A Proposed Methodology for Identifying and Evaluating an E-Forms Application
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25195/ijci.v41i1.95Keywords:
E-Forms, Methodology, Identification, Evaluation, Testing, XMLAbstract
In order to develop a specific methodology that can be followed by any organization or individual who needs to
choose the appropriate E-Forms application that could meet the required needs, this research proposes a methodology which
consists of three phases: Identification phase, Evaluation phase and Testing phase. In the first phase, a general survey on EForms
types
and
technologies
is
introduced
with
focus
on
the
recent
trends
in
order
to identify which type mostly meets the
user's general requirements. In the second phase, an evaluation to make an accurate selection is made to some of the top
competing applications supporting the type identified in first phase by using a specific evaluation methodology, in this
research three of the widely used evaluation methodologies are discussed, in addition to a simple evaluation methodology
which has been proposed and implemented using "Microsoft Excel Sheets" application. Finally in the third phase, a real test is
made using the winner application resulting from the second phase, where a four-stage testing plan is proposed in order to
achieve this purpose. As an example, the E-Forms technology which is based on "Extensible Markup Language (XML)" is
identified due to its features and capabilities. Then the evaluation is made to the top applications supporting this technology,
where "Adobe's XML Forms Architecture (XFA)" technology is selected as a winner. This winner application then is tested,
where samples of forms were designed to show the extraordinary features this technology can offer including digital signature.
The test includes the use of a proposed offline forms' data gathering technique and uses "Oracle 10g" as the back-end
database. It also includes a website to publish the designed forms in addition to an application developed using "Oracle
Developer 10g" to process the forms' data for one of the designed samples in order to prove these forms' accuracy.
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