GHANA COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING

TITLE:
DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ONLINE CLEARANCE SYSTEM
FOR GCTU

A Project Work Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for BSc. In

Computer Engineering.

BY:
OFORI ERASMUS ATTA – 040918413
JASON MENSAH – 040918497

SUPERVISOR:
MR. ALBERT OSEI OWUSU

AUGUST, 2022.
1
 Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1..............................................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Background of Study...................................................................................................................5
1.2 Problem Statement......................................................................................................................6
1.3 Project Objectives........................................................................................................................6
1.3.1 General Objective.................................................................................................................6
1.3.2 Specific Objective..................................................................................................................6
1.3.3 Significance of Study............................................................................................................7
1.4 Proposed Flowchart.....................................................................................................................8
1.5 Organization of Study.................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 2............................................................................................................................................10
LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................................................................10
2.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................................10
2.2 Methods of Clearing Students...................................................................................................10
2.2.1 Manual Approach...............................................................................................................10
2.2.2 Online Approach.................................................................................................................10
2.2.2.1 Factors Affecting Web Portal Usability......................................................................11
2.4 Related Works............................................................................................................................13
2.4.1 "Design and implementation of online clearance system: a case study of Imo State
University"...................................................................................................................................13
2.4.1.1 Strength........................................................................................................................14
2.4.1.2 Weakness......................................................................................................................14
2.4.2 Smart Clearance System....................................................................................................15
2.4.2.1 Strength........................................................................................................................16
2.4.2.2 Weakness......................................................................................................................16
2.4.3 Webportal applications: Automated student clearance portal........................................16
2.4.3.1 Strength........................................................................................................................17
2.4.3.2 Weakness......................................................................................................................17
2.4.4 “An Improved e-Clearance Management System for Graduating Students in a
University Environment”............................................................................................................18
2.4.4.1 Strength........................................................................................................................19

2
 2.4.4.2 Weakness......................................................................................................................19
2.5 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 3............................................................................................................................................20
METHODOLOGY..............................................................................................................................20
3.1 Overview.....................................................................................................................................20
3.2 Operational Framework............................................................................................................21
3.2.1 Waterfall Methodology.......................................................................................................22
3.2.1.1 Requirement Analysis:................................................................................................22
3.2.1.2 System Design...............................................................................................................23
3.2.1.3 Implementation............................................................................................................23
3.2.1.4 Testing...........................................................................................................................23
3.2.1.5 Deployment...................................................................................................................23
3.2.1.6 Maintenance.................................................................................................................23
3.3 System Requirements................................................................................................................23
3.3.1 Functional Requirements...................................................................................................23
3.3.1.1 Performance Requirements.........................................................................................24
3.3.1.2 Process Requirements..................................................................................................24
3.3.1.3 Input Requirements.....................................................................................................24
3.3.1.4 Output Requirements..................................................................................................24
3.3.1.5 Storage Requirements..................................................................................................24
3.3.2 Non-Functional Requirements...........................................................................................24
3.3.2.1 Usability........................................................................................................................24
3.3.2.2 Reliability......................................................................................................................25
3.3.2.3 Availability...................................................................................................................25
3.3.2.4 Responsiveness.............................................................................................................25
3.3.3 Software Requirements......................................................................................................25
3.3.3.1 Web Server...................................................................................................................25
3.3.3.2 Apache Web Server.....................................................................................................25
3.3.3.3 XAMPP Server.............................................................................................................26
3.3.3.4 PHP...............................................................................................................................26
3.3.3.5 JavaScript.....................................................................................................................26
3.3.3.6 CSS................................................................................................................................26
3.3.3.7 HTML...........................................................................................................................26

3
 3.3.3.8 MySQL.........................................................................................................................27
3.3.4 Software Tools.....................................................................................................................27
3.3.4.1 Visual Studio Code.......................................................................................................27
3.3.5 Hardware Requirements....................................................................................................27
3.4 System Design............................................................................................................................28
3.4.2 Unified Modeling Language (UML) Use Case Diagram Model.......................................30
3.4.3 UML Class Diagram Model...............................................................................................31
3.4.4 UML Sequence Diagram Model.........................................................................................32
3.4.4.1 Student Sequence Diagram.........................................................................................32
3.4.4.2 Unit Head Sequence Diagram.....................................................................................33
3.4.5 Database Model...................................................................................................................34
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................35

4
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

A clearance is a certified document that is given to a person, most frequently to students,
members of the military, staff members, and employers. A clearance is typically issued to a
person to allow access to private information or to leave a certain organization, such a university
(U. C. Ben et al, 2015). By storing data in an advanced structure, the rapid development of data
and correspondence innovation has increased management capacities' proficiency and success.
Supervisors and higher level specialists can easily access and retrieve data, obtain accurate data,
and consume less time with the help of this computerized data (R. Alroobaea, 2018).

Higher education students who have completed the academic requirements to graduate must
undergo a clearance process before being allowed to leave the institution. The same number of
colleges have chosen to pursue the flexible educational options offered online. There are several
benefits to online learning. Web-based learning becomes increasingly advantageous and
effective as individuals, on the whole, and foundations, depend more and more on the internet for
information, necessitating the need for an online clearance framework (U. C. Ben et al, 2015).
The need for an electronic freedom framework becomes more clear as people of this generation
use Computers to make their work more efficient and helpful. Recently, many educational
institutions both domestically and outside adopted framework robotization for information
storage. A computerized online clearance has a remarkably preferable position to the college
students in light of such developments (C. N. Bondoc et al, 2017).

The Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU) holds a graduation ceremony each
year for students who have completed their programs of study. The clearance process must be
completed by the student at the completion of the last semester in order to ensure that they are
free of any outstanding loans, debts, or other obligations that must be satisfied before they can
receive their scroll during the graduation ceremony or their certificate.

5
At the moment, Ghana Communication Technology University does clearance using a manual
approach, which causes certain issues for both the staff and the students. One of the primary
issues is that students today must visit each department to obtain the signature, stamp, and date
from the appropriate department to confirm that they are free of any outstanding loans or debt.
The student must manually check with the department, and occasionally they may not always
receive all the information they require, such as the precise amount of the demands, the day the
document were issued, etc. Due to the large number of students at GCTU who want to finish the
clearance at the end of their studies, it takes time. They must wait in line or return the following
day.

Most individuals now use the Internet for daily activities such online transactions, informational
purposes, e-mailing colleagues, interactive messaging, and many more as a result of its
expanding popularity. The internet has become a crucial component of our society as a result of
their rising popularity. The World Wide Web's interactive features and widespread internet
access have made them excellent tools for exchanging and processing information. An
"internetworking" framework is created by the Internet, a contemporary information relay system
that links millions of telecommunications networks. These apps expand the number of study able
fields, which increases interest in the Internet over time.

1.2 Problem Statement

Students must be cleared in a number of departments and informational units before they can
graduate. It typically takes a lot of time, processes, and delays for a graduating student to
complete his or her clearance from all of these departments. Therefore, it is essential to
implement an online clearance system to address the shortcomings of the current manual
approach.

1.3 Project Objectives

1.3.1 General Objective
To design and implement an online clearance system for GCTU

6
1.3.2 Specific Objective
The following actions will be taken by the online clearance system to accomplish the main
objective:

 To build a user-friendly platform.

 To simplify the clearance procedure.
 To convert a manual system to a computerized one.

1.3.3 Significance of Study

 Students in their final year will be able to clear themselves from anyplace.
 Administrator and staffs will be able to clear students fast.
 Assist the school in cutting expenses like stationary.

7
1.4 Proposed Flowchart

1.5 Organization of Study

Chapter One: In the introduction to our project, we go through the background of our topic, the
problem statement, our objectives, and the significance of our system. We then finish the chapter
with the work organization.
8
Chapter Two: Includes a review of the relevant literature.

Chapter Three: We go into detail about the system's design, the numerous strategies
implemented, and how the system functions.

Chapter Four: Here, system analysis, work results, and new discoveries are discussed.

Chapter Five: The final chapter of the paper highlights the limitations of the work and makes
some suggestions for future studies.

9
 CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction
There have been many clearing system designs and implementations with different features and
important specifications up to this point. By conducting design studies or actually implementing
their ideas, some scholars have significantly improved the current online clearance system.
Several crucial publications in this regard will be the subject of this section.

2.2 Methods of Clearing Students

2.2.1 Manual Approach
This is the usual method of clearing that has been documented in human etymology. It requires
physical presence and is entirely paper-based. Graduate students must fill out the relevant forms
about themselves before visiting various offices, such as the financial department, library,
finance, etc. Students are required to remain physically present in all of the clearance units under
this system. The process, which puts a lot of stress and pressure on the administrators and
students involved, can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. The administrator who
receives them stores them in filing cabinets. As a result, if a clearance form for a certain student
is required, a time-consuming and tedious search operation is carried out to retrieve that student's
clearance form.

2.2.2 Online Approach

The graduate student can register or complete their clearance using this way using an online
application. Students must use their unique identity, typically their index number, to log into the
web application. The front-end web interface, back-end, and internet connection are the main
prerequisites. According to (Bringula & Rasa, 2011), an increasing number of educational
institutions have recognized the value of web portals in simplifying administrative procedures
and enhancing contact between students and administrators. According to (Azury M., 2017),
automating such a system and its processes improves task support and implementation speed and

10
reliability. Students are able to clear themselves on time, administrators and staff are relieved of
the pressure of dealing with extremely long queues, and work continuity is improved.

2.2.2.1 Factors Affecting Web Portal Usability

A increase in web-based services, particularly portals, which are online web-based applications
that gather information from various sources and manage it in a centralized repository accessible
through a user interface, has been attributed to the development of the internet and electronics.
Since portals are very useful in the present era, higher education institutions have also jumped
into adopting online platforms as a way of automating their operations that take place repeatedly
over the course of the academic years. It is important that processes be managed effectively and
efficiently in terms of record keeping and usability given the nature of academic administration
and the typical size of higher education campuses. This is also true for web services because
usability and relevance are closely related to a service's value.

However, a number of important features, including but not limited to information content, ease
of navigation, and even user digital proficiency, are linked to a web portal's effectiveness. Web
portals are a necessary element to use in the academic sector, which must deal with a yearly
influx of new students and the resulting congested office buildings and workday hours. Web
portals may definitely assist an institution with its administrative tendencies. Despite this, there
is still no assurance that a web service will be more beneficial than the system it replaces. In
addition, there are other risks associated with moving records and reliance to a digital platform,
such as those related to confidentiality and privacy.

(Bringula and Basa, 2011) did a study to assess the usability of online portals from a faculty
perspective, and they came up with the following major recommendations for portal developers.

1. Know who your target audience is. Be aware of their needs, skills, and goals when using
the web portal.
2. Engage users in the web portal's development. Maintain regular communication with
them while the web site is being developed and deployed.

11
 3. Provide mechanisms for feedback. A web portal's function and usability issues, along
with the development of new web technologies, will make a current portal obsolete. The
ability to provide feedback would be very helpful in building a web portal.
4. Develop a web platform that can monitor users' actual usage times. The users' exact usage
hours give a clear indicator of how dedicated they are to using the online site. This is
useful for evaluating a web portal's usability.

The study summarized the major features that were important to the standardization of web
services that would help to make them viable and accessible to its users, as many prior
researchers have noted. As a result, Online clearance system seeks to assess its progress through
the aforementioned proposal of regulations that establish a useful and functioning system that
has been demonstrated to best serve the interaction between the user and system.

Characteristics Manual Approach Online Approach

Internet usage is required Requires no internet connection Requires internet connection
Deployment duration Takes little time to set up The setup process takes a little
longer.
Process duration Clearance requires a lot more Clearance is done more quickly
time.
Area Covered It is carried out within the It is done anywhere
organization.
Need for a web browser Requires no web browser A web browser is needed

Table 1 Difference Between Manual and Online Approach of Clearance

12
2.4 Related Works

2.4.1 "Design and implementation of online clearance system: a case study of

Imo State University"
In a research paper for Imo State University, (Umezinwa Chukwuebuka Ben et al, 2017) worked
together to produce a practical design and implementation of a clearance system. The objective
of the project was to handle student clearance more effectively and consistently in a way that
speeds up the clearance process and lessens the stress associated with filling out a ton of
paperwork. Another objective was making it possible for users to understand the procedures
needed to complete an online clearance. This research study was completed using data gathered
from the university as well as materials from similar publications, journals, and papers from
other authors. A computer-based system for storing data was designed in the research paper
using HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, APACHE, and MYSQL to actively advance the project’s
objectives. The system was able to quickly analyze data and do away with the error-prone
manual clearance approach.

13
2.4.1.1 Strength
The portal performs a good work of delivering an accurate database of information that is well-
organized and clear and that accurately stores important information.

14
2.4.1.2 Weakness
This portal may be made better by giving its consumers more user-friendly navigational
directions that any new user could easily understand. Email messages that inform consumers
beyond the main portal can also improve it.

2.4.2 Smart Clearance System

(V. Chaudhari, 2018) created a GSM-based system to track and monitor a student's financial
accumulations during the duration of their enrollment at the institution in order to improve the
convenience of student institutional bureaucracy. A student's clearance status is connected to a
smart card and a password using this clearance system, also known as The Smart Clearance
system, to guarantee proper user access. The student's dues are monitored and computed
appropriately during the academic year to allow a student to voluntarily leave the institution.

By creating a system that relies on tracking digital information of any unpaid balances that the
user is carrying, the Smart Clearance System seeks to optimize this clearance process. Each user
has a unique smart card that eliminates the need for manual student record retrieval processes by
allowing users to input data directly into systems that use GSM modules. This system was built
on MATLAB, using the C programming language and the Atmega8a microcontroller with the
USBASP program, as well as a web-based application created with PHP 5.0 that served as the
main database for student registration.

15
2.4.2.1 Strength
The system was capable of managing student clearance faster than the manual approach. The
Smart Clearance System allowed the university to automate the clearance procedure, relieving
administrators of some of their work.

2.4.2.2 Weakness
This system places an emphasize on institutional costs and overhead, which might be minimized
by a stand-alone system with a web-based foundation.

2.4.3 Webportal applications: Automated student clearance portal

When it became evident that the traditional technique of releasing graduating students was
perceived to be tedious and time-consuming because it required students to utilize a form and
afterwards physically visit multiple separate offices for signing, the standard procedure was
abandoned. The goal of the subsequent project was to create a portal so that authorized staff

16
members could see a student's clearing page and clear the student without the student physically
visiting an office. A basis of HTML for the displayable web page, PHP for the server side
programming, and MySQL for its database was used in the creation of this web portal by
(Idachaba, 2017).

2.4.3.1 Strength
This system does a good job of providing users simple user interfaces that any new user may
easily understand. Both administrators and students can visit the site at any time to submit or
approve clearance requests quickly and conveniently, and the clearance process is simplified to a
single click.

17
2.4.3.2 Weakness
The system does not offer a way for students to be notified outside of the system whether or not
their request has been granted or denied. This implies that the student may not be informed of the
status of their clearance request if they are unable to access the system after making a request.

2.4.4 “An Improved e-Clearance Management System for Graduating

Students in a University Environment”
An online platform with several modules, including login, main, clearance, registration,
cleared/not cleared, and administer. The system has administrative and technical users, according
to research by (Agbo-Ajala and Makinde, 2018). The students who register in the system to be
cleared have the ability to add to and modify some information in their clearance record. The
administration users also include a unit clearance officer who uses the system for posting the
students' status or making inquiries and printing reports. The system administrator and other
technical users have the ability to create, modify, and delete user accounts. By authorizing their
user account, the system administrator also consents to the registration of new users.

18
2.4.4.1 Strength
The system's usage can be controlled to provide direct observation of which office is handling
the student's clearance form at what time, how many times, and in what order; By delivering
clearance forms directly to the student rather than the other way around, travel expenses and time
are saved. Without physically standing in line at the administrators' office, students can follow
up on their clearance.

2.4.4.2 Weakness
The system makes it more difficult to evaluate some forms of student feedback because there are
not as many options for manual face-to-face interactions.

19
2.5 Conclusion
This section gives a brief summary of earlier projects that were designed with the goal of shifting
the clearing process, in one way or another, to an online platform, as well as a review of the
overall systems. It includes the project's major objective, which is to transition the course
clearance process to a web-based online platform that is always accessible to both students and
professors and eliminate the manual, physical process of clearing courses. The proposed system
is intended to make student clearance more dependable and efficient, eliminate all delays and
stress, and make it easier to comprehend the procedures and complete clearance online. It will
also provide platform where students will be able to give their feedback whenever there is an
issue with their clearance. The system will notify students outside the system about their
clearance status.

20
 CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Overview
We shall outline our suggested methodology in this section for the Ghana Communication
Technology University's online clearance system. While observing and speaking with people, we
discovered certain issues with their manual-based system. Due to this, we propose to design an
automated clearing system and provide a centralized clearance system, where students may
obtain their clearance from a single location without having to travel between offices, in order to
resolve the issue with the current clearance system. The new system must operate and address
the shortcomings of the earlier systems that were found. It is designed to be utilized online,
easing the staff, students, and administrators of most of the stress brought on by the manual
system. This uses online access to the internet to review and save information whether
automatically or interactively. Generally speaking, the suggested system will be able to reduce
the current issues and resource usage because the university clearance processes currently rely on
a manual approach.

21
 Fig. Proposed System Flowchart (caption it well)

(please remove the first register and change the provide payment to (prof of payment ))

22
3.2 Operational Framework
Using the Structured System Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM), an efficient online
clearance system would be developed. This is due to the fact that SSADM is a widely recognized
software engineering model that is mostly utilized in result-oriented analysis and design. This
waterfall method, also known as a sequential design method, is used to analyze and design an
information system.

3.2.1 Waterfall Methodology

The term "sequential life cycle model" is used to describe this model. In the waterfall model,
there is no phase overlap and each phase must be finished before the subsequent phase can start.
This indicates that any phase of the development process can start only after the phase before it
has finished.

yy
Requirement Analysis

System Design

Implementation

Testing

Deployment

Maintenance

Fig waterfall model~(caption it well)

23
3.2.1.1 Requirement Analysis:
This waterfall model's stage captures and documents any potential needs for the proposed
system. Research on the current system, fingerprint technology, data collecting (student details),
and other requirements were acquired.

3.2.1.2 System Design

In this system design stage, we looked over the first stage's need specifications while we
developed the design for the system. This study also takes the two layers of system design into
consideration that is the logical design and physical design. The key aspects of the new system
are specified using logical design whiles the physical uses the logical design's blueprint to create
the user interface, physical file or database definition, and program specifications.

3.2.1.3 Implementation
The design was put into little programs known as units with feedback from the system design,
and they are integrated in the following phase.

3.2.1.4 Testing
At this stage, when each unit has been tested, all the units created during the implementation
phase are integrated into one system. Then, the entire system was tested for errors and failures.

3.2.1.5 Deployment
The system was put through both functional and non-functional testing before being deployed
into the user environment.

3.2.1.6 Maintenance
This new system might undergo frequent debugging in order to improve performance.

24
3.3 System Requirements
3.3.1 Functional Requirements
A database of user accounts will be stored by the system. Three different types of users will be
using this system. A student who signs up for the system in order to be cleared will be the
system's first user. Additionally, the student will have access to updating their profile in their
clearance record and edit their profile. A unit head who approves student requests for clearance
will be the second user. The system administrator, who adds new departments, personnel, and
even users, will be the third user. Printing clearance reports is another duty assigned to them.

3.3.1.1 Performance Requirements

One of the essential requirements for a system's operation is that it must consistently produce
high-quality results. It is constantly prepared to carry out all tasks, respond more quickly, and
occupy the least amount of space possible.

3.3.1.2 Process Requirements

Based on the specified inputs, the functional system components perform the services for all
inputs.

3.3.1.3 Input Requirements

Following system implementation, inputs including student username, student ID number, and
other data are required to process clearance and must be entered during the clearing procedure.

3.3.1.4 Output Requirements

The system accepts an input to carry out or execute a task in order to produce an output based on
the input.

3.3.1.5 Storage Requirements

The system was developed using a MySQL database server, which was used to store all the
student data, including data on cleared students and currently enrolled students who still needed
to be cleared.

25
3.3.2 Non-Functional Requirements
These kinds of specifications are also referred to as system restrictions. The system's limitations
and intended behavior are indicated by non-functional requirements. They have no direct effect
on the system's functionality.

3.3.2.1 Usability
The system must function flawlessly on all popular web browsers, including Chrome, Opera,
Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari. The system must operate quickly enough to update
the user on its status.

3.3.2.2 Reliability
The system shouldn't have any bugs that prevent users from using other system features or even
bugs that disturb them while using the system.

3.3.2.3 Availability
The system must be accessible over the internet and be available so that anyone, anywhere, can
use any device to access it.

3.3.2.4 Responsiveness
Every browser and device must be able to access the system.

3.3.3 Software Requirements

The programming language, the server that will be used, and the data structures for information-
transmission are discussed in this section. There are client and server sides to this application,
much like all other apps. PHP and MySQL were used to create it on the server side, and HTML,
CSS, and JavaScript were used for the client side.

3.3.3.1 Web Server

By storing, processing, and delivering web pages to the client side, a web server's function is to
facilitate communication between the client side and server side. In most cases, a web browser

26
sends an HTTP request for a particular resource, and the server responds with the requested
resource's content. The XAMPP service's Apache HTTP server was used for this system.

3.3.3.2 Apache Web Server

The most widely used and available software is the Apache web server. Many well-known
websites, like Wikipedia and Apple, use the Apache web server. It can be used to host websites
that use server-side language code and is compatible with a several operating systems, including
Windows, MacOS, Linux and UNIX. Apache was an excellent choice because this project used
PHP for server-side implementation.

3.3.3.3 XAMPP Server

XAMPP is free and open source software that enables machines, processes, and technologies to
connect and cooperate. Apache is the one who started it. It is an acronym for cross-platform,
Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl and serves as a platform for web page coding and design.
XAMPP is incredibly simple to set up, can run on multiple systems, has extremely rigorous
security settings, and can start and stop the server with a single command.

3.3.3.4 PHP
The server-side scripting language PHP was created particularly for the web. The server
interprets the PHP code and produces output for the user to see, such as HTML. It functions
within the web browser instead of the web server.

3.3.3.5 JavaScript
One of the basic three technologies of the internet, JavaScript is a dynamic, high-level scripting
language. It is regarded to be an essential component of a web application. It was utilized to
enhance functionality and the interactive design of web pages. To put it simply, it alerted the
browser to a certain action or event that had taken place and modified the web page in response.

27
3.3.3.6 CSS
HTML pages must be visually attractive to users, thus designers utilize colors, attractive fonts,
and unique layouts to accomplish this. An HTML document was styled using CSS. It is
developed in a way that makes it possible to separate the presentation from the content, making it
simpler to update the content without affecting the design. In order to save time and simplify
styling, it also made it possible for several web pages to share a single CSS file.

3.3.3.7 HTML
This language describes how a webpage should be shown in a browser. It is applied to the
production of online-accessible papers. This is used to manage the web page's appearance and
content. It explains how the web pages are structured. The web browser received data from the
HTML documents to process or show on the multimedia pages. By presenting a document as a
headline, paragraph, image, list, link, and other similar items, HTML was used to explain the
structure of a document. Using its tags, the HTML content was displayed by the web browser.

3.3.3.8 MySQL
MySQL is an extremely quick and reliable Relational Database Management System(RDMS). It
restricts access to your data so that it may be worked on by several people simultaneously, so
that it can be quickly accessed, and so that only authorized users are able to do so. Users can
connect to it using a server daemon running on nearby or even remotely. The initials of the
operating system (WINDOWS) and the main elements of the package, Apache, MySQL, and
PHP, are combined to make the acronym WAMP. A webserver called Apache enables users of
web browsers like Microsoft edge or Chrome to connect to a computer and view data as web
pages.

3.3.4 Software Tools

The source tool listed below was used for this system to carry out a number of tasks

28
3.3.4.1 Visual Studio Code
Microsoft developed the source-code editor Visual Studio Code for Windows, Linux, and
macOS. It is used for writing and modifying of code and supports a number of languages. It was
used to create the HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript codes for this project.

3.3.5 Hardware Requirements

The following minimal hardware requirements are suggested for the newly designed system to
operate effectively:

 The computer system with basic inputs and output.

 There should be at least 2GB of Random Access Memory (RAM) available.
 Processing speed of at least 1GHz
 Hard disk space for the system must be at least 50GB.

3.4 System Design

The researchers look into creating models based on the prototyping methodology once the
requirements and specifications have been gathered, defining the architecture, components,
modules, interfaces, and data for the system to meet the requirements.

29
 Index

Home

Admin Login Unit Head Student Login

Login

Add New Staff View Requests Check Clearance

Status

Add New
Department Update Profile
Clear Students

View Student
Details
View Profile
View Profile

View Requests Send Message

In Department

View Clearance
Status of Students

Fig System Map Navigation

30
3.4.2 Unified Modeling Language (UML) Use Case Diagram Model.
Determining system users and their interactions with it is the focus of this section. The system's
users and its capabilities will be outlined using UML use case diagrams. The use case diagram
makes it possible to identify the contexts in which the system interacts with individuals, groups,
and external systems, the objectives that it aids those actors in achieving and the system's scope.

System

Login

Check Clearance
Student status

Update Profile

View Profile

Unit Head View Request

Add new staff

Clear students
Add new
department Administrator

View students
details

View requests in
departments

View Clearance
Status of students

Fig Use Case Diagram

31
3.4.3 UML Class Diagram Model
At this stage, the system is identified, modelled, and documented. To analyze and create the
static view of the system, UML Class Diagrams will be used. They help to show how classes and
interfaces relate to one another.

Fig Class Diagram

32
3.4.4 UML Sequence Diagram Model
The system interaction is illustrated using this model. It displays how common classes,
components, subsystems, and/or actors interact with one another. It helps to show how tasks are
divided up between the various components. Additionally, interaction patterns that make
updating the system challenging can be found.

3.4.4.1 Student Sequence Diagram

The student interaction with the system is illustrated in the sequence diagram below, from
logging in to printing the clearance form after being cleared.

Student Sequence Diagram

Student Login page Server Units Admin «System»

Printer
1 : Login
2 : validate details

3 : details validated

4 : request clearance 5 : check eligibility

6 : eligible

7 : request acceptance status

8 : print clearance form

Fig Student Sequence Diagram

33
3.4.4.2 Unit Head Sequence Diagram
The unit head interaction with the system is illustrated in the sequence diagram below, from
logging in to clearing the student.
Unit Head Sequence Diagram

Staff Login page Server Requests Admin Student

1 : Login
2 : validate details

3 : details validated

4 : Check availability of requests

5 : requests available

6 : check eligibility for clearance

7 : eligible
8 : view requests

9 : clear student

Fig Unit Head Sequence Diagram

34
3.4.5 Database Model
For this, the system's database requirements must be identified, modeled, and documented. The
data flow model and initial analysis allowed for the creation of a functional and normalized
database, which could be used by the clearance system.

Clearance:Admin Clearance:Staff
id:int(10)
* username:varchar(50) * 1
username:varchar(50) password:varchar(255)
password:varchar(255) Clearance:Student
e
id:int(10)
* * indexNumber int(50)
firstname:varchar(50)
1
lastname:varchar(50)
email:varchar(50)
1 contact:int(50)
department:varchar(50)
program:varchar(50)

Clearance: Clearance_forms

form_id:int(10) *
status:varchar(50)
printed_date:date(50)
student:varchar(20)

Fig Database model diagram

35
 REFERENCES.
[1] U. C. Ben, U. C. Henry, and A. I. J. E. J. o. A. S. Iriaoghuan, "Design and implementation
of online clearance system: a case study of Imo State University," vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 25-31,
2017.

[2] R. J. I. I. I. I. Alroobaea, "Factors in the Design, Implementation and Usability Evaluation

of Online Clearance System: A Case Study of Taif University," vol. 21, no. 8, pp. 2157-
2168, 2018.

[3] L. Cadiz III, C. N. Bondoc, and J. J. I. J. o. C. Estroga, "Moving Towards Global

Technological Advancement: Basis for the E-Clearance Program Development," vol.6,
no.6, pp. 171-179, 2017.

[4] O. Jonathan, S. Misra, F. Makinde, R. Damasevicius, R. Maskeliunas, and M. Leon,

"Development of Online Clearance System for an Educational Institution," in
International Conference on Applied Informatics, 2019, pp. 327-339: Springer.

[5] R. N. Ramadhan, K. H. Manguri, and B. H. Manguri, “Design and Implementation an

Open Source Web Based Clearance System for Iraqi Educational Institutions,” Proc. -
2020 2nd Annu. Int. Conf. Inf. Sci. AiCIS 2020, pp. 101–105, 2020, doi:
10.1109/AiCIS51645.2020.00026.

[6] G. U. Nneji, J. Deng, S. S. Shakher, H. N. Monday, D. Agomuo, and I. D. Dike, “An

Improved e-Clearance Management System for Graduating Students in a University
Environment,” 2018 IEEE 9th Annu. Inf. Technol. Electron. Mob. Commun. Conf.
IEMCON 2018, pp. 74–80, 2019, doi: 10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614875.

[7] V. Chaudhari, “Smart Clearance System,” Int. J. Eng. Adv. Technol., no. 5, pp. 2249–
8958, 2018, [Online]. Available: www.atmel.com

[8] F. E. Idachaba, K. E. Mbeh, O. I. Oshin, and O. O. Oni, “Webportal applications:

Automated student clearance portal,” Lect. Notes Eng. Comput. Sci., vol. 2217, pp. 486–
488, 2017.

[9] Mendoza, A. (2017, November 28). Azury Mendoza, Author at GB advisors. Retrieved
from gbadvisors.com:http://www.gb-advisors.com/process-automation/

36
[10] Bringula RP, Basa RS. Factors affecting faculty web portal usability. Journal of
educational technology & society. 2011 Oct 1;14(4):253-65.

[11] G. U. Nneji, J. Deng, S. S. Shakher, H. N. Monday, D. Agomuo, and I. D. Dike, “An

Improved e-Clearance Management System for Graduating Students in a University
Environment,” 2018 IEEE 9th Annu. Inf. Technol. Electron. Mob. Commun. Conf.
IEMCON 2018, pp. 74–80, 2019, doi: 10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614875.

[12] Bringula RP, Basa RS. Factors affecting faculty web portal usability. Journal of
educational technology & society. 2011 Oct 1;14(4):253-65.

37