Online Electricity Bill Payment Capstone Project Document

Abstract

This paper deals with the design of Internet billing system, in which it is possible pay invoices electronically. This approach is implemented via virtual banks, in which the process of money transfer can be implemented. In other hand many applications can be realize such as; deposit e-money, withdrawal e-money and determine account balance. Paper bills are now the primary channel of communication between companies and their customers. However, their potential for personalization is limited, and they are not interactive. An electric bill is a bill for the consumption of electric energy.

Existing System

Existing customers with traditional billing may covert to Pay As You Go at any time. Any deposit on your existing account will be credited to the existing account. An existing owed balance after the deposit is credited may be placed into our debt recovery program. Each time you make a payment, a portion will go toward the outstanding balance still owed.

Should you decide prepay billing doesn’t work for you, it’s simple and easy to return to a traditional account at any time, although you will need to pay any required deposits.You must remain on Pay As You Go for six month. If you move from one location to another, your six month will reset.

Disadvantages

Accessibility at traditional eb billing is limited, as you can only conduct business at their brick-and-mortar locations.
Less Efficient
Inaccurate or Insufficient Information.

Proposed System

There was a time not so long ago when people were hesitant to pay their bills online. Many people distrusted the security of Internet transactions and viewed online bill payment as a loss of control over their money. If you gave your checking account number to your insurance or utilities provider, what would stop them from overbilling you or maybe even stealing your identity? Somehow, writing checks and stamping envelopes seemed safer, and lots of people clung to that ritual.

Advantages

The first advantage is that it offers a paperless mode of transaction which is also environmentally friendly and clutter free for both the receiver and sender of the electronic billing.
The online billing services are one of the least expensive forms of billing when compared to the traditional billing.
The electronic billing system is absolutely hassle free as one can protect the bill with the help of password and can be opened only by the recipient.
The electronic billing services are both customer friendly and also beneficial for the bill generators as there is focus on the process rather than on the mode of bill dispatch.
The electronic billing also provides a great advantage of saving time and effort that are normally lost in a traditional billing system. Besides there is no loss of bill when making use of the electronic mode of billing.

System Configuration

Hardware Requirements

Hard disk : 200 GB

RAM : 2GB

Processor : Pentium IV 2.4 GHz

Mouse : Microsoft

Keyboard : 110 keys

Monitor. : LCD/15 VGA color

Software Requirements

OS : Windows 7/8/8.1/10

Language : PHP

Designing : HTML and CSS and JavaScript

Database : MySQL server

Additional software : notepad++, wampp Server 2.0

Web browser : Google chrome/Mozilla Firefox

System Architecture

Er Diagram

ER Diagram

Data Flow Diagram

Use Case Diagram

Sequence Diagram

Class Diagram

Activity Diagram

System Development

Languages/Tools Used

The whole Project is divided in two parts the front end and the back end.

Front End

The front end is designed using HTML, PHP, CSS, and JAVASCRIPT

HTML- HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language is the main markup language for creating web pages and other information that can be displayed in a web browser.HTML is written in the form of HTML elements consisting of tags enclosed in angle brackets (like <html>), within the web page content. HTML tags most commonly come in pairs like <h1> and </h1>, although some tags represent empty elements and so are unpaired, for example <img>. The first tag in a pair is the start tag, and the second tag is the end tag (they are also called opening tags and closing tags). In between these tags web designers can add text, further tags, comments and other types of text-based content. The purpose of a web browser is to read HTML documents and compose them into visible or audible web pages. The browser does not display the HTML tags, but uses the tags to interpret the content of the page.HTML elements form the building blocks of all websites. HTML allows images and objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms. It provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text such as headings, paragraphs, lists, links, quotes and other items. It can embed scripts written in languages such as JavaScript which affect the behavior of HTML web pages.

CSS- Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used for describing the look and formatting of a document written in a markup language. While most often used to style web pages and interfaces written in HTML and XHTML, the language can be applied to any kind of XML document, including plain XML, SVG and XUL. CSS is a cornerstone specification of the web and almost all web pages use CSS style sheets to describe their presentation.CSS is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content from document presentation, including elements such as the layout, colors, and fonts. This separation can improve content accessibility, provide more flexibility and control in the specification of presentation characteristics, enable multiple pages to share formatting, and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content (such as by allowing for table less web design).CSS can also allow the same markup page to be presented in different styles for different rendering methods, such as on-screen, in print, by voice (when read out by a speech-based browser or screen reader) and on Braille-based, tactile devices. It can also be used to allow the web page to display differently depending on the screen size or device on which it is being viewed. While the author of a document typically links that document to a CSS file, readers can use a different style sheet, perhaps one on their own computer, to override the one the author has specified. However if the author or the reader did not link the document to a specific style sheet the default style of the browser will be applied.CSS specifies a priority scheme to determine which style rules apply if more than one rule matches against a particular element. In this so-called cascade, priorities or weights are calculated and assigned to rules, so that the results are predictable.

JAVA SCRIPT- JavaScript (JS) is a dynamic computer programming language. It is most commonly used as part of web browsers, whose implementations allow client-side scripts to interact with the user, control the browser, communicate asynchronously, and alter the document content that is displayed. It is also being used in server-side programming, game development and the creation of desktop and mobile applications. JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language with dynamic typing and has first-class functions. Its syntax was influenced by C. JavaScript copies many names and naming conventions from Java, but the two languages are otherwise unrelated and have very different semantics. The key design principles within JavaScript are taken from the self and Scheme programming languages. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles. The application of JavaScript to use outside of web pages—for example, in PDF documents, site-specific browsers, and desktop widgets—is also significant. Newer and faster JavaScript VMs and platforms built upon them (notably Node.js) have also increased the popularity of JavaScript for server-side web applications. On the client side, JavaScript was traditionally implemented as an interpreted language but just-in-time compilation is now performed by recent (post-2012) browsers.

PHP- PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for web development but also used as a general-purpose programming language. PHP is now installed on more than 244 million websites and 2.1 million web servers. Originally created by Rasmus Leadoff in 1995, the reference implementation of PHP is now produced by The PHP Group. While PHP originally stood for Personal Home Page, it now stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, a recursive backronym.PHP code is interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the resulting web page: PHP commands can be embedded directly into an HTML source document rather than calling an external file to process data. It has also evolved to include a command-line interface capability and can be used in standalone graphical applications. PHP is free software released under the PHP License. PHP can be deployed on most web servers and also as a standalone shell on almost every operating system and platform, free of charge.

Back End

The back end is designed using mysql which is used to design the databases

MYSQL- MySQL (“My S-Q-L”, officially, but also called “My Sequel”) is (as of July 2013) the world’s second most widely used open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). It is named after co-founder Michael Widenius daughter, My. The SQL phrase stands for Structured Query Language. The MySQL development project has made its source code available under the terms of the GNU General Public License, as well as under a variety of proprietary agreements. MySQL was owned and sponsored by a single for-profit firm, the Swedish company MySQL AB, now owned by Oracle Corporation .MySQL is a popular choice of database for use in web applications, and is a central component of the widely used LAMP open source web application software stack (and other ‘AMP’ stacks). WAMP is an acronym for “WINDOWS, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python.” Free-software-open source projects that require a full-featured database management system often use MySQL. For commercial use, several paid editions are available, and offer additional functionality. Applications which use MySQL databases include: TYPO3, MODx, Joomla, WordPress, phpBB, MyBB, Drupal and other software. MySQL is also used in many high-profile, large-scale websites, including Wikipedia, Google (though not for searches), Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube

Implementation Description

The login module is the very first and the most common module in all applications. In the suggested system only registered users will be allowed to login the system the unauthorized users will be unable to login. Registered users with their username and password only being correct will moved on to the next page. Or else they will be unable to login.

REGISTRATION MODULE

Registration is one of the primary modules in any data management system. A complaint must be registered for it to be processed furthering the proposed system the end users are allowed to register their complaints by filling in all the required details needed to take action for the given request. If all the fields have been filled and if the submit button was clicked the user gets a pop up message telling that their complaints were registered successfully. So the registration module is an important module in a program.

System Implimentation

Under this section we will see a step by step procedure to deploy the ONLINE ELECTRICITY BILLING on a standalone system and get it working

Step 1: Download Wamp server version 2.0 or higher

Step2: Saved in C: as Wamp

Step 3: Save the project in C:\wamp\www\project

Step 4: Start Wamp server

Step 5: Open a Web Browser eg. Google Chrome

Step 6: In the address bar type http://localhost

Step 7: The wamp server home page opens

Step 8: Under tools select phpmydmin

Step 9: Under create database type the database name and click create

Step 10: Create the required tables as shown in the data dictionary (Appendix A) OR click on import and under file to import click on choose file and select the .sql file

Step 11: Go back to wamp server home page

Step 12: Under Your Projects select the developed project

Step 13: The developed project can be seen on the web browser

The main limitation of the previous system of Online Electricity Billing System:

The existing system only provides text-based interface, which is not as user-friendly as Graphical user Interface.
Since the system is implemented in Manual, so the response is very slow.
The transactions are executed in off-line mode, hence on-line data capture and modification is not possible.
Off-line reports cannot be generated due to batch mode execution.

Hence, there is a need of reformation of the system with more advantages and flexibility. The Online Electricity Billing System eliminates most of the limitations of the existing software. It has the following objectives:

Enhancement:

The main objective of Online Electricity Billing System is to enhance and upgrade the existing system by increasing its efficiency and effectiveness. The software improves the working methods by replacing the existing manual system with the computer-based system.

Automation:

The Online Electricity Billing System automates each and every activity of the manual system and increases its throughput. Thus the response time of the system is very less and it works very fast.

Accuracy:

The Online Electricity Billing System provides the uses a quick response with very accurate information regarding the users etc. Any details or system in an accurate manner, as and when required.

User-Friendly:

The software Online Electricity Billing System has a very user-friendly interface. Thus the users will feel very easy to work on it. The software provides accuracy along with a pleasant interface.Make the present manual system more interactive, speedy and user friendly.

Availability:

The transaction reports of the system can be retried as and when required. Thus, there is no delay in the availability of any information, whatever needed, can be captured very quickly and easily.

Maintance Cost:

Reduce the cost of maintenance.

System Design(Introduction)

The systems objectives outlined during the feasibility study serve as the basic from which the work of system design is initiated. Much of the activities involved at this stage is of technical nature requiring a certain degree of experience in designing systems, sound knowledge of computer related technology and through understanding of computers available in the market and the various facilities provided by the vendors. Nevertheless, a system cannot be designed in isolation without the active involvement of the user. The user has a vital role to play at this stage too. As we know that data collected during feasibility study wills we utilized systematically during the system design. It should, however be kept in mind that detailed study of the existing system is not necessarily over with the completion of the feasibility study. Depending on the plan of feasibility study, the level of detailed study will vary and the system design stage will also vary in the amount of investigation that still needs to be done. This investigation is generally an urgent activity during the system. Sometimes, but rarely, this investigation may form a separate stage between feasibility study and computer system design. Designing a new system is a creative process, which calls for logical as will as lateral thinking. The logical approach involves systematic moves towards the end product keeping in mind the capabilities of the personnel and the equipment at each decision making step. Lateral thought implies encompassing of ideas beyond the usual functions and equipment. This is to ensure that no efforts are being made to fit previous solutions into new situations.

System Design Considerations

The system design process is not a step-by-step adherence of clear procedures and guidelines. Though, certain clear procedures and guidelines have emerged in recent days,But still much of design work depends on knowledge and experience of the designer.When designer starts working on system design, he will face different type of problems. Many of these will be due to constraints imposed by the user or limitations of the hardware and software available in the market. Sometimes, it is difficult to enumerate the complexity of the problems and solutions there of since the variety of likely problems is so great and no solutions are exactly similar. However, following considerations should be kept in mind during the system designing phase:

Design Objectives

The primary objective of the design of course, is to deliver the requirements as specified in the feasibility reports. In general the following design objectives should be kept in mind.

Practicality

The system must be stable and can be operated by people with average.

Efficiency

This involves accuracy, timeliness and comprehensiveness to the system output.

Cost

It is desirable to aim for a system with a minimum cost subject to the condition that it must satisfy all the requirements.

Flexibility

The system should be modifiable depending on the changing needs of the user. Such modifications should not entail extensive reconstructing or recreation of software. It should also be portable to different computer systems.

Security

This is very important aspect of the design and should cover areas of hardware reliability, fall back procedures, physical security of data and provision for detection of fraud and abuse.
System design involves first logical design and then physical construction of the system. The logical design describes the structure and characteristics of features, like the outputs, inputs, files, database and procedures. The physical construction, which follows the logical design, produces actual program software, files and a working system.

Major System Design Activities

Several development activities are carried out during structured design. They are database design, implementation planning, system test preparation, system interface specification, and user documentation.

Database design

This activity deals with the design of the physical database. A key is to determine how the access paths art to be implemented. Program design: In conjunction with database design is a decision on the programming language to be used and the flowcharting, coding, and debugging procedure prior to conversion. The operating system limits the programming languages that will run of the system. System and program test preparation. Each aspect of the system has a separate test requirement. System testing is done after all programming and testing completed he test on system and program test requirements become a part of design specifications a prerequisite to implementation.

In contrast to the system testing is acceptance testing, which puts the system through a procedure design to convince the user that the proposed system will meet the stated requirements. Acceptance testing is technically similar to system testing but politically it is different.

Design Process

The computer system design process is an exercise of specifying how, the system will work. It is an iterative process, which is based on what the system will be do as shown in the feasibility report. Mainly, following five parts have been included in the system design process.

Scope Of The Project

It may help collecting perfect management in details. In a very short time, the collection will be obvious, simple and sensible. It will help a person to know the management of passed year perfectly and vividly. It also helps in current all works relative to College. It will be also reduced the cost of collecting the management & collection procedure will go on smoothly.

The present project has been developed to meet the aspirations indicated in the modern age. An attempt has been made through this project to do all work ease & fast. It provide current add, Update, MoveNext, MovePrevious, MoveLast, Find & Delete all facilities to accomplish the desired objectives. The facility Include in this project and the suggested activities have been organized to impart knowledge & develop skill & attitude in the College official works.

Conclusion

We have been given the problem of Billing of Electricity Consumers in APCPDCL at APTRANSCO. Earlier the Billing process is manually calculated by using the database small tools and small scale packages at their desktop. In our project “POWER BILLING SYSTEM” we have automated the entire billing system to Online .This information can be easily made available to all the stores throughout the APCPDCL Offices through intranet/ Internet. As a result of this automation, manual workload is reduced and data retrieval becomes easy.