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Semester- VI (Skill Based Subject) COMPUTER APPLICATION IN BUSINESS (Syllabus) UNIT-I Introduction to Computer– Characteristics of a Computer – History of Computer– Computer generation - Hardware– Software – System Software and application software. UNIT-II MS - Word Processing: Starting MS word - MS word environment - working with word documents, text, tables - checking spelling and grammar - printing a documents. UNIT-III MS Excel - MS Excel Sheet - MS Excel environment - Working with Excel workbook - worksheet - Formulas and functions - Inserting charts - printing in Excel. UNIT-IV MS Power Point - Starting MS Power Point - MS power point environment – working with power point - working with different views – designing, presentation & printing in Power Point. UNIT-V Electronic Commerce - Types - Advantages and Disadvantages - Electronic data Interchange (EDI) working of EDI - EDI benefits & Limitations - SMART card – SMART card applications. TEXT BOOK
- AnanthiSheshasaayee: Computer Application in Business and Management, Margam Publication.
- Leon & Leon, Computer Applications in Business, Vijay Nicholes Imprint Pvt. Ltd., – Chennai REFERENCE BOOK
- A. Zakiudeen Ahmed: Computer Application in Business, Margam Publication.
UNIT – I _ Introduction to Computer 1.1 COMPUTER_ INTRODUCTION A computer is an electronic device that receives input, stores or processes the input as per user instructions and provides output in desired format. Computers have become an integral part of our lives because they can accomplish easy tasks repeatedly without getting bored and complex ones repeatedly without committing errors. Computer is an electronic device that receives input, stores or processes the input as per user instructions and provides output in desired format. Definition A Computer is an electronic device that can perform activities that involve Mathematical, Logical and graphical manipulations. Generally, the term is used to describe a collection of devices that function together as a system. It performs the following three operations in sequence.
- It receives data & instructions from the input device.
- Processes the data as per instructions.
- Provides the result (output) in a desired form. Input-Process-Output Model Computer input is called data and the output obtained after processing it, based on user’s instructions is called information. Raw facts and figures which can be processed using arithmetic and logical operations to obtain information are called data.
(a) Memory Unit: It is also known as the primary storage or main memory. It stores data, program instructions, internal results and final output temporarily before it is sent to an appropriate output device. It consists of thousands of cells called ―storage locations. These cells activate with ―off- on or binary digits ( 0 , 1) mechanism. Thus a character either a letter or numerical digit is stored as a string of (0, 1) Binary digits (BITS). These bits are used to store instructions and data by their combinations. (b) Arithmetic and Logical Unit (ALU): It is the unit where all Arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction etc.) and logical functions such as true or false, male or female are performed. Once data are fed into the main memory from input devices, they are held and transferred as needed to ALU where processing takes place. No process occurs in primary storage. Intermediate generated results in ALU are temporarily placed in memory until needed at later time. Data may move from primary memory to ALU and back again to storage many times before the process is finalized. (c) Control Unit: It acts as a central nervous system and ensures that the information is stored correctly and the programs instructions are followed in proper sequence as well as the data are selected from the memory as necessary. It also coordinates all the input and output devices of a system. Output devices: Any device that is capable of representing information on a computer is called an Output device. Output devices receive information from the CPU and present it to the user in the desired form. Some important Output devices are Monitor, Printer, speakers, etc. USE OF COMPUTERS IN BUSINESS Now computers are very useful for business organization. Businesses uses computers as part of their daily operations. Almost all kinds of businesses are relying on computers for automating their traditional processes. Following are the main uses of computers in business:- Business communication Now business organizations use various methods of communication through computers. Now companies use email, live chat tools, video conferencing systems, smart phones, social networking, web conferencing for communicating between employees, suppliers and customers. As sometimes it is essential in business to communicate with employees or other members in business in a very few time, so we can communicate with anyone in few seconds using computers. Marketing Computers play a vital role in marketing .Now most of marketing is done online. Social media marketing, website development, blogging, advertising,
e-newsletters are main forms of online marketing. The main advantages of online marketing are reduced cost, brand engagement, demographic targeting, real time results, less intrusive etc. Research Internet provides the information which is very useful for the business operations. Businesses can know about the public opinion regarding any product or service by doing online surveys. They can also get the knowledge about other company’s products and services through internet. When they launch any product they can know the public reaction by viewing customer reviews on different sites. Budgeting and forecasting Computer is very helpful for budgeting and forecasting. There are many special software available for budgeting and forecasting. These software are helpful for estimating future sales and business expansions. Spreadsheet programs such as excel are helpful for budgeting and forecasting. Storage Now businesses can store huge amount of data using computers and internet. They don't need huge cabinets for storing data now. Data can be stored centrally for easy access from multiple computers or stored locally for individual use. Computerized storage saves space and provides a security of data. Design and presentation In past years businesses had to made business documents by hand. Now with the help of digital photography, printing technology and graphic design businesses don't have to make documents by hand and they can make the documents more artistically and clearly. Education Computers are used for educating employees on software, company policies and procedures. Instead of hiring teachers employees can be educated online. It is help in busy schedules of businesses. Home based workers With the help of computers now we can do online jobs. Due to some reasons if we are not able to go to outside for job then we can do online jobs. Now we can do our office work by sitting anywhere. Accounting Accounting software enables a business to quickly and accurately obtain large- and small-scale pictures of the company's financial situation. All the employees need to do is to input his financial information into the software and – with a few
On the basis of size , the computer can be of five types: 1) Supercomputer Supercomputers are the biggest and fastest computers. They are designed to process huge amount of data. A supercomputer can process trillions of instructions in a second. It has thousands of interconnected processors. Supercomputers are particularly used in scientific and engineering applications such as weather forecasting, scientific simulations and nuclear energy research. First supercomputer was developed by Roger Cray in 1976. 2) Mainframe computer Mainframe computers are designed to support hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously. They can support multiple programs at the same time. It means they can execute different processes simultaneously. These features of mainframe computers make them ideal for big organizations like banking and telecom sectors, which need to manage and process high volume of data. 3) Miniframe computer It is a midsize multiprocessing computer. It consists of two or more processors and can support 4 to 200 users at one time. Miniframe computers are used in institutes and departments for the tasks such as billing, accounting and inventory management. 4) Workstation Workstation is a single user computer that is designed for technical or scientific applications. It has faster microprocessor, large amount of RAM and high speed graphic adapters. It generally performs a specific job with great expertise; accordingly, they are of different types such as graphics workstation, music workstation and engineering design workstation. 5) Microcomputer Microcomputer is also known as personal computer. It is a general purpose computer that is designed for individual use. It has a microprocessor as a central processing unit, memory, storage area, input unit and output unit. Laptops and desktop computers are examples of microcomputers.
1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTER
Speed- The speed of computer is considered as one of the most important characteristics of computer. A computer works with much higher speed compared to humans while performing mathematical calculations. Computers can process millions of instructions per second. The time taken by computers for their operations is microseconds and nanoseconds. Their speed is measured in terms of GIGAHERTZ (GMZ) and MEGAHERTZ (MHZ). Accuracy- The computers tare the accurate machine that can perform large number of tasks without errors, but if we feed wrong data to the computer it returns the same wrong information called GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out). The degree of accuracy in a computer is very high and consistent. The Errors that may occur are usually due to human and inaccurate data. Diligence- The capacity of computer of performing repetitive task without getting tired is called diligence. Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness, lack of concentration etc, and hence it can work for hours together without creating any errors. Reliability- They are reliable machines, because of their reliability many organizations, institutions, companies rely on them hugely. They can store huge amount of data and can be recalled or retrieve quickly any time or any place as the user demands. Computers can carry out same type of work Non- Intelligent
Napier's Bones: It was a manually-operated calculating device which was invented by John Napier (1550-1617) of Merchiston. In this calculating tool, he used 9 different ivory strips or bones marked with numbers to multiply and divide. So, the tool became known as "Napier's Bones. It was also the first machine to use the decimal point. Pascaline: Pascaline is also known as Arithmetic Machine or Adding Machine. It was invented between 1642 and 1644 by a French mathematician-philosopher Biaise Pascal. It is believed that it was the first mechanical and automatic calculator. Pascal invented this machine to help his father, a tax accountant. It could only perform addition and subtraction. It was a wooden box with a series of gears and wheels. When a wheel is rotated one revolution, it rotates the neighboring wheel. A series of windows is given on the top of the wheels to read the totals. Stepped Reckoner or Leibnitz wheel: It was developed by a German mathematician-philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz in 1673. He improved Pascal's invention to develop this machine. It was a digital mechanical calculator
which was called the stepped reckoner as instead of gears it was made of fluted drums. Difference Engine: In the early 1820s, it was designed by Charles Babbage who is known as "Father of Modern Computer". It was a mechanical computer which could perform simple calculations. It was a steam driven calculating machine designed to solve tables of numbers like logarithm tables. Analytical Engine: This calculating machine was also developed by Charles Babbage in 1830. It was a mechanical computer that used punch-cards as input. It was capable of solving any mathematical problem and storing information as a permanent memory. Tabulating Machine: It was invented in 1890, by Herman Hollerith, an
1.4 COMPUTER GENERATION
A generation of computers refers to the specific improvements in computer technology with time. In 1946, electronic pathways called circuits were developed to perform the counting. It replaced the gears and other mechanical parts used for counting in previous computing machines. In each new generation, the circuits became smaller and more advanced than the previous generation circuits. The miniaturization helped increase the speed, memory and power of computers. There are five generations of computers which are described below; First Generation (1940-1956) The first generation computers were slow, huge and expensive. In these computers, vacuum tubes were used as the basic components of CPU and memory. These computers were mainly depended on batch operating system and punch cards. The first generation computers had the following features and components. Hardware The hardware used in the first generation of computers was Vacuum Tubes Punch Cards. Features Following are the features of first generation computers It supported machine language. It had slow performance It occupied large size due to the use of vacuum tubes. It had a poor storage capacity. It consumed a lot of electricity and generated a lot of heat. Memory The memory was of 4000 bits. Data Input The input was only provided through hard-wired programs in the computer, mostly through punched cards and paper tapes. Examples The examples of first generation computers are ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) EDVAC ( Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) UNIVAC ( Universal Automatic Computer)
Second Generation (1956-1963) The second generation was the era of the transistor computers. These computers used transistors which were cheap, compact and consuming less power; it made transistor computers faster than the first generation computers. In this generation, magnetic cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic disc and tapes were used as the secondary storage. Assembly language and programming languages like COBOL and FORTRAN, and Batch processing and multiprogramming operating systems were used in these computers. Hardware The hardware used in the second generation of computers were Transistors Magnetic Tapes Features It had features like Batch operating system Faster and smaller in size Reliable and energy efficient than the previous generation Less costly than the previous generation Memory The capacity of the memory was 32,000 bits. Data Input The input was provided through punched cards. Examples The examples of second generation computers are Honeywell 400 CDC 1604 IBM 7030 Third Generation (1964-1971) The third generation computers used integrated circuits (ICs) instead of transistors. A single IC can pack huge number of transistors which increased the power of a computer and reduced the cost. The computers also became more reliable, efficient and smaller in size. These generation computers used remote processing, time-sharing, multi programming as operating system. Also, the high-level programming languages like FORTRON-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1, ALGOL-68 were used in this generation.
Features It supported features like Multiprocessing & distributed OS Object-oriented high level programs supported Small & easy to use; hand-held computers have evolved No external cooling required & affordable This generation saw the development of networks and the internet It saw the development of new trends in GUIs and mouse Memory The capacity of the memory was 100 million bits. Data Input The input was provided through improved hand held devices, keyboard and mouse. Examples The examples of fourth generation computers are − Apple II VAX 9000 CRAY 1 (super computers) Fifth Generation ( 1980 - till date) In fifth generation computers, the VLSI technology was replaced with ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration). It made possible the production of microprocessor chips with ten million electronic components. This generation computers used parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. The programming languages used in this generation were C, C++, Java, .Net, etc. Hardware The Hardware used in the fifth generation of computers are Integrated Circuits with ULSI and Nano technology Large capacity hard disk with RAID support Powerful servers, Internet, Cluster computing Features It supports features like Powerful, cheap, reliable and easy to use. Portable and faster due to use of parallel processors and Super Large Scale Integrated Circuits. Rapid software development is possible.
Memory The capacity of the memory is unlimited. Data Input The input is provided through CDROM, Optical Disk and other touch and voice sensitive input devices. Examples The examples of fifth generation computers are IBM Note books Pentium PCs PARAM 1.5 COMPUTER HARDWARE Hardware represents the physical and tangible components of a computer, i.e. the components that can be seen and touched. Examples of Hardware are the following – Input devices − keyboard, mouse, etc. Output devices − Printer, Monitor, etc. Secondary storage devices − Hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Internal components − CPU, Motherboard, RAM, etc. COMPUTER - INPUT DEVICES Following are some of the important input devices which are used in a computer Keyboard Mouse Joy Stick Light pen Track Ball Scanner Graphic Tablet Microphone Magnetic Ink Card Reader(MICR) Optical Character Reader(OCR) Bar Code Reader Optical Mark Reader(OMR)
Light Pen: Light pen is a pointing device similar to a pen. It is used to select a displayed menu item or draw pictures on the monitor screen. It consists of a photocell and an optical system placed in a small tube. When the tip of a light pen is moved over the monitor screen and the pen button is pressed, its photocell sensing element detects the screen location and sends the corresponding signal to the CPU. Track Ball: Track ball is an input device that is mostly used in notebook or laptop computer, instead of a mouse. This is a ball which is half inserted and by moving fingers on the ball, the pointer can be moved. Since the whole device is not moved, a track ball requires less space than a mouse. A track ball comes in various shapes like a ball, a button, or a square. Scanner: Scanner is an input device, which works more like a photocopy machine. It is used when some information is available on paper and it is to be transferred to the hard disk of the computer for further manipulation. Scanner captures images from the source which are then converted into a digital form that can be stored on the disk. These images can be edited before they are printed. Digitizer: Digitizer is an input device which converts analog information into digital form. Digitizer can convert a signal from the television or camera into a series of numbers that could be stored in a computer. They can be used by the computer to create a picture of whatever the camera had been pointed at. Digitizer is also known as Tablet or Graphics Tablet as it converts graphics and pictorial data into binary inputs. A graphic tablet as digitizer is used for fine works of drawing and image manipulation applications. Microphone: Microphone is an input device to input sound that is then stored in a digital form. The microphone is used for various applications such as adding sound to a multimedia presentation or for mixing music. Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR): MICR input device is generally used in banks as there are large number of cheques to be processed every day. The bank's code number and cheque number are printed on the cheques with a special type of ink that contains particles of magnetic material that are machine readable. This reading process is called Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR). The main advantages of MICR are that it is fast and less error prone. Optical Character Reader (OCR): OCR is an input device used to read a printed text.OCR scans the text optically, character by character, converts them into a machine readable code, and stores the text on the system memory.
Bar Code Readers: Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in the form of light and dark lines). Bar coded data is generally used in labelling goods, numbering the books, etc. It may be a handheld scanner or may be embedded in a stationary scanner. Bar Code Reader scans a bar code image, converts it into an alphanumeric value, which is then fed to the computer that the bar code reader is connected to. Optical Mark Reader (OMR): OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the type of mark made by pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a few alternatives is to be selected and marked. It is specially used for checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple choice questions. COMPUTER - OUTPUT DEVICES Monitor – This is the most common computer output device. It creates a visual display by the use of which users can view processed data. Monitors come in various sizes and resolutions. Types of Monitors Cathode Ray Tube – this uses phosphorescent dots to generate the pixels that constitute displayed images. Flat Panel Screen – this makes use of liquid crystals or plasma to produce output. Light is passed through the liquid crystals in order to generate pixels. All monitors depend on a video card, which is positioned either on the computer motherboard or in a special expansion slot. The video card sorts out the computer data into image details that the monitors can then show. Printer – this device generates a hard copy version of processed data, like documents and photographs. The computer transmits the image data to the printer, which then physically recreates the image, typically on paper. Types of Printers o Impact Printers: They are of two types: A. Character Printers i. Dot Matrix printers ii. Daisy Wheel printers
