Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Electronic Logbook
Electronic Logbook
SCHEME (S.I.W.E.S)
BY
NOVEMBER, 2014
ELECTRONIC LOGBOOK FOR STUDENTS
SCHEME (S.I.W.E.S)
COMPUTER SCIENCE
NOVEMBER, 2014
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this project titled: ELECTRONIC LOGBOOK FOR STUDENTS
research work and it has not been published and/or submitted for any other degree award.
Information from other sources published or unpublished has been duly acknowledged
ABSTRACT
This project, Electronic logbook for Student’s Industrial Work Experience Scheme was designed
to minimize the problems associated with the paper logbook such as susceptibility to
manipulation or forgery, wearing, and storage problem and retrieval problems. The top down
approach was used for the software development and the tools used for this project are PHP,
CSS, HTML and SQL Server.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE NO
Cover Page i
Title Page ii
Declaration iii
Certification iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgement vi
Abstract vii
List of tables xi
Introduction 1
Motivation 3
2.0 Introduction 8
2.1 History 9
2.2.3 iGaslog 15
2.2.4 LOGIT 15
3.0 Introduction 19
3.1 Analysis of the existing system 19
3.4 Methodology 24
4.0 Introduction 37
INTRODUCTION
Scientists and engineers traditionally kept paper logbooks of their experiments and inventions.
The need for the logbook is cannot be over emphasised. Scientists need to keep a record of their
doings in order to remember and report what has been done. The logbook also gives a means of
retracing past experiments and verifying their accountability. Searching logbooks can also
determine who the first was to make a new discovery or invention. In most parts of the world, the
first to invent rule is used for patents and a properly kept logbook is crucial for proving an idea is
yours. Student and professional bodies use logbook on regular intervals, Altini etal (2010).
In less than twenty years the habits of logbook use has changed radically. Even though some
scientists still solely use old fashioned paper logbooks many large scientific collaborations are
The students industrial work experience scheme (S.I.W.E.S) is an industrial training program for
undergraduate students of Nigerian universities and other higher institutions. It is a six month
training scheme in which students are attached to industries that are relevant to their field of
study. The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is the body responsible for the coordination and
The basic objectives of students’ industrial training work experience scheme (S.E.W.I.S)
2. To enable students to practice theory been taught at school and provide access to the
and universities.
Every student is expected to keep a record of her experience for the duration of the training
period and submit such records to her department on resumption for further studies. An industrial
supervisor is also expected to monitor the student’s weekly progress of work and append his
signature for works actually done by the student. To ensure that the aim of SIWES is achieved, a
school based supervisor is also expected to monitor the student's progress by visiting his place of
primary assignment at regular intervals, and by the end of the exercise, a report is usually sent to
the ITF office for verification and necessary documentation and payment of those who
participated in the exercise. Each student uses a logbook to keep record of his/her experiences.
Traditionally, a logbook is a record of an event or events such as ship’s navigation, air flight,
inventions, teachers’ events in the classroom etc. logbooks have been in existence since the
invention of ships and the need for navigation came into existence. Today’s logbooks have
diverse uses since all aspects of human endeavor need a form of reference or storage media.
However, with the advent of ICT and the internet the ways of doing things have changed. An
electronic logbook is a computer based software for recording(logging) states, events or simply
conditions used for complex machines like aircraft, nuclear plants, particle accelerators, various
areas on board ships replacing paper based logbooks etc. An electronic alternative to record key
navigation, engine watch, port calls and other operational activities on board vessels of all sizes.
The need for an electronic logbook for S.I.W.E.S cannot be over emphasized. For a student to
gain the required knowledge from industrial training experiences, he/she must be well monitored
to ensure that he/she does not just participate in the training scheme in fulfillment of its
mandatory status, but also acquire relevant experiences. The lack of electronic logbook makes
this nearly impossible since distance between interns and supervisors and the lack of access to
1.3 MOTIVATION
As has been stated in section 1.2, there are lots of problems with the traditional logbook that
justify the quest for a better way of handling internship experience logbook. Perhaps the most
outstanding of this reasons is the bridging of the gap between supervisors and interns.
The Nigerian academic curriculum have witnessed a lot of disruptions in recent times mostly
because of massive industrial actions to drive home a demand. Only recently, the Nigerian
With information technology and the gains associated with it, most nation of the world have
successfully migrated from the paper method of keeping records. It is therefore a worthwhile
venture to affirm the already introduced practice of modernity since we have much to learn/do if
2. It is easier to use
3. It is more secure, since users are authenticated, before they are granted access to the
database
1.4.1 AIM
To develop an electronic logbook for Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (S.I.W.E.S)
1.4.2 OBJECTIVES
training.
page.
5. To provide important links that are capable of enhancing the performance and knowledge
1.5.1 SCOPE
The electronic logbook will consist of various interfaces. The interfaces will be accessed by
various individuals whose roles will be explicitly defined. There will be interfaces for students,
A student should be able to access forms that will enable him to log in entries of his daily
experiences. He should also be able to fill the personal data form as well as form8 that is usually
There will be an interface for the industry-based supervisor who will monitor and append his
There will also be an interface for a school-based supervisor who will have access to the
An interface will also be created for the school coordinator who will have access to all the forms
At the server end will be a database of all activities that are carried out by the various parties
involved. The database information will also be used to define the functions of each of the
parties involved.
Apart from this basic functions, it will serve as a point of contact with interns since information
can be disseminated more quickly through this means. I intend to include a notice board on the
students’ page.
It will also provide important links to other sites especially learning and information websites
1.5.2 LIMITATIONS
This project is a study of the usability of electronic logbook and is therefore may not give or
meet every expectation. The main focus of the project is to develop a system for reporting IT
activities within the university community, other than the paper logbook. Other extended
functionality may not therefore be included or where they are, may lack some expected features.
The ability to tell the number of weeks a student submits his/her weekly work by incrementing a
The ability to search the web interfaces through a search field may not be possible since the
considering the number of problems that will be solved in the event of a successful adaptation of
such logbooks. Some of the problems associated with paper logbook are already stated in the
problem statement.
Everything is going digital with the advent of ubiquitous computing and the Nigerian society
should not be an exception. To change a society requires a change in the manner of perception
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 INTRODUCTION
Within the past few years, there have been a consistent growth of interest in Information and
Communication technology and the consequent demographic changes in our society. Most
sectors of the economy have been influenced in one way or the other mostly due to better access
to information. There has been a shift in trend of the working pattern of the twenty first century
human.
One sector which has been greatly affected by the growth in information technology is the
on. There are many software and applications that have been developed to aid learning.
Within the university community, logbook is commonly used and often required. In the
developed parts of the world many experiments have moved from the traditional paper logbooks
to some sort of electronic logbook. Some have used electronic logbooks for as long as 17 years,
for example the Alcator (Alto Campo Torus) experiment at MASSACHUSETTS Institute of
Technology started using an electronic logbook in 1991. Many have developed their own
electronic logbook from scratch, others have taken one of some available solutions and adapted it
for their own use. Mikael B¨arlund(2008) With regards to students’ industrial training, electronic
logbook is almost as important as the Industrial Training itself since it is needed in order to
maintain a set of log entries made by interns who might be located in different physical
locations. An electronic logbook also facilitates multiple simultaneous access, easy search ability
A logbook was originally a book for recording readings from the ship log, and is used to
determine the distance a ship traveled within a certain amount of time. The readings of the log
have been recorded in equal times to give the distance traveled with respect to a given start
position. Today's ship's log has grown to contain many other types of information, and is a
record of operational data relating to a ship or submarine, such as weather conditions, times of
routine events and significant incidents, crew complement or what ports were docked at and
when. It is essential to traditional navigation, and must be filled in at least daily. Today, Logbook
is used in a variety of areas, ranging from professional to academic and research, information
The dramatic growth in information resulted in the need to for an efficient way of keeping and
retrieving vital information and to also be able to guarantee the integrity of such stored
A logbook is usually written in paper (book of log), it is therefore susceptible to damage since
books can get torn, wear out easily or be easily damaged. A better way to store information is the
electronic logbook.
2.1 HISTORY
According to wavetrax(2014), “the ship’s log originated from the small wooden board or ‘Chip
Log’, often weighted with lead that was for centuries attached to a line and thrown over the stern.
The weight of the log would keep it in the same place in the water while the ship moved away.
By measuring the length of line used up in a set period of time, mariners could calculate the
As a voyage progressed, the course, speed and other information came to be marked down in a
book that was called a log. Before technology was introduced these logs were an indispensable
source for recording what actually happened. They helped navigators surmise where they were
and how far they had travelled and how much longer they had to stay at sea. They provided
accountability to a ship’s owners and traders. They were designed to be as immune to faking as
possible.
Away from land, there was usually no reliable corroboration of events apart from the crew’s own
account in the middle of an expanse of blue and grey and green; and in long journeys, memories
always blur and facts disperse. A log provided as accurate an account as could be gleaned in real
time.
National Maritime Museum Royal Observatory (2014);Records were kept from the earliest days
of exploration in the 15th century when the Portuguese mariners took to the open ocean, leaving
familiar landmarks and costliness behind them. At first these were jealously guarded secret
documents holding the key to the routes for the spice trade and the riches of the Orient. Some
were more humble accounts of the wonders encountered by Europeans as they ventured into the
exotic world of the Middle and Far East. Of these early attempts to forge trade links few
documents remain, although those of Christopher Columbus’s epic undertaking to find a route to
china and the Spice Islands, only of course to find ‘a New World’, have been transcribed many
times.
The passage of time saw more ships from more nations engaging in deep sea trade, exploration
and inevitably war. The number of voyages increased dramatically in the 17th century as the
imperial powers of Spain and Portugal found themselves competing with France, Holland and
such as empire building, trade and administration. At the same time, the officers of these ships
began to keep official records, which were the beginnings of the logbook, similar to what is used
today.
English logbooks survive from as early as the mid-17th century and a few more general journals
from even earlier. By 1730, the Admiralty identified the need for consistency and issued the
2.2ELECTRONIC LOGBOOK
states, events or simply conditions used for complex machines like aircraft, nuclear plants,
particle accelerators, various areas on board ships replacing paper based logbooks etc.
This version of a logbook was derived from the old-fashioned paper based logbooks which have
been used I the maritime sector. Today a wide spectrum of different implementations of these
electronic logbooks is available, even if most versions are based on the classical client-server
approach. Here the electronic logbook serves a client which is in most cases a simple web
browser.
There has been a substantial interest in the use of electronic logbooks for the past few years due
to its advantages over the conventional logbook like ease of access from remote locations and
durability. The following examples illustrates the current trend in information management as it
relates to logbook.
ELOGBOOK
Mikael B¨arlund (2008); in his master’s degree thesis, carried out a usability study of shift
logbooks for physics experiments at CERN, a European organization for nuclear research. The
CCC (CERN Control Centre) eLogbook is an electronic logbook application. The application
allows you to read and write logbook entries. The application also allows you to leave
instructions for later shifts. Special features of the logbook are, linking faults to entries, updating
a message shown on the vistar corresponding to the machine of the logbook, inserting automated
The eLogbook interface consists of two different parts, a java-client used for editing the
eLogbook used in CCC and a web-interface for viewing and searching the eLogbook. The web-
The java-client is a standalone java application which connects to the backend database. The
java-client is used by operators in CCC. It is designed for editing the logbooks, mainly by
making new entries and reporting faults. Through the top menus you are able to open a specific
logbook shift, add event, go to next or previous shift, print, close the editor, open the web-
interface, edit the vistar message, insert automated entries and change the font size. Shortcuts to
some functionality are utilized through the buttons in the bottom row. These are new entry, open
last shift, open specific logbook shift, previous shift, go to date, next shift, edit vistar message,
Some functionality is only reached through right-clicking on the entry-fields in the interface.
Such functionality include: adding a fault, adding a line, setting operations mode, adding an
instruction, and adding a new entry with fault. On the right hand of the interface open faults
related to a specific line or machine are visualized. The description of the fault can be found in
the lower part of the interface. If an attachment is added to a certain entry it is shown by a
The web interface is used for browsing and searching the logbooks. It is also possible to edit the
logbooks through the web-interface, this feature is used by users outside of CCC.
Searching the eLogbook is only possible through the web-interface. Accessing the search engine
is done through the search field in the top right corner of the interface.
The limitation of this logbook is its inability to be adapted for other uses. It is strictly a logbook
There has been a huge interest in electronic logbook for students especially among developing
nations just as there has been well established and functional logbooks among professionals in
According to Herman and Ushma (2013), western countries embraced this technology much
earlier and e-logbooks have been available on hand held devices (Personal Digital Assistants
using HandBase) since the year 2000. The arrival of smart phones has seen a windfall of e-
logbooks and other medical apps available to the medical professionals. A recent survey by d4
(independent UK based charity with focus on mobile technology for health care professionals)
The Journal suggested that the 236 medical colleges (99 universities) offering post-graduation in
Anesthesiology in India that submitted logbook as a prerequisite for final examination should use
electronic logbook instead of the conventional paper logbook since it allow data entry at the
point of care(theatre, ward or intensive care) which is their biggest selling point. Because they
offer an intuitive interface, are less effort of the available logbooks allow data to be entered and
synchronized in real time over wireless local area network or 3G network. At the end of the
assessment period, they can be compiled and printed for submission as a proof of competency for
In Nigeria however, only 25 per cent of Nigeria’s over 105 million mobile telephone subscribers
use smartphones, global market research firm, TNS, has said in a report entitled, ‘Navigating
growth in Africa.’ The report, which was authored by the Chief Executive Officer, TNS Africa
and Middle East, Mr. Kim Macllwaine, and 12 other market research experts, including Mr.
Aggrey Maposa, Melissa Baker and Mr. Nick Hills, revealed that Nigeria was the second biggest
smartphone market in Africa, closely following South Africa. The report however said that
country had the potential to become the biggest smartphone market on the continent. , This, he
said, was premised on the strength of the market, number of subscribers and growth, as well as
In spite of the country’s smartphone penetration, the report revealed that 59 per cent of Nigerian
phone users were still using basic feature phones, while only 16 per cent used advance feature
phones.
Olubodum (2012); There are three types of logbook and he advocated the use of social media as
digital logbook for industrial training and supervision. He believes that digital logbook has the
changing the landscape of vocational education around the world by enriching skill development
through the pool of resources to be pulled together from student’s learning experiences. He
examined paper logbook from three Nigerian Universities that send their students for industrial
training to their dental laboratory. He also searched the internet for practical examples of paper
and digital logbooks and presented a novel digital logbook called BT logbook, otherwise known
and blog plus twitter digital logbook. He pointed out that there is a disconnection in the field of
Technical and Vocational Education training (TVET) between school knowledge and industrial
training experiences. This gap needs to be bridged by the use of logbook for supervision of
student industrial training. Across the globe the use of paper logbook is more popular than
electronic logbook but at the advent of information technology, educators and trainers in the
TVET fields are looking at the possibilities of digitizing industry experiences. Digital logbook is
generally more advantageous than paper logbook but the proposed BT digital logbook which
requires blog, Gmail and twitter accounts could be more helpful in addressing the shortcomings
of paper logbook giving students more opportunities to upload files in many formats and
providing opportunities for students to present learning experiences in many other ways than
2.2.3 iGaslog
Herman and Ushma (2013), A prime example of an electronic logbook that has been successfully
menus, automated fields, customized report generation, exporting databases as CSV files and E-
mailing options among others. However it is expensive, restricted to Apple devices and there
2.2.4 LOGIT
Nigel (2013); LOGIT is an example of an electronic logbook for vehicles developed in Australia.
It is a free and ATO complaint vehicle logbook app which makes it easy to keep a vehicles
logbook. All you need to do is simply record journeys on your smart phone using GPS, and save
them in an ATO complaint format for submission at a later date. It cuts down admin time for
both drivers and fleet managers when it comes to FBT, and it is extremely easy to use.
There are also a number of online applications that provide free electronic log service. Examples
are the DHO’s freelogbook.biz, Log Bookie’s free logbook etc. These services are intended to be
used by businesses that want to keep a logbook and manage their vehicle fleet from anywhere
where there is an internet connection. New features enables one to track and share the location
within a company.
The Free Logbook will be found useful in businesses that still keep their logbook entries using an
Excel sheet and want to create summary statistics based on all journeys carried out. Thanks to
the Free Logbook, drivers can administer each journey separately, while managers are able to
quickly and easily create a sheet with summary statistics for all vehicles at the end of each month
without having to copy entries from individual logbooks kept by each employee. The feature of
location tracking enables managers to organize journeys for each employee in the field more
effectively. Further it helps saves time and increases the work efficiency. It also gives one a
complete overview of the expenses related to the vehicle fleet, together with an overview of the
in 1983, there has been a requirement for recording fish catches in a standard community format.
Initially, this was done by completing paper records at the time of landing. Now skippers
maintain catch records at sea while fishing. These logbooks have become an integral tool for
monitoring and enforcement. But it is recognized that greater use could be made of these
documents– both by scientists and managers – if they were more readily available in an
electronic format.
From the IOPscience Journal of Physics: Conference Series, ALICE (A large Ion Collider
and maintained by the Data-Acquisition group (DAQ). Started as a statistics repository, the e-
Logbook has evolved to become not only a fully functional electronic logbook, but also a
massive information repository used to store the conditions and statistics of the several online
systems. It's currently used by more than 600 users in 30 different countries and it plays an
important role in the daily ALICE collaboration activities. The logbook’s architecture is based
Carrie et al (2002); Logbooks of patients treated in acute care units are commonly maintained; the data
may be used to justify resources use, analyze patient outcomes, and encourage clinical research. It
identified the major difference between the paper logbook and electronic logbook as the addition of
clinician-entered data to the electronic logbook. This data provide clinician with the capability to monitor
trends in a variety of patient groups. It also stated more advantages as more efficient data access, higher
data quality and increased ability to conduct quality improvement and clinical research activities
G. Roediger et al. present a solution which contains means for free-hand input by using the Cross
IPEN. This is an interesting application as the use of free-hand input might lower the threshold
of making entries in the logbook. In his master’s thesis K. Lundahn studied the use of a digital
pen as the entry medium for an electronic logbook. His study describes an implementation of a
web-application for use with digital pens. The information from the digital pen is automatically
uploaded from the pen to the database behind the web application. The logbook content is then
viewable to authorized persons. This solution is mainly targeted at small groups of users and for
personal notes. Automated input is another sales-point for some electronic logbooks. The benefit
being that you can have system faults report themselves automatically into the logbook. Another
possibility is to let the operator make entries by calling software outside of the logbook which
On the downside, there is no gold standard in e-logbook application yet. Obstacles include cost
of the app, need for a smartphone (and an internet connection), lack of an app for a given mobile
platform, lack of a good customer service, possibility of data loss and issues with report
generation. E-logbooks enter data objectively and hence a detailed record of preoperative
assessment, optimization, intra-operative notes and incidents may not be possible. Additionally,
factors to consider in the Indian context may include set up cost, infrastructural issues,
Nevertheless, the benefits of e-logbooks far out-weigh potential issues. Most logbooks are
available on different mobile platforms and a few are free as well. Many apps are now available
covering different sub-specialties within a field. In future, we envision the availability of many
more such apps with better interfaces, customized list generation, better customer care and good
back up options. With a large resident base, provision of affordable customized e-logbooks can
be easily accomplished in Nigeria. In conclusion, there is a serious need to consider, develop and
embrace technology as far as the issue of electronic logbooks for residents is concerned.
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 INTRODUCTION
Systems analysis is the examination of a system into its constituent pieces for the purpose of
studying how those constituent pieces relate and work (Subramanian, 2000). The focus of this
research project and this chapter in particular, is to conduct a system analysis and design on
Electronic logbook. This chapter discusses analysis existing logbook and its limitation. It also
discusses the methodology used, data collection and proposed design system and as will the
database structure.
of determining how to operate it most efficiently. The traditional logbook is a paper logbook
containing various forms and charts. Such forms include the students’ information form, progress
charts and forms for use by the Industrial Training Fund officials. There are additional forms that
are expected to be filled and returned to the school authority for processing and forwarding to the
ITF. The logbook requires the user to write down his daily activity in the industry in which
From the analysis of the current system the following conclusions are drawn:
(II) ITF forms are also given to students and are expected to be filled by both the industry
(III) Difficulties are experienced in getting information about the students’ progress
(IV) It is difficult to keep a logbook safe for the duration of the exercise since it is expected to be
filled daily.
(V) It is difficult to tell if a student is actually doing what he claims to be doing since approval is
strictly restricted to the industry supervisor and there are no regular updates of information
regarding the students. The format for each of the forms and the information they contain is
given below.
Students Particulars
Passport
MATRIC NO…………
1. NAME OF STUDENT……………………………………………………………
2. DEPARTMENT…………………………………………………………………..
3. SCHOOL…………………………………………………………………….……
4. INSTITUTION
5. NAME OF BANK
6. ACCOUNT NUMBER
Figure 3.1 represents the students’ information page. It contains detailed information about the
students that use the logbook. Examples of such information are the students’ name, school etc.
WEEK…………………………
WEEK ENDING……………
MON.
TUE.
WED.
THUR.
Figure 3.2 represents the weekly progress chart. It is the form that the student fills on a daily
Name of official
Signature of official
Date:
For use of institutions supervisor only
General comment…………………………………………………………………………..visit:
Name of supervisor
Signature of supervisor
Date
All entries are expected to be made on a single booklet daily, for the duration of the training
period.
Figure 3.3 represents the ITF form, the form contains information regarding the student’s
relevant experiences as well as the place and period of attachment and bank account details.
The paper logbook has been in use for decades and as expected of every invention, has also
become obsolete as many modern society tends to use more digital technologies that
outperformed their traditional counterparts. Some of the problems associated with the current
1. Durability: Since the current logbook is made of paper, it can easily wear out and get
torn during active usage. Handling/constant usage of a book for six months requires extra care to
Records can be cleaned and rewritten, it is also possible to duplicate logbooks without the
consent of the issuer since there are no special security features in them.
3. Poor filling system: Since every user has his own style of writing, some writings may
4. Poor storing, processing and accessibility of Data: Records of every set are kept which
5. Poor database management: Logbooks may be kept in shelves and may become
of the logbook to act as a guide or bridge between users and knowledge sources, an addition al
function that cannot be performed by paper logbook. Since it is possible to get almost every
information from the internet, electronic logbook can enhance the learning of students and
The limitations of the existing system warrants the study of the possibility of developing a
logbook that will overcome these short comings, and a system that can be extended.
The electronic system will in addition to performing all the functions that are expected of a paper
A bridge between supervisors and interns, thereby saving cost of visits or the lack of it.
3.4 METHODOLOGY
The waterfall model is a sequential design process, used in software development processes, in
which progress is seen as flowing steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of
(I) THE PAPER LOGBOOK: Since the project is a transformation of an existing system into a
new format, the format of the old system was adopted the logbook. All fields that are present in
the paper logbook are also present in the electronic format. The methods of data collection used
(II) OBSERVATION
Due to the importance attached to the need of students and what might possibly complement
their industry experiences, information was gathered about the peculiar need of students which is
a good knowledge source and ability to interact with their supervisors at the course of their
internship.
Information was gathered from e books, journals, publications and articles concerning Electronic
logbooks.
System design is the process of defining the architecture the architecture components, modules,
interfaces and data for a proposed system to satisfy specific requirement. It is the application of
systems theory to product development. There are some overlap with disciplines of system
The physical portion of system design is broken down into three parts:
Data design
Process design
User Interface: This part of the design deals with how users add information to the system and
Data Design: This portion deals with how data are represented and stored within the system.
Process Design: This portion deals with how data moves through the system and how it is
validated, secured, transformed as it flow into through and out of the system.
3.6.1 COMPONENTS OF THE NEW SYSTEM
(1). The user: The users are the actor who perform various roles and interact with each other
and the system. The users include the student, the industry supervisor, the school coordinator,
The student fills both the information form and the weekly progress form. He also fills the ITF
form as appropriate.
The supervisors (Industry and School based supervisors) approves or reject forms and progress
The administrator adds or remove students. He also processes forms where necessary.
The ITF official views completed forms and takes necessary actions
(2).The user interface: The user interface is that part of the logbook that users interact with.
(3). The database: The database contains all the files that have been sent from the user
interfaces. It is the store house of information where every data pertaining to the logbook is sent
and retrieved.
In order to use the logbook, a user needs to be registered. The administrator creates a user ID and
a password to will enable each user to access the pages to which he is entitled. A student can
access the students’ information form, ITF and the weekly progress chart. Other parts that may
be used by the student do not require an account and can be used by anybody. Examples include
links to other pages and a notice board which serves as a point of contact with interns.
Other users also have their pages. Such users include the industry based supervisor who can view
and either accept or reject the students records. If he approves what is filled by the student, the
record becomes accessible to the school supervisor. If the record is rejected, the row is
progress chart and the ITF form. He can modify and append signatures when necessary. He may
The ITF accesses the form submitted by the supervisor and takes appropriate actions as
necessary. Such actions may be printing and documentation, payment of interns etc. Ultimately,
the database plays an important role for the storage of the various files and also retrieving of
5) Approve form
6) Go to step 8
8) End
Student/intern: Figure 3.6 represents the flow chart for the student. Once a student is logged in,
he can fill the students’ information page or the progress chart and he can also access the lesson
Industry supervisor: Figure 3.7 represents the flow chart for the industry supervisor. He can
also approves or reject where necessary. The flow chart is given below.
Flow chart for administrator: The administrator adds and remove user, post announcements,
and view records. The flow chart for the administrator is given in figure 3.9.
Use case diagram is a Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagram that is used to represent how
users will interact with the system. During the construction of the use-case diagram, the designer
makes use of an actor, use cases and relationships. The actor represents the user, use cases are
the actions the actor can perform, and relationship links the actor to the use cases. The following
information form as well as the progress chart. He can fill forms and check notice board.
Use Case for IT Supervisor: The IT supervisor approves or rejects the progress chart that is
submitted by the student. The use case diagram for the IT supervisor is given in figure3.11.
Use Case diagram for School Supervisor: The school supervisor also approves or rejects forms
submitted by the student. He also processes the ITF form. The use case diagram is given in
figure 3.12.
announcements, and process records where necessary. The use case is given in figure 3.13
Entity relationship Diagram is a data model for describing databases in an abstract way.
dependencies of each user and is necessary for normalization. Every member has a one to
many relationship with all the tables in the database. For instance, a student fills one form
at a time, but the form can be filled by many members, i.e., the supervisors and interns.
The database that will be used for the proposed system will be developed using PHP and
The members’ table structure: This table contains the user name, password, login type and a
unique ID. It is the table that determines the page a user can access when he logs in as a
number
about each student. It contains such fields as the matriculation number, year of study, name of
number
number
record of all students. It contains the day to day work experiences and diagrams where
necessary.
number
4.1 INTRODUCTION
component, or other computer system through computer programming and deployment”. (Smith,
2001). This chapter will focuses on the implementation of the electronic logbook for SIWES
PHP was chosen for the design and implementation of some of the components of the Electronic
logbook due to its robust built-in functions that provides the capability of executing commands
that enables interaction with the database, especially in the aspect of posting and retrieving form
details. PHP is object oriented, supports inheritance or usability of codes, it is highly popular and
used in most web application development, well documented and has good support libraries and
it integrates very well with Hypertext Markup language (HTML), the main language for
The front-end of the application (the GUI that the user utilizes to interact with the databases) is
achieved using HTML, CSS and Java Script programming languages. MySQL database engine
was used. It was chosen due to its generality and simplicity compared to others.
more readable. For software implementation the software does not only have to be considered
from the point of view of logistics functionality but from the technical perspective. So if a
company works with old software, it may want to use a new system, which is more efficient and
The implementation of the Electronic Logbook for SIWES was done through the utilization of
both the PHP Rapid Application Development tool and MySQL Database System. CSS and
HTML was also used for the browser side interfaces. PHP was chosen to implement the
programming logic of the system while the WAMP server/MySQL database system provided the
In this section, the Electronic logbook for SIWES user interfaces will be presented along with the
specifications and requirements necessary to run the system in its intended area of application.
the Electronic Logbook System. After the application is launched, the interface in Fig 4.1 is
presented to the user. This interface contains links to other pages which are made available to a
user based on predefined access privileges. Fig 4.1, also contain links to external websites and do
not require any login to use. The Home page contains such links as Home, Login, Logout and
Lesson Area. In other words, this interface, being the main interface, allows users to navigate to
4.3.2 The Login Window: The login window contains a Login form that is made up of two
input fields, the Username field and a Password field. It also contains a Submit button for
submitting user inputs. This page redirects a user to a page that depends on his role in the
ITF official. Logging in any of these name will redirect the user to a page that he is entitled to
4.3.3 The Students’ Page: The students’ page is made up of two important links and a notice
board. One of the links leads to the students information form while the other leads to the weekly
progress chart. On login, the student is given access to the links and he fills and submits the
forms as necessary.
4.3.4 The Student’s information form Page: The student’s information form contains
input fields that enables the student to fill and submit his personal details. It contains such
matriculation number, name of student, course, level, year of graduation, name of industry based
supervisor, etc.
4.3.5 The Progress Chart: The progress chart is one of the most important pages of the
electronic logbook since the student interacts with this part on a regular basis. It contains the
description of work done on each day of the week and a place for attachment of diagrams where
necessary.
submitted by the student. The screen shot in figure 4.6 shows a progress chart of a particular
4.3.7 The Administrators Page: The admin page enables the administrator to add user,
officials when completed. This will enable them to process the necessary information and
4.3.9 The Logout window:This is the window that displays when a session is cancelled.
minimum software and hardware component that it will require in order run. The software and
Software are applications that runs on a system; they can only be seen but not cannot be
2. A web browser
4.5.2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENT
Hardware, in computer world refers to the physical components that make up a computer system,
System testing is the testing of a complete and fully integrated software product. Usually
software is only one element of a larger computer based system. Ultimately, software is
interfaced with other software/hardware systems. System testing involves a series of different
tests whose sole purpose is to exercise the full computer based system.
Unit testing deals with testing a unit as a whole. This would test the interaction of many
functions. This would test the interaction of many functions but confine the test within one unit.
Table 4.1 shows the unit test of the system; i.e. the test data, thee expected result and the actual
result. When a user fills the login form with the correct data, it is expected that the page will be
redirected to another page based on the login type. The result of the test is the redirection of the
Table 4.1 Unit testing. The Test Data, Expected Data, and Actual Result
The Test Data Expected Test Result Actual Test Result
Home Page The page where you can The home page
Login page The page where users are The login page
4.6.2 QUERY SUBSYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION: The following are the result of the
subsystem queries.
Members form: The members’ database holds the username and password of all users of the
logbook. Access is denied or granted based on a match between the user entered values and the
Students’ information Form: The students’ information form table contains all personal
information submitted by the student. Such information include the student’s name,
The Progress chart: The database of the progress chart contains all the daily experiences logged
in by the student.
Fig4.12: The progress chart database.
ITF form: The ITF form is a form that is attached to the logbook and is expected to be filled by
Result: when a students’ completes the student’s registration form, he can view it and get a
During the testing of the proposed system, the following were targeted:
a. The fully integrated software applications including the external computer peripherals
devices, were tested in order to check how components interact with one another and with the
b. Verification through thorough testing of every input in the application to check for
desired outputs.
d. Building of detailed test cases and test suites that test each aspect of the application as
seen from the outside without looking at the actual source code.
Various forms where filled with input data that is compatible with the data type defined in the
database. An example is the students’ information form with input fields like name,
matriculation number, course, etc. and the corresponding inputs as Adakole Emmanuel,
2010/2/36928CT and Computer Science. Incompatible data types were also used to test for
5.1 SUMMARY
The Electronic Logbook system draw inspiration from the traditional paper logbook and is
designed to solve problems that are associated with the traditional logbook. We have in this
project, added some other functions that are leaning related to enable interns have maximum
industrial training experience. We have described and analyzed already existing computer
systems designed to carter for one problem area or the other and have been able to come out with
a system that is adaptable to the Nigerian system. We have also reviewed several literatures
related to the area of Electronic logbook. Ultimately, we applied some of the models to solve the
logbook problems.
5.2 CONCLUSION
From the traditional logbook available to us and the already published papers on the area of
otherwise called the Electronic logbook. The software was able to perform the main functions
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
The development of any software is not a one-time affair, the reason being that challenges are
bound to occur as humans evolves. Efficient result can only be obtained if the logbook is used
efficiently and also upgraded when the need arise, therefore it is necessary therefore to make
1. It is recommended that the system be adopted since it will save cost and boost the
2. The system may be upgraded to suit other needs of the university community, especially
as it regards internship
3. The ITF should adapt the electronic method since ITF forms pass from hand to hand
Mikael B (2008). Usability Study of Shift Logbooks In Physics Experiments at CERN. A master’s
Multimedia Laboratory.
Implementation of an electronic logbook for intensive care units. Proc AMIA Symp.
Herman S and Ushma J S (2013) Electronic logbooks for residents: A step forward. Indian J
PMCID: PMC3696281
olubodum Olufemi(2012)logbook for Industrial Supervision and Training-a look at paper and
digital logbooks. Instructor, writer, course developer, and technologists at the University
http://www.slideshare.net/ojolubodun/logbook-for-industrial-supervision-and-training-2
Nigel Malcom (2013) A critical analysis of the LOGIT vehicle logbook. 93(1) 28-29
Research and innovation (2006): A new world order: possibilities in electronic logbook pg 6-7
APPENDIX
id="login-header">Update Records</div></th><tr><td><form
FORM"></form></td></tr></table><table><tr><td><form
<?php include('include/banner.php');?>
</head>
<body><div id="wrapper"><hr>
</div>
<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","root","");
if (!$con)
mysql_select_db("e_logbook", $con);
progress_chart.student_id = members.id");
<tr>
<th>NAME</th><th>WEEK</th><th>WEEK_ENDING</th><th>MON</th><th>TUE</
th><th>WED</th><th>THUR</th><th>FRI</th><th>SAT</
th><th>ATTACHMENT</th><th>ACTION</th><th>Response</th>
</tr>"; ?>
<?php while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)): ?>
<tr>
</td>
include('include/footter.php');?></html>
</body>
<?php include('include/banner.php');?>
USER"></td></tr></form><formaction="remove_user.php"method="post"><tr><td><i
</div>
<div class="clear-float"></div><hr>
<?php include('include/footter.php');?>
</body>
</html>
4.2.5 The supervisors’ page 41
5.1 Summary 49
5.2 Conclusion 49
5.3 Recommendation 49
REFFERENCES 51
APPENDIX 52
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE