A Simple Student Database Solution

The objective of this tutorial is to build a simple database of student records, which can be queried for student information. The database will consist of xed size records which contain student details. You will rst need to set up the source code framework/structure and build a simple menu-based interface. After you’ve successfully done this you can ll in the details by implementing all database functionality.

The database will not be sorted or indexed since this requires more complex algorithms and data structures. This is an exploratory tutorial, intended to give you some experience with basic C++ coding.

You have one week to complete this introductory tutorial. Remember to use local version control from the get go and commit your work regularly.


Architecture and interface

Build a simple text-based interface which can be used to perform operations on your database. You must write \stubs" so when an option is invoked, the function prints a message like \function QueryDatabase() called". You will provide the correct functions during the second part of the tutorial.

Your database interface must have options to do the following:

    1. add student

    2. read database

    3. save database

    4. display given student data

    5. grade student

Do not worry about the underlying functions right now; just ensure that when an option is selected, the right \stub" message is printed and the screen is sensibly redrawn. The menu could look something like the following:

    0: Add student

    1: Read database

...

    q: Quit

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Enter a number (or q to quit) and press return...

To clear the terminal window, you can use a shell command:

void clear(void) f system("clear"); g // include cstdlib

Since you are reading menu options continuously, you will need an \event loop" to process your menu selection. You can use a for statement to achieve this:

for (;;) f // loop forever

... // process key press and call relevant functions if (terminate condition ) break;


g

Recall that you can use a struct to bundle together multiple    elds into a single datatype.

The StudentRecord struct must have the following    elds:

Name (String), Surname (String), StudentNumber (String), ClassRecord (String).

The ClassRecord eld is a string of space separated numbers which re ect various marks the student has obtained during the year. For example: \54 66 72 34"

You must set up the basic code structures you need: a StudentRecord struct and a std::vector to store a number of StudentRecord instances. The std::vector data structure is an expanding array-based structure that comes bundled with C++ and you can consult the documentation at http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/vector/vector/ on how to use it. The vector data structure supports random addressing using the familiar [] notation. For readability please ensure that your methods and the vector of records is de ned in a separate C++ le with its own header and NOT in your driver.

Please ensure that you always use your student id as namespace when de ning methods, structs and classes in this course:


/**

*.h file:

*/

#ifndef DATABASE_H


#define DATABASE_H

//any includes here

namespace STUDENT_NO {

void add_student(std::string name ...);

...

}

#endif

/**

*.cpp file:

*/

#include "database.h"

STUDENT_NO::add_student(std::string name ...){

...

}

Remember that you usually have a basic driver le, containing main() and other necessary functionality (such as the event loop) and a collection of class source les, along with appropriate header les for other cpp les.

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You must also write a Make le (or mod the one from the consolidation session) to compile your work. This should be easily extended, since you may need to change it for the next part of the tutorial.


The Database Engine

In this part of the assignment you will provide de nitions for all the method stubs you created in Part One.

The functionality required is as follows:

Add student Enter new student data

Read/Save database Write or read a simple text le which stores a list of database entries (see below);


Display student data Print the record for a given student, based on the student number entered;

Grade student Print an average for a student based on a given student number. The average will be constructed by extracting all the number in the ClassRecord string and averaging them.

Exit Exit from the application; any information not saved will be lost.



Handin Date: 27 March 2017 at 10AM.




Notes:

    1. when comparing strings, note that string comparisons are case sensitive (so Durban is not the same as durban);

    2. You must use a std::vector<> container to hold your record data; this will require you to include the header le vector. The vector data is not sorted by default. It is not expected that you will sort the data | a simple sequential search will be adequate for this work;

    3. File I/O requires the use of ifstream and ofstream objects. Basic I/O uses << and >> in the same manner as console I/O. For example,

#include <fstream>

...

int myint;

ifstream ifs("inputfile.txt"); // argument is ‘‘char*’’ NOT String

ifs >> myint;

ifs.close();

opens an input le stream and reads an integer from it, placing it in myint. The stream is then closed. Output le streams work in a similar manner. More on this can be found in the notes;

Do not use C-like mechanisms to accomplish this.

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    4. You can read input from a string (instead of a  le): use an input stringstream:

#include <sstream>

...

string X = "buenos dias mi amigo", value; istringstream iss(X);

while (!iss.eof())

f

iss >> value;

cout << "value =" << value << endl; g

    5. You can write the record data out in the order in which it is stored in the vector. To reconstruct the list, simply read each record in turn and \push" it back onto an empty vector. You must decide on a format for your database le;

    6. You may not have duplicate records (i.e. two or more records for the same student number). When you enter new data, you must rst check to see whether that student exists. If so, overwrite the old data with the new, otherwise create a new record as expected.

    7. You must hand in the Make le and your source le(s). The Make le must function correctly.

Please Note:

    1. A working make le must be submitted. If the tutor cannot compile your program in the lab by typing make, you will receive 50% of your nal mark.

    2. You must use version control from the get-go. This means that there must be a .git folder alongside the code in your project folder. A 10% penalty apply should you fail to include a local repository.

    3. You must provide a README le explaining what each le submitted does and how it ts into the program as a whole. The README le should not explain any theory that you have used. These will be used by the tutors if they encounter any problems.

    4. Do not hand in any binary les. Do not add binaries (.o les and your executable) to your local repository.

    5. Please ensure that your tarball works and is not corrupt (you can check this by trying to extract the contents of your tarball - make this a habit!). Corrupt or non-working tarballs will not be marked - no exceptions!

    6. A 10% penalty per day will be incurred for all late submissions. No hand-ins will be accepted if later than 5 days.

    7. DO NOT COPY. All code submitted must be your own. Copying is punishable by 0 and can cause a blotch on your academic record. Scripts will be used to check that code submitted is unique.






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