SMS Based Grade Inquiry Final
SMS Based Grade Inquiry Final
SMS Based Grade Inquiry Final
Noraiha B. Mashod
MARCH 2014
SMS Based Grade Inquiry System for Holy Trinity College of General Santos City
A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of the
College of Engineering and Technology Education
Holy Trinity College of General Santos City Inc,
In Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
By:
Noraiha B. Mashod
March 2014
HOLY TRINITY COLLEGE OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY
COMPUTER ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
Fiscal Daproza Avenue, General Santos City,
Philippines 9500
Has been prepared and submitted by Noraiha B. Mashodand is recommend for ORALDEFENSE.
The College of the Computer Engineering and Technology Education of the Holy Trinity College of
General Santos City accept the Thesis entitled
SMS Based Grade Inquiry System for Holy Trinity College of General Santos City
which has been prepared and submitted by Noraiha B. Mashodin partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
SMS Based Grade Inquiry System for Holy Trinity College of General Santos City was
focused on managing student grades, wherein it will be encoded in a database system that can
easily be accessed by the user or administrator and easily convert it into SMS message ready to
be sent to any inquiring students. This SMS Based Grade Inquiry System would help the students
and parents to know the grades the student have garnered for the last semester without even
leaving their homes and by just sending a text message.. Short Message Service (SMS) is the best
way of communicating easy and fast. The students and parents can be assured that the system is
accurate and secured considering that only those who are inquiring with the proper surname and
ID number will be catered. Only the administrator can access the system authorized by the
registrar of the holy Trinity College of General Santos City. The Holy Trinity College SMS Based
Grade Inquiry used the Visual Basic.Net with the open source relation database system the
“MYSQL”.
With the final completion of this study, the researchers wish to express their utmost
gratitude and meek thanks to the Almighty God, the author and finisher of all things for giving
strength, knowledge, wisdom and guidance during the conduct of this study.
The researchers would like to extend their heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the
following persons who helped and contributed valuable support in various ways:
To their thesis Instructor, MS. ABEJAH PACULDO for her thoughtfulness, kind assistance
for sharing her expertise from the beginning up to the end leading to the successful completion of
this research;
To their Advisers MS. MERIDEL C. EJUSA for their time, effort and suggestions in
To all the respondents who were friendly, understanding and enthusiastic for without them
To their friends, for their kind hearted concern and constructive criticisms which helped in
To their peers and colleagues for their understanding, cooperation, encouragement and
Most especially to the parents of the researchers, for their never ending love, care,
The Researcher
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………………..iii
Acknowledgment………………………………………………………………………………………..iv
Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………………..v
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………….vi
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………vii
Chapter 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1
Objectives……………………………………………………………………………3
Definition of Terms………………………………………………………………….4
Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………..12
System Requirements
USE CASE………………………………………………………………..14
Activity Diagram………………………………………………………….15
System Components
User Interface…………………………………………………………..20
System Architecture……………………………………………………29
System Environment
Appendices
Appendix E Reference………………………………………………………….74
INTRODUCTION
In today’s world, almost all of the businesses and individuals are dependent on software; it
eases the difficulties of manually doing things, particularly in terms of calculations and
disseminating information. On the other hand, grades reflect and measure the performance of a
student and determine whether students have got higher grades or have failed in certain subjects.
It also helps the professors to guide and facilitate the students’ learning development. Thus,
students’ grades must be accurately calculated, safety accumulated or stored in a database and
must be well distributed to the students.
One factor that made students dismayed is the inquiry they are doing every end of the
semester to the school registrar, wherein they need to line-up and make a request for their grades.
It takes a lot of effort and consumed much time just to know if one has passes all his subjects or
not. This problem is still prevalent in most of the schools in the Philippines; however, there are
schools that have inquiry system that could provide students the data they are asking in matter of
seconds.
One of these systems is the inquiry system using the most obvious tools people have
today as means of communication: The mobile phones. These gadgets can be used in delivering
an inquiry to the school and in return, the school will use the same SMS message using a
computer to provide the data inquired by the students.
The SMS Students Grade Inquiry will relieve students from exasperation in getting or
acquiring the grades; it would be easy and fast. The Short Message Service (SMS) is the text
communication service component of phone, web or mobile communication systems. This system
presents the academic performance of the students through their grades and the researcher looks
forward to implementing the new procedure for inquiry. The SMS Students Grade Inquiry system
into the school would be built as part of the foundation upon which the future of information
dissemination and acquisition would be built.
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Background of the Study
The world has changed largely because of science and technology. It brought the people
modern and high-tech devices that in the past seemed to be impossible to attain. Undeniably,
through man’s intelligence have reached a modern world where technology reigns and everything
seems to be possible. It proves that mans’ aptitude is vast and powerful, that even the most mind
blogging problem could be solved and even the minutes of details could be discovered.
Technology provided man much convenience and luxury in life; gone are the days where
people have to commute and do the exhausting routines, which can easily be done by using
technology. With the progress, the availability of the internet is a blessing, where with just one click
one can browse knowledge of information while sitting at the comfort of their homes. Cellular
phones, which made the communication easier for people communicate to each other and agreed
on matters immediately saves much time that consumes hours before, and most especially
computers where in all means of operation it is the tool being used; innovations have made
possible for the operations of the computer easy enough in processing record systems such as,
creation of data records, storing, filing and retrieval of data.
The Holy Trinity College of General Santos City is using manual transactions for grade
inquiry as well as in releasing grades of the students. The students can go to registrar’s office for
the inquiry or evaluation and they can use class cards. The processing is very long, which take 3 or
5 days before students can get their grades. To sole this predicament, the researcher proposed the
project called SMS Based Grade Inquiry System for Holy Trinity College of General Santos City.
This system only can access by those who are enrolled in school, the system would
provide students the privilege of viewing their grades automatically from the data that has been
encoded in the system. The Administrator will receive the user’s data, then verify the data and
check if data if exist; the administrator will then reply to each inquiring student by sending them
their respective grades and would receive their grade for the whole semester. In the transaction,
included are the school’s name and semester covered. The system would automatically eliminate
the line-up of the students in the registrar every semester and would require less personnel to cater
the inquiring students.
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Objectives of the Study
The development of SMS Based Grade Inquiry System for Holy Trinity College of General
Santos City will have the following objectives:
To allow both parents and students to have an access in inquiring for the student’s
grades
To disseminate grades that cannot be modified or retrieved by unauthorized persons.
To develop grades inquiry system through mobile phones.
To update the students for their Academic performances through their grades.
This system will only focus on managing student’s grades and sending the data via SMS
message showing the grades of the students for the specific semester requested. Upon inquiring,
the students can view their grades that show automatically on their respective mobile phones. The
system was designed only for Holy Trinity College and limited only in disseminating the grades of
the students and not other information from the records of the school. Only students who are
inquiring can be provided with the data of their grades, whereas those students who don’t make
requests via mobile phone would be sent the data. The system is not available online considering it
was designed only using a sim pack and limited only in disseminating information through SMS.
Definition of Terms
Presented in this chapter are the excerpted literatures that shed additional understanding
of the study at hand whose sources came from books, magazines, journal, reliable websites and
newspapers.
Computers with the power of the internet ave succeeded in aiding communication among
people. The telephone system, which is the main communication system that was invented several
years ago, has undergone a great improvement, so much that today we have fixed wireless
phones, mobile phones, and the like. With the rapid development of mobile phones come several
services, like the Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) that
are readily available and add to the usefulness of mobile phones. SMS in particular is widely in
communication and, more recently, has been leveraged to provide several services like airline
ticketing, banking services, and commercial services such as share and sell (an added service
provided by MTN Nigeria) where subscribers can easily share and/or sell airtime. SMS is a mobile
technology that allows for sending and receiving text or even binary messages to and from a
mobile phone. The relative ease of use of SMS makes it possible for a user to learn how to send
SMS easily. More than 160 billion SMSs are exchanged each month in European countries
(Mavrakis, 2004), and, according to Resource Shelf (2006), 48.7 billion SMS messages were sent
in the second half of 2005, which is up 50% from the six months before that.
The major advantage of SMS is its cost effectiveness and availability, as most individuals
own a phone. In different parts of the world, several service providers offer mobile services that
include SMS. Most times the cost attached to sending a SMS is relatively small, and most
providers do not charge for receiving SMS. Sometimes, service providers give users a certain
amount of free SMS per month, which allows customers send and receive unlimited number of
SMS messages. It is possible to acquire a special dedicated line that uses a custom rate for
messages sent to the number; it is also possible to have a number as toll free, making it free for
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users to send SMS to the number. All these contribute to what makes SMS a really cost effective
means of disseminating information.
Till today, especially in the developing countries, there still exists the problem of checking
examination results as students throng to notice boards in anxiety, although most universities, even
those in the less developed countries, now make examination results available on their websites.
The level of internet availability in less developed countries is still low and quite expensive (Desi,
2008). Even in the developed countries, where most homes have internet access, SMS is still a
faster and cheaper means of disseminating examination results as well as other information.
Pramsane and Sanjaya (2006) stated that universities can provide educational services based on
SMS, such as grade release, enrolment information, university announcement, and internship
opportunity. An advantage SMS offers is that students can receive valuable information on the fly
without requesting it. The result checking system not only allows student to request grades, it
provides the result as soon as they as become available. This is done by pushing the result to the
students (sending it to their phones) or working on a request sent from a student to produce the
result (pulling).
There are two methods of SMS widely used in applications; they are the Push & Pull. This
application can either be used to push or pull messages. A Push SMS application is one whereby a
message is sent from the application to the user. It is a one way message. In other words, it is the
mobile application (in this case, the SMS result checking application) that initiates a message. An
example could be a school that automatically sends examination results to the students and their
parents/sponsors as soon as the grades become available. The users do not request the grades,
do not take any action, and are not charged for receiving the SMS. The SMS would be delivered to
them in a matter of seconds regardless of where they are, as long as their mobile phone is within
their network operator’s coverage. A Pull SMS application, on the other hand, is one whereby a
user sends a request and obtains a reply from the application. This is a full duplex scenario. An
example is when a student requests for his/her grades for a recently concluded semester
(Adagunodo et al., 2009).
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SMS Applications
SMS applications can be built as two kinds of services: A. Independent Service - this involves
using solely a mobile phone and the application server (the system running the SMS application).
This option offers limited benefit, but it is easy and fast to setup. It does not require authorization of
the service provider or connection to any third party SMS provider. The mobile phone uses a
regular SIM card which has a normal phone number, and messages that originate from the phone
attract the standard cost or tariff; and, B. Dependent Service – this involves having the application
server connect to the service provider’s SMS Center (SMSC). It requires a constant connection to
the internet as the application server does not require any physical phone/modem with a SIM card
connected to it; rather it connects to a SMSC. When users send their request, it goes to the SMSC,
which automatically forwards the message to the application server over the internet.
This option provides added benefits, as the service provider can provide a special tariff
and a dedicated line for the university. Here, the SMS application usually runs on corporate servers
that are connected to the SMS network through specialized connectors and gateways connected to
the SMS Center (SMSC) of mobile operators (Mavrakis, 2004). These servers are assigned short
numbers instead of the traditional 10 or 11 digits mobile numbers. These numbers, also known as
short codes, are usually 4 to 6 digits long and are operator specific. Also, a premium fee (a fee
other than the fixed rates for SMS) can be charged on these short codes; in other words, users
would pay more for sending SMS to short codes.
SMS uses the GSM special signaling channel instead of the voice channel and is,
therefore, a very reliable media channel. Mavrakis (2004) identifies two types of SMS which can be
classified by the origin of the message: Mobile Originated (MO): SMS-MO is sent from a mobile
phone and could be sent either to another mobile phone (such as when a mobile subscriber sends
a personal message to another subscriber) or to a computer application that will process the
message; Mobile Terminated (MT): SMS-MT is transmitted to a mobile phone. It also could be sent
by another mobile phone or generated by a computer application (Adagunodo, Awodele, & Ajayi,
2007).
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Existing System Overview
Most universities now provide examination results on their website. When results are made
available on the website, students have to login by providing a username or ID and password
before they can view their result. This ensures that examination results are protected from
unauthorized access. Although websites are readily accessible and provide options like printing
and saving, these benefits could easily be inaccessible if a user does not have access to the
internet. Also, the student must visit the website to know find out if the examination results are
available (Ling, 2005).
While websites seem to be a very good option in countries where the internet is readily
available, its impact can be less felt and it can be quite inconvenient and expensive in countries
with poor internet access. In such places, students will have to visit cyber cafes where they have to
pay to check their grades. Apart from using websites to provide students with their examination
results, other means include IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System), and email. IVRS or
Interactive Voice Response System is a self-guided result checking system. In this system, a
student dials a number and listens to computer generated or recorded voice direction. The voice
instructs the student on what action (usually by pressing keys) to take to supply the needed
information. The supplied information is then used to generate the student’s result, which is spoken
to the user (Pramsane and Sanjaya, 2006).
Chapter III
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
The Short Message Service (SMS) allows text-based messages to be sent to and from mobile
telephones on a GSM network. Each message has a maximum length of 160 characters. The
possibility of using SMS is growing rapidly high. It is mostly used for things such as medicine
awareness and warning notifications. SMS based transactional alerts are SMS’s sent each time a
change occurs in a bank account, for example, or when your credit card is used then you will get
an SMS on your mobile phone. Many applications need the ability to do real-time notification when
events occur. Often the people who need to be kept aware of events are in a remote location. Cell
phones have recently started being used for sending SMS-based information. These simple
systems have already had a major impact. The reason why SMS gets through: With the massive
growth and inadequate infrastructure in many countries, voice and where available IP are just not
feasible unless there is massive investment to bring up the networks. SMS will get through even
when the ‘network is busy’ for hours. SMS messaging has already shown great potential. In this
thesis the main finding is about in which of the respective areas the SMS system is being used and
how does it help the student’s life to be more comfort.
Nowadays, data processing uses one or more database at one or more certain organizations.
Databases are use in transaction processing where information are stored, retrieved and
transmitted at certain time it is needed. Examples of transaction processing systems are airline
reservation systems, billing system, payroll system, library system, online marketing and online
transaction processing.
A database management system (DBMS) is computer software designed for the purpose of
managing databases. It is responsible to perform a program that organizes data in a database,
providing information storage and organization, retrieval capacities. The database management
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system or the database itself serves as the foundation of the SMS Grade Inquiry. Without these,
the SMS application cannot handle different transactions and other database driven functionalities.
Windows Application
Microsoft Windows applications are in the case of “Microsoft Windows”, windows programs are
software application that are run on a computer that is also running Microsoft Windows as an
operating system. A software application, or program, is a set of logical conditions grouped
together to perform some function. Typically a Microsoft Windows application will be run within a
“window” although that is not a requirement. A “window” in the context of software is an area of the
screen set aside to run a single program and may or may not have options for controlling the
position and size of the program area. Some examples of Microsoft Windows applications are:
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Notepad, and Mozilla Firefox.
The User Interfaces, data binding etc. of windows application are easy to build. The deployment
and maintenance of it is complex. New versions of assemblies, configuration files, and other
required files must be deployed on all client machines. Usually user interaction required. It’s
performance are faster and is reliable.
Visual Basic
Visual Basic was one of the first systems that made it practical to write programs for the Windows
operating system. This was possible because VB included software tools to automatically create
the detailed programming required by Windows. These software tools not only create Windows
programs, they also take full advantage of the graphical way that Windows works by letting
programmers "draw" their systems with a mouse on the computer. This is why it's called "Visual"
Basic.
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Visual Basic also provides unique and complete software architecture. "Architecture" is the way
computer programs, such as Windows and VB programs, work together. One of the major reasons
why Visual Basic has been so successful is that it includes everything that is necessary to write
programs for Windows.
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework has been developed to provide a consistent object-oriented environment to
develop applications, to provide a code execution environment that simplifies deployment and
versioning, to provide a code execution environment that guarantees the safety of the code that is
executing. This includes both code developed internally by an organization or for code developed
by 3rd party vendors. It is also developed to provide a code execution environment that eliminates
the issues faced by scripted environments with respect to performance and to provide a common
programming model where the choice of a programming language becomes a matter of choice.
AT Commands
AT an abbreviation for Attention are the commands used to control MODEMs. These commands
come from Hayes commands that were used by the Hayes smart modems. The Hayes commands
started with AT to indicate the attention from the MODEM. The dial up and wireless MODEMs
(devices that involve machine to machine communication) need AT commands to interact with a
computer. These include the Hayes command set as a subset, along with other extended AT
commands.
AT commands with a GSM/GPRS MODEM or mobile phone can be used to access following
information and services such as Information and configuration pertaining to mobile device or
MODEM and SIM card, SMS services, MMS services, Fax services and Data and Voice link over
mobile network.
Chapter IV
Presented in this chapter is the design and methodology consisting of the data gathered
and how a solution was formulated to solve the predicament observed.
Preliminary Investigation
In conceptualizing the title, the researcher conducted a study of the manual operation of
the office of the registrar and found out what are the circumstances that caused the delay of
releasing of grades. After identifying the problem, the researcher formulated the title, which
concerns about the fast and efficient way of disseminating the grades of the students not only to
avoid congestion but to do it in just a matter of minutes and not days. The solution lies in the
technology used daily by student SMS through mobile phone.
Requirement Analysis
Similar system has been used in other places such as the United States and Canada but
the system they are using have different features considering that results of exams are included in
the dissemination of the information. The system studied online was analyzed by the researcher
and has adapted most of the features to fit in with what the registrar of the Holy Trinity College
needs in disseminating the grades of the students the fast way. Thus, the analysis to create the
system is already underway, which can be accomplished using a laptop or desktop from the
registrar’s office.
System Design
Upon completion of the analysis and the information gathered, the researcher started to
assemble the system by creating a file for the students’ grades that could easily be browse by the
administrator according to divisions such by course or department, by year, by semesters and by
surname; the last, which is the oldest system but the most effective and easiest in filing data. The
data that would be browse would automatically be sent to the inquiring student as a reply taking
only seconds or just over a minute. The system would be so easy for the students to use and the
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administrators would be dependent on the filing system and the function of SMS via desktop or
laptop.
Coding
Upon designing the system, various codes were made by the researcher to make
distinctions of different function of the filing system and SMS function covering the system from
beginning to end with the extra space for the inquiring students to reply thanks.
The system is ready to be installed and use of the registrar anytime upon their discretion,
which was made possible by various revisions and comments from the advisers and panellists,
upon implementation of the system, maintenance would then be in a regular basis, especially in
troubleshooting malfunctions and system failures.
System Requirements
The requirement for the system are illustrated and explained in this portion based on the
diagrams and figures with captions below as follows:
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SEND SMS
INQUIRY
CHECK NEW
MESSAGES
Administrator/
Student
Facilitator
SEND
MESSAGES
15
ACTIVITY DIAGRAM
ADMINSTRATOR STUDENT
SMS
INQUIRY
RECEIVE SMS
CHECK SMS GRADE
QUERY
SMS
GRADE
REPLY SMS
REQUESTS
LOG OUT
ACCOUNT
STUDENT
Student garde 0
0 2.0
Inquiry Checking
3.0
Grade Sending
System Components
7.0 Log in
This figures show the GUI where the user can log in and can automatically access the system.
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This is figures shows the user interface.
This is the main home page of SMS grade inquiry. This is where the user enters the
student information, such as grades, and subject. The system connected directly into modem and
views all the transaction that happens.
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This figures show connecting into modem
This figures show the system connected into the modem; once clicked, it connects to the
port, and will start to receive and send the students data.
23
This figure shows the students’ grades. When the user/administrator encode the student
grades and send it through reply SMS, the student can view his/her grade through mobile phones.
24
This figure shows the students’ information. The user encoding all the information to the
students’ database can be viewed and can be sent to the inquiring students.
25
This figures show the students’ detailed information .The user can add what the subjects
are newly enrolled by the students and can make adjustments when students add or drop subjects.
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This figure shows the user account. They can change the password and username. And
can determine if the user is active or inactive.
27
This figure shows the Message format. The user will be able to know the format text when
they want to know his/her grade for the subject taken.
28
These figure shows the school year, which can be determine what school year active the
students are active. It shows on the screen of home page.
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SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
Wireless Provider
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System Environment
General Requirements
The SMS Grade Inquiry System allows you to create, delete and messages, as well as process
incoming messages. The system is created with Visual Basic language and Microsoft .Net
Framework and its data are stored in a MSSQL server. These are the basic components needed to
run this system.
1) A windows computer, must run the Microsoft Windows XP or higher. With 32-bit operating
system.
2) A GSM Modem that supports AT Commands.
3) A mobile phone of a student for texting their Grade Inquiry to the system.
The equipment and resources listed herein are required to ensure the SMS Grade Inquiry System
usability and a quality user experience. The following requirements must be implemented with
every SMS Grade Inquiry System configuration.
Hardware Requirements
Windows Computer - SMS Grade Inquiry System requires a Windows server- or desktop
platform. The following hardware requirements must be met:
Windows XP - 233MHz (x86) / 733MHz (x64) single core CPU, 512MB (x64/x86) Memory,
SP3 service pack and 3GB disk space.
Windows 7 - 1GHz (x64/x86) single core CPU, 1GB (x64/x86) Memory and 3GB disk
space.
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GSM Modem - The system uses a GSM Modem that supports AT Commands. A GSM modem can
be a dedicated modem device with a serial, USB or Bluetooth connection, or it can be a mobile
phone that provides GSM modem capabilities. For the purpose of this document, the term GSM
modem is used as a generic term to refer to any modem that supports one or more of the protocols
in the GSM evolutionary family, including the 2.5G technologies GPRS and EDGE, as well as the
3G technologies WCDMA, UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA. A GSM modem exposes an interface that
allows applications to send and receive messages over the modem interface. The mobile operator
charges for this message sending and receiving as if it was performed directly on a mobile phone.
To perform these tasks, a GSM modem must support an “extended AT command set” for
sending/receiving SMS messages, as defined in the ETSI GSM 07.05 and and 3GPP TS
27.005 specifications.
Mobile Phone – A standard mobile phone of a student is used for this system. It could be of any
models old or new as long as it has a SIM registered to the service provider and registered to the
system. The mobile phone of a student must have a balance or subscribed to any promos of a
network company in able for the system to receive its grade inquiry. A transaction of a student
would be treated as a normal messaging to the network providers. A normal charge will be also
applied for each transaction the student would do.
Software Requirements
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 - The fastest way to start developing applications for Windows 8.1,
Windows Phone, the web or the cloud or windows based applications. Visual Studio Express
products provide a free development environment to develop applications for the latest platforms.
Since it is Visual Studio, applications created in Express can be supported in other versions of
Visual Studio as the needs of most developers today. It can be installed 32-bit or 64 bit depending
on the operating system the SMS Grade Inquiry System is running.
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Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - is a database server developed by the Microsoft Corporation. It
is mainly used to fetch the data requested by any other software from the data stored in the server
itself. The software, which requests the, data from the server, could be on the same computer or
either could be located away on a different computer connected remotely via the internet. Microsoft
SQL 2005 a.k.a. Yukon was launched in October 2005 by the Microsoft Corporation. This version
was the successor of the Microsoft SQL 2000. Obviously, it consisted of some advanced
and extra features which the preceding version didn’t have. Some common features of Microsoft
SQL 2005 included support for the XML data management and relational data management. For
error handling, the Microsoft SQL 2005 was supported with the try-catch procedure. It had better
syntax and indexing algorithms. It can also be installed 32-bit or 64 bit depending on the operating
system the SMS Grade Inquiry System is running.
Chapter V
This chapter disclosed the process of the development of SMS Based Grade Inquiry
System for Holy Trinity College of General Santos City.
The system implements the same form of security and, further, provides access to new
and old students. It also provides two options of requesting grade result. The SMS result checking
system works using client-server architecture and can be either implemented as a dependent
service or independent service. The system described here is deployed as a dependent service;
this implies that the server (with the SMS application) has a phone with a standard SIM card
connected to it.
The SMS receiver called administrator receives SMS messages from the students and
processes the message by browsing the database that holds the details and grades. The SMS
receiver receives all SMS via the GSM terminal connected to the computer to cater to
simultaneous inquiries and put on hold other inquiring students until their turn comes; the
administrator then browse the database to authenticate the user and queries for the results via the
appropriate database connector, like Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), which convert the data
of the students into SMS messages ready to be disseminated to the students as SMS messages.
The system uses a password system where the result checker submits an ID and a password. One
problem is that a student may know the ID and password of another student; guessing of
passwords and ID can also occur. The present system uses a social interaction mechanism which
involves the use of the surname provided by the user and then a generated password to be used
with an ID to reduce the incidence of guess occurring in the checking system.
The system was designed to disseminate information to the students exclusively by their
grades only in the subjects they have taken from the previous semesters. The response of the
registrar would take shorter or longer time depending on the number of inquiring students and the
speed of the administrators to reply via SMS.
Chapter VI
Presented in this chapter are the conclusions and recommendations of the study.
Conclusions
Based on the objectives of the study, the system developed was designed to provide
parents as well as students access to inquire for the students grades using only mobile phone
employing SMS messaging, wherein the registrar, through the administrator would send the
message categorized as reply to the inquiring parents or students and the subjects with the
respective grades for one semester will be sent in the mobile phones using the SMS server in the
Registrar’s office; the surname of the user and the ID number would serve as the password that
would make them entitled to receive the data on their subjects’ grades. The advantage of the
system is the ease of which, regardless of the location of the inquiring students, the data can still
be sent to him or her. Parents could monitor the performance of their children academically through
the system and can make the necessary encouragement their children needed in order to perform
better next semester.
Recommendations
The system however can be fooled by students who know the surname and ID number of
the students, which can be used to inquire the students’ grades without his/her authorization. It is
recommended therefore that each students would register and would be given password that
would be attached to the filing system wherein once used would open the database of the student
and could easily be sent as an SMS message. Also, to avoid the hassle of an operating
administrator, the SMS messages can be automatically attached to the database of the system and
using the password would automatically convert the files into SMS message and automatically be
sent as a reply without the user or administrator operating the system. The SIM pack of the system
would be in a package plan for non-stop unlimited messaging.
Appendix A
GANTT CHART
36
GANTT CHART
Background of
the Study
Objectives
Significance of
the Study
Scope and
limitation
Definition of
Terms
Related
Literature
Technical
Background
Design
Methodology
Results and
Discussion
Conclusion and
Recommendati
ons
Preliminaries
Appendices
Data Dictionary
tbl_Course
Name Description Type Size Examples
CourseID Identification number of a course. PK Int 1,2,3
Course Name of Course Nvarchar 200 Bachelor of Science in Information Technology
DepartmentID Identification number of a department. FK Int 1,2,3
tbl_Department
DepartmentID Identification number of a department. PK Int 1,2,3
Department Name of Department Nvarchar 200 College of Engineering and Technology Education
tbl_Grade
GradeID Identification number of a grade. PK Int 1,2,3
StudentID Identification number of a student. FK Nvarchar 50 S-1000, S-1001, S-1003
GradeEQID Identification number of a grade equivalent. FK Int 1,2,3
SubjectID Identification number of a subject. FK Int 1,2,3
SemesterID Identification number of a semester. FK Int 1,2,3
TermID Identification number of a term. FK Int 1,2,3
SYID Identification number of a school year. FK Int 1,2,3
tbl_GradeEquivalent
GradeEQID Identification number of grade equivalent. PK Int 1,2,3
Point Number representing the grade point. Float 1.0, 1.5, 2.0
Percentage Percentage range of a grade. Nvarchar 50 94 – 100, 90 – 93, 87 – 89
tbl_Message
ID Identification number of a message. PK Bigint 1,2,3
CPNo Cellphone number. Nvarchar 50 09071234567
Date Date and time of the message. Datetime 2014-02-08 08:23:16.000
Reply Indicates whether the message is replied or not. Nchar 10 Yes, No
tbl_MessageFormat
MsgFormatID Identifcation number of a message format. PK Int 1,2,3
Format Format of a message. Nvarchar 50 HTC 1SEM, HTC 2SEM, HTC 1SEM1TERM
Definition Description of a message format. Nvarchar 50 Get First Semester, Get Second Semester
tbl_SchoolYear
ID Identification number of a schoolyear. PK Int 1,2,3
SYFrom Starting year of a school year. Nvarchar 50 2011, 2012, 2013
SYTo Ending year of a school year. Nvarchar 50 2012, 2013, 2014
Status Status of a school year. Nvarchar 50 Active, InActive
tbl_Semester
SemesterID Identification number of a semester. PK Int 1,2,3
Semester Semester name. Nvarchar 50 First Semester, Second Semester
tbl_Student
StudentID Identification number of a student. PK Nvarchar 50 S-1000, S-1001, S-1002
Fname First name of a student. Nvarchar 50 Mark, Sheila
Mname Middle name of a student. Nvarchar 50 Gomez, Santiago
Lname Last name of a student. Nvarchar 50 Sanchez, Perez
YearID Identification number of year level of student. FK Int 1,2,3
CourseID Identification number of course of student. FK Int 1,2,3
CPNo Cellphone number of student Nvarchar 50 09071234567
Status Indicates whether the student is active or not. Varchar 50 Active, InActive
tbl_Subject
SubjectID Identifcation number of a subject. PK Int 1,2,3
Subject Subject name. Nvarchar 200 Eng 1, FilEd 1, Math A
Description Descriptive title of a subject Nvarchar 200 Study & Thinking Skills in English, Philippine Literature
tbl_Term
TermID Identification number of term. PK Int 1,2,3
Term Term name. Nvarchar 50 First Term, Second Term
tbl_User
UserID Identification number of a user. PK Int 1,2,3
Username Username of user. Nvarchar 50 Admin, user
Password Password of user. Nvarchar 50 Admin123, user123
Name Name of user. Nvarchar 50 James Lopez
Status Indicates whether user is active or not. Nvarchar 50 Active, InActive
tbl_Year
YearID Identification number of year level. PK Int 1,2,3
Year Yearlevel name. Nvarchar 50 First Year, Second Year
Appendix C
Main_frm
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Management
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Object
Public Class frm_Main
End Function
If SerialPort1.IsOpen Then
lblStatus.Text = "Connected: " & cboModem.Text
btnConnect.Enabled = True
cmdSend.Focus()
lblPort.Text = Split(cboModem.Text, " - ")(0)
lblDevice.Text = Split(cboModem.Text, " - ")(1)
cboModem.Text = ""
With SerialPort1
44
rcvdata = ""
End With
Else
lblStatus.Text = "Status:Error on Connection!"
End If
Catch ex As Exception
End Try
LoadInbox()
End Sub
Try
With SerialPort1
rcvdata = ""
WriteGridInbox()
End With
Catch ex As Exception
End Try
End Sub
Try
Dim lineoftext As String
Dim i As Integer
Dim arytextfile() As String
Dim custMsg As New ArrayList()
lineoftext = rcvdata.ToString
arytextfile = Split(lineoftext, "+CMGL", , CompareMethod.Text)
listSMS.Items.Clear()
For i = 1 To UBound(arytextfile)
'number
Dim nNo, position As String
nNo = result(6)
position = nNo.Length - 2
nNo = Replace(nNo.Remove(position, 2), "+63", "0")
'for message
Dim lineoftexts As String
Dim arytextfiles() As String
Dim n As String
Dim nMsg As String
46
n = "+32"""
lineoftexts = arytextfile(i)
arytextfiles = Split(lineoftexts, n, , CompareMethod.Text)
nMsg = Split(arytextfiles(1), "OK")(0).Replace(vbCrLf, "")
dDate = result(8).Substring(0, 8)
dTime = Split(result(8), ",")(1) & ":" & result(10) & ":" & result(12).Substring(0, 2)
concat = dDate & " " & dTime
'for index
Dim index = New String() {result(2)}
msgReply = "Yes"
End If
Next
array_msg = custMsg
Catch ex As Exception
End Try
End Sub
query = "SELECT * FROM tbl_Student WHERE CPNo = '" & no & "' AND Status = 'Active' "
sql = New SqlCommand(query, Conn)
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
Private Function IsSaved(ByVal xNo As String, ByVal xMsg As String, ByVal xDate As String)
As Boolean
query = "SELECT * FROM tbl_Message WHERE CPNo = '" & xNo & "' AND MsgFormatID = '" &
xMsg & "' AND Date = '" & xDate & "' "
sql = New SqlCommand(query, Conn)
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
End Function
Private Function IsReplied(ByVal xNo As String, ByVal xMsg As String, ByVal xDate As String)
As Boolean
query = "SELECT * FROM tbl_Message WHERE CPNo = '" & xNo & "' AND MsgFormatID = '"
& xMsg & "' AND Date = '" & xDate & "' AND Reply = 'Yes' "
sql = New SqlCommand(query, Conn)
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
End Function
Private Sub SaveMSG(ByVal cCPNo As String, ByVal cMsg As String, ByVal cdDate As
DateTime, ByVal iReply As String)
Dim sql As SqlCommand
Dim dr As SqlDataReader
Dim query As String
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
49
End Sub
Me.Close()
End Sub
LoadInbox()
lblStatus.Text = "Connected: " & cboModem.Text
End Sub
SendSMS()
End Sub
frm_autosend.Show()
frm_autosend.AutoSend(array_msg)
End If
End Sub
StudentGrade
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Public Class frm_StudentGrade
End Sub
With cboCourse
.DataSource = dtC
.DisplayMember = "Course"
.ValueMember = "CourseID"
.SelectedIndex = -1
End With
cboName.Enabled = True
End Sub
Private Sub LoadName(ByVal cid As String)
Dim dtN As New DataTable
Dim daN As New SqlDataAdapter
Dim query As String
cboName.DataSource = Nothing
With cboName
.DataSource = dtN
.DisplayMember = "Fullname"
.ValueMember = "StudentID"
52
.
SelectedIndex = -1
End With
End Sub
cboName.DataSource = Nothing
With cboSem
.DataSource = dtS
.DisplayMember = "Semester"
.ValueMember = "SemesterID"
.SelectedIndex = -1
End With
End Sub
Private Sub LoadTerm()
Dim dtS As New DataTable
Dim daS As New SqlDataAdapter
Dim query As String
cboName.DataSource = Nothing
With cboterm
.DataSource = dtS
.DisplayMember = "Term"
.ValueMember = "TermID"
.SelectedIndex = -1
End With
End Sub
Private Sub LoadSubject()
Dim dtS As New DataTable
53
With cboSubject
.DataSource = dtS
.DisplayMember = "Subject"
.ValueMember = "SubjectID"
.SelectedIndex = -1
End With
End Sub
Private Sub LoadGradeList()
Dim dtL As New DataTable
Dim daL As New SqlDataAdapter
Dim query As String
With cboGrade
.DataSource = dtL
.DisplayMember = "Point"
.ValueMember = "GradeEQID"
.SelectedIndex = -1
End With
End Sub
"WHERE a.StudentID = '" & cboName.SelectedValue & "' AND a.SemesterID = '" &
cboSem.SelectedValue & "' AND a.TermID = '" & cboterm.SelectedValue & "' AND a.SYID = '" &
school_year_id & "' "
gridGrade.DataSource = ds
gridGrade.DataMember = "GradeTable"
gridGrade.Columns(0).Visible = False
End Sub
LoadName(cid)
End Sub
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Grade save successfully!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
'Clear()
LoadGrade()
End Sub
Dim dr As SqlDataReader
Dim query As String
query = "UPDATE tbl_Grade SET StudentID = '" & cboName.SelectedValue & "', GradeEQID
= '" & cboGrade.SelectedValue & "', SubjectID = '" & cboSubject.SelectedValue & "' " & _
"WHERE GradeID = '" & gridGrade.CurrentRow.Cells(0).Value.ToString & "' "
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Grade save successfully!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
'Clear()
LoadGrade()
End Sub
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Grade successfully deleted.", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
End If
End If
57
LoadGrade()
End Sub
Student Information
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Public Class frm_StudentInfo
gridStudent.DataSource = ds
gridStudent.DataMember = "StudentTable"
gridStudent.Columns(6).Visible = False
gridStudent.Columns(7).Visible = False
gridStudent.Columns(8).Visible = False
gridStudent.Columns(9).Visible = False
gridStudent.Columns(10).Visible = False
End Sub
Private Sub LoadCBO()
'Course
Dim dtC As New DataTable
Dim daC As New SqlDataAdapter
With cboCourse
.DataSource = dtC
58
.DisplayMember = "Course"
.ValueMember = "CourseID"
.SelectedIndex = -1
End With
'Year
Dim dtY As New DataTable
Dim daY As New SqlDataAdapter
With cboYear
.DataSource = dtY
.DisplayMember = "Year"
.ValueMember = "YearID"
.SelectedIndex = -1
End With
'Status
With cboStatus
.Items.Add("Active")
.Items.Add("InActive")
.SelectedIndex = -1
End With
End Sub
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Student successfully saved!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadStudent()
End Sub
query = "Update tbl_Student SET StudentID = '" & txtid.Text & "', Fname =
'" & txtfname.Text & "', Mname = '" & txtmname.Text & "', Lname = '" &
txtlname.Text & "', YearID = '" & cboYear.SelectedValue & "', CourseID = '" &
cboCourse.SelectedValue & "', CPNo = '" & txtcp.Text & "', Status = '" &
cboStatus.Text & "' " & _
"WHERE StudentID = '" & txtid.Text & "' "
sql = New SqlCommand(query, Conn)
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Student information successfully updated!", vbInformation,
"Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadStudent()
End Sub
60
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Student information successfully deleted!", vbInformation,
"Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadStudent()
End Sub
End Class
Student Subject
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Public Class frm_Subjects
gridSubject.DataSource = ds
gridSubject.DataMember = "SubjectTable"
gridSubject.Columns(0).Visible = False
End Sub
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Subject successfully saved!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadSubjects()
End Sub
query = "UPDATE tbl_Subject SET Subject = '" & txtSubject.Text & "',
Description = '" & txtDesc.Text & "' WHERE SubjectID = '" &
gridSubject.CurrentRow.Cells(0).Value.ToString & "' "
sql = New SqlCommand(query, Conn)
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
62
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Subject successfully updated!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadSubjects()
End Sub
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Subject successfully deleted!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadSubjects()
End Sub
End Sub
End Class
frm_Accounts
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Public Class frm_Accounts
gridAcct.DataSource = ds
gridAcct.DataMember = "AccTable"
gridAcct.Columns(0).Visible = False
cboStatus.Items.Clear()
With cboStatus
.Items.Add("Active")
.Items.Add("InActive")
End With
End Sub
End Sub
Private Sub btnNew_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As
System.EventArgs) Handles btnNew.Click
Clear()
End Sub
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Account successfully saved!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadAccounts()
64
End Sub
query = "UPDATE tbl_User SET Username = '" & txtuser.Text & "', Password =
'" & txtpass.Text & "', Name = '" & txtname.Text & "', Status = '" &
cboStatus.Text & "' " & _
"WHERE UserID = '" & gridAcct.CurrentRow.Cells(0).Value.ToString &
"'"
sql = New SqlCommand(query, Conn)
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Account successfully updated!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadAccounts()
End Sub
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("Account information successfully deleted!", vbInformation,
"Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadAccounts()
End Sub
End Class
frm_SchoolYear
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Public Class frm_SchoolYear
gridSchoolYear.DataSource = ds
gridSchoolYear.DataMember = "SYTable"
gridSchoolYear.Columns(0).Visible = False
End Sub
With cboStatus.Items
.Add("Active")
.Add("InActive")
End With
End Sub
66
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("School year successfully saved!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadSchoolYear()
End Sub
query = "UPDATE tbl_SchoolYear SET SYFrom = '" & cboFrom.Text & "', SYTo =
'" & cboTo.Text & "', Status = '" & cboStatus.Text & "' WHERE ID = '" &
gridSchoolYear.CurrentRow.Cells(0).Value.ToString & "' "
sql = New SqlCommand(query, Conn)
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("School year successfully updated!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
67
Clear()
LoadSchoolYear()
End Sub
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("School year successfully deleted!", vbInformation, "Message")
End If
Clear()
LoadSchoolYear()
End Sub
End Sub
dr = sql.ExecuteReader
If dr.RecordsAffected Then
MsgBox("School Year successfully set!", vbInformation, "Message")
68
End If
LoadSchoolYear()
End Sub
End Class
Appendix D
USERS GUIDE
70
REFERENCES
Adagunodo, E. R., Awodele, O., & Ajayi, O. B. (2007). SMS Banking Services: A 21st Century
Innovation in Banking Technology. Issues in Informing Science and Information
Technology. Retrieved march 15, 2014 from
http://proceedings.informingscience.org/InSITE2007/IISITv4p227-234Adag332.pdf
Adagunodo, E. R., Awodele, O., & Idowu, O. (2009). SMS user interface result checking system.
Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 6, 163-177. Retrieved on March
15, 2014 from http://iisit.org/Vol6/IISITv6p101-112Adagunodo601.pdf
Desi, S. (2008). Check Orissa HSC exam results 2008/Board of Secondary Education. Retrieved
on March 15, 2014 from http://moviedrive.blogspot.com/2008/06/check-orissa-hsc-exam-
results-2008.html
Ling, S. H (2005). SMS to get your exam results. Retrieved March 15, 2014 from
http://www2.ntu.edu.sg/itzone/may2005/smsresult.html
Mavrakis, D. (2004). The Monaco Telematique mobile SMS whitepaper. Retrieved on March 15,
2014 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/916690/SMS-Whitepaper
Pramsane, S., & Sanjaya, R. (2006). Mobile education services based on SMS and their
architectture comparison. Retrieved on March 15, 2014 from
http://www.ijcim.th.org/v14nSP1/pdf/p49.1-9-fin-61.pdf
Resource Shelf. (2006). Statistics: Use of text messaging (SMS) grows in the United States.
Retrieved on March 15, 2014 from http://www.resourceshelf.com/2006/09/01/statistics-
use-of-text-messaging-smsgrows-in-the-united-states/
74
PERSONAL INFROMATION
WORK EXPERIENCE
CHARACTER REFERENCES