Introduction

Speedy and efficient information processing is crucial to our socially and highly developed
technology. Computer can help the intolerable burden of handling the ever increasing amount or
information with government department, public services and business concerns expected to contain
because of their ability to analyze information as well as to retain, update and reproduce it because
of their versality to present it in a variety of forms. This may also to some extent lead to problems
occurring due to information explosion.

About Project

POST OFFICE works in every walk of our life. Through the automation of this system one can
easily generate the information about the customer available and also about the old records. For this
efficient software the first and the foremost thing is that all the requirements should be known before
hand and the developer should devote its effort for the completion of that requirement which are
demanded by the customer should be fulfilled. This system can be used in various education
departments and can distribute the copies of the system among the management and staff members
for the required information of their customer.

This very handy project for any user and includes following features: -

 Having customer information and total amount payable

 For the help of user it displays each and every detail about required topics

 Maintains all the old record for later reference

 Have provision for automatic update as per the status

 Software Development Life Cycle

The Software Development Life Cycle, as outlined by Edward Yourdon in his book modern structure
analysis (1989) has been followed in this project with minor modifications. The modified life cycle
is shown overleaf.

The life cycle consists of the following activities: -

1. SURVEY - This activity is also known as feasibility study. It begins with a request from the
user for a new system. It involves the following: -
 Identify the responsible user for a new system
 Clarify the user request
 Identify deficiencies in the current system
 Establish goals and objectives of new system
 Determine the feasibility for new system
 Prepare the project charter which will guide about the remainder of the project

2. SYSTEM ANALYSIS – The objective of the system analysis activity is to develop

structured system specification for the proposed system. The structured system specification
should describe what the proposed system would do; independent of the technology, which
will be used to implement these requirements. The structured system specification will be
used to implement these requirements. The structured system specification will be called the
essential model (also known as logical model). The essential model may itself consist of
multiple models, modeling different aspect of the system. Generally three models used for
such purpose are: -

 DATA FLOW DIAGRAM (DFD) – It models the functioning of the system.

DFD may consist of following
1. Context diagram
2. Leveled Data Flow Diagram
3. Process specification for Elementary Bubble
4. Data dictionary for the flows and stores on the DFD

 ENTITY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM – It models the functioning of the data and

their relationship.

 STATE TRANSITION DIAGRAM – It models the time dependent behavior of the

system.

 PRLIMINARY DESIGN – This activity deals with certain design issues, which are
to be finalized in consultation with user. The two most common design issues of
 relevance to the user are the automation boundary and the human machine interface.
The output of the activity is the user implementation model. The major part of the
user implementation model is the specification for the user interface of the proposed
system. The user implementation model is also referred to as the physical model of
the proposed system. The model, in addition to the essential model, defines the
following for the proposed system:

1. Automation boundary
2. Report layouts
3. Layouts of the source documents
4. Screen Layouts for the data entry form
5. Menu

 SYSTEM DESIGN – System design involves transformation of the user

implementation model into software design. The design specifications of the
proposed system consist of mainly database schema.

 IMPLEMENTATION – This activity includes programming, testing and integration

of modules into a progressively more complete system.

 ACCEPTANCE TEST GENERATION – This activity generates a set of data that

can be used to test the new system before accepting it.

 QUALITY ASSURANCE – Assurance is also known as final testing. This activity

requires, as its input acceptance test data generated in acceptance test generation and
an integrated system produced by implementation.
 About the current system

Advantages of the current system: -

The project Post office management system is created in 4GL GUI based system so that it is easy
to handle. It also increases the efficiency of the end user, because it will reduce the reluctant jobs,
which are tedious to complete. The Post office management system also has automated capability
to complete job.

Advantages of POST OFFICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: -

1. This system will improve the performance of the company.

2. It reduces the tedious jobs like reluctant work, long procedures, automated report generation,
up to date information.

3. It will improve the Post Office Management, since all the information is available whenever
required.

4. It provides quick processing thus helps in transaction and updating in master records can be
performed in few records.

5. It provides accurate output.

6. It gives fast answer of queries.

7. The amount of paper is reduced.

8. Better security

9. Economical.

10. Better Control.

 Deficiencies of the manual system

1. Lack of immediate retrieval of information - In manual system, lot of time is wasted in

retrieving information. Much searching is required before required is found. This wastes a lot
of time of the user as well as the person.

2. Lack of immediate information storage – In manual system, it is difficult to store

information at proper place at that very moment. This is because the person is unable to
quickly locate the place where the information is to be stored.

3. Prompts updating not possible – Changes are quite natural in all walks of life. Information
and stored data also changes from time to time. These changes should be incorporated in the
working also to keep the information up to date. However, bringing about changes through
the manual system is a slow and tedious process because of which inaccurate information
storage occurs.

4. Unplanned working – The manual system lacks the element of planned working. Records
are not properly maintained. This creates a lot of problems at times like during information
retrieval and storage.

5. Accuracy – The manual system lacks accuracy in working and a number of operations may
be performed incorrectly, the computations that are done in the organization may be incorrect
and whatever is generated in the system may be inaccurate.

6. Reliability – The reliability of the manual system is considered to be low because of the
above given reasons including the fact that ‘TO error is human’. Any task that is performed
by men, always contain the risk of errors.

7. Redundancy of information – In manual system, particular information may be stored at a

number of places, lending to redundancy. Redundancy of data or information creates a
number of problems storage space is wasted; changes at one place are to be made at a
number of places and so on.

Goals of the proposed system

1. Immediate retrieval of information – The main objective of the new system is to provide
for quick and efficient retrieval of information, any type of information would be available to
the user whenever he requires. Facility would be provided for online query to cut down on
the response time greatly.

2. Immediate storage of information – In the proposed system, it will be easy to store

information at any given time at the correct places. The location of storage would be easily
available and user will face no difficulty.

3. Prompt updating of information – In the proposed system, the information will always
remain up to date as the updating will be prompt and without any efforts. This factor will be
of great importance in the proposed system as it determines the integrity of the information
stored.

4. Fast computation of information – The computation of information will be quite fast in the
proposed system. Not only mathematical calculations, but also logical comparisons will be
quick in the new system.

5. Planned approach toward working – The working is the service center information system
will be well planned and organized. The data will be stored properly in the data store, which
will help in retrieval of information as well as in its storage.

6. Accuracy – The level of accuracy in the new proposed system would be higher. All
operations and computations would be done correctly and this will ensure that whatever
information is coming from the center, it is accurate.

7. Reliability – The reliability of the proposed system would be high due to the above stated
reasons. The reason for the increased reliability of the system is that now there would be
proper storage of information, its maintenance would be well managed and retrieval would
be possible in the desired manner.

8. Non-Redundant Information – In the new system, utmost care be taken that no information
is repeated, any usage of storage or otherwise. This would assure economic usage of storage
or space and consistency in the data stored. This will also help make those changes easily as
the change would have to be made only at that very place and no where else.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

To make the application smoothly and can be used to its optimum level following
Hardware and Software requirements are required:

 128 MB of RAM

 PENTIUM III processor or equivalent or higher versions

 At least 5GB of Hard disk

 Java Run Time Environment (JRE) – jdk1.5 (As Front End Tool)

 ORACLE 10g onwards – (As Back End Tool)

Tools and Platforms

Stay with us on academic presentation on “POST OFFICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”. This
project is developed on Java Platform using the database technology at its core. As the images and
graphics give more appealing effect to the eyes of the user then the other conventional format, so as
to make project more effective and to make the project to able to store the information about various
entities involved. The project incorporates the use of software tools like: -

JAVA Language – Front End

ORACLE – Back End

The Front end is the software, which manages the logical representation of data, which Back end
manages to manipulate and store data.

Introduction

What is java?

Java is a general-purpose object oriented programming language. It is the first programming

language that is not tied to any particular hardware or operating system. The language is based on
the concept of an object. Java is highly derived from C++.
Most striking feature of the language is that it is platform neutral language.
There were five primary goals in the creation of the Java language:

 It should use the object-oriented programming methodology.

 It should allow the same program to be executed on multiple operating systems.
 It should contain built-in support for using computer networks.
 It should be designed to execute code from remote sources securely.
 It should be easy to use and borrow the good parts of older object-oriented languages like C+
+.

Java tools
In order to write java application or applets, one needs more than a language. The tools that lets one
to write, test, debug programs.

Java features
 Compiler and Interpreted
 Platform independent
 Simple
 Secure
 Familiar
 Portable
  Object-Oriented
 Robust
 Multithreaded
 High performance
 Distributed
 Dynamic

Compiler and Interpreted - There is a java compiler, named javac. The java compiler takes input
source code files (these files typically have the ext.java) and converts them into compiled bytecode
files. The java Interpreter known as javac can be used to execute java application .The interpreter
translates bytecode directly into program actions.

Platform independent - Java programs can be easily moved from one computer to another,
anywhere and anytime. Changes and upgrades made in operating systems, processors and system
resources will not force any changes in java programs.

Simple - Java is designed to be easy for programmer to learn and use efficiently.

Secure- When we use a java compatible web browser, we can safely download java applets without
fear of virus infection. Java achieves this protection by confining a java program to java execution
environment and not allowing it access to other parts of the computer.

Familiar- It is modeled on C, C++ languages. Java code looks like C++.

Portable- Java compiler generates bytecode instructions that can be implemented on any machine
and also the size of the primitive data types are machine independent.

Object-Oriented - Java is a true object-oriented language. All program code and data reside within
objects and classes.

Robust -It provides many safeguards to ensure reliable code. It has strict compile time and run time
checking for data types. Designed as a garbage-collected language relieving the programmers and
also incorpates the concept of exception handling which captures series errors.
Multithreaded - Java supports handling multiple tasks simultaneously, this greatly improves the
interactive performance of graphical applications.

High performance - Java performance is impressive for an interpreted language, mainly due to use
of immediate bytecode. Use of multithreaded and further its architecture are also designed to reduce
overheads during runtime.

Distributed - It has ability to share both data and programs. Java applications can open and access
remote objects on Internet, which enables multiple programmers at multiple remote locations to
collaborate and work together on single project.

Dynamic - Java is capable of dynamically in new class libraries, methods and objects .It supports
functions written in other languages like C, C++ called as native methods.
Automatic garbage collection - One idea behind Java's automatic memory management model is
that programmers should be spared the burden of having to perform manual memory management.
In some languages the programmer allocates memory to create any object stored on the heap and is
responsible for later manually reallocating that memory to delete any such objects. If a programmer
forgets to reallocate memory or writes code that fails to do so in a timely fashion, a memory leak can
occur: the program will consume a potentially arbitrarily large amount of memory. In addition, if a
region of memory is de allocated twice, the program can become unstable and may crash.
In Java, this potential problem is avoided by automatic garbage collection. The programmer
determines when objects are created and the Java runtime is responsible for managing the objects'
lifecycle. The program or other objects can reference an object by holding a reference to it (which,
from a low-level point of view, is its address on the heap). When no references to an object remain,
the Java garbage collector automatically deletes the unreachable object, freeing memory and
preventing a memory leak. Memory leaks may still occur if a programmer's code holds a reference
to an object that is no longer needed—in other words, they can still occur but at higher conceptual
levels.

Comparing Java and C++, it is possible in C++ to implement similar functionality (for example, a
memory management model for specific classes can be designed in C++ to improve speed and lower
memory fragmentation considerably), with the possibly cost of extra development time and some
application complexity. In Java, garbage collection is built in and virtually invisible to the developer.
That is, developers may have no notion of when garbage collection will take place as it may not
necessarily correlate with any actions being explicitly performed by the code they write. Depending
on intended application, this can be beneficial or disadvantageous: the programmer is freed from
performing low-level tasks but at the same time lose the option of writing lower level code.

Java Magic: The Bytecode

Object Oriented Programming

Object Oriented Programming is an approach that provides a way of modularizing programs by

creating partitioned memory area for both data and functions that can be used as templates for
creating copies of such modules on demand.

Objects and Classes - An object is a software bundle of variables and related methods. Objects are
key to understanding object-oriented technology. Real-world objects share two characteristics: They
all have state and behavior. Software objects are modeled after real-world objects in that they too
have state and behavior. A software object maintains its state in one or more variables. A variable is
an item of data named by an identifier. A software object implements its behavior with methods. A
method is a function (subroutine) associated with an object. In the Java programming language, an
object can specify one of four access levels for each of its variables and methods. A class is a
blueprint that defines the variables and the methods common to all objects of a certain kind. After
you've created the class, you can create any number of objects from that class. When you create an
instance of a class, the system allocates enough memory for the object and all its instance variables.
Each instance gets its own copy of all the instance variables defined in the class.
Classes can also define class variables. A class variable contains information that is shared by all
instances of the class .A class can also declare class methods. You can invoke a class method directly
from the class, whereas you must invoke instance methods on a particular instance.

Encapsulation - Wrapping of data and methods into a single unit is known as encapsulation. It is the
most striking feature of class. The data is not accessible to outside world and only those methods
which are wrapped in the class can access it. The insulation of the data from direct access by the
program is called data hiding.

Inheritance - Inheritance is the process by which objects of one class acquire the property of objects
of another class. Each subclass inherits state .However, subclasses are not limited to the states and
behaviors provided to them by their superclass.Subclasses can add variables and methods to the ones
they inherit from the superclass. It supports the concept of hierarchical classification it also provides
the use of reusability.

Polymorphism - This means the ability to take more than one form. An operation may exhibit
different behavior in different instances. The behavior depends upon the types of data used in the
operation. It plays an important role in allowing objects having different internal structures to share
external interface.

Java SE - Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)

The Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) API is the industry standard for database independent
connectivity between the Java programming language and a wide range of databases – SQL
databases and other tabular data sources, such as spreadsheets or flat files. The JDBC API provides a
call-level API for SQL-based database access.

JDBC technology allows you to use the Java programming language to exploit "Write Once, Run
Anywhere" capabilities for applications that require access to enterprise data. With a JDBC
technology-enabled driver, you can connect all corporate data even in a heterogeneous environment.

The JDBC API is the industry standard for database-independent connectivity between the Java
programming language and a wide range of databases. The JDBC API provides a call-level API for
SQL-based database access. JDBC technology allows you to use the Java programming language to
exploit "Write Once, Run Anywhere" capabilities for applications that require access to enterprise
data.

JDBC API Overview

The JDBC API makes it possible to do three things:

 Establish a connection with a database or access any tabular data source
 Send SQL statements
 Process the results

JDBC Architecture

The JDBC API contains two major sets of interfaces: the first is the JDBC API for application
writers, and the second is the lower-level JDBC driver API for driver writers. JDBC technology
drivers fit into one of four categories. Applications and applets can access databases via the JDBC
API using pure Java JDBC technology-based drivers, as shown in this figure:
 Left side, Type 4: Direct-to-Database Pure Java Driver

This style of driver converts JDBC calls into the network protocol used directly by DBMSs,
allowing a direct call from the client machine to the DBMS server and providing a practical solution
for intranet access.

Right side, Type 3: Pure Java Driver for Database Middleware

This style of driver translates JDBC calls into the middleware vendor's protocol, which is then
translated to a DBMS protocol by a middleware server. The middleware provides connectivity to
many different databases.

The graphic below illustrates JDBC connectivity using ODBC drivers and existing database client
libraries.

Left side, Type 1: JDBC-ODBC Bridge plus ODBC Driver

This combination provides JDBC access via ODBC drivers. ODBC binary code – and in many
cases, database client code -- must be loaded on each client machine that uses a JDBC-ODBC
Bridge. Sun provides a JDBC-ODBC Bridge driver, which is appropriate for experimental use and
for situations in which no other driver is available.

Right side, Type 2: A native API partly Java technology-enabled driver

This type of driver converts JDBC calls into calls on the client API for Oracle, Sybase, Informix,
DB2, or other DBMS. Note that, like the bridge driver, this style of driver requires that some binary
code be loaded on each client machine.

Partnering for Progress

Sun worked with an array of companies in the industry to create and rapidly establish the JDBC API
as the industry-standard, open interface for Java applications to access databases.

Industry Momentum

Leading database, middleware and tool vendors have been building support for JDBC technology
into many new products. This ensures that customers can build portable Java applications while
choosing from a wide range of competitive products for the solution best suited to their needs.

Advantages of JDBC Technology

 Leverage Existing Enterprise Data

With JDBC technology, businesses are not locked in any proprietary architecture, and can
continue to use their installed databases and access information easily -- even if it is stored
on different database management systems.

 Simplified Enterprise Development

The combination of the Java API and the JDBC API makes application development easy
and economical. JDBC hides the complexity of many data access tasks, doing most of the
"heavy lifting “for the programmer behind the scenes. The JDBC API is simple to learn, easy
to deploy, and inexpensive to maintain.

 Zero Configuration for Network Computers

With the JDBC API, no configuration is required on the client side. With a driver written in
the Java programming language, all the information needed to make a connection is
completely defined by the JDBC URL or by a Data Source object registered with a Java
Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) naming service. Zero configurations for clients
support the network computing paradigm and centralize software maintenance.
Relating JDBC to ODBC –

There is a very close relationship between API and JDBC architecture and (open database
connectivity) ODBC counterparts. The JDBC –ODBC Bridge enables you to access databases using
ODBC drivers from JDBC. JDBC –ODBC Bridge effectively translate the JDBC API calls into the
corresponding ODBC calls. ODBC drivers are available for almost all types of databases. JDBC can
access almost all databases. Because of their common ancestry they share some important
components:-

 Driver Manager: Loads database drivers and manages the connections between the
application and the driver

 Driver: Translates API call into operations for a specific data source

 Connection: A session between an application and a database

 Statement: A SQL statement to perform a query or update operation

 ResultSet: Logical set of columns and rows of data returned by executing a statement

 SQLException: handles any errors that occur in a database application

 Metadata: Information about returned data, database and driver

Key Features
  Full Access to Metadata: The JDBC API provides metadata access that
enables the development of sophisticated applications that need to understand the underlying
facilities and capabilities of a specific database connection.

 No Installation: A pure JDBC technology-based driver does not require special

installation; it is automatically downloaded as part of the applet that makes the JDBC calls.

 Database Connection Identified by URL: JDBC technology exploits

the advantages of Internet-standard URLs to identify database connections. The JDBC API
includes an even better way to identify and connect to a data source, using a DataSource
object that makes code even more portable and easier to maintain.

In addition to this important advantage, Data Source objects can provide connection pooling and
distributed transactions, essential for enterprise database computing. This functionality is provided
transparently to the programmer.

Included in the Java Platform

As a core part of the Java 2 Platform, the JDBC API is available anywhere that the platform is. This
means that your applications can truly write database applications once and access data anywhere.
The JDBC API is included in the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) and the Java 2 Platform,
Enterprise Edition (J2EE), providing server-side functionality for industrial strength scalability.

SQL-STRUCTURED QUERY LANGUAGE

SQL is not a procedural language. It is not used to define complex processes; we can use SQL to use
commands that define and manipulate data. SQL is different from other languages.
 SQL is very readable.
 In SQL we always issue commands.

SQL statements fall into two groups:-

 Data Definition Language (DDL) –DDL statements are used to describe the tables
and the data they contain. The subset of SQL statements used for modeling the structure
(rather than the contents) of a database or cube. The DDL gives you the ability to create,
modify, and remove databases and database objects.

 Data Manipulation Language (DML) – DML statements that are used to operate on
data in the database. These are statements that allow you to create or alter objects (such as
tables, indexes, views, and so on) in the database. The subset of SQL statements used to
retrieve and manipulate data. DML can be further divided into 2 groups:-

 Select Statements – Statements that return a set of results.

 Everything else – Statements that don’t return a set of results.

Here are some of the queries defined:-

Select - SQL statement used to request a selection, projection, join, query, and so on, from a SQL
Server database.

Primary key – Primary key constraints identify the column or set of columns whose values
uniquely identify a row in a table. No two rows in a table can have the same primary key value. You
cannot enter a NULL value for any column in a primary key.

Insert - The Insert logical operator inserts each row from its input into the object specified in the
Argument column. To insert the data into a relation we either specify a tuple to be inserted or write a
query.

Delete - The Delete logical operator deletes from an object rows that satisfy the optional predicate in
the Argument column. We can delete only whole tuples; we cannot delete values on only particular
attributes.

Update - The Update logical operator updates each row from its input in the object specified in the
Argument column. It provides a way of modifying existing data in a table update statement do not
return a result set, they merely modify data in the database.

Abstract Windowing Toolkit

The windowing package

The AWT is a very portable windowing library. It is a standard part of java environment and
provides all the basic functionality one would expect to use in a modern windowing system .The
AWT defines windows according to a class hierarchy that adds functionality and specificity with
each level.

The AWT package allows you to develop window-like applications. It allows your applications to
run on different windowing systems. The classes in AWT package will allow you to:-

 Generate Colors.
 Draw graphics.
 Add GUI components like push buttons, scrollbars etc to your applications.
 Handle user input from mouse and keyboard.
 Create Containers.
 Classes like Layout Managers helps in automatically positioning a GUI object when we add
it to the container.

SWING

SWING is a set of classes that provides powerful and flexible functionality. In addition with several
components provided by AWT, swing supplies several exciting additions, including tabbed panes,
scroll panes, trees and tables. It also changes the images as the state of any component changes.
Swing is built upon the foundation of the AWT. Swing components are written entirely in Java and
therefore are Platform-independent .Swing is also termed also light-weight and provide pluggable
look and feel. There are 2 Swing classes that are quite important:

Jframe and Component – Jframe extends the AWT class Frame. It contains additional features that
enable it to support Swing components. JComponent extends the AWT component and Container
classes. It is the top level class for all Swing components and provides Swing pluggable look and
feel.
Here are some of the Swing component classes:

Sr.
Control & Description
No.
JLabel
1
A JLabel object is a component for placing text in a container.
JButton
2
This class creates a labeled button.
JCheckBox
3
A JCheckBox is a graphical component that can be in either an on (true) or off (false) state.
4 JRadioButton
 The JRadioButton class is a graphical component that can be in either an on (true) or off
(false) state. In a group.
JList
5
A JList component presents the user with a scrolling list of text items.
JCombox
6
A JComboBox component presents the user with a to show up menu of choices.
JTextField
7
A JTextField object is a text component that allows for the editing of a single line of text.
JPasswordField
8
A JPasswordField object is a text component specialized for password entry.
JTextArea
9
A JTextArea object is a text component that allows for the editing of a multiple lines of text.
ImageIcon
10 A ImageIcon control is an implementation of the Icon interface that paints Icons from
Images
JScrollbar
11 A Scrollbar control represents a scroll bar component in order to enable user to select from
range of values.
JOptionPane
12 JOptionPane provides set of standard dialog boxes that prompt users for a value or informs
them of something.