CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The study “Design and Implementation of a Personal digital Assistance” (P.D.A) is aimed at developing a software package that will provide the user with a good environment to organizing the personal data and records for easy access and retrieval of information that are in constraint use. Software is the general name for all programs executable by computer system in order to produce the desire result.
A program is defined as a list of logically arranged instruction that is executable by the computer system in order to give the desired result. Therefore software based personal organizer, in this study, refers to the application of computer software in the storage, retrieval and organization of personal data and information. There is no individual, no matter his/her level of responsibility who has ever had the need to keep any sort of records be it mere thought, facts and figures keeping records is like breathing. In human perspectives breathing is good but there is something more than breathing that is being alive.
In the early biblical days facts and figures were kept by making impressions on sticks and stones. When an invitation to attend a meeting for instances is made the inviter usually will give the invitee a stick or palm tree leaf which serves as reminder to the invitee and which the invitee must return to the inviter as the appointed date and time. The invitee will usually lace this sticks or palm tree leaf at his door. This was not a serious problem because in those days there were fewer or no invitations.
In recent times, the volume of records keeping has greatly increased and man has come up with several ways of accomplishing this and these include:
iii. Address books are kept to store pertinent reformation such as contact addresses and phone numbers of friends, relatives, business associate and acquaintances ad
This form of diary is called manual type. In the manual type input is made manually hence correcting and updating of information is done by cancellation and rewriting, standard output is by browsing through the pages of the book.
There is another form of organizer named electronic personal organizer. It is an electronic device which look like a calculator which adds digital members. It has a very small screen and an input keyboard. However this type of organizer it not with out it’s short comings some loose all the information stored in them the moment the system battery runs down these electronic organizers the battery operated with low memory capacity.
Today the world is in a state of flux and experiencing quantitative revolution: the primitive intuitive or questionable approach to problem solving, data analysis, storage, retrieval and update are rapidly becoming out molded. The volume of data and information required for storage and easy retrieval has become very large and complex. More so in this ere of e-mail and interface connections with their attendant volume of addresses and business information contacts, there is modern quest for objectives bases for all kinds of decision based on data storage and organization.