Department of Computer Science University of Nevada, Reno. Role-Coll. Role Based Collaboration Software. Project Part I: Concept

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1 Department of Computer Science University of Nevada, Reno Role-Coll Role Based Collaboration Software Project Part I: Concept Software Team: Harold De Armas, Erik Hanchett, Raymond Lee, Zack Norcross Business Team: Mark Tyman, Max Volger Internal Advisors: Sergiu Dascalu, PhD., Gary Valiere PhD.

2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT... 3 PROJECT DESCRIPTION... 3 DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES... 4 INTENDED TECHNOLOGY... 4 PERSONAL GROWTH... 4 QUALIFICATION OF DESIGNERS... 5 Erik Hanchett... 5 Harold De Armas... 5 Raymond Lee... 5 Zackery Norcross... 5 OTHER CONTRIBUTORS... 5 Mark Twyman... 5 Max Volger... 6 PROJECT TIMELINE... 6 MARKET POTENTIAL... 6 NOVELTY OF YOUR SOLUTION:... 6 ADVERTISEMENT/MARKETING STRATEGY... 7 BUDGET... 7 HARDWARE COMPONENT... 8 CONNECTION WITH CS APPENDIX A PROJECT TIMELINE

3 Abstract The aptly named Role-Coll, short for Role-based collaboration software, will allow users to share collaboration freely at their own level and their superiors will be able to filter the input from all of their subordinates. Role-Coll will incorporate modularity to allow for different modules to be plugged in as the subject of the conversations change. The primary focus for Roll-Coll is a music plug-in that allows collaboration among an entire band or orchestra on a multiple pieces of music. Each section would be able to make their own notes on their music and the conductor could filter out only the notes that he saw useful, allowing a fully interactive environment for collaboration. Project Description Collaborative software allows multiple users to contribute to multiple documents in a way that every user contributes to the creation of the document they are working on. This is a very powerful tool because it allows input from a variety of users and the users feel part of the creative process. Collaboration software could be improved in two key areas, by adding roles to each of the users, and by allowing for more variation in the documents that are being collaborated on. Our project will be focused on two key improvements to collaboration software. The first improvement is the addition of user roles. In current collaboration software, everyone is editing the same document, and everyone has the same privileges to do so. With the addition of roles, users are organized in a hierarchy such that there are leaders and subordinates. Another important distinction is that every user has a copy of the document that is unique to them. Everyone may make changes to their document that is not reflected in the collaborated document, much like making liner notes in a real document. The roles come in place when a leader submits a change to subordinates. The change is applied automatically and users have the ability to modify it in their own document. If a subordinate has a modification they would like to make in a document, they would need to submit it to the leader for approval. Then the leader can chose to apply the modification to the group s document or discard it. The second improvement proposed to collaboration software is that of how a document is defined. Collaboration does not only happen on text documents and whiteboards. Engineers need to create and edit circuit diagrams and using a simple whiteboard would be tedious. The particular interest of this group is music notation. In rehearsals of symphony orchestras, a large collaboration effort is taking place where the document being collaborated on is a piece of sheet music. Sheet music is another unique document that is not easily described by a text editor or a whiteboard. Along with the ability to enforce roles in the collaboration process, the software should also allow for a wider variety of collaboration through the implementation of modules. For future consideration, Role-Coll should come with the standard modules that allow for text editing and use of a whiteboard. Role-Coll should feature an interface by which a user can create a system the application can use to display, interpret, and modify a 3

4 collaborative document. Since Role-Coll is a modular project, future developments can include a larger library of modules. Role-Coll might be enhanced to support a wider variety of modules that were not thought of in initial conception. A web interface could be created so users can view and make basic changes to the document. Roll-Coll has completed the preliminary research and work necessary to create a prototype graphical user interface. Roll-Coll has also completed research on the XML specification for MusicXML files that will be the basis of this software. Database diagrams have been created to describe the internal structure and storage of the documents as well as the roles for use in the music setting. Finally class outlines and initial methods have been prototyped to serve the needs of Roll-Coll. All of these additions can be found in this document. Development Challenges During the course of this project our group will overcome several development challenges ranging from user interface integration to networking. The first challenge we plan to face is creating a user interface that is both useful and attractive. We have several ideas of how we would like the interface to look, but implementing them will not be as easy. Our second challenge will be designing a network between the users that will sync updates automatically. Finally the last challenge we plan to undertake is integrating our application with a computer that has a touch screen. Intended Technology The development of Role-Coll plans to use Java and C# to develop the user interface and underlying logic of the program. The Java and C# languages are portable to both Windows and Linux it is our hope that the product we develop will be able to be platform independent. Considering that it is collaboration software it is important that users can interact with each other regardless of the operating system they are using. Java in particular has many libraries that are free and available for use by any one this is helpful by allowing the reuse of code. Personal Growth The most important lessons are learned through experience. This project will allow all of us to grow as developers and learn SDLC by doing all of the things that we have been taking lectures on. The project will also teach us to work on a team which is good real world experience. The team has decided to program the application in languages that they are not familiar with, learning a new language helps us grow as well. 4

5 Qualification of Designers Erik Hanchett Erik Hanchett is a senior in computer science with a minor in mathematics and is looking forward to graduating in May. Erik brings great enthusiasm and programming knowledge to the project. He will be working on the UI and development environments using C# and OpenGL. Harold De Armas Harold De Armas is a senior Computer Science major with a minor in music and math. Harold also worked as a web developer for the Information Technology department at the University of Nevada. With Harold s background in Computer Science and Music, Harold will be focusing on creating the module used by Role-Coll to allow for the custom collaboration. Harold will also be involved in any database components of the project. Raymond Lee Raymond Lee has been enrolled in the College of Engineering in the past three years with an emphasis in computer and informational engineering. In his studies he has developed knowledge of basic computer science and computer engineering theories and skills. Currently working on minors in math, information systems and a minor in business administration, these skills will help the team develop business strategies and documentation. Zackery Norcross Zackery Norcross is a Software Engineer for Role-Coll. Mr. Norcross is working to obtain a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from the University of Nevada, Reno. His interests include electronics and web design. Mr. Norcross received his Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering in May of He is very knowledgeable in the field of electronics with an emphasis on hardware design and firmware programming. Mr. Norcross is currently a Jr. Software engineer at Intuit where he programs automated tax software in Java. His programming experience and knowledge in the software process will help the Role-Coll team accomplish their goals. Other Contributors Mark Twyman Mark Twyman will soon be a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in Business Management and a minor in Economics with a 3.57 GPA. His degree in management has allowed him to understand the business world from both the perspective of the business and the consumer. Mark is a valuable asset to have in the company because he will be most qualified to uncover ways of best catering the product to the customer while refining the business processes both internally and externally. 5

6 Max Volger Max has many years in the management field as well as in financials. In 2000 he started a junior tennis program in the state of Idaho which set a solid foundation for junior tennis. His budgeting capabilities and sponsor negotiations made junior tennis the most profitable department of the Idaho Tennis Association. He will graduate in May 2007 from the University of Nevada with a B.S. in Management and minor in Accounting, with a GPA Project Timeline The project timeline is illustrated in Appendix A. Market Potential The Role-Coll system has market that is relatively free of competitors. The two main products that currently are on the market are estand ( and MusicPad Pro ( The main difference between our product and these two is in the collaboration. The MusicPad Pro is meant to only display music stored electronically for performance purposes. It allows basic annotations to be created, but not shared among a group of players. The estand product is more robust but the software still does not allow interaction that models the way collaboration occurs in an orchestra setting. The main target for Role-Coll is university and professional orchestras. Due to the nature of the music performance industry, there is already collaboration between the two groups and by marketing to both they will be able to share in the benefits. The key advantages to note are increased productivity during practice of easier dissemination of annotations, and the added ability to archive and retrieve annotations. During performances, Role-Coll has the music in order and can advance pages without worrying about music falling or missing notes. The benefits are clear and by marketing to universities, we will target the customers who are in the best position to make a purchase that can benefit them and their industry. Novelty of your solution: Role-Coll is a role based collaborative software that can be used in several unique ways. As of right now we are focusing on the music player plug-in however Role-Coll can be used in other areas. For example teachers could use Role-Coll to collaborate with their students. Or a Football team could use the collaboration tool between different coaches. The possibilities are endless. As for the music side we introduce a novel role based hierarchy to distinguish between different orchestra leaders. This hierarchy will establish which messages can be passed 6

7 and what notes will be seen. This type of collaboration in an orchestra has never been done before in any off the shelf products. Advertisement/Marketing strategy Initially our marketing strategy will rely on large existing orchestras that are willing to try out new technology. We ll lease the software and tablet pc s to the orchestras to see how well it fits into their environment. We ll use that data to build a better product and to grow our market place. We ll rely on word of mouth and advertising in magazines and online to spread the word on our product. We ll demonstrate the system to school districts across America. Budget Below is an outline of our preliminary budget justifications per our 5000 dollar budget constraint. Item # Description QTY Cost/Item Source/Provider Total Cost 1 Tablet PCs - 1GHz, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB 3 $ 1,000 newegg.com $ 3,000 2 D-Link Wireless Router 1 $ 50 newegg.com $ 50 3 Logitech Wireless Keyboard 3 $ 30 newegg.com $ 90 4 Programmer Salaries 6 $ 310 $ 1860 Total $ 5,000 Table 1. Preliminary Budget for Role-Coll. The testing of Role-Coll in a real-time environment will require the use of three Tablet PCs, three wireless keyboards and a router. The Tablet PCs will be able to run an operating system that can manage the application and the needed hardware components. They also include a touch screen that will be used for hand written notes. The touch screen also acts as a medium for clicking and moving the pointer around on the screen, eliminating the need for a mouse. Each PC will need a way of wirelessly adding typed notes; our solution is a wireless keyboard to be included with each unit. To properly test the application it will need to be run concurrently on at least two different machines. In order to communicate these machines will need to be connected to a switch or router. Any extra funds will be paid out to the four engineers and two business students that are coding the application. An average entry level engineer makes $50,000 a year divided by 2080 hours makes the average wage $24 dollars an hour. These funds will be critical to the success of the product. As described above it will be used to facilitate the testing of the real-time environment and debugging of the application. 7

8 Hardware Component For the hardware component, Raymond and Zack will work on building a peripheral for the music module that will allow users to navigate through the sheets of music in the performance mode. The peripheral will be a step pad users can lightly tap to advance pages or go back to previous pages. Creating the step pad would involve researching the architecture and design of a keyboard and modifying the keyboard to communicate with the tablet PCs. Figure 1. Step Pad. Illustrated in Figure 1 is the step pad. The step pad will be placed on the ground underneath the performer s feet. When the user steps on the right side, the pad will send a signal to the circuit board of a modified keyboard where the signal will be translated and sent to the computer similar to a keystroke. The same will happen when they step on the left page to go back a page. Connection with CS 425 The project concept we began with was general purpose modular role based collaboration software. This topic was very broad, so we decided to narrow it down to restrict the amount of competition we would face. This led to the performance music collaboration idea. We had too many ambitions for the capabilities of our initial project for starting from scratch. So for this semester, we hope to get a fully functional, pleasing user interface and implement the major music features. After that is finished, we can decide how much more we can accomplish. 8

9 Appendix A Project Timeline 9

10 ID Task Name Start 1 RollColl Project Mon 1/29/07 Jan 28, '07 Feb 4, '07 Feb 11, '07 Feb 18, '07 Feb 25, '07 Mar 4, '07 Mar 11, '07 Mar 18, '07 Mar 25, '07 Apr 1, '07 Apr 8, '07 Apr 15, '07 Apr 22, '07 Apr 29, '07 May S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M 2 Concept Compliation Mon 1/29/07 3 Concept Fri 2/9/07 2/9 4 Website Develpoment Fri 2/9/07 5 Website Fri 2/16/07 2/16 6 Specification Compliation Fri 2/9/07 7 Spefications Due Fri 2/23/07 2/23 8 Concept Presentation Tue 3/6/07 3/6 9 Database Design Mon 2/26/07 10 UI Design Wed 2/28/07 11 Design Due Mon 3/12/07 3/12 12 Development Mon 3/12/07 13 Implimentation Mon 3/12/07 14 In Progress Demo Fri 4/6/07 4/6 15 Testing Wed 3/21/07 16 Poster Due Mon 4/23/07 4/23 17 Final Demo Fri 5/4/07 5/4 Project: Project1 Date: Thu 2/8/07 Task Split Progress Milestone Summary Project Summary External Tasks External Milestone Deadline Page 1