry
Entry	A single item in a list of items stored in a service
Memo	An entry contained in the Memo pad service
Memo pad	A list of short text messages
PDA	Personal Data Assistant; stores & displays information entered by the user
Registered user	User with an account (username, password, and e-mail address) in the system
Service	One of the four item lists accessible by the user (address book, memo pad, to-do list, or date book
Session	The period of time between a user’s login and logout
Task	An entry contained in the To-do list service
To-do list	A list of tasks and their associated due dates

Functional Specification:

A user will access the online PDA by browsing to its web page (i.e. www.onlinepda.com). From this main page the user will be given three options:

1. Create Account

2. Log on to existing Account

3. Unsubscribe

To create an account the user will fill out a form consisting of his/her name, desired username and password, and email address. If the username has not already been taken, registration will complete and the user will be redirected to the main page once again.

To unsubscribe the user’s account, the user will be required to enter his/her username, password, and email address to further verify the removal of the account. After a verification message, the user will be redirected to the main page once again.

If an existing user logs on to the account, he or she will be presented with five choices that will be available throughout the session:

1. Address Book

2. Memo Pad

3. To-Do list

4. Date Book

5. Logout

At any time in the session the user can use these choices to navigate the services.

The following is a brief description of the user-interface for the four services:

Address Book:

Once entered, the user will be presented with a textual list of the full names of the people or groups in the address book, along with the option to create a new contact. If a contact is chosen, a form will be shown containing the name, address, phone number, and email address. This form can be edited at this time as well. The form will also have three options: close, save, and delete. A warning will be shown when delete is selected, as well as a warning if close is selected on an edited entry. If the user chooses to create a new contact, he or she will be presented with an empty form similar to the one described below. Here the user can enter the data and either save or close the entry. In addition to simply providing the email address, the user will also be able to click on the address to open up the default email client to send a message.

Memo Pad:

Once entered the user will be presented a similar menu to the address book. Each memo will be identified in the list by the first 40 characters of the text. Each memo will consist of a similar form as the address book, although in this case there will only be one field for the text memo. Editing, viewing, saving, and creating new memos will be handled in the same manner as the address book.

To-Do List:

The To-Do list will behave exactly like the memo pad in every respect although in this case, the first 40 characters of the text along with the due date will identify each entry. Similarly, the form of each entry will consist of a field for the due date and the message.

Date Book:

Once the user enters this section he/she will be shown a list of appointments, sorted by their time, for the current day. The user will also have the option of viewing all the appointments for all days as well. Editing, viewing, saving, and creating new appointments will be done in the same fashion as in the other three services. The form of each entry will consist of the title, place, and both start/end times of the entry.

System Constraints:

The online PDA should be accessible via the web using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or higher and Netscape Navigator.

Personnel: TBD