ThunderBolt Library Manager 1.0.0 - Beta - Features
1. ThunderBolt Library Manager
1.0.0 - Features
L e a g u e O f C o d e r s ( L O C )
i m p t o d e f e a t @ g m a i l . c o m
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MAYANK SHARMA
ThunderBolt by LOC is an easy to use yet very powerful Library Management
Application. The idea behind the project is to provide an easy and appealing UI that
allows performing tasks quickly and enhances accessibility of appropriate data at
the appropriate time. This document describes the application’s list of features that
make it a strong competitor amongst other Library Management Softwares.
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Home Screen
The Home screen has 5 Panels surrounding the Display Panel in the centre. By default the Display Panel loads the ThunderBolt Library Manager
Splash image i.e. the welcome image.
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The other 5 panels are –
1) Quick Access Panel – The commonly used functions are clubbed together and put into this panel.
2) Welcome Panel – Displays today’s day and the librarian’s name. Clicking anywhere in this panel resets the Display Panel to display the
welcome image.
3) Book Management Panel – Allows librarians to add books to library, view/edit existing books and an extensive catalog system to
searching the books database.
4) Member Management Panel – Allows librarians to add student details to create a virtual library card, view/edit details for existing
students and an extensive search system to searching the student database.
5) Advanced Options/Help Panel –Contains the not so commonly used but other important features of ThunderBolt.
Quick Access Panel
Issue
This button loads the Issue Panel in the Display Panel of the home screen. The issue panel provides a quick 3 step issue approach for issuing
books to members.
FEATURES :
1) Just enter acc no and roll no and ThunderBolt will instantly load the information and conduct validations to check whether the book can
be issued or not.
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2) Report generation + instant email to student.
3) Batch updates ensure no redundancy occurs in databases.
4) ThunderBolt takes care that passed out student cannot issue books (i.e. expired cards cannot be used for issuing) and max limit of
issuing books is not exceeded by student.
5) Shows picture of the student who wishes to issue book to verify the identity of the issuer
6) Step wise presentation ensures easy to use User Interface.
PROCEDURE :
STEP 1 : BOOK DETAILS
1) The librarian has to enter the acc no against the Enter Acc. No : text field.
2) Press Tab or click on any other field.
3) ThunderBolt will query the database and perform validations. If the book is available for issue, you will see a .
STEP 2: STUDENT DETAILS
1) Enter the roll number of the student who wishes to issue the book.
2) Press Tab or click on any other field.
3) ThunderBolt will query the database and perform validations. If the student can issue books, you will see a .
STEP 3: ISSUE
1) If you have in both step 1 and step 2, clicking on issue will issue the book to the student and update all datasources.
2) Additionally, the librarian can send the email to the student’s id informing about the issue, fine rate,due date etc.
3) The librarian can view the report for the book issued.
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Return
The Return Panel assists the librarian to accept returns and collect the fine, if any.
Features
1) Automatic display of information about the book, student who issued the book and a mini report for the issue. Shows the picture of the
student to confirm identity.
2) Report Generation and e-mailing with detailed information about issue duration and fine, if any.
3) Database transactions and batch updates ensure that no redundancy occurs during return.
4) One click return and ThunderBolt takes care of updating all the datasources about the return of the book.
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PROCEDURE
Step 1: Enter the Accession Number and Roll_no against the labels provided. Click Search
Step 2: ThunderBolt will look up the datasources. If the book with the provided accession number has not been returned by the student,
the book details, student details and a mini report will be loaded and displayed to the librarian.
Step 3: Click Return. ThunderBolt will notify the Database about the return and update the concerned datasources. On successful return a
image is displayed at the bottom
Additional Options : Send an email to the student’s email-id giving a detailed account of the issue period, fine etc; View the report .
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Over dues Panel
The Over dues Panel is a unique feature of ThunderBolt. It enables the librarian to quickly access the data about those students and books that
have exceeded the issue duration and are liable to be fined. The librarian can thus notify those students to return the books as soon as possible
or take suitable steps. The student details, book details and the fine are easily accessible from the panel.
Features/Usage
1) ThunderBolt automatically loads the list of students that have exceeded the due date and not returned the books, when the Overdues
button is clicked from the Quick Access Panel.
2) Clicking on an entry in the overdues table displays the Fine and enables the Show Book, Show Student and Show Report buttons for the
selected entry.
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Catalog
The catalog provides a quick and easy way to search and track the books that are being managed by ThunderBolt. It uses flexible search
algorithms allowing the librarian to view only the relevant entries from the datasources. The search queries created internally by ThunderBolt
can point out a single book or a group of books depending on the complexity of search parameters and requirements.
Features
1) A large number of search parameters allow for a highly detailed search.
2) Keywords specified can be looked up in Title, Accession Number, Author name , Publisher , Class no, Subject, Location, Date of issue
3) Search type can be set to exact for finding exact matches for the keywords in the datasource for the field specified in (2).
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4) ThunderBolt enables sorting of the search results. There are 6 parameters (acc no, author, title, publisher, subject, year) on which
sorting of results can be done in ascending or descending order.
5) If the Keyword Text Field is left empty during search, then all the books in the library are displayed.
Procedure
1) Enter the keywords to look for. Make appropriate choices from the combo boxes and radio buttons provided and hit Search
2) Step 2 will display the no of search results found and show the books matching the search conditions in a tabular form.
3) If a book is currently issued, its status is displayed as Not Available
4) Double-Click a record to open the book in the View/Edit mode
5) Select a book from the table in step 2 and click on show details button to open the selected book in View/Edit mode
6) Click on Print to print the table.
Book Management Panel
This panel provides all the tools required to add/view/edit/delete books that are managed by ThunderBolt.
Add Book
Clicking the Add button in the Book Management Panel launches the Add Book form. Through this form new book/books can be added in a
smart way to the list of books managed by ThunderBolt.
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The form itself is divided into 4 sub-panels :
Title and Author Details
Subject Related Info
General Info
Library Related Info
NOTE: The Acc No and Title for a book cannot be left empty. Doing so might cause the ‘Empty String error’.
Features
1) In-Built Smart Add : ThunderBolt will retain all the data in their respective fields after pressing the Add button in the Add Book form and
increment the Accession Number(acc_no) by 1. Multiple copies of the same book will have the same details except for the acc_no.By
using the Add button they can be added one by one and ThunderBolt will take care of the accession numbers to be assigned.
2) Add Multiple : This is also a smart add feature. It uses batch updates to add multiple copies of the same book to the databases by auto
incrementing the accession numbers. The number of copies to be added is specified through a dialog box. So, instead of adding multiple
entries one by one, they can be added simultaneuosly. The only disadvantage it may have, in rare situations is that if any one entry fails,
no books will be added to the database to maintain the database integrity. ThunderBolt will notify the librarian if such an event occurs. It
is then advisable to use the one by one approach through the Add button.
3) One Click Subject Panel Update : The librarian has to only choose the subject from the drop down list and Subject Code and Class No are
automatically updated from the Subject Manager. If the subject is not present in the list, The Subject Manager Button can be used to
add it via the Subject Manager and import the details directly into the Add Book form.
4) Location : This button launches the Location Manager. The Location Manager tracks the racks/shelves where the book will be placed in
the library.
Procedure
1. Fill the Title and Author Details and General Info.
2. Choose a Subject from the Subject Drop Down Menu and ThunderBolt will automatically fill up the Subject Related Info Panel.
If the subject is not present in the subject drop down list:
click Subject Manager. ThunderBolt will open the Subject Manager which has been customized for the Add Book form.
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Fill in the Add New Subject Panel and click the ADD to Subjects Button.
The subject will now appearing the Subject Manager Table.
Make sure that the subject you added is selected in the table and click the Send To Add Book Form to load fill up the Subject Related
Info in the Add Book Form
3) Fill up the Library Related Info Panel.
4) Click on Location button to launch the Location Manager that has been customized for the Add Book Form.
a. Select a Location from the List. If the list does not contain the Location, you can add it via the Add New Location Panel.
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b. Make sure that a location is selected from the list and click the Send To Add Book Form to set the location for the book whose
entry is being made.
5) To Add the book, do one of the following :
a. Click ADD to make a single entry.
Note : The Accession Number will be auto-incremented to allow multiple entries to be made in a one-by-one fashion
b. Click Add Multiple to make multiple entries of the same book simultaneously. ThunderBolt will take care of the accession
numbers by auto-incrementing them. A dialog box will open asking asking you the number of copies to be added.
6) If the Book is added successfully, will appear at the bottom of the screen.
View/Edit Book
The View/Edit Window displays all the information related to the book in a single frame. This cuts down the need to navigate to different
menus and submenus to find/edit information such as book’s issue history, book details, editing the book etc.
Features :
The left pane of the screen is the View/Edit pane. ThunderBolt automatically fills up the text fields with their respective data after
querying the backend.
The librarian can edit any details by modifying the text fields and click Save Changes. ThunderBolt will update the data sources and
refactor the back-end if the acc no has changed .This ensures that no redundancies occur during the modification process.
The librarian can also delete the current book. This will remove the book and delete all the issue history from the database. It is
advisable not to use this option unless absolutely necessary.
The right side of the window is the Book History and Performance Pane. The issue history table shows a list of students that have issued
the book and for how long the book was with them.
Double-click on a record to view the complete details in the Report Generator. These reports can be printed as well.
The mid to bottom part of this pane is the Book Performance Panel. This is a unique feature of ThunderBolt. It shows how popular a
book is amongst the students.
Total Fine Obtained field gives an idea of how much fine has been earned through the book.
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The entire data of the book history and performance pane can be restricted to a specific duration by using the Add Filters panel. The
reset button will remove the applied filters.
If student has exceeded limit and not returned the book ThunderBolt flashes ‘Refer overdues’ message at the bottom of performance
panel.
A floatable Navigation And Printing ToolBar is present at the top of View/Edit Book Pane. It allows to navigate forward/backward/go to
a particular book /print the current book details.
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Catalog
Refer to Quick Access Panel : Catalog.
Member Management Panel
This panel provides all the tools required to add/view/edit/delete students that are managed by ThunderBolt.
Add Student
Add button in the Member Management Panel opens up the Add Student Form. This form is used to add students to the list of students
managed by ThunderBolt and create a Virtual Library Card. This Form is divided into 4 panels namely
Basic Information
Student Information
Contact Information
Student’s Picture
NOTE: The First Name, Roll No, Date of Birth and Email fields cannot be left empty. If the Email text field is empty then an
ArrayOutOfBounds Exception is displayed.
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Features :
Smart Add : This feature aims to speed up the process of making multiple student entries. Whenever the Smart Add check box is
selected and the Add button is clicked, ThunderBolt will retain all the relevant Student Information and auto-increment the card
numbers, irrespective of the format i.e. ECE-91,ECE-92 will become ECE-93,ECE-94 . ThunderBolt’s algorithm uses regular expressions
to look up digits and increment them suitably. The Date of Birth in the Basic Information panel is also retained, since it makes sense that
students in same class will have birthday in the same year. This reduces time required to navigate through ‘years’ in the Date Chooser
while entering the Date of Birth for the next student. Besides these, all fields are reset by ThunderBolt.
Since in engineering colleges, strength of boys is generally more, the default gender selection has been set to Male.
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Fig : Student Added with Smart Add selected. Card Numbers auto incremented, Student Information and DOB retained
ThunderBolt automatically adjusts the upper limits of the Year and Semester spinners based on the Programme , i.e. for B.Tech , there
are 8 semesters in 4 years and for M.Tech there are 4 semesters in 2 years.
ThunderBolt automatically scales up or scales down the image chosen for the student. There are no restrictions on the size and
dimensions of images that can be loaded.
The image formats supported are : *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.png, *.gif
ThunderBolt performs validations to verify that a valid email is provided for the student. Therefore, please ensure that a valid email
address is always provided while making student entries.
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View/Edit Student
The View/Edit Window displays all the information related to the student in a single frame. This cuts down the need to navigate to different
menus and submenus to find/edit information such as student’s basic/contact/enrollment information and student’s performance etc.
Features:
The left side of the View/Edit Student form is the View/Edit pane. ThunderBolt automatically fills up the students details in their
respective textboxes after querying the back-end.
The librarian can edit any details by modifying the text fields and click Save Changes. A will appear if the changes are accepted
by ThunderBolt. ThunderBolt will update the datasources and refactor the entries to ensure no redundancies occur in case the roll no
has changed .
The librarian can also delete the current student. This will remove the student and delete all the issue history related to him/her from
the database. It is advisable not to use this option unless absolutely necessary.
A floatable Navigation And Printing ToolBar is present at the top of View/Edit Student Pane. It allows navigating forward/backward/go
to a particular student /printing the current student’s details.
The right side of the window is the Student Issue History and Performance Pane. The issue history table shows a list of books that have
been issued by the student and for how long was the book with them.
Double-click on a record to view the complete details in the Report Generator. These reports can be printed as well.
The mid to bottom part of this pane is Student Performance Panel. This unique feature allows to librarian to assess how much the
student’s abide by the libraries rules, such as the students that do not return books in time will have higher values of ‘Total Fine’.
To assess time-to-time performance of the student, the Add Filters panel can be used. The reset button will remove the applied filters.
ThunderBolt is capable of displaying all these details for students that have passed out as well.
If a student has exceeded the issue duration limit and not returned books, ThunderBolt will flash a message at the bottom of the screen
notifying the librarian to check the overdues panel.
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FIG : Navigation Bar, Pass Out Notification,Issue History Refactoring on Save Changes Notification, Double Click to generate Report from the
Issue Table, Total Fine – Student Performance , Over-Dues Notification.
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Search Student
The Search Button in the Member Management Panel loads the Student Search Panel inside the Display Pane of the Home Screen.
This panel provides a quick and easy way to search and track the students that are being managed by ThunderBolt. It uses flexible search
algorithms allowing the librarian to view only the relevant entries from the datasources. The search queries created internally by ThunderBolt
can point out a single student or a group of students depending on the complexity of search parameters and requirements.
NOTE :
1) If Year spinner is set to any other value than 1,2,3 or 4 , ThunderBolt will assume that it has to search in all available ‘year’s’ values.
2) When Name is selected of ‘Search in :’ drop down list, ThunderBolt will look for matches in the Entire Name i.e. after joining the First
Name + Middle Name + Last Name into a single string.
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Features :
1) Easy 2 Step Search with a Mini Student Viewer panel at the right side
2) A large number of search parameters allow for a highly detailed search.
3) The keyword can be of the type: Name(concatenated), Father’s Name or Roll No.
4) Search Results can be restricted by using filter and constraints.
5) The Filter Parameters include Programme, Branch, Year, Category and Date of Birth.
6) Single click on any search result in step 2 to load Picture and Contact Details in the Mini Student Viewer Panel.
7) Double click on any search result in step 2 to launch the Edit/View Student Window for the selected student.
8) If the Keyword Text Field is left Empty during search, then ThunderBolt will display list of all the students registered with the library
.Using appropriate filters it is possible to view specific groups of students as well. E.G leaving the keyword empty and searching for 2nd
year ECE students will give a list of all the students in 2nd
year ECE.
Advanced Options/Help Panel
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This Window contains the configuration settings for ThunderBolt. This section will describe how to configure ThunderBolt for smooth
functionality.
The Settings window is divided into 5 Panels
1) Librarian/Login Details
2) Issue Parameters
3) Annual/Semester increments
4) Email/SMTP settings
5) Back-End Setup
Librarian/Login Details
1) Name : Librarian’s Name
2) E-Mail ID : Librarian’s E-Mail id
3) Contact No : Librarian’s Contact Number
4) Login Name : This name is used to authenticate the user when launching ThunderBolt Library Manager i.e in the Start Up Screen.
5) Password: This button opens the Change Login Password Dialog. This password is required to undo screen lock and to login to
ThunderBolt and view the Home Screen when it is launched.
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Issue Parameters
This panel can be used to alter the issue constraints :
1) Maximum number of days for which the book can be issued without being fined
2) Maximum number of books that a student can issue
3) Fine Rate
Annual/ Semester Increments
This is an important setting to keep track of the Year and Semester that the students are studying in. It is essential to determine which
students have passed out and cannot issue books.
The reference batch chosen is : 2013-2017 B.Tech
At the start of every semester and academic year, these settings should be updated appropriately by the librarian.
ThunderBolt will automatically update the year and semester for all the students.
Email/ SMTP Settings
ThunderBolt sends email’s to the students when they issue or return books. The Email account that thunderbolt uses to achieve is
specified via this panel.
ThunderBolt is currently configured to Gmail’s SMTP settings. Hence it is advisable to use a Gmail account to send email’s to students.
Back-End Setup
These settings link ThunderBolt to the Database. ThunderBolt uses Mysql database named library as its back-end. It is important for the
Username and Password fields to match the Username and Password for the Mysql Server installed on the machine. Once connected, Hit the
Create Database button to execute the sql scripts to create the database and tables required by ThunderBolt.
Welcome Pic
The librarian can customize the background image of home screen by changing the welcome- pic. It is a personalization feature of ThunderBolt.
After modifying the settings, hit the Save Changes Button. It will save the configurations and ask to reboot ThunderBolt. Once
rebooted, all the changes made will be applied.
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Reports
Every time a book is issued by a student, a report is generated indicating the student details, book details and issue related information (issue
date, return date, due date, fine, days exceeded). These reports can be viewed from the Report Generator Window.
The Report Generator has 3 panels :
1) Student Details Panel
2) Book Details Panel
3) Issue Details Panel
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At the top there is a Navigation/Print Toolbar. It can be used to move to the next/previous/specific report and take the print-outs of the
reports.
Daily Log/ Register
This window keeps track of the issue activities occurring in a particular day. The navigation bar helps to go to a specific date. The daily log can
also be printed using the print button in the Navigation Toolbar.
The window is a digital replica of the register that was initially used to maintain issue transactions at the NIT Delhi Library. Hence, the name.
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Screen Lock
In a Real World Scenario, there are going to be several occasions when the librarian will have to leave his/her desk to attend other matters. To
ensure that no one is able to misuse ThunderBolt during this period, Screen Lock feature can be used.
Clicking on screen lock hides the Home Screen making it impossible to issue/return books from the library.
To unlock the screen use the password provided in Librarian/Login Details of the Settings Window.
The Unlock button will restore the Home Screen if the password entered is correct.
Location Manager
The location manager constructs a virtual image of the actual library that is using ThunderBolt. It maintains a list containing a record of racks
and shelves in the actual library. Whenever a new book is added to the library, its can is specified via the Location Manager (configured for the
Add Book form).
In the Catalog, if location is chosen in the Search In : Drop Down List, ThunderBolt will list all the books placed in the specified rack/shelf of the
actual library
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The Location Manager has 2 panels:
Add New Location: Adds a new Location to the List of existing locations that are tracked by ThunderBolt.
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Change and Re-Factor :
o Make Changes - As the NIT campus will shift from one place to another, it is very likely that the names of the racks/shelves can
change depending on the new library. In such a case, the librarian has to rename the locations and ThunderBolt will
automatically re-factor all the databases to reflect the changed locations.
o Delete – It is advisable not to use this feature unless absolutely necessary. If a location is deleted then manually update the new
location of the books that were stored in the deleted location.
Subject Manager
The Subject Manager maintains the list of different subjects and corresponding subject codes and class numbers that the books may have.
It reduces data-entry while adding new books to the library and also helps maintain database integrity by reducing redundancies.
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The Subject Manager has 2 panels
Add New Subject – Requires the Subject Name, Subject Code and Class No.
Modify Selected Subject –
o Make Changes – Select a subject from the table. Change its details and hit Make Changes to re-factor all data sources and
update the subject manager.
o Delete – It is advisable not to delete a subject as the database re-factoring will empty the subjected related information for the
books belonging to the subject that is deleted. Manually update the new details.
DataSource BackDoor
This feature is available in the Beta-Phase for testing purposes only. This window provides a backdoor to directly query/update the back-end.
Only the person with the developer/super-admin password can access this window
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Future Prospects
A web-app that allows students to enter their details and sync the entered data with ThunderBolt. This will cut-down data entry by a
huge amount. Expected Launch : End of Feb 2014
A web-portal where students can browse through books available in the library, make a profile, rate and give feedback about the books
that they have read , keep track of the books they issue and return.
Integration of Bar-Code readers
A mobile app that replicates the web-app
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ThunderBolt 1.0.0
Conclusion
This Document covers the most common features and usages of ThunderBolt. You should now be good to go ahead and use ThunderBolt. For
any other information/feedback contact us at: imptodefeat@gmail.com
Warm Regards
L.O.C
