University course registration and management system: A distributed application using Microsoft Distributed Component Object Model

A University Course Registration and Management System (UCRMS) has been designed and implemented using Microsoft Visual C++ and Microsoft (DCOM). The UCRMS is a real time, three-tier (presentation-tier, application-tier, and data-tier), distributed application capable of running on number of PCs according to the configuration. It provides a convenient graphic user interface for both students and university administrators. It allows students to make a self-registration for their selected courses. It also allows university administrators to manage the student and course data, such as adding a student, adding a course, deleting a student, deleting a course. To support data efficiency, the data-tier has full control over database access. To support network efficiency, the application-tier provides data storage for frequently used data. To support user efficiency, the presentation-tier provides students with online course descriptions, allowing a easy course selection. To support online data modification, a callback mechanism is implemented for the application-tier server that broadcasts update information to all its clients as needed. An in-depth descriptions of DCOM, a basic technology used in the implementation of the UCRMS, is also provided with this report.