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An Online Food Ordering System

System Documentation

Danny Jackowitz

Dr. Yaodong Bi

Submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements of

CMPS 490 – Computer Projects

Abstract The Online Food Ordering System described in this document has been designed to fill a specific niche in the market by providing small restaurants with the ability to offer their customers an online ordering option without having to invest large amounts of time and money in having custom software designed specifically for them. The system, which is highly customizable, allows the restaurant employees to easily manage the site content, most importantly the menu, themselves through a very intuitive graphical interface. The website, which is the only component seen by the restaurant customers, is then built dynamically based on the current state of the system, so any changes made are reflected in real time. Visitors to the site, once registered, are then able to easily navigate this menu, add food items to their order, and specify delivery options with only a few clicks, greatly simplifying the ordering process. Back in the restaurant, placed orders are promptly retrieved and displayed in an easily readable format for efficient processing. The purpose of this document is to provide in-depth descriptions of design and implementation details of the system, as well as descriptions of all available functionality and plans for evolution. In addition, user manuals and trouble-shooting tips have been included for all three components to give the reader a clear idea of intended typical use cases for the system.

• Chapter 1: Justification & Feasibility............................................................................................................
  • Justification..............................................................................................................................................
  • Feasibility.................................................................................................................................................
• Chapter 2: Requirements Specification.......................................................................................................
  • System Model..........................................................................................................................................
  • Functional Requirements.........................................................................................................................
    • The Web Ordering System...................................................................................................................
    • Menu Management System...............................................................................................................
    • Order Retrieval System......................................................................................................................
  • User Interface Specifications.................................................................................................................
    • Web Ordering System........................................................................................................................
    • Menu Management System...............................................................................................................
    • Order Retrieval System......................................................................................................................
  • Non-functional Requirements...............................................................................................................
  • System Evolution...................................................................................................................................
• Chapter 3: System Design..........................................................................................................................
  • System Design........................................................................................................................................
    • Level 1: The Database & the 3 Components......................................................................................
    • Level 2: Web Ordering System Components......................................................................................
    • Level 2: Menu Management System Components............................................................................
    • Level 2: Order Retrieval System Components....................................................................................
  • User Interface Design............................................................................................................................
  • Help System Design...............................................................................................................................
• Chapter 4: Testing Design..........................................................................................................................
  • Testing...................................................................................................................................................
    • Phases................................................................................................................................................
  • Requirements Traceability.....................................................................................................................
  • Testing Schedule....................................................................................................................................
  • Recording Procedures............................................................................................................................
  • Hardware and Software Requirements..................................................................................................
• Chapter 5: User Manual.............................................................................................................................
  • Introductory Manual..............................................................................................................................
    • Using the Desktop Application...........................................................................................................
    • Using the Web Ordering System........................................................................................................
    • Using the Help System.......................................................................................................................
  • System Reference Manual.....................................................................................................................
    • Services (Alphabetical).......................................................................................................................
    • Error Recovery...................................................................................................................................
    • Installation.........................................................................................................................................

Chapter 1: Justification & Feasibility Justification In today’s age of fast food and take-out, many restaurants have chosen to focus on quick preparation and speedy delivery of orders rather than offering a rich dining experience. Until very recently, all of these delivery orders were placed over the phone, but there are many disadvantages to this system. First, the customer must have a physical copy of the restaurant’s menu to look at while placing their order and this menu must be up to date. While this expectation is not unreasonable, it is certainly inconvenient. Second, the orders are placed using strictly oral communication, which makes it far more difficult for the customer to receive immediate feedback on the order they have placed. This often leads to confusion and incorrect orders. The current system is also inconvenient for the restaurant itself, as they must either have a dedicated staff member to answer the phone and take orders, or some employees must perform double-duty, distracting them from their regular tasks. What I propose is an online ordering system, originally designed for use in college cafeterias, but just as applicable in any food delivery industry. The main advantage of my system is that it greatly simplifies the ordering process for both the customer and the restaurant. When the customer visits the ordering webpage, they are presented with an interactive and up-to-date menu, complete with all available options and dynamically adjusting prices based on the selected options. After making a selection, the item is then added to their order, which the customer can review the details of at any time before checking out. This provides instant visual confirmation of what was selected and ensures that items in the order are, in fact, what was intended.

to make them more pleasing to look at and use. For this reason, I feel that completing the project in the required timeframe is very feasible, particularly if I am able to adhere to the dates outlined in Figure 1, below. In addition to time, a second factor influencing feasibility is resources, which also should not be a concern here. The online ordering system is structured like a fairly standard web application, and as such requires no special hardware and only basic software, namely web and database servers, to function properly. Therefore, I anticipate finishing all of the required work on time or, ideally, ahead of schedule, leaving me with time to investigate a few additional features I would like to add but are not integral to the system.

Chapter 2: Requirements Specification System Model The structure of the system can be divided into three main logical components. The first component must provide some form of menu management, allowing the restaurant to control what can be ordered by customers. The second component is the web ordering system and provides the functionality for customers to place their order and supply all necessary details. The third and final logical component is the order retrieval system. Used by the restaurant to keep track of all orders which have been placed, this component takes care of retrieving and displaying order information, as well as updating orders which have already been processed. Functional Requirements As can be seen in the system model diagramed above, each of the three system components essentially provides a layer of isolation between the end user and the database. The motivation behind this isolation is twofold. Firstly, allowing the end user to interact with the system through a rich interface provide a much more enjoyable user experience, particularly for the non-technical users which will account for the majority of the system’s users. In addition, this isolation layer also protects the integrity of the database by preventing users from taking any action outside those which the system is designed to handle. Because of this design pattern, it is Database Menu Management Web Ordering Order Retrieval System Customer Restaurant Employee Restaurant Employee

Menu Management System The menu management system will be available only to restaurant employees and will, as the name suggests, allow them to manage the menu that is displayed to users of the web ordering system. The functions afforded by the menu management system provide user with the ability to, using a graphical interface:  Add a new/update/delete vendor to/from the menu.  Add a new/update/delete food category to/from the menu.  Add a new/update/delete food item to/from the menu.  Add a new/update/delete option for a given food item.  Update price for a given food item.  Update default options for a given food item.  Update additional information (description, photo, etc.) for a given food item. It is anticipated that the functionality provided by this component will be one of the first things noted by the restaurant user, as they will have to go through it to configure their menu, etc. before beginning to actually take orders. Once everything is initially configured, however, this component will likely be the least used, as menu updates generally do not occur with great frequency. Order Retrieval System Of the three components, the order retrieval system is functionally the simplest. Like the menu management system, it is designed to be used only by restaurant employees, and provides the following functions:

 Retrieve new orders from the database.  Display the orders in an easily readable, graphical way.  Mark an order as having been processed and remove it from the list of active orders. User Interface Specifications Each of the system components will have their own unique interface. These are described below. Web Ordering System Users of the web ordering system will interact with the application through a series of simple forms. Each category of food has its own form associated with it which presents a drop down menu for choosing which specific item from the category should be added to the order, and a series of check boxes and radio buttons for selecting which options are to be included. Adding an item to the order is accomplished by a single button click. Users select which category of food they would like to order, and therefore which form should be displayed, by navigating a menu bar, an approach which should be familiar to most users. Entering delivery and payment deals is done in a similar manner. The user is presented with a form and must complete the required fields, which include both drop down and text boxes, before checking out and receiving a confirmation number. One thing worth noting here is that whenever possible drop down boxes and buttons were used over freeform input in order to both simplify the ordering process and reduce the possibility of and SQL injection attempt. Menu Management System User interaction with the menu management system is similar to that with the web ordering system. Users navigate a tree structure to find the vendor, category, or specific food item that they would like to modify and after making their selection they are presented with a form which displays all of the current fields and values associated with that item, all of which can be modified or removed. The form also presents buttons which allow the addition of new fields and values. Unlike the web ordering system,

The server hardware can be any computer capable of running both the web and database servers and handling the expected traffic. For a restaurant that is not expecting to see much web traffic, or possibly doing only a limited test run, an average personal computer may be appropriate. Once the site starts generating more hits, though, it will likely be necessary to upgrade to a dedicated host to ensure proper performance. The exact cutoffs will need to be determined through a more thorough stress testing of the system. System Evolution As mentioned in the system model, at the heart of the entire ordering system is the database. In fact, the system could be completely operational using nothing but the database and an appropriate shell utility, assuming that all users are well-versed in SQL and enjoy using it to order food. While this would be a bit extreme, it does illustrate the point that the one part of the system which will stay relatively constant is the database. On the other hand, it is very probable that the other components will continue to evolve with time. For example, with the booming popularity of mobile applications, I would really like to make the web interface available as a phone application as well. Also it may make sense to at some point migrate the menu management and order retrieval systems to web, or even mobile, applications as well, as some users may prefer to use them as such. I am also certain that if this system goes into actual use, many requests will arise for additional features which I had not previously considered, but would be useful to have. For this reason, I feel as though the application can be constantly evolving, which I consider a very good thing.

Jackowitz – System Documentation [12/3] Chapter 3: System Design System Design Level 1: The Database & the 3 Components The structure of the system can be divided into three main logical components. The first component must provide some form of menu management, allowing the restaurant to control what can be ordered by customers. The second component is the web ordering system and provides the functionality for customers to place their order and supply all necessary details. The third and final logical component is the order retrieval system. Used by the restaurant to keep track of all orders which have been placed, this component takes care of retrieving and displaying order information, as well as updating orders which have already been processed. Level 2: Web Ordering System Components The web ordering system is comprised of 6 major components. These are the login form, the main menu, the account management form, the order form, the shopping cart, and the checkout form. When the customer first arrives at the site, they are presented with the login form. After either signing in or, if they do not yet have an account, first registering and then signing in, the user is taken to a welcome page with the main menu. From here, they have two Database Menu Management Web Ordering Order Retrieval System Customer Restaurant Employee Restaurant Employee

Jackowitz – System Documentation [12/3] Level 3: The Main Menu The main menu, found at the top of the screen like in most applications, presents the user with two levels of selections. They must first choose the vendor they would like to view and then choose a category of food. Once they make these two selections, the application generates an order form specifically for that type of food, and displays this form to the user. Level 3: The Account Management Form Currently the account management form only offers the user the option to change their password. Level 3: The Order Form The order form, which is dynamically generated based on selections from the main menu, Level 3: The Shopping Cart The shopping cart performs much like a shopping cart in any other application. After an item is added to the order, it is displayed, along with its price, in the shopping cart. The shopping cart also keeps a running total of the current price of the whole order. By clicking on an item in the shopping cart, the user can review all of the details for that particular item. Finally, the shopping cart contains a button for the user to proceed to checkout. Level 3: The Checkout Form The checkout form is the user’s last chance to verify that the contents of their order are correct before actually placing it. This form also provides fields for the user to supply all of the necessary checkout and delivery details (payment type, delivery address, etc.). Level 2: Menu Management System Components In order to make use of the menu management system, the user must interact with the navigation tree, which uses a hierarchical tree structure to display all of the vendors, categories

Jackowitz – System Documentation [12/3] of foods, and specific food items stored in the system. When the user selects an item from this tree, they are able to edit the item using the appropriate form – a Vendor Form if a vendor is selected, a Category Form if a category of foods is selected, and a Food Form if an individual food item is selected. Level 3: The Navigation Tree The navigation tree is a 3-level (excluding the root) hierarchical arrangement, with each leaf corresponding to a form. At the first level are vendors, at level two categories of food, and at level 3 individual food items. When a leaf is selected, it brings up a form corresponding to the item at that leaf. Level 3: The Forms There are three types of forms in the menu management system - Vendor Forms, Category Forms, and Food Forms. The three forms are all similar, allowing the user to add, edit, and remove information relevant to the selected item. Where they differ is in the specific fields that the user is able to edit. After changes to any of the forms are saved, the necessary records in the database are updated. Vendor Form Food Form Employee Navigation Tree Category Form

Jackowitz – System Documentation [12/3] this component contains traditional forms comprised of text fields and corresponding labels, along with save and discard buttons for each form. Help System Design Due to the form-based nature of the applications, the design of the help systems will be minimal. In both the desktop and web applications, it will be accessed from the application’s main menu and will open in a new window. Modeled after the typical help system design, it will be both searchable and include a navigation tree highlighting common topics. There will be a help page for each form type, describing the significance of each field on the page.

Jackowitz – System Documentation [12/3] Chapter 4: Testing Design Testing Phases The structure of the system can be divided into three main logical components, plus the database, which is invisible to the end user. Each of these components must be tested individually, and the approaches which will be used for each component are described in the following sections. Database Testing of the database component is very straightforward, and has actually already been mostly completed. The database was the first component designed and before beginning work on any of the applications, I wrote all of the SQL statements I expected to need and executed them directly, essentially isolating the database, using the psql client. By doing this I was able to reveal, and promptly fix a large percentage of the errors within the database itself. Web Ordering System Testing of the web ordering system will be the most strenuous, as it is the component that will see the highest frequency of use and will be exposed to the most users, which leads to a higher potential of failure. Testing here will be divided into two phases. During normal use case Database Menu Management Order Retrieval Web Ordering Customer System Restaurant Employee Restaurant Employee