Information Technology: IT Applications

The following questions have been taken from the Cambridge Checkpoints 2007
– VCE IT Applications – Potts. (Also check out the online quizzes at
www.cambridge.edu.au/checkpoints)

CHAPTER 5
Solutions and Information Products
Question 1
The following is a set of sample data to be used to test a new database
being created for a community baby-sitting club. Membership of the club
is restricted to people living in the 9031 postcode area with children under
five years of age.

Member No. Street Suburb Postcode Child Age

Surname

Smith 21 High Belltown 9031 4

Jones 23 Main Bellville 9031 3

Miller 13 Goode Belltown 9031 6

a. Based on the two conditions of membership, will this sample data

be an effective test for this database? Explain your answer.

b. Club membership is updated annually on the birthday of the child

registered. Will the current database structure allow for this to be
achieved? Explain your answer.

c. What change would you make to the current database structure to

ensure that an alphabetical listing of members according to the
name of the street in which they live can be generated?
Question 2 [VCAA 2003] = 2 Marks
In the report shown below, identify two conventions that have been used
in formatting numeric data.

Building Supplies and Services

Quarterly Sales Budget for 2004
Location Jan Feb Mar
$ $ $
City 432,567 437,231 654,985
Eastland 236,867 247,645 296,873
Northland 435,678 232,982 233,343
Total $1,015,112 $917,858
$1,185,201
Queensland 567,456 346,869 267,654
Tasmania 45,876 43,589 46,927
Total 613,332 390,458 314,626
Grand Total $1,628,444 $1,308,316
$1,499,827

Convention 1:

Convention 2:

Question 5 [VCAA 2001] = 3 Marks

Give one form (type) of information that may be provided over the
Internet and describe the technical aspects to be considered in providing
the information.

i. Form

ii. Description of technical aspects to be considered

Question 8 [VCAA 2002] = 2 Marks

Before creating a website, Plans Plus, an architectural firm, has asked you
to develop a design of the site. What design technique would you use and
why?

Design technique:

Reason:
Question 9
A screen-based input form has been suggested by an employee at ShareTrader
Investments that could be used by on-line investors to record their bank details.

On-line Share Transaction Application Screen

Surname: Given names:

Postcode: Address:
State: Phone: ( )
Email:

Date of Birth: Age: Years: Months:

Bank Details
Bank name: BSB Number:
Account number:
A/C name:

Password for transactions:

List three design faults with the proposed input screen.

Question 11 [VCAA 2003] = 12 Marks

Fleur’s Florist is a very successful chain of florist shops specialising in parties and
weddings throughout Victoria. They are about to open a new stores in Sydney
and Brisbane and are keen to promote their stores in two states.

a. Outline two reasons why the manager might suggest a web site would
best suit the intended customers.

b. Outline one reason why the manager would request a screen layout mock-
up as a design representation before approving the web site.

The solution attribute of functionality needs to be tested.

c. State two tests that would test the solution’s functionality and explain how
you would conduct each test.

Test 1

Test 2

d. Identify a sample group of people who could be used to test the solution.
Justify your choice.

Sample group:

Justification:
 e. Two possible criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the web site would
be

i. Number of hits

ii. Number of on-line orders placed by email has increased

Select the criterion you would recommend and justify your choice.

Question 15
The following diagram represents a design for developing a solution to an
information problem in an organisation:

a. Identify this design tool.

1. Develop a webpage to
promote the organisation’s

2. Acquire 3. 2. Enter the data 5.

the into the software
relevant package

b. Identify and briefly explain the design strategy represented by this

strategy.

c. Name the function required in Module 3 to ensure the data is

correct before it is entered into the software.

d. Name the process that should occur in Module 5 to ensure that all
hyperlinks entered are correct.

e. Some of the data to be acquired in Module 2 will be photograph’s of

the organisation’s staff.

i. Is this data primary or secondary?

ii. How would you check the accuracy of this data?

Question 19
Is the following design representation indication a testing process or a validation
process? Explain your answer.
Add hyperlink to
web page
 Link goes to No
Connect the
the correct hyperlink
page?

Yes

Question 26
A school uses a subject selection form for their VCE students to indicate their
preference for subjects in the next year. The school offers a choice of 50
subjects. A data input form requires students to place a mark alongside each
subject they wish to study. The data entry operator then enters the
corresponding subject code into a database package.
The operator has complained that this process is too slow, and errors occur if the
wrong code is entered. The school wishes to retain the idea of an input form
since it also records the handwritten signature of the student and parents.

a. Suggest an additional hardware component that would allow the process

to take place more efficiently.

b. Describe a modification that would need to be made to the input form to

accommodate the new hardware.

c. Would there need to be any modification made to the database software?

d. Explain how this additional technology operates.

Question 29
Tony works for a medium-sized business. He has single-handedly designed, built
and implemented a new customer records database solution for the business. It
is now time to evaluate the success of the changes. What concern would there
be over Tony doing the evaluation?

Question 38
Part of a toy store inventory is shown in the report below.

Toy Brand Ordere Quanti Wholesale

 d ty ($)

Rocket racer Flying Fun 7//01/07 50 3.5

Day-Glo frisbee Flying Fun 23/01/0 50 2.6

7

Wooden train set Zap Toys 23/01/0 25 12.90

7

Brontosaurus Nature 25/03/0 25 4.99

Kids 7

Freddo Frog Nature 25/03/0 25 8.99

Kids 7

Agatha Alligator Nature 18/04/0 25 4.99

Kids 7

Model satellite Flying Fun 12/06/0 15 14.50

7

Eight-colour paint Fun Toys 12/06/0 50 3.70

set 7

Thinking trees Zap Toys 14/07/0 40 7.99

7

a. Use the printout to determine the toy returned for the following queries

i. Wholesale > 3.50 AND wholesale < 8.00

ii. Ordered < ‘31/03/07’

iii. Brand = “Flying Fun” AND Brand = “Zap Toys”

iv. Brand = “Flying Fun” OR Brand = “Zap Toys”

v. (Brand = “Nature Kids” OR “Zap Toys”) AND Wholesale > 8

b. Write out a query that would return

i. All the toys ordered between 1 March and 31 May

ii. Any toys that cost less than $10 and were supplied by either Flying
Fun or Zap Toys

iii. All toys ordered in quantities of 40 or less and cost $5.00 or more.
Question 40
The sports coordinator for a school wishes to set up a database table to record
the results of soccer matches played against neighbouring schools.
The table will include the fields Opponent, Date_played, Result, Goals_for,
Goals_against.

a. For each field, identify the appropriate data type.

b. Suggest a suitable validation rule for the Result, Goals_for and

Goals_against fields.