Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Overview

 Introduction to Decision Support Systems

 Building a Web-Enabled Decision Support System

 Integrating DSS in Business Curriculum

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Decision Support Systems (DSS)

 A decision support system is an information
system that assists the user in decision-making.

Knowledge Model Base

Database
Base

GUI

User

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Developing Interactive Systems

 Practical decision making requires developing

man-machine interactive systems.

Input Output,
The Model
Data Reports

User Interface,
Re-optimization

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Importance of DSS Development Skills

 Help us package models and algorithms.

 Combine modeling with human experience

 Highly desirable for consulting jobs for students

 Useful for academics to get industry grants

 New consulting opportunities for faculty

members

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

DSS Development Process

 Data Storage Mechanism
 MS Excel, Lotus 123
 MS Access, Oracle, MS SQL Server, Dbase

 Data Manipulation
 Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
 Visual Basic .NET (VB .NET)
 Java, C/C++

 Data Presentation
 VBA, VB .NET, MS Access, ASP .NET
 Java Applets

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Two Common Ways to Develop DSS

 Spreadsheet-Based Decision Support
Systems
 Spreadsheets
 Excel features
 VBA for Excel

 Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

 Databases
 Microsoft Access
 VB .NET
 ASP .NET
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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Overview
 Introduction to Decision Support Systems

 Building a Web-Enabled DSS

 Integrating DSS in the Business Curriculum

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Components of a Web-Enabled DSS

Users
 Databases
Database
Applicatio
 Database Management System n

(Access DBMS)
DBMS

 Developing GUI

Database
 Web-Enabling the Application

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Data Modeling

 Systematically converts E-R Diagram into Relations

Company
Name
DateAdded Symbol Type
PID

PORTFOLIO Has STOCK Object Data Model

Quantity

Portfolio
PID Name DateAdded

Portfolio
Details
Relational Data
PID Symbol Quantity Model
Stock
Symbol Company Type

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Access DBMS: Developing Environment

 Access Environment: Facilitates development process.

Toolbar
Main Menu
Database
Object Window
Bar

Table
Objects

Database
View

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Tables and Relationships

 Tables: Stores data

 Relationships Window: Relates data
Database Tables

Attributes

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Queries
 Queries: Processes data

Table
Pane
Design
Grid

Query
Output

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Data Manipulation using SQL

 Structured Query Language (SQL) is the most

powerful and commonly used query language.

Sample SQL Command:

SELECT PorfolioID, Name, Type

FROM tblPortfolio
WHERE Type Like “Auto*” OR Like “Insurance*”

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Components of a Web-Enabled DSS

Users
 Databases
Database
 Database Management System Applicatio
n
(DBMS)

DBMS
 Developing GUI
(VB .NET)
Database
 Web-Enabling the Application
(ASP .NET)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

What is .NET ?

 .NET is a set of Microsoft software

technologies for connecting information,
people, systems, and devices.
 .NET Framework is a
common layer
between .NET
. Net Applications applications and
VC++ VB C# Other Windows OS.
Other Components .NET
Class Library Frame
work
Common Language Runtime (CLR)
Windows Operating System  .NET Applications are
VB / VC++ / C#
programs written on
.NET Framework.
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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

VB .NET Developing Environment

 Visual Studio .NET is the Interactive Development
Environment (IDE) for .NET applications.

Design
Window

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Exploring VS .NET IDE Features …

 Create new/open existing

projects. (Open the existing
portfolio application.)

 Solution explorer lists all

the files for the current
solution. (Double click
‘[Link]’ file to view
its design.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Exploring VS .NET ID Features (Contd…)

 Design Window is the

actual work place; displays
form design and VB .NET
code. (Double click
anywhere on this form to
open its code window.)

 ToolBox is a gazette of
controls: forms building
blocks. (Add a button
and label controls to the
form.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Exploring VS .NET ID Features (Contd…)

 Properties Window sets

properties for controls and in
a way their appearance and
behavior. (Set Name, Text,
Font, Back Color properties
on these controls.)

 Menu bar and Toolbars are

handy for supporting
operations like save, run,
add items. (Save the project
and run the application.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

VB .NET Programming Language

 Like other programming languages VB .NET
supports:
 Interaction with user (user input / output)
 Arithmetic, logical, and string operations
 Control structures
 Modules, Classes, Procedures, Methods
 Data structures like arrays
A

A
Loop
False True
Conditio True
n Condition
Else If
False
B B

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Programming…Interactive Process

 VB .NET is event driven

programming. (Double click
the button control and add
following code for its
OnClick event.)
Event List

 Code window lists all the

controls and their events
for us. (Browse the combo
boxes on top of the code
window.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Programming...Interactive Process (Contd)

 Programming is even
more fun now. Get all the
help online as you code.

IntelliSense
 Organize your code in
Online
tip nice and neat format
using region feature of
IDE. (Browse through to
play with these features.)
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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

ADO .NET: Database Connectivity

 ADO .NET structure makes is easy to:

 Connect to a database
 Run SQL queries against it
 Store and further process query results
 Add/Update/Delete records from database

VB .NET
Datasets VB .NET
Data Adaptor Forms &
Databases Connection
Connection (Stores query Forms &
Databases (SQL Query) Controls
output) Controls

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

ADO .NET: Database Connectivity (Contd..)

 Steps for querying a database and showing

results on VB .NET form:

 Connect to a database (once for a project)

 Create a data adaptor with desired SQL statement
 Create a dataset to store query results
 Bind the control to the dataset
 Run the query by writing VB .NET code

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Connection, Adaptor, and Dataset

 Server Explorer makes it

easy to connect to a
database. (Connect to
the Portfolio database.) Drag & Drop

 Toolbox assists in the creation

of data adaptors, and data
sets. (Portal form: Add an
adaptor and a dataset to get
the list of portfolios.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Binding Controls to Dataset

 We then bind controls to datasets to show query results on

forms using property window for a control. (Bind the dataset
created to the list box on Portal form.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Writing Code to Execute a Query?

 Next we run the query and display the data. It is

done by writing 2 lines of VB .NET code. (Write this
code for list box control on page load event.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

VB .NET Events and Data Retrieval

 Data retrieval (using adaptor and datasets) and

VB .NET events can be combined together for
interesting functionalities. (On selection of
portfolio from list display its details in the data grid
control.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

VB .NET Events & Data Retrieval (Contd..)

Steps:
 Create adaptors and datasets and bind them to
respective controls. (Bind to list box and data grid.)

 Execute a parameter query for second control on

some event of first control. (Here we execute
parameter query for data grid on selection change
event of list box.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Add/Update/Delete Records from DB

 Data adaptor, dataset and their methods makes

altering database very easy. (Add these one liners
to OnClick event of respective buttons.)

[Link](DsInvInfo,"tblInvestor") .CancelCurrentEdit()

[Link](DsInvPort, [Link](DsInvInfo)
"tblPortfolio") .RemoveAt
([Link])
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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Using VB .NET’s Advance Controls

 We can use advance

controls like Check List
Box, Trees controls for
nice functionalities.
(Use check list box to
display list of stocks
allowing multiple
selections, then display
data for all selected
stocks in the data grid.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Using VB .NET’s Advance Controls (Contd..)

 We can use advance

controls line Date Time
Picker for professional
looks.
(Use this control to
allow user choose year
for performance graph.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

VB .NET and OOPS

 VB .NET is a complete Object Oriented

Programming Language (OOPL).

 VB .NET with its Class structure now supports all

three basic OOP principles:
 Encapsulation
 Inheritance
 Polymorphism

 What it is good for?

 Data hiding and data encapsulation
 Code reusability
 Split the development task into independent
modules

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Other Supported Features

 Exception Handling:
Preparing for worse!!
(Browse through the code
for portfolio form for Try...
Catch ... End Try blocks.)

 Code Debugging: Towards

perfection! (Press F5 and
click for optimization,
debugging window pops up,
press F8 to step through.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Plug-in Optimization/Simulation Packages

Some of the available options are:

 Optimization code using VB .NET language.

(Illustrated next.)

 Use VB .NET to connect to C/C++ code. (Using DLL

files or through flat text files.)

 Use MS Excel functionalities. For example, we can

use Excel Solver functionality to solve small to
medium size optimization problems through VB
.NET.

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Portfolio Optimization Problem

Optimization Code Results

On Click

User Input Dataset has Data From Database

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Working with Crystal Reports

 Crystal reports are used to produce professional
quality reports/graphs to summarize information.
(Plot the pie chart for the output of the portfolio
optimization result.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Working with Crystal Reports (Contd..)

 Steps for displaying crystal report on VB .NET
form:

 Have the data to plot in a dataset. (This might be

from database or result of some operation like
optimization.)

 Create the crystal report layout using “Report

Expert Wizard” (Select type, fields, format etc. for
graph.)

 Associate the crystal report and the dataset in

VB .NET code. (This requires only 3 lines of code.)

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Working with Crystal Reports (Contd..)

Dataset with data to plot
VB .NET Code

Chart Expert Wizard

Final Graph

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

ASP .NET – Web Connectivity

ASP .NET = Internet + HTML + VB .NET

 Knowledge of Web Terms and Internet

 Hypertext Manipulation Language (HTML) - for

data presentation

 Visual Basic .NET (VB .NET) - code behind

web pages, for data manipulation

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

How This Works?

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Developing ASP .NET Application

 Developing ASP .NET Application is very similar to VB

.NET Application development. (Make Portal form of
VB .NET application web-enabled using ASP .NET.)

 We use Web Controls and HTML controls for Windows

controls used in VB .NET application.

 VB .NET code with minor additions can be used as ‘code

behind’ for ASP .NET pages.

 HTML code is automatically generated by the Visual

Studio .NET IDE.
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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Overview
 Introduction to Decision Support Systems

 Building a Web-Enabled DSS

 Integrating DSS in Business Curriculums

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Teaching DSS Development Courses

 The University of Florida is currently offering two
separate courses on DSS Development:

 Developing Spreadsheet-Based DSS

 Developing Web-Enabled DSS

 3-credit courses

 Project-oriented courses

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Course Delivery
 Hands-on course
 Students bring laptops
 Instructor uses LCD Projector

 After basic topics from PowerPoint

presentations are taught, we do
in-class assignments.

 Weekly homework assignments.

 Students do semester-long team projects in

which they develop full DSS applications.
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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Outline of Web-Enabled DSS Course

 Part 1: (3 weeks)
 Database design principles
 Microsoft Access, Tables, Queries, SQL

 Part 2: (6 weeks)
 .Net Platform, VB .Net programming Language
 Windows forms and controls, Database connectivity
 Crystal reports

 Part 3: (3 weeks)
 HTML, ASP .Net, Database connectivity in Web forms

 Part 4: (2 weeks)
 Project work
 Developing and presenting DSS applications
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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Case Studies

 NASA’s Rocket Science

 University Student Information System

 TV Channel Project

 Airline Scheduling

 Portfolio Management

 Online Shopping

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 Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Additional Information
Course material website:

[Link]/IT

Workshop website:

[Link]/DSS

Interested in course material?

Please give us your card or email address.
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