Design questions about a possible project.
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:25 am
During my employment at a hardware outlet i was tasked with creating a repair ticketing system. Basically it was used by the in house engineers to create job numbers to attach to systems with all related problems and to periodically add notes to the system in question. It worked really well compared with the excel spreadsheet they were using before Shocked
Im looking to start this project again from scratch (having finally found my old source code and declaring it useless) and was looking for other similar projects people have used and there respective shortfalls. Im looking for tips on how things should be done, what functionality is required and most importantly what design issues will i face on this potentially ever expanding system ?
Heres a quick guide to the previous system:
Customers system is logged into the system and noted what its in for and a job number created.
2 printouts are created one with disclaimers for the customer and another for in house use to attach to the system, both created my FPDF(relying on a PDF viewer a bad idea ?)
The 'ticket' then has notes added to it during the period it is with us (so other engineers can read the notes and progress).
The customer collects the system and the job is removed from the system and payment taken (using another till system).
Those were the basics behind the system with more functions added later:
Serial number logging of parts (when a system requires a new part add that part to the ticket and cost and any relevant codes for that product).
System build(with ability to select 'standard' builds) again noting all parts and number with serial given to each system (to find part information and track issues).
Various customer and product counters (whats the most popular product, who uses our service the most )
Email and snail mail advertising (again using FPDF to print labels onto avery labels).
Im unsure as to what approach to take . Do i recreate the system and have no option to remove features you don't want/need. Do i create a modular system (so that others can add needed functionality by themselves ?) and create a bare bones system and offer 'modules' ? What would be an effective way to use 'modules' ? Can the admin panel change various options (does the user need to log serial numbers ? ) on the system? Do i create a general 'all-purpose' booking system that others can create modules for (hotel bookings,library rooms etc) and what issues will i face doing so ?
Im tempted to do an all purpose booking solution with options of what you need to log(could potentially be used as a bug reporting tools assuming people are given anonymous access). Any ideas/examples or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Im looking to start this project again from scratch (having finally found my old source code and declaring it useless) and was looking for other similar projects people have used and there respective shortfalls. Im looking for tips on how things should be done, what functionality is required and most importantly what design issues will i face on this potentially ever expanding system ?
Heres a quick guide to the previous system:
Customers system is logged into the system and noted what its in for and a job number created.
2 printouts are created one with disclaimers for the customer and another for in house use to attach to the system, both created my FPDF(relying on a PDF viewer a bad idea ?)
The 'ticket' then has notes added to it during the period it is with us (so other engineers can read the notes and progress).
The customer collects the system and the job is removed from the system and payment taken (using another till system).
Those were the basics behind the system with more functions added later:
Serial number logging of parts (when a system requires a new part add that part to the ticket and cost and any relevant codes for that product).
System build(with ability to select 'standard' builds) again noting all parts and number with serial given to each system (to find part information and track issues).
Various customer and product counters (whats the most popular product, who uses our service the most )
Email and snail mail advertising (again using FPDF to print labels onto avery labels).
Im unsure as to what approach to take . Do i recreate the system and have no option to remove features you don't want/need. Do i create a modular system (so that others can add needed functionality by themselves ?) and create a bare bones system and offer 'modules' ? What would be an effective way to use 'modules' ? Can the admin panel change various options (does the user need to log serial numbers ? ) on the system? Do i create a general 'all-purpose' booking system that others can create modules for (hotel bookings,library rooms etc) and what issues will i face doing so ?
Im tempted to do an all purpose booking solution with options of what you need to log(could potentially be used as a bug reporting tools assuming people are given anonymous access). Any ideas/examples or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.