CSE 134A Fall 2002 Project 1

Department of Computer Science and Engineering	CSE 134A
University of California at San Diego	Fall 2002

Individual Project 1

DUE WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 9, 2002, AT 11:59 PM.

The purpose of this project is to learn the basics of using PHP with MySQL. The assignment is to build a web site where people can submit information about themselves, and search for information submitted by others.

After the terrorist attacks a year ago, many universities created a web site where alumni could tell friends that they were safe. For example Dartmouth College (which has an exchange program with UCSD) has a web site of this type. (The link has been removed because it now has a bug that sends some browsers into an infinite loop.) Your job is to build a site with the same purpose, but a better design, for UCSD.

Your web site should provide one HTML form. On this form, a user will have two choices. Either, the user will enter five fields:

his or her family name,
first name(s),
year of graduation,
status (a radio button, either "safe" or "affected"),
a comment (a string of up to 60 characters).

Or, a user will enter either a last name or a year of graduation or a status. The system will then display all entries in the database that match the information entered.

We will provide detailed instructions for where to install your PHP script and how we will be testing it. Remember to check the class web page and discussion group regularly for possible updates to this project description.

This project will be graded as follows:

1/2 for the usefulness and attractiveness of the web site as perceived by a user.
1/2 for the reliability, efficiency, and quality of your PHP and MySQL code.

Your software should have good organization and useful comments. For this project, you should work by yourself. You may get assistance from the TAs, the 134A discussion board, the web, and books, but not from other students. In later projects, you will work in a team of three students total. Complete academic honesty is always required.

You should not copy the graphic design of any existing site exactly. It is your job to create your own simple and usable design.

On Friday October 4, in the discussion section, the TAs will show the basics of using MySQL. Before then, you can develop all the PHP code for your web site, except the code that invokes MySQL to store and retrieve information from the database.