EasyMobile Documentation

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STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Diploma in Business Information Technology

AN INFORMATION SYSTEM PROJECT SUBMITTED IN

PARTIALFULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(DBIT)

DESIGNED BY

PSENJEN NELSON KIGEN

ADMISSION NUMBER; 050820

SUBMISSION DATE: 4TH

May, 2009


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DECLARATION

This Information System Project is the Original work of the author and has not been submitted for

any other Diploma or Degree program in any University.

I therefore declare that, no other person apart from the undersigned has submitted this project.

Signed Date..

Psenjen Nelson Kigen

This project was assessed and approved by the supervisor who oversaw the completion of thiswork whose signature appears at the bottom of this page.

Signed. Date

MR. EMMANUEL KWEYU

Lecturer, Faculty of Information Technology

Strathmore University


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The following people have played a special role in enabling the completion of this system to itscurrent level:First of all, GOD, for giving me the strength to keep going even when I thought everything was

too hard and I felt like giving up.

Secondly, Strathmore University for providing me with resources needed to do complete myproject.ie. Free access to the internet which was an invaluable source of information that made

my project a successFourthly, my classmates in the DBIT class of April 2009, especially Evans who constantly camewith new ways of solving programming problems and my desire to outsmart him made me decide

to work on this project.

Last but not least, my lecturers especially Mr. Emmanuel Kweyu who has been my supervisorand has taken me through the entire project development phase, giving me ideas on how toimprove my project, and Mr. Nelson Ochieng who introduced me to object oriented

programming in java and ever since I have aspired to master it.

Thank you ALL!


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Contents

DECLARATION ......................... ........................... ........................... .......................... ............... iiACKNOWLEDGEMENT....................................... ........................... .......................... .............. iii1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................- 1 -

1.1 Background to the Organization ....................................................................................- 1 -1.2 Description of the problem ....................... ........................... ........................... ................... 11.3 Objectives and Terms of Reference ................... ........................... ........................... .......... 1

1.4 Project Plan, Environmental and operational constraints of proposed system. ................. 2A) Software requirements. .......................... ........................... ........................... ................... 2B) Hardware requirements .......................... ........................... ........................... ................... 2C) System users. ....................... ........................... ........................... ........................... .......... 2

2.0 SYSTEM ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................... 32.1 Summarized description of the current System....................................... ........................... . 32.1 Current System Models ........................ ........................... ........................... ....................... 4

Current Bus Reservation Use Case Diagram .......................... ........................... ................... 4Current Parcel delivery system use case ........................ ........................... ........................... . 5Sequence diagram of the current bus booking system ................. .......................... ............... 6

3. SYSTEM DESIGN ................................................................................................................. 93.1 Translation to Logical data model. .......................... ........................... .......................... ...... 93.2 Database Schema ............................................................................................................ 103.2.2 Data Dictionary ........................ ........................... ........................... .......................... .... 10

Bus Table ........................ ........................... ........................... ........................... ................. 10Bus_Assign Table ............................................................................................................. 11Client Table ...................................................................................................................... 11Client_Accounts Table. .......................... ........................... ........................... ..................... 11Crew Assignment Table ......................... ........................... ........................... ..................... 12Parcel Table ...................................................................................................................... 12Parcel Category Table ....................... ........................... ........................... .......................... 12Payment Table .................................................................................................................. 13Receipt Table .................................................................................................................... 13Route Table .......................... ........................... ........................... .......................... ............. 13Staff Table ........................................................................................................................ 13Ticket Table ...................................................................................................................... 14Trip Table ......................................................................................................................... 14

3.3 Process Descriptions........................................................................................................ 153.3.1 The Pseudo-Code...................................................................................................... 15


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3.4 Interface Designs ......................... ........................... ........................... .......................... .... 163.4.1 Input Screens ........................ ........................... ........................... .......................... .... 16

3.5 Crud Matrix .................................................................................................................... 184.0 Implementation and Testing ................................................ ........................... ..................... 19

4.1 Description of development Environment/tools......................... .......................... ............. 19

4.2 Description of the main system functionalities. ......................... .......................... ............. 194.3 Sample Test data and Error handling. ..................... ........................... .......................... .... 194.4 Interesting Sample Scripts ........................ ........................... ........................... ................. 20

5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................. ........................... ........ 215.1 Problems and challenges encountered ......................... ........................... .......................... 215.2 Solutions to the problems and challenges encountered ................................................. .... 215.4 Self -Evaluation of the system and work done. .......................... .......................... ............. 21

6.0 BIBILIOGRAPHY .......................... ........................... ........................... .......................... .... 226.1 Listing of work Consulted in alphabetical of Authors Surname .......................... ............. 22

7. APPENDICES ......................... ........................... ........................... .......................... ............. 23i) Installation Guide .............................................................................................................. 23ii) Supervision Slip................................................................................................................ 23

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Current bus reservation use case diagram ....................... ........................... ................... 4

Figure 2: Current parcel delivery use case diagram ........................ ........................... ................... 5Figure 3:Sequence Diagram for the current bus booking system ........................... ....................... 6Figure 4: ..................................................................................................................................... 6Figure 5:Proposed bus booking use case diagram .......................... ........................... ................... 7Figure 6: proposed seat reservation sequence diagram ........................ .......................... ............... 8Figure 7: Current System class diagram ...................... ........................... ........................... .......... 8Figure 8: Database relationships ......................... ........................... ........................... ................... 9Figure 9: Trip lookup input screen.................................... ........................... .......................... .... 16Figure 10: Parcel Status input screen ........................... ........................... ........................... ........ 17Figure 11: Currently reserved seats ........................................... ........................... ..................... 17Figure 12: Current balance ........................ ........................... ........................... .......................... 18Figure 13:Main menu ....................... ........................... ........................... ........................... ........ 23


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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Organization

Easy Coach Bus Company is a long distance bus company operating on major towns in Kenyawith its headquarters along Haile Selasie Avenue, Nairobi. It has been in operation for about nine

years under the name EASY COACH.

It has branches in the following major towns:

o Nairobio Nakuruo Eldoreto Kitaleo Kapsabet.o Bungomao Busia

o Malabao Kisumuo Kerichoo Webuyeo Masenoo Kakamegao Awendo

1.2 Description of the problem

With the increase in the number of commuters using their services and the minimal number ofspaces available per trip, there is need for them to be able to book for trips at their own

convenience.

There is also the need to provide an efficient parcel monitoring system where the consigner

will be able to check the delivery status of his/her parcel at his/her convenience.

1.3 Objectives and Terms of Reference

With the successful implementation of this system, clients will be able to book for trips at theirown convenience and the efficiency of entire reservation process will improve considerably. Theaims of this project are to:

o Increase the efficiency and speed of the reservation process.o Provide the client with a convenient way to make reservations for trips.

System modules include:

o A reservation module, allowing clients to check for available trips, makereservations for trips and view their current reservations.

o A payment module, allowing the clients to pay for their reserved seats.o A parcel status module, allowing the client to view the delivery status of the parcels.o An administrators module, allowing him/her to view reports of the client activities


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1.4 Project Plan, Environmental and operational constraints of proposed system.

The project was meant to take approximately three months using the following tools and

environment variables:

A) Software requirements.

o MySQL 5.1 as the SQL server.o Apache 2.2 with PHP 5.0 as the server.

B) Hardware requirements

o A java enabled Mobile phone with MIDP 2.0 and CDLC 1.0.o Internet connectivity via WAP,GPRS or EDGE.

C) System users.Any person with basic knowledge in using a java enabled mobile phone.


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2.0 SYSTEM ANALYSIS

2.1 Summarized description of the current System

Currently, Easy Coach offers the following main services:o Day and night long distance bus service.o Long distance parcel delivery service.o Door to door parcel delivery in Nairobi and its environs (At an extra-charge).

A combination of both manual and computerized systems is used to keep records of bookings andparcel deliveries. Manual systems used include ticket and parcel delivery books.

In Nairobi area, it has booking offices at major supermarkets such as Nakumatt and Uchumi.

These booking offices are linked to the main office. However, in the other booking offices,booking is still done manually.

During booking, a client arrives at the booking office where he/she meets a booking clerk. Afterspecifying his/her intended destination and time of travel, the clerk checks in the booking book

for available space. It there is space, the clerk then presents a chart showing the arrangement ofseats in the bus and informs the client of the vacant seats from which he/she will choose a seat

from. After the client has chosen a seat, the clerk requests for any identification document fromwhere he notes down the name and ID number. If the client doesnt have any identification

document, he dictates his name to the clerk. He also notes down the destination, time of travel,

seat number, fare paid and bus registration number. Thereafter, a ticket is issued after payment ofthe fare but a copy is retained by the clerk. The passenger must present the ticket before entering

the bus during departure.The passenger must arrive and the booking office thirty minutes prior to the departure time.During this time, any luggage the passenger might be carrying is labeled and loaded to the bus.

Also, parcels are loaded after sorting them according to their destination. Before the passenger is

allowed to board the bus, he/she presents the ticket a clerk who cancels his name from the

passenger list in the booking book and retains part of the ticket.

A person intending to send a parcel (consignor) presents the parcel to the clerk after indicating

both his/her name and that of the consignee together with the destination of the parcel. Thereafterthe clerk notes down the details on the parcel delivery booklet. If the parcel is small enough, it is

wrapped in a special cover then a copy a delivery receipt is stapled onto it and the consignorretains a copy. However, big parcels must be weighed first and parcels over 25 kg are notallowed. Once the parcels reach their destination, they are sorted according to their origin then

recorded in the received parcels book. These books are divided according to the source towns of

the parcels. Thereafter, when the consignee comes to collect a parcel, he/she first specifies the

town from which the parcel came from and the sender. The clerk then tries to locate the parcelfrom the received parcels records. If found, the consignee is requested to present any proof of

identification such as a passport, national ID number and for those who dont have thesedocuments, a student ID card or a birth certificate is accepted. Thereafter, the parcel is handed

over after signing in the received parcel book.


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However, despite the obvious efforts made to make the system as effective as possible, it still has

numerous drawbacks. These include:o Clients have to give their names ID number every time they come to book even though

the company might be having that information.o Booking is done from a central place and all clients (passengers) have to physically go to

the booking office even though it might be time/money consuming.o The consignee is not able to know of the parcels delivery status.o The consignor is not informed when his/her parcel is ready for collection.

2.1 Current System Models

Current Bus Reservation Use Case Diagram

Figure 1: Current bus reservation use case diagram


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Current Parcel delivery system use case

Figure 2: Current parcel delivery use case diagram


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Sequence diagram of the current bus booking system

Figure 3:Sequence Diagram for the current bus booking system

Figure 4:


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Figure 5:Proposed bus booking use case diagram


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Figure 6: proposed seat reservation sequence diagram

Figure 7: Current System class diagram


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3. SYSTEM DESIGN

3.1 Translation to Logical data model.

Figure 8: Database relationships


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3.2 Database Schema

Client {Client_No, Surname, First_name, Middle_Name, Gender, Address, City, Postal_Code,Phone_No, email}Client_Accounts{Client_No, Balance, Last_Recharge_Date, Username, Password}Bus {Reg_No, Chassis_No, Type, Make, Capacity, Date_Added}Bus_Assign{Reg_No, Route_ID, Date_Assigned}Crew_Assign{Staff_ID, Trip_ID, Date_Assigned}Parcel {Parcel_ID, Type, Category_ID, Consignor_ID, Consignee_ID, Date_Send, Source,Destination, Status}Parcel_Category{Category_ID, Lower_Weight, Upper_Weight, Cost}Payment{Ticket_No, Amount, Date_Paid, Time_Paid}Receipt{Parcel_ID, Receipt_No, Amount, Date_Received}Route {Route_ID, Route_Name, Source, Destination, Date_Created}Staff {Stafft_ID, Surname, First_name, Middle_Name, Gender, Address, City, Postal_Code,

Phone_No, Position}Ticket {Ticket_No, Client_No, Trip_ID, Seat_No, Status, Date-Issued}

Trip {Trip_ID, Trip_Date, Trip_Time, Fare, Capacity, Bus_Reg_No, Route_ID, Date_Added}

3.2.2 Data Dictionary

The Easy Coach database contains thirteen tables and they are as described below:

Bus Table

This table contains the details of all buses

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionReg_No Varchar 12 Primary Key that

uniquely identifies a

busCapacity Smallint 2 Capacity of the bus

Chassis_No Varchar 24 Chassis number of thebus

Type Varchar 15 Bus model

Make Varchar 15 Bus nameTable 1: Bus table


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Bus_Assign Table

This table contains the details of buses and the routes they are assigned to operate on.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionReg_No Varchar 12 Primary Key that

uniquely identifies abus

Route_ID Int 6 A valid route IDwhich cannot be null

Date_Assigned Date Date the bus was

assignedTable 2: Bus assignment table

Client Table

This table contains the details of all clients.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionClient_No Int 6 Primary key that

uniquely identifies aclient

Surname Varchar 25 Clients surname

First_Name Varchar 25 Clients first name

Middle_Name Varchar 25 Clients middle name

Gender Varchar 6 Clients gender

Address Varchar 15 Clients address

Postal_Code Int 6 Clients postal code

Phone_Number Varchar 10 Clients phone numberTable 3: Client table

Client_Accounts Table.

This table contains clientsusernames and passwords as well as their account details.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionClient_No Int 6 Primary key that

uniquely identifies aclient

Balance Double 8 Clients accountbalance in KSH.

Last_Recharge_Date Date Clients last account

recharge date

Recharge_Number Int 12 Recharge transactionnumber

Table 4: Client Accounts table


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Crew Assignment TableThis table contains details of trips and staff assigned to each trip.

Field Name Data Type Field size Description

Staff_ID Int 6Trip_ID Int 6

Date_Assigned Date Date the assignmenttook place

Table 5: Crew assignment table

Parcel Table

This table contains details of all parcels.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionParcel_ID Int 6 Primary key that


parcelType Varchar 14 Identifies the type of

parcel

Category_ID Tinyint 2 Identifies the category

to which the parcelbelongs

Consignor_ID Int 6 Identifies theconsignor from amongthe registered clients

Consignee_ID Int 6 Identifies theconsignee from amongthe registered clients

Date_Send Date The date when theparcel was send

Source Varchar 20 City of origin of theparcel

Destination Varchar 20 Destination city of the

parcel

Status Varchar 15 Delivery status of theparcel

Table 6: Parcel details table

Parcel Category TableThis table contains categories of parcels, their weight limits and charges.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionCategory_ID Tinyint 3 Primary key that

uniquely identifies acategory

Lower_Weight_Limit Tinyint 3 Lower weight limit ofthe parcel category

Upper_Weight_Limit Tinyint 3 Upper weight limit of

the parcel category


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Cost Float 8 Cost of parcel deliveryin KSH.

Table 7: parcel category table

Payment Table

This table contains trip payment details including the ticket number and amount paid.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionTicket_no Int 6

Amount Double 8

Date_Paid Date

Time_Paid Timestamp Timestamp of the

transactionTable 8: Payment table

Receipt TableThis table contains payment details and receipt numbers of parcels.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionParcel_ID Int 6

Receipt_No Int 6 Primary key that


parcel

Date_Received Date Date the parcel wasreceived by the clerk

Amount Double 8 Cost of sending the

parcelTable 9: Receipt table

Route TableThis table contains all the valid routes.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionRoute_ID Tinyint 2 Primary key that


route

Route_Name Varchar 30 The route name

Source Varchar 25

Destination Varchar 25 The final destination

for the route

Date_Created Date Date the route wascreated.Table 10: Route table

Staff Table


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This table contains the details of all the staff.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionStaff_ID Int 6 Primary key that

uniquely identifies astaff member

Surname Varchar 25 Staff memberssurname

First_Name Varchar 25 Staff members firstname

Middle_Name Varchar 25 Staff members middlename

Gender Varchar 6 Staff members gender

Address Varchar 15 Staff membersaddress

Postal_Code Int 6 Staff members postal

code

Phone_Number Varchar 10 Staff members phonenumber

Position Varchar 10 Staff membersposition

Table 11: Staff details table

Ticket Table

This table contains details of all seats and trips reserved by clients.

Field Name Data Type Field size DescriptionTrip_ID Int 6

Ticket_No Int 6 Primary key used to

uniquely identify a

reservation or ticketClient_No Int 6 Identifies the

registered clientreserving a seat for a

given trip

Date_Issued Date Date the ticket was

issued

Seat_No Varchar 3 Identifies the seat a

client has booked.

Status Varchar 10 Current status of the

ticket or reservation .Table 12: Tickets table

Trip Table

This table has the details of all scheduled trips.

Field Name Data Type Field size Description


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Trip_ID Int 6 Primary key whichuniquely identifies atrip

Trip_Date Date Date scheduled for thetrip

Trip_Time Varchar 8 Time scheduled for the

tripFare Double 8 Fare to be paid for the

trip in KSH

Capacity Tinyint 2 Maximum number ofpassengers to be

allowed for the trip

Date_Added Date Date on which the trip

was added

Bus_Reg_No Varchar 6 Registration number

of the bus to be used

for the trip

Route_ID Tinyint 3 Valid route to be usedfor the trip.

Table 13: Trips table

3.3 Process Descriptions

3.3.1 The Pseudo-Code

Seat Reservation

Begin

Input Trip DetailsCheck if trip is available

If trip is not availableAlert displayed to try a different date or destination

ElseDisplay available trips

If trip is selected

Display available seatsElseAlert displayed to select a seat

If seat(s) is selected

Prompt confirmation

If not confirmedDisplay available seats

ElseCheck balance

If balance>fare

Proceed to reserveElseAlert balance insufficient

End if


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End if

End ifEnd if

End ifEND

3.4 Interface Designs

3.4.1 Input Screens

Trip Lookup form

This is the form where the user/client enters trip details and the system looks for a trip matching

that description.

Figure 9: Trip lookup input screen


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Parcel Status form

This is a form where the user enters the parcel ID so as to view its delivery status.

Figure 10: Parcel Status input screen

3.4.2 Output Screens

Reserved Seats

Shows a list of the currently reserved seats for a given client

Figure 11: Currently reserved seats


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Current Balance

Displays the current balance of the client

Figure 12: Current balance

3.5 Crud Matrix

Entity

Processes

Client Bus Trip Ticket Parcel Route Staff

Client

Registration

CRU

Staff

Registration

CRU

Bus

Registration

CRU

Generate

Ticket

CRUD

Parcel

Registration

CRUD

Route

Registration

CRUD

Trip

Addition

CRUD

Table 14:CRUD matrix


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4.0 Implementation and Testing

4.1 Description of development Environment/tools.

The development environment tools used to create this system included:o Windows XP Professional with service pack two This served as the operating system,

thus enabling the system to run on during its development life cycle.

o Java development kit 1.6.7 with NetBeans 6.1 for implementation of the client sidedesign.

o Samsung software development kit 1.0 with Samsung SGH-U600 emulator was used totest the design.

o Dreamweaver 9 CS3 was used for implementation of the server side design. o Apache 2.2.3 was used as the application server. o MySQL 5.1 was used as the database server.o Microsoft Word 2007 was used as a means of generating documentation for the entire

project.

o Smart Draw 2008 was used to generate the necessary diagrams such as use cases, classand sequence diagrams for the systems documentation.

4.2 Description of the main system functionalities.

The system is capable of performing the following functions:o Show the client a list of currently reserved seats in a given trip(s).o Show the current balance in the client account.o Search for a given trip and display the number of seats available, fare and the departure

time.

o

Display the seat numbers of the currently unreserved seats in a given trip.o Display the delivery status of a given parcel.

4.3 Sample Test data and Error handling.

FIELD CORRECT

DATA

WRONG DATA ERROR HANDLING

Username Admin - Username cannot beempty!

Parcel ID 12 As Letter keys are disabled

Travel Date 20-05-2009 21-01-1990 Travel date cannot be in

the past!Table 15:Error handling


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4.4 Interesting Sample Scripts

The following script allows the client to make multiple reservations at once by using one instanceof the HTTPConnection class!

public void run() {String temp;

String url="http://127.0.0.1/Easy_Coach/j2me/jticket.php";

String parameter;for(int i=0;i


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5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Problems and challenges encountered

o Since the author was the only one using J2ME, I had difficulties in finding help in areas Ifound challenging.o Learning a new programming language and building a complete system using it within

three months was quite challenging bearing in mind the other units and courses the authorwas doing at the moment.

5.2 Solutions to the problems and challenges encountered

o The author became a member of www.j2meforums.comfrom where he was able to findhelp in challenging areas.

5.3 Recommendations and Suggested Improvements

o Tools for mobile application prototyping should be made available in the computer labsso as to encourage more people to develop such applications

5.4 Self -Evaluation of the system and work done.

During this project duration, the author was able to master the art of mobile programming using

J2ME and applied his knowledge in building an entire system.Some of the benefits that will be derived from this system include:

o Conveniency- With this system, clients will be able to reserve seats for a given tripwithout making a physical visit to the booking office. They will also be able to check the

delivery status of their parcels with making a prior visit to the companys offices.

o The client will be able to view summarized reports of his/her activities such as the seatshe/she has currently reserved, account balance, available trips and travel history.

The major disadvantages in using the system may include:o Unreliability since the system relies on the signal strength and coverage of the network

provider. Therefore some clients may experience delays in using the system.
http://www.j2meforums.com/http://www.j2meforums.com/http://www.j2meforums.com/


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6.0 BIBILIOGRAPHY

6.1 Listing of work Consulted in alphabetical of Authors Surname

o Keogh James, J2ME- The Complete Reference, 2003,McGraw-Hill, 2ndEdition.o Li Sing and Jonathan Knudsen, Beginning J2ME-From Novice to Professional, 2005, 3 rd

Edition.


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7. APPENDICES

i) Installation Guide

The system can be downloaded from the Easy Coach website via your mobile phone

browser. The installation details vary depending on the phone model you are using but inmost cases it is automatic. However before you download the system, you must fill in

your registration details and be given your username and password.For more instructions on how to use the system, go to Im stuckon the main menu of

the system.

Figure 13:Main menu

ii) Supervision Slip.Attached.

Documents

EasyMobile Documentation