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Media Facilities Management System (MFms)

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mfms_promo_equipment_room.jpg mfms_promo_slate.jpg mfms_promo_camera_lighting.jpg mfms_promo_edit_suite.jpg Overview

The Media Facilities Management System (MFms) provides functionality to manage inventory of equipment and facilities related to media production.  The system manages the check-out and check-in of equipment and facilities.  The MFms manages transactions related to equipment and faculties usage, manages the facility inventory and manages the members or customers.

Features
  • Manage equipment and facilities check-out / check-in.
  • Manage inventory of the media facility.
  • Manage members or customers.
  • Manage Media Catalog.
  • Manage Schedule.
  • Support barcode readers.
  • Provides basic reporting capabilities.
  • Role based security.
  • On-line help with sample database.
Project Status

The MFms System is currently being distributed to selected Beta Sites. If you are interested in more information about the Beta Program please contact Chris Macgowan

System Requirements
  • Requires Windows 2000/XP.
  • CD ROM drive for program installation.
  • Hard disk with 10MB for the program and database.
  • CPU and RAM requirements as per the version of Windows installed.
  • ODBC Database Support installed.
  • DAO Database Support installed.
  • Bar code scanner (recommended).
License

The MFms System is distributed under the BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) license template. The full license text can be found in the readme.txt file in the source folder. The license text is also found in the application online help. Further information on the BSD License can be found here. General information on open source license models can be found at Open Source Initiative (OSI).

To start the MFms System the user will require a License Key. The License Key can be obtained from Macgowan Productions by sending email to Chris Macgowan. Currently only Beta Licenses are being issued. Further information about the license key can be found in the readme.txt file in the source folder.

Local Logon

The MFms System uses a local logon system.  This logon is not associated with the Windows logon.  The user and password information is stored in a table called login in the MFms.mdb database.  There are three levels of access to the MFms System; Administrator, User and Guest.  See the online help for more information.

Screen Shots

The MFms System user interface is comprised of a standard windows menu, toolbar and main window. The main window is a splitter window that contains three frames. The main window can be sized by the user. The left frame contains a tree cotnrol that allows the user to navigate to different MFms operations (i.e. Transaction, Member, Equipment ...). The top frame of the splitter window contains a list cotnrol that lists the records related to the selected MFms operation. The lower frame contains a property sheet with details of each record.

As the user selects different MFms operations (i.e. Transaction, Member, Equipment ...) from the navigation tree control, the related data in the list control and property page(s) will change. Each screen shot below will represent a group of functionality of the MFms System.

Transaction Functionality

The MFms Transaction Pages manage the check-out and check-in of equipment and facilities.  The Transaction Page also manages the payment process.  The Transaction information is displayed on two property pages.  

Transaction Page 1 allows the user to manage the items and the properties associated with item that is included in the transacation. Payment options are also found on page 1.


Figure 1: Transaction Page 1

Transaction Page 2 allows the user to manage the notes associated with the transaction.


Figure 2: Transaction Page 2

Member Manangement Pages

The MFms Member Page manages the member or customer information. The member information is used with the transaction operations. Members can be setup with specific privilages that will allow them to access specific services during a transaction. Member information also contains member credit details.



Figure 3: Member Page

Inventory Managment

The MFms Unit Page manages the inventory.  The unit inventory is shown in potentially four property pages.  There are two Unit Pages and two Component Pages.  A Unit represents the unit of inventory.  Each Unit may have Components associated with it.  For example in the case of a camera package.  The Unit would represent the package and be linked to a barcode on the camera case.  The contents of the case would be included as Components of that Unit.  

The Inventory Unit is represented with two pages. Unit Page 1 will allow the user to manage the primary inventory item. This page includes the desciption, barcode, classification, rental payment and fees and other details. Components related to the primary item can be added from this page.


Figure 4: Unit Page 1

Unit Page 2 will allow the user to manage the primary inventory item. This page includes the item original cost, depreciation period, condition and date of purchase. This page will also allow the the user manage items that might be associated with this item. This is typically associated with a faclilty item like an edit suite.


Figure 5: Unit Page 2

Component Pages

Each Unit may have Components associated with it. For example in the case of a camera package. The Unit would represent the package and be linked to a barcode on the camera case. The contents of the case would be included as Components of that Unit.

The Inventory Component is represented with two Component Pages. Component Page 1 will allow the user to manage the Component Desciption, barcode, serial number and notes.


Figure 6: Component Page 1

Component Page 2 will allow the user to manage the component item. This page includes the item original cost, depreciation period and date of purchase.



Figure 7: Component Page 2

Software Development

The Media Facilities Management System (MFms) is designed to management media equipment, facilities, media, people, and their transactions. The MFms System is designed using OOAD methodologies and UML. The application is written using Visual C++ and MFC. Database support is provided with Access using DBC and DAO. Shared components are written using C++, VB and ATL. The install package is written with InstallShield. The application is currently being prepared to be released as an Open Source project using MySql for database support.

Download

The full download is a self extracting executable that will deliver the InstallShield files.  After the files have been extracted execute the setup.exe file to begin the installation using InstallShield. Read the readme.txt in the install package for install instructions.

MFms System, Full download, Version 1.5.0.0 Beta
mfms_v1_0_beta.exe