Job Management System in VB.NET

** THIS IS A PROPOSED PROJECT ** We need to find out what this project would cost, so have listed this project to get an idea of the sort of response we will get. We have selected a mid price range for costing, but please put in your bid/PM the charge you would actually require to do this work. A fuller description, payment details and images of suggested layouts will be supplied when project is amended/relisted. --------- Service System We are looking for a service management system to be created for use by our office staff and field staff for the creating, dispatching, completing of jobs, along with the associated paperwork. Basically the system will have three main interfaces (which are detailed below): 1. Engineer system 2. Office/Admin system 3. Web system – basic commands only, formatted for display on a handheld device. All three interfaces will use the same database, so there must be an element of protection and locking used to stop multiple users (however unlikely it may be) editing the same data and overwriting other input. 1 Field Engineer System This system will be installed on a tablet laptop, with touch screen, so the buttons can be a nice size and signatures will be captured directed to the screen using a stylus – system should run in full screen mode, with no window visible (i.e. Hiding the operating system screen and focusing on the jobs). When run, this program shall initially ask for a login, and compare details to the database, and accept/decline accordingly – in the event of a lack of network connection preventing successful database link, the system should output an appropriate error. The main features/functions of the engineer system are: 1. Job list 2. Job actions a. View – allows you to view the job details, site details, history of site visits, associated files in database (i.e. site plans, photos, old hire documents) b. Accept – adds job to work list c. Reject – sends job back to office (with pop-up or email stating reason for rejection) d. Travel To – marks site as “Travelling” and therefore the next job to be done – no other job can be worked on whilst a job is in progress e. Complete – marks job as “Complete” and performs paperwork operations f. Suspend – marks as “Suspended” and allows another job to be travelled to and worked on 3. Update jobs (manual button – but system should do this automatically at pre-determined interval) 4. Status area – displays current user, email address, vehicle in use, number of jobs complete, disposal point in use 5. Photo upload – engineers will have a digital camera and USB cable. System must be able to browse to the camera when connected, and “attach” photos from the camera to the job for upload back to the central database. Due to the size of the photos from the digital camera – it may prove necessary to shrink the files sizes by compressing the images (not confirmed) 6. Bulk Load Disposal paperwork – maintains a local list of completed jobs; when it’s time to dispose of the waste, the system produces all paperwork required, prints it off and resets the status from “work in progress” to “new work”, and requests basic disposal information for next paperwork set 7. Hire document – on completion of a job, the system takes the input from various questions, along with the captured signatures, and creates a hire document which is saved as a local PDF temporarily – this is automatically printed, and emailed to a predefined email address (as a backup), and also uploaded to the central database as a file. Full details of paperwork, and how it should be completed will be supplied. 8. Single Load Disposal paperwork – on completion of a job, the individual disposal paperwork is printed for the site, and also emailed and uploaded as per hire document. Full details of paperwork, and how it should be completed will be supplied. A unique reference number will require to be created - a table should be created which stores the numbers used and a link to the relevant job - the next number is the sequence will be used on the job requiring paperwork. 9. Clearance certificates - on completion of a job, a customised version of a clearance certificate (CC) will be required to be printed, and emailed and uploaded. Full details will be supplied, but there will be two or three different documents, which will be selected based on the customer - the file to be used can be selected at the customer creation stage, and a template file for the locations of fields will need to be created at this time in case on new CC versions. 2 Office/Admin System The office system will be installed primarily on a desktop computer, for use with a mouse, so the buttons/menus can be of a standard size. On run, a login will also be required, but the users must match in the admin table rather than as an engineer. The main features/functions of the engineer system are: 1. General overview – allows for viewing of all jobs, with filters to sort by job number, customer, site, date, engineer, status, date range 2. Customer maintenance – allows for creation/editing/deleting of customer details 3. Site maintenance – allows for creation/editing/deleting of site details, which links directly to a customer file 4. Questions – allows a table of questions to be created, with different types of answers, e.g. free text, preset list, numeric keypad, drop-down 5. Job types – allows for modification of specific types of jobs, and allows for question pathways to be allocated to a type • E.g. Type 1 – asks questions a,b,c,d,e • E.g. Type 2 – asks questions a,b,g,h,z • Depending on preset types 6. Administration • User maintenance – add/edit/remove users (office and engineers) • Company maintenance – allows the editing of global settings (company name, address, phone numbers, email addresses, program name etc) • Job archive – allows for the database to be purged – i.e. all jobs marked Void/Cancelled are removed (prompted via check list), data (jobs) older than date (prompted) is archived to a new data table – this can be view via Archive button on site history, but is not immediately visible, and does not appear to engineers remotely 7. Job maintenance • Creation – allows a job to be created, and allocated to an engineer, which appears on that engineers screen if they are logged in • View – allows user to view job details, includes Archive button which accesses backup database table(s) and displayed (read-only) info on screen • Modification – allows details to be edited and the changes sent if required • Deletion/Cancellation – allows a job to be cancelled, and removed immediately from the engineer (if engineer not connected, it is removed as soon as possible after reconnection) • Office Transfer – allows for transfer of jobs between engineers 8. Reporting system • Allows reports to be printed based on data in tables i. Reports can be either hardcoded (meaning that code changes are required for additional reports) ii. Reports can be created via a Crystal Reports-style system, allowing any report for any information to be created 3 Web System The web system will be run from the Internet, and is to allow an on call member of staff basic access to the database via a web browser on a PDA/iPhone or other mobile device. Screen should be formatted to fit a small display. Features required are: a. Login b. Add/Edit/Delete job c. View jobs – basic filters will be required; plus ability to load and view site attached photos/attachments Essential requirements: • Must be programmed in VB.NET (VB Express 2008 has been used so far for some very basic testing) • Database preferred to be SQL or MySQL • Database locking to prevent multi-user access and overwrite • Global settings should be stored in database table – systems should check/download settings at each login to ensure they are up-to-date (this includes all global settings, database ip addresses etc) • In the event of a loss of connection, any jobs the engineer completes must be removed from the list as complete, but all transactions to database (files, status changes etc) must be stored in list until connection re-established, then transactions happen as per normal “Would be nice” options: • Be able to support multiple databases – i.e. two SQL databases could be setup on different servers (primary and secondary) which are listed under the Global settings. All transactions happen to the primary, but are copied to the secondary. On failure of the primary, the data is still copied to the secondary