FCE165/FGE177 ADDITIONAL NOTES

 COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND ORGANIZATION

 A system is set of interrelated components that work

together for a common goal.
 Computer Organization-It refers to the operational
units and their interconnections that realize the
architectural specifications.

 Example Of Organizational attributes include:

Those hardware details transparent to the programmer,
such as control signals, interfaces between the computer
and peripherals, and the memory technology used.
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 Computer Architecture
2

 It refers to those attributes of a system visible to a

programmer, or Those attributes that have a direct impact
on the logical execution of a program.
 Examples of architectural attributes include:
 The instruction set, the number of bits used to represent
various data types (e.g., numbers, characters), I/O
mechanisms, and techniques for addressing memory.

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 ……..
3

 As an example, it is an architectural design issue whether a

computer will have a multiply instruction.
 It is an organizational issue whether that instruction will be
implemented by a special multiply unit or by a mechanism
that makes repeated use of the add unit of the system.
 The organizational decision may be based on the
anticipated frequency of use of the multiply instruction, the
relative speed of the two approaches, and the cost and
physical size of a special multiply unit.

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 What is a Computer ?
 Is an electronic device that accepts data from the user
and executes this the program (data +instructions )
without human intervention giving out the information.
• Is a device that processes data to produce information.
• A tool that makes work easier.
• A computer is a data-processing tool.
 What is data?
• Raw facts.
 What is processing?
• Manipulations or calculations, storage
and retrieval of data/information.
Processing is done in efficient and fast way.

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 A computer is made up of
Hardware - the actual physical
equipment
Hardware has five distinct
components
Software -a collection of programs
(computer instructions) which allow
the hardware to function.
There are two types of software.

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 Introduction to Computers
Hardware components
CPU – the brain of the computer, the CPU (central processing unit)
performs all the instructions
Primary Storage – also known as Main Memory, used by the computer to
store information and instructions while the machine is operating.
Secondary Storage –used by the computer to store information long term.
Powering off a computer does not affect data in Secondary storage.
Example hard drive
Input Devices –allow users to enter data into the computer. The most
common are a keyboard and mouse
Output Devices – output devices allow computer to pass information to the
user. Common ones include the printer and monitor.

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 TYPES OF COMPUTER
The following three criteria may be used to
classify computers:

1. Physical Size
2. Nature of data handled/ fuctional
3. Manufacturer????

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 CLASSFICATION ACCORDING TO
SIZE
1. Size

Computer systems can be classified

according to their sizes as
- Super computers
- Mainframe computers
- Minicomputers
- Microcomputers=(Laptops,
Notebooks and Palmtops)

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Supercomputers
 most powerful, expensive, faster, special room, huge
processing power, huge storage,
 Complex scientific applications like weather-forecasting
require a large amount of data to be manipulated within
a very short time.

 Supercomputers use multiple processors, parallel

processing ,multiprogramming possible, With multiple
processors, a single task is split among the processors for
faster
execution .used in developed
countries=USA,JAPAN=nuclear physics

Examples: IBM, INTEL,FUJITSU, CRAY T3D & NEC-

500

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 Mainframe Computers

 The earliest computers were called mainframes

due to their large sizes.
 Mainframes are very large computers with a
very high capacity of main storage.
 Mainframes are very fast in processing large
amounts of data and are therefore used by
companies, banks and government
departments.

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  They are housed under special conditions
e.g. air-conditioned rooms.

 Can be linked into a network with smaller

departmental computers, microcomputers or with
each other.
 They canalso act as nodes of large international
communication networks e.g. Internet.

 In addition they have enormous storage

Capacity=IBM4381,ICL39

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Minicomputers
 The minicomputers is physically smaller than a
mainframe. Expensive than micro, multiusers,
multiterminal( time sharing system)
 They have the same basic structure as
mainframes and support the same peripheral
devices.(kybd,monitor,mouse,printer)
 All other characteristics of the mainframe hold
true for minicomputers.
 The difference lie in the fact that in the former, the
parameters are more pronounced i.e. are of higher
magnitudes.
Have many uses in business and commerce,=

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Microcomputers
:PC(DESKTOP,TOWER)
Laptops, Notebooks/Palmtops
 Smallest, less expensive ,less power ,
less spaces(memory),single user,
 The expandability and the number of
peripheral devices supported by the
laptops and notebooks is also limited.

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2. Nature of data handled

a) Analogue computers

An analogue device is one in which data

is represented by physical variables are measure in
continuous forms.

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b) Digital computers

Represent data in discrete form. Use a

combination of say ‘on’ or
‘of’ of ‘1’ and ‘0’ to represent data.
Our focus will be on digital computers.

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c) Hybrid computers

Combine features of analogue and digital

computers.

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3. Manufacturer

Computers can be classified in terms of

companies that manufacture
them as IBM, Olivetti, Compaq, Packard
Bell, Macintosh.

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 20

 Computer =device
 Computer system=h/w,s/w and liveware
 ???
h/w,s/w,liveware,firmware,wetware,grayware,share
ware,malware,freeware???

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 ORGANISATION OF
CONVERSION OF DATA
The computer only identifies signals
(electrical pulses energy) in form of digital
pulses which represent either a high
voltage stage (‘on’) or low voltage stage (“off”).
The ‘ON’ and ’OFF’ conditions are assigned the
numbers 0& 1 to correspond to base 2 by
consequence the binary number system. A decimal
number 2 can be assigned the bits 10. In short
form

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HOW DOES A COMPUTER ACHIEVE THESE OBJECTIVES?

• (Functions and operations of a computer)

For a computer to achieve all these, it must be
able to organize information, input it to processor,
process it, store it and output
the results.
• It must therefore have the following:
- Input device
- Processor
- memory
- output device
- Interfaces
- Software
- Secondary mem
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 NEXT>>>>

 The structure of a Computer

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 The structure of a Computer
Instruction
memory Instruction CPU
interpreter

arithmetic &
data
logic functions
memory

I/O subsystem

External External
input data results

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 CPU internal organization
Register
file

ALU
Control
unit A B

Internal bus

IR PC MAR MDR

Memory

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 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

There are four major functional elements of

a microprocessor/CPU namely:
 The Control Unit (CU),
 The Arithmetic and Logic (ALU),
 Registers and

 Channels (buses)

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 1. CONTROL UNIT (CU)

The CU (or ‘brain’) controls the entire

operation of a microprocessor system.
It provides synchronization and sequencing
of operations necessary to ensure the
correct execution of programs.
Synchronization-Accommodation
Sequencing-in order
It uses a clock to signal (electronic pulses)
each processor component when its cycle
work is to begin and end.

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To execute an instruction the CU goes through the
following sequence:

- Retrieves and instruction from the main memory

- Determines the action being requested for by the
instruction
- Retrieves appropriate data from the memory (if
required
- Directs the appropriate processor component to
perform operation indicated by the instruction
- Determines if the operation was completed
properly
- Stores the results of operation in memory
- Determines the location in memory for the next
instruction to be retrieved.
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 There are three cycles during which a CU
must perform the above seven operations:

a) Fetch cycle:
Fetches the next instruction.

a) Execute cycle:
Execute the instruction

a) Memory cycle:
Copy data into and out of memory

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 2. ARITHMETIC AND LOGIC UNIT (ALU)
• It is an electronic device with built-in logic for
executing basic arithmetic operations and logic
functions.

• ALU is a ‘hard-wired’ device i.e. the logic is built-

in during manufacturing process.

• The ALU is implemented with logic gates,

Arithmetic circuits (e.g. adder) and logic circuits
that can perform specific logic operations on
data.

• It is directed by CU.
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 3. CHANNELS-(INTERCONNECTION STRUCTURES)

Channels are a collection of paths which

connect the various computer components.
Channels connect CPU to I/O devices and
secondary storage devices.

Peripheral devices are connected to

channels through ports (one path way). Each
port has a unique address or identification.

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• The channels must support the following types of
transfers:

- Memory to CPU and CPU to memory

- I/O to CPU and CPU to I/O
- I/O to and from memory

The most common interconnection structure is the

Bus interconnection. There are three types of
buses:

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a) Data Bus:

It consists of 8,16 or 32 separate lines.

These are bi-directional. The data bus
determines the width of a microprocessor.

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b) Address Bus:

These are uni-directional buses from the

processor to external devices.
It is used for designating the source or
destination of data in the data bus.

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c) Control Bus:

Are uni-directional buses that carry command

signals from the processor. The command for
printer for example, to prepare to receive data, is
a control signal from the processor.

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 4. REGISTERS

Registers are memory devices used to hold

data and instructions temporarily during ALU
operations.

Examples of Registers:

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a]Memory Data Register (MDR)

They contain data to be stored in memory or

data retrieved from memory.

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b] Memory Address Register (MAR)

Specifies addresses in memory of data to be

written/read into from MDR.

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C] Instruction register (IR)

Specifies the n-bit opcode instruction being

executed.

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d)Accumulator Register (AR)

Employed to temporarily hold the operands and

the results of ALU operations.

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e) Program Counter (PC)

Contains the address of the next instruction pair to

be fetched from memory

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 COMPUTER MEMORY

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 Memory
 Data in memory is stored as binary digits (BITS)
e.g. 011100101010

 1 BYTE = 8 bits
 Nibble is 4bits

 1 byte usually stores 1 text character.

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 We measure the size of memory by telling how
many bytes it can hold.

1 kilobyte = 210 bytes = 1024 bytes

1 megabyte = 220 bytes = ~1 million bytes
1 gigabyte = 230 bytes = ~1 billion bytes
1 terabyte = 240 bytes = ~1 trillion bytes

One megabyte can hold approximately 500 pages of text

information.[expect a question from this slide]
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 Typical memory hierarchy
numbers shown are rough approximations

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 MEMORY

• There are two types of computer

memory:

- Main memory and

- Backing storage

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 MAIN MEMORY

The main memory is used to:

[Link] data awaiting processing/outputting
2. Hold data and instructions between ALU
operations
[Link] temporarily store data being
transferred to and from I/O devices
4. To hold data and instructions being
moved to and from ………… storage
 Fast access, low capacity, high cost

Types of main memory:

- RAM – Random Access Memory and
- ROM – Read Only Memory
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 RAM-Random Access Memory
 Random access=any area can be accessed equally
at same amount of time
 Large in computer
 64KB,128MB,256MB,512MB,1GB etc
 1KB=1024 BYTES.
 It is used to store data and programs.
 It is possible to write to and read from RAM i.e.
 its contents can be altered(its volatile)
 Ie when power is off data lost
 RAM can be increased in size by additional chips to
the computer.

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 TYPES OF RAM
1. STATIC RAM-flip-flop=contents stable as long as
power is available
2. DYNAMIC RAM-charge, need frequent
refreshing to maintain charge higher density than
static, less expensive than S-RAM, need extra cct
for refreshing

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 ROM-READ ONLY MEMORY
 It holds data and instructions which are executed
when the computer is switched on (BIOS-for
booting)
 Contents cannot be altered read only/permanent]
 Information fro manufacturer
 Non volatile
 Can be read BUT NOT re-written

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 Other types of ROM
a) PROM-Programmable ROM
This is the memory that can be written onto
only once and can be used in microprocessor-
based applications: Video tapes, measuring
scales (beam balances)

b)EPROM-Erasable PROM
It is programmable over and over by
ROM programmer devices.
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Types of ROM –To explain in class
 EAPROM?????
 EEPROM?????
 Flash-ROM

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 Special purpose memories
 Buffer-i/o temporary btn communications devices
 Cache memory=high speed, SRAM
 Register like accumulators, IR, AD ,SR>>>>refer
notes

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 BACKING STORAGE
It is used to store data and instructions not needed
for immediate processing. It is much slower to
retrieve data from backing storage compared to
main/primary storage.
It is less expensive than main memory i.e. to store
a character. They are therefore ideal for longer
storage.
There4 :non-volatile, mass storage, reusability
Can be :fixed or removable
Devices used for backing storage.
1. Magnetic tape
2. Magnetic Disc
3. Optical storage etc
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 1. Magnetic Disc

It is a direct access device

It is divided into concentric areas called tracks.
Each track is further sub-divided into wedge-
shaped areas called sectors.
If information is being retrieved, the read write
goes to a particular track and sector.

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 [Link] tapes
 Like music cassette
 Sequentially accessed
 Portable, cheap, reusable, high capacity
 Slow access [sequential], damaged easily [dust,
heat, touch]

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 Types of Magnetic Discs
- Floppy Disc – 3.5”, 5.25” or 8.25” discs
- Zip disk, jaz disk
- Winchester [Hard Disk ]– Permanently fixed on
microcomputers>>>> refer notes
- Exchangeable Hard Disc – Used on mainframes
and can be removed

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 Floppy
 Cheap, small, portable
 Short life, slow, limited storage, damaged easily.

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 HD [read more on slides given]
 Cheap, reliable, longer, capacity is more, faster
 Head crash, fixed, sensitive to: dust, magnets,
humidity

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 3. Optical Storage
Two types of optical discs

CD ROM-Compact Disc ROM

A Read-Only Technology introduced in 1990’s.
Is similar in principle to compact discs used for
Audio-recording.

WORM-Write Once Read Many Times’

It is more advanced then CD ROM. It is an
alloy discs covered on both sides by plastic. A
laser burnt holds in the plastic and absence or
presence of burnt bits indicate the presence or
otherwise of binary digits, bits.
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 Flash disk
 Most current
 Massive storages areas
 Reliable
 Portable
 Smaller size
 MB,GB sizes

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 INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O) DEVICES

The Input/Output Devices are used for

getting information into and out of a
computer.

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 1. Input Devices

An input device has two tasks to perform,

read data from the medium from which it is
stored, and to encode it into a suitable form.
 Keying devices
 Pointing devices
 Scanning devices
 Other technologies

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 The Keyboard=type data into computer
 Mouse=enter and issue instructions/commands
 Light pens=hand held pen. has light sensitive point
 Joystick
 Stylus=for PDAs
 Scanners=Optical and magnetic scanners
 Point-of-sale (POS) terminals
 Bar code readers
 Track ball=sphere rotate to control cursor position
 Credit cards
 Digital devices eg touch screen, digital cameras,
digitizers
 Kimball Tag
 Optical Mark readers (OMR)
 Optical Character Reader (OCR)
 Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR)
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 The Keyboard-pg24 F1
• QWERTY keyboard layout
• Type data to computer
• Resemble typewriter
• Approx 105 keys i.e
1. Functional keys F1,F2,F3……
2. Cursor position keys and exit keys
3. Numeric keys 0……9
4. Alphanumeric keys-for normal operation
5. Special keys-caps lock, shift ,alt,ctrl,ESC etc

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 66

 Traditional keyboards-rigid
 Flexible keyboards-portable/folded
 Ergonomic keyboard-comfort/alleviate wrist strain
 Keypad-miniature used on PDAs,laptops,cellphones
 Braille keyboards=for blind

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 MOUSE
• Manually operated user selection equipment.
• 2-3 buttons
• LEFT=to enter
• RIGHT=to escape
• Click of either =equivalent of keyboard.
• Popular with GUI
• To issue commands/instructions
• Input data

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 68

 Standard/traditional-ball underneath+3buttons
 Optical-no moving parts,uses tiny digital
camera,takes 1500pictures/s
 Cordless mouse/wireless=battery powerd,used
radion/infrared waves
 Trackball=like traditional mouse but ball at top

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 Joystick=playing computer games

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 Light pen/stylus
 Light pen= light
 Stylus=on PDAs

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 71

 Digitizers/graphic tablet=to draw image using a

[Link] does not appear on tablet but on comp
screen. For tracing highly detailed engineering/arch
drawing/designs
 Digital camera
 Touch screen=PDAs
 Voice input=ahead

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 Bar code
 Supermarket
 Universal product code (UPC)
 Bars scanned by laser beam
 Details captured
 Updated

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 POS
 Numeric keypad +few control+fuctional
 In supermarkets
 Credit card, kimball tag, bar code attached to POS
to reduce data entry

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 Credit card
 ATM
 Has strip of magnetic tape+coded information
 Inserted
 Magnetic data picked
 Details recorded
 Account updated accordingly

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 scanner
• Convert data to digital
• Text
• Graphic
• Images
• For large amount of documents need to be converted to
electronic.
• Eg bible contents

• Optical and magnetic scanners

• Optical scanners =use light =eg OCR,OBR,OMR
• Magnetic scanners =use magnetic ink=eg
MICR,MAGNETIC STRIPE RECOGNITION

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 OMR
 Use mark sensing to scan and translate marks
 Detect presence or absence of a mark on a paper
 Light shown and reflected=infrared beam
 Exam marking=KCPE, research questionnaire
,traffic survey, payroll data entry,lottery tickets to
select correct no combinations
 Avoid spurious marks, folds

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 OMR ADVANTAGES
• Error free [low]
• Data capture at source hence minimize manual
work
• Conspicuous error noted easily
DISADVANTAGES
• Relatively slow
• Not widely used in business
• Verification of marked data is difficult

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 OCR=eg flat-bed
• Detect mark, recognize its shape, Identify
characters=pictures +real objects
• Reflected light based on shape of character
• Can detect minor differences
• Machine to print xters for accuracy
• 1500 xters per sec
• Used to process turnaround documents produced
as output and reused as input to computers=KPLC
bill
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 OBR
79

 Barcodes/ UPC
 UPC=manufa details,country,prod code
 Not price=keeps changing

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 MICR
• Detect xters of magnetic ink
• Use special ink to print xters
• The read and decoded by special devices
• In banks to process cheques=cheque no. bank no. acc
no branch no are printed in with ink of iron oxide
• Written ink by bank (where to fill)
• Passed over a magnetizing coil to magnetize the ink
• The over head .
• 2500 cheques per min [in banks to read cheque,credit
card]

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 MICR ADVANTAGES
• Fast
• Accurate
• Automatic
• Both machine and human readable
• Reduce forgery [hard to forge]
• DISADVANTAGES
• Only 14 xters limit
• Easily damaged due depend on magnetism

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 Magnetic stripe recognition
 Thin magnetic tape
 Found on back of a plastic card eg ATM card
 Magnetic stripe is to recognize data in such card

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 Advantages of MSR
• Simple to produce
• Not easily damaged
• Store large numbers of xters
DISADVANTAGES
• Data can be changed or erased by magnetic field
APPLICATIONS
• Credit cards
• Bank cards
• As a phone card
• As tags on clothes

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 Speech recognition devices
• Use microphone
• ADVANTAGES
• Very fast
• Can be used in remote via telephone
• DISADVANTAGES
• Homophones [some words sound same]
• Recognition is slow
• Limited vocabularies
• Background noise
• Speaker variability

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 APPLICATION OF SPEECH DEVICES
 Security and access control
 Voice activated toys and sensors
 Automated material handling/controlling in
buildings, airport
 Speech input to order robots

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 Factors when choosing input devices
 Cost
 Volume
 Accuracy
 Reliability
 Mode of operation
 Appropriateness

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 2. Output Devices
The use of output devices is to provide the
user with the results from the computer. The
common output devices used today are:
- Visual Display Units (VDUs) – for softcopy
output
- Printers-Produce Hardcopy Output
- Plotters

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 Output devices
1. PRINTERS
For hard copy (printout)
 Character printer/dot matrix-low speed, mimic the typewriter
when printing (one xter at a time), noisiness, no picture
support), low quality, cheap to buy.

2 .visual Display units (VDU)

for soft copy
 Cathode ray tube (monitor)-heavy, bulky but excellent
resolution and low cost
 Liquid crystal display LCD –thin film transistor, smaller,
lighter, low quality vs monitor, less space.

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 PRINTERS
 Hard copy
 Categorized based on speed =line printers, page
printers
 and how they print xters=impact and non-impact
printers

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 Factors in choosing printers
 Capital cost
 Maintenance cost
 Work to do=volume of printing
 Nature of reports needed
 Speed
 Quality of print

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 Impact
 Slow
 Use ink ribbons
 Inexpensive
 Noisy
 Examples :dot matrix, daisy wheel, drum printer,
chain printer, golf ball printer

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 Non impact
 Faster
 Use thermal or electrostatic
 Costly
 Quiet
 examples: thermal, inkjet, electrostatic, laser

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 Laser printer
 Replaces dot matrix
 Just like photocopier
 Use laser beam
 Build entire image in RAM be4 starting to print
 Have their own RAM and processor for synchronizing the
computer speed
 High quality output
 Quiet in operation
 Much faster
 32ppm
 Color printer are expensive

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 Ink jet printers/bubble jet

 Print digitized images

 Very quiet
 Replaces dot matrix
 Squirting tiny amount of liquid ink via nozzles
 Good print quality than dot
 Slow
 Ink can smudge
 Colors prints

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 VDU
 Display information
 User can monitor work progress
 Soft copy
 Types=monochrome and colour monitors

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 Types of VDU
1. CRT=Bulky [not portable], inexpensive, a lot of
power consumed
2. FLAT PANEL DISPLAYS=LCD,TFT
 TFT has high quality [text and graphics]
 LCD=tiny liquid crystals
 Others are gas plasma, electronic luminescent

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 Video card/graphic adapter
 Circuit board that connects monitor to a computer
for computer too show images and text on screen
 Eg are :MDA,HGC,CGA.

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 ADVANATGES OF VDU
 Paperless
 User can monitor work progress
 DISA
 Consume more power
 Soft copy
 People can see your work
 Affects eyes

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 [Link]
 Hard copy
 Special printer for large architectural or
engineering drawings printing
 Use pens to plot
 A1 papers
>>>>>>> students to name other output devices

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 Types of plotters
 Flat bed
 drum

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 Computer output on microform
 COM
 Images and text on photographic film to be viewed
later on microfilm reader
 Types are: microfilm, microfiche

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 Applications
 Libraries for book catalogues
 Companies to store personal and customers
records

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 Advantages
• Faster than printing
• Saves space and stationary
• Portable
• Security [need machine to read not naked eyes]
• Larger lifespan
• DISA
• Expensive
• Eye strain
• Need machines to read [extra expenses]

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 Sound output
 Learning aids
 Lifts
 Emergency messages
 For blind

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 NEXT
 COMPUTER SOFTWARE

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Abstract View of System Components

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A computer system showing:-hardware, system
programs and application programs.

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 COMPUTER SOFTWARE
 This is a complete range of computer programs
that convert a general purpose computer system
into one capable of performing a multiple of
specific functions.
 The S/W are flexible and changeable.

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 SOFTWARE (S/W)
Computer Software is broadly divided into two
categories:
1. Systems SW=OS,NOS,BIOS,UTILITY SW
2. Application SW=ms word, dbase,
spreadsheet, auto CAD, PageMaker

UTILITYSW =calculator, time, calendar,

backup, text editor, sort editor, translator,
setting editor, anti-virus etc

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 A. System Software
• Which manages the operation of computer itself.
This consists of:-
1. Operating Systems,
2. Assemblers,
3. Compilers, and
4. System Utilities

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 B. Applications Software
 Which handles end-user’s needs.
 This can be:-
 off-shelf packages and
 In-house developed programs.

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 TYPES OF APPLICATION S/W
1. Special-purpose applications=these are
customized programs written by the user or a
software house under contract to perform a
specific job.

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 TYPES OF APPLICATION S/W
2. General purpose application=these are prewritten
programs purchased “off-the-shelf” by the user.
• They are:-
• word processors,
• spreadsheets,
• databases, and
• graphic packages.

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 General purpose application
 Advantages :-
 Low price since sold in large numbers
 For large variety of applications
 Easy to use hence suitable for all category of pple.
 Provided with manuals and documentation

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 General purpose application
 Disadvantages:-
 If not used frequently one can forget commands
 Can not solve advanced cases
 Database, spreadsheet still requires know how

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 Operating Systems (OS)
An operating system’s job is to manage computer
resources (memory, files, I/O devices and
processor). It
- Allocates a resource to a request or job
- Reclaims a resource once it is freed from the
current process.
- Keeps track of a resource
- Enforces a policy on who or which job should get
what resource
OS also acts as an interface between a user and
computer hardware.
• Examples: MS-DOS, WINDOWS, UNIX, NOVELL
NETWARE
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 OS
 Job scheduling
 Resource control
 Memory management
 Error handling
 Interrupt handling
 i/o handling

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 Types of OS
 SINGLE USERS=ms DOS,WINDOWS2000,2007
 MULIT-USERSUNIX,NOVEL
 SINGLE –TASKING=MS DOS
 MULTITHREADING=XP,VISTA

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 IN CHOOSING OS
 Cost
 Availability
 User friendly
 Purpose
 HW configuration

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 Use of OS to manage disk
 Formatting
 Disk defragmentation
 Disk portioning
 Backing up data
 Scanning virus
 Scanning storage devices

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 Use of OS in managing files/folders
 Renaming files/folders
 Sorting files/folders
 Moving files/folders
 Searching files/folders
 Copying files/folders

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 Application Software Packages
1. Off-the-shelf/standard
These are ready-made programs. Are
pre-developed programs available at vendor
shops for immediate use.

• Categories of these packages include:

- Word processors and Text processors
- Spreadsheets
- Database management systems
- Desk-top publishing packages and
Presentation graphics packages
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 Off self
• Easily installed and run
• Few errors [well tested]
• Readily available
• Less expensive
• May not meet special needs
• May not be compatible
• May not be user friendly
• Incase of change costly

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 2. In-house
Also called bespoke
Are those that are designed, developed and
customized using some appropriate
programming languages to meet specific
user requirements.>>in banks airlines

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 word processor
• Is tool that you use for producing documents like:-
 Business and general correspondence
 CV/resume
 Research papers legal documents
 Weekly newsletters

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 Features: word processor
1. Word-processors and Text processors
- Availability of different fonts, character sizes
and styles (e.g. bold, italic, etc).
- Text Editing features such as Copy and
Paste, Find, Search and Replace etc.
- Text and page formatting features e.g.
justification, indentation
- Printing features
- Spell-checkers, Thesaurus and Bookmarks

• Popular word processors include Word Perfect and

Ms-Word.
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 word processor
 Class state the advantages of word processor over
type- writer????????

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 Spreadsheets
 A worksheet is a tool that is used for maintaining
predominantly numeric data in tabular form
simplifying numerous calculations and presenting
data graphically.

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 3. Spreadsheets
• Common features:
- The ability to create, edit, save and retrieve
worksheets
- Built-in functions and formulae for adding,
multiplication, basic statistical functions (e.g.
Minimize, maximize average)
- Data sorting and filtering capability
- Printing of entire or portions of worksheets
- Charting facility to draw line graphs, bar
charts, pie charts etc

• Examples: Lotus 1-2-3, Ms-Excel, Quattro Pro

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 Spreadsheets
• Areas of applications include:-
 Company sales report showing the sales for each
item over a given period of time
 Employees payroll preparations
 Students progress reports
 Personal expenses
 Mortgage repayment
 etc

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 Spreadsheets
 Learners to name at least 5 advantages of
Spreadsheets.

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 3. Database Management Systems
Efficiently store information in an ordered
manner for timely and quick retrieval.

• Examples-Access, Dbase, FoxPro

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 Ms-Access
 Is a database tool used to store, maintain and use a
collection of information that is organized to serve
a specific purpose.

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 Ms-Access
 Areas :-
 Employee personal information
 Patient information in hospital
 Flight information
 Customer details
 Students details
 etc

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 Ms-Access
 Benefits of Ms-Access
 Fast retrieval of information
 Easy to maintain accurate and up to-date data
 Easy to analyze and make summary reports
 Easy to protect data from unauthorized personnel.

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 When selecting H/W
 Portability
 Warranty
 Cost
 User needs
 Compatibility
 Upgrading
 Speed
 Storage capacity

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 When selecting S/W
 User needs
 Documentation
 Authenticity
 Cost portability
 User friendly

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