||FDEP BCMS - Oracle 8i, Oracle 9iAS, Oracle     Forms/Reports 6i

The Office of Beaches and Coastal Systems (OBCS) (now Bureau of Beaches and Wetlands Resources) of Florida Department of Environmental Protection relies on the existence of several heterogeneous digital types of data for its daily operation. The data is heterogeneous both in nature and in format. The nature depends on the different core operations OBCS performs: Environmental/Engineering permitting, Violations and Compliance, Beach and Coastal Ecosystem Management (BCEM), Research Analysis and Policies (RAPP) development, and Coastal Data Acquisition (CDA). The format varies from discrete data, definable in term of numbers, characters, dates, financial values etc. to binary large objects such as images (pictures, aerial-photos etc.), documents (permits, contracts, research papers, etc.), profile-data (numeric values tabulated in text format), films and microfilms. The BCMS Beaches and Costal Management System Project consists of a coordinated effort in organizing and restructuring all the heterogeneous digital data of the Office of Beaches and Coastal System into a user-friendly, systematic and structured database environment. The project involves:

The integration and migration of three existing Ms-Access databases, containing       Permit, Contract and Violation specific elements into a new Oracle 8i database, the       OBCS-DBMS database.

The integration of the existing files (stored in the OBCS directory structure) into a more      systematic database of binary large objects, included into the OBCS-DBMS database.

The creation of four Oracle intranet/internet interfaces used to query the OBCS-DBMS      database and for the creation of reports, graphs and charts. The four interfaces are      referred to as: The Permit Management System (PMS), The Violation Management      System (VMS), The Project Management System (PrMS) and The Microfilm      Management Interface (MMI). A different user set, possessing different permissions,      accesses each interface. The respective interfaces are highly graphical in design, are      linked to the others and use drill-down forms and reports to provide additional      information to the user when needed. The forms and reports were developed using      Forms and Reports 6i.

The integration of several Oracle tables with the MS-Access databases used to       import/export and distributes data through the Microfilm Management Interface (MMI).

The creation of Internet forms/reports customized for special user groups (engineers,      environmentalists, managers, project managers, contractors, inspectors, etc.).

The integration of the Oracle OBCS-DBMS database with the existing OBCS       Geographical Information System (GIS).

The Integration of the Oracle OBCS-DBMS database with the other, Oracle enterprise      databases used by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

High degree of Scalability

Multi-tier application

Very user friendly

Graphical User Interface

Quality Control and Assurance embedded in the application, designed to reduce       operator entry errors

Extensive report capabilities

Extensive use of drill-in reports and forms to provide available additional information      when needed

Embedding of other document files (MS-Word, MS-Excel, etc.)

Feasibility Study. During the Feasibility Study, the general problem is analyzed      and several solutions are determined and presented to the client. The selected solution      is the basis for presentations and for further discussions.

Project Management Chart. A Gantt chart showing the project timeline and the      related sub-tasks, representing the use of resources, time, costs, and project      milestones is used to track the project success.

User's Manual. The user's manual, written for each specific application, is      presented at the deployment of the application (VMS user manual example).

Documentation. The entity-relationship diagram, database scheme, data dictionary      of tables, indexes, keys, etc. are delivered to the client with the application (Interface      Documentation Example).

Permit Management System Editboard

Violation Management System Editboard

Project Management System Editboard

Microfilm Management Interface Editboard

Locator Queries Form

Reports Form