= CPTR 319 Project Ideas =

First of all there is more than one kind of project. You can:

 1. Write a program to do just about anything.
 1. Research and present (along with some simple examples) a new or emerging technology for programming databases. 
 1. You could do a real-world data analysis project using emerging analysis techniques (BusinessIntelligence, OnlineAnalyticalProcessing, DataWarehousing ...)

All of the following project types must include a presentation and a project report written in $$\LaTeX$$.

== Writing a program ==

If you are a CS major this is for you. The requirements include the following:

 1. Approval of the professor
 1. The program must be written in C# as a windows program 
 1. The database must be Oracle or Microsoft SQL
    a. There must be at least 6 tables involved in the application
    a. You need to include VIEWs and at least one Stored procedure or trigger.
 
In the past students have created:

 1. In the past, several students created a movie database that included the ability to launch movies, search by genre, actor/actress, period, and many others. IMDB is a good place to look for ideas about what should be in the database. 
 1. Spatial Applications. Track locations and map them on Google Earth. The heart of any spatial application is finding a suitable subset of data to collect. I had one student enter data on Mines (as in old west mines) complete with video, pictures, and functionality to find the mines on google earth. Also we have ArcGIS available that can be programmed. If there is anyone interested in writing software to create polygons out of existing data for ArcGIS let me know.
 1. Database tools - http://www.red-gate.com/ has a bunch of tools that could use opens source equivalents.
 1. Just about any hobby includes data that you could write an application for. 

== Research Programming Tools ==

There are several tools that work with databases out there that we all could benefit from seeing in action. Requirements for this include:

 1. Approval of the professor
 1. A presentation on the tools/technology and how it works.
 1. A demo project that you should use during your presentation to explain the tool/technology
 1. A paper that gives an overview of the technology that would be useful for those new to this particular tool/technology.

== Real World Data Analysis on Database Technology ==

'''Mainly for CSA majors:''' There are several analysis tools out there, but for this class you should particularly concentrate on: OnlineAnalyticalProcessing, DataWarehousing, DataMining, BusinessIntelligence. 

Both Microsoft and Oracle have extensive tools that you can use. '''Your biggest challenge will be to find a dataset''' and then decide what to analyze. Anything novel is publishable and extra credit will be given for any publishable results. Requirements include:

 1. Approval of the professor
 1. Presentation and research paper '''detailing''' the following:
    a. The data set and its origin
    a. The problem/question that your analysis will solve/answer
    a. '''Extensive''' enumeration of the techniques and technologies used in your quest. Including some C# or .NET scripting/programming.
    a. Summary chart'''s''' and graph'''s''' showing your results.  

A good resource for starting out with SQL Server Data warehousing and Business Intelligence is http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms170208.aspx.