CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH7410 Assig 2 Sem 1 2017 Page 1 of 7
ITECH7410
Software Engineering Methodologies
Assignment 2 Group Assignment - (Groups of 2- 3)
Specification of a System - Wheat Truck Control System (WTC)
Overview
As a Software Engineering consultant, your task is to develop a formal specification in Z for
the proposed system described below. You will present your work to show that your system
does work and answer questions about the system specification your group has developed.
Timelines and Expectations
Percentage Value of Task: 20%
Due: Thursday, June 16, 2017 - 16:00 (Week 11)
Minimum time expectation: 10 hours
Learning Outcomes Assessed
S1. Critically analyse and use complex decision making to research and determine the
appropriate Software Engineering tools and methodologies to utilize in a given situation.
S2. Apply professional communication skills to support and manage the engineering of a
large software system.
S3. Review, critically analyse and develop artefacts to define processes for quality
assurance, risk management and communication in large software development projects.
S4. Implement quality assurance activities in order to verify user requirements and validate
design decisions.
A1. Analysis of a large system development problem to decide upon the best
methodological approach.
A2. Development of appropriate artefacts to support and manage the software engineering
process such as change control and configuration management.CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH7410 Assig 2 Sem 1 2017-07 Page 2 of 7
Assessment Details
A new computerized system is to be developed for the storage and handling of accounts for
wheat farmers and truck deliveries to Mahsroh Wheat Board silos. Detailed below are the
major objects to be considered in the system: silos, ships, trucks and farmers. This system
could be quite complicated. However, to simplify the system for this assignment we will be
content to include the following in our proposed system:
Silos
The Board currently has ten (10) wheat silos around the country but the system must be
written to seamlessly handle at least twice that number. Each silo has a unique name and
storage capacity (in tonnes) that must be stored in the proposed system. In addition the
system must maintain the current amount of wheat stored in the silo. Obviously when the
silo is full no further deliveries of wheat can be made to that silo before some is offloaded
onto a ship for export overseas. Similarly a silo cannot off-load more wheat onto a ship than
is currently stored. We will assume that when off-loading to a ship, no trucks can unload due
to operational and safety considerations. Only one ship can be handled at a time at each
silo.
We will assume that only one truck can unload into a particular silo at any one time.
Therefore during busy times each silo also maintains a queue of trucks waiting to unload.
Trucks should only be entered into the waiting queue when there is sufficient room for the
wheat that the truck holds, i.e. you need to know that the current storage plus all the loads
currently in the queue will not exceed the silos capacity.
Ships
The system will keep a record of all ships that have been registered to transport wheat
overseas for the Wheat Board. The ships name, nationality and capacity (in tonnes) will be
stored. The ship's captain can specify the amount of wheat to be off-loaded into the ship as
long as it is less than the ships capacity and also the silos current amount in storage. The
system will keep a record of the amount of wheat off-loaded to the ship and adjust the
current storage appropriately.
Trucks
As each loaded truck arrives at the silo, it is weighed to ascertain the amount of wheat in the
truck. The system maintains a list of registered trucks and their empty weight (in tonnes).
Therefore, a single weighing is sufficient to determine the wheat load. If there is sufficient
room in the silo then the wheat is off-loaded into the silo and a record is kept of the amount
off-loaded against both the truck registration number and the farmer providing the wheat.CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH7410 Assig 2 Sem 1 2017-07 Page 3 of 7
Date and Time
Normally we would maintain the date and time of each operation (truck delivery or ship offloading) however to simplify this assignment we will ignore those aspects. Instead, we will
keep a sequential count of each operation for each silo. Therefore, we will have a history of
the order of truck unloading and ship off-loading operations that take place for each silo.
The system would be able to say for example, that silo HORSHAM_1, operation number
999 involved 25 tonne of wheat delivered by the truck registered TONKA owned by Jack
Black from farmer Bob Smith. Then operation 1000 was an off-loading operation of 125,000
tonnes to the ship "Southern Aurora".
There is also a need to keep track of the operation order between silos, therefore we will
keep a global sequential count of the operations at silos as well. Refer to the table below as
an example:
You will need to decide how to demonstrate that your system specification works and
satisfies the client requirements. (You might wish to discuss your approach with your tutor.)
General Comments
The submission must be presented in a professional, clear and concise manner. If you need
further system information please use your initiative and make reasonable and logical
assumptions. Questions of a general nature (for example to clarify some part of the assignment
requirements) can also be sent to the discussion forums, note these should not in any way give
solutions or parts thereof. Similarly you are encouraged to ask questions about the Z
specification language, it is not simple and no students will have encountered it before.CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH7410 Assig 2 Sem 1 2017-07 Page 4 of 7
Requirements:
Z Schema Operations
You are to create a Z schema that adequately describes the WTC system. It should include
at least one state space and the following operations:
x An initialization operation called Init.
x An operation Enter_new_silo that an operator uses to enter the details of a new silo into
the system. Assume the new silo is currently empty.
x An operation Accept_delivery that an operator uses to signal the system to begin offloading x tonne of wheat from a truck. Note that the system must do a check to see if that
storage capacity is available in the silo, if not then an error message must be output and
no truck unloading done. Additional information needed by this routine is the truck
registration and the farmer’s name. If successful this operation stores all necessary
details into the system for that delivery. If a truck is already unloading then this new truck
will be placed in a queue waiting for its turn to unload.
x An operation Leave_queue. This operation is run by the system operator each time there
is a queue for a silo and the driver of a specified truck decides that the anticipated waiting
time is too long and leaves the queue. The operation outputs to the operator the list of
trucks in the queue after the specified truck is removed or if none in the queue a
reasonable error message.
x An operation Silo_account that outputs the total amount of wheat in tonnes delivered to
a particular silo by ALL farmers in a specified time period (note that means between two
global operations numbers in our simplified system). In other words between global
operations 10000 and 10500 for example.
x An operation Ships_total_account that outputs the total amount of wheat that a
particular ship has taken from ALL silos in the total history of the system.
x An operation Farmers_account that outputs the total amount of wheat delivered to ALL
silos in between two specified global operation numbers (e.g. 10000 and 10500).
You should provide robust versions of each operation that are capable of handling any possible error
conditions. For example, if the ship or truck is not correctly registered in the system an appropriate
error message must be given.
The submissions will be considered for presentation, conciseness and correctness (both logically and
notationally). Versions of the operations that are developed using the Z Schema Calculus will be
more highly considered than monolithic versions that account for all conditions within a single
schema.CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH7410 Assig 2 Sem 1 2017-07 Page 5 of 7
You should also add a narrative in the report to explain any schemas or logic that you have
used. Schemas should be annotated. Authorship should be made clear.
You will be asked to explain and answer questions about your work in a presentation - which will be
scheduled at a suitable time – in either labs or lecture.
Submission
Your assignment should be completed according to the Guides to your assessments
https://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/190044/General-Guide-to-Writing-and-Study-Skills.pdf
Using the link provided in Moodle, please upload the following in one zip file as directed by your
lecturer.
Name your zip file in the following manner:
_.zip
e.g. Aravind_ADIGA_30301234.zip
The assignment must be submitted electronically through the Moodle assignment system in Microsoft
Word document format, rtf format or as a pdf document. If you are unable to provide one of these
formats please contact your lecturer/tutor by email prior to submission to ensure that they will be able
to handle the alternative format.
To alleviate any problems with fonts and symbols for the Z specification all students must use the
Zed true type font that is available on Moodle. Note this zip file has both true type and Adobe Type
Manager files for both Windows and Macintosh machines. Please make sure you use the true type
font. The archive contains a Readme.txt file that explains how to install the font.CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH7410 Assig 2 Sem 1 2017-07 Page 6 of 7
Feedback
Assessment marks will be made available in fdlMarks, feedback to individual students will be
provided via Moodle or as direct feedback during your tutorial class
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the presentation of the expressed thought or work of another person as though it is
one's own without properly acknowledging that person. You must not allow other students to copy
your work and must take care to safeguard against this happening. More information about the
plagiarism policy and procedure for the university can be found at:
http://federation.edu.au/students/learning-and-study/online-help-with/plagiarism
Your support material must be compiled from reliable sources such as the academic resources in
Federation University library which might include, but not limited to: the main library collection, library
databases and the BONUS+ collection as well as any reputable online resources (you should confirm
this with your tutor).
Federation University General Guide to Referencing:
The University has published a style guide to help students correctly reference and cite information
they use in assignments. A copy of the University’s citation guides can be found on the university’s
web site. It is imperative that students cite all sources of information. The General Guide to
Referencing can be purchased from the University bookshop or accessed online at:
http://federation.edu.au/library/resources/referencing
Suggested References:
Weeks 4 and 5 study materials and Section 4 of study Guide 3
The Z Notation: A Reference Manual http://www.rose-hulman.edu/class/cs/cs415/zrm.pdf
Using Z http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/igdp/usingz
Sections 21.5, 21.6 and 21.7 from Pressman 7th Ed.
Solutions for Problem 2 of Week 6 tutorial problems
Introduction to Z Notation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfEe9luJmVECRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH7410 Assig 2 Sem 1 2017-07 Page 7 of 7
Marking Criteria
Group Name: __________________
Student ID: Student name:
other members in the group
Student ID: Student name:
Student ID: Student name:
Task Mark
Init
Enter_new_silo_account
Accept_delivery
Leave_queue
Silo_account
Ships_total_account
Farmers_account
8 8 8 8 8 8 8
1. Evidence that system works correctly – included in report 14
2. Report – adheres to the FedUni guidelines for the presentation of academic work 10
3. Presentation – discuss your contribution – development & testing, answer questions about the
system
20
Total 100
Final /20
Comments
Z Schema Operations
Schema = 4 marks
Concise & correct
Notation & logic correct
Schema Annotations = 4 marks
Relevant, concise & clear