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.

This project makes extensive use of Oracle technologies: Database Server 8i, Application Server 9iAS, Forms and Report Server, Forms and Reports Developer 6i.

Key Benefits

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.)

Documentation and downloading

Long Projects are supported by a series of documents presented to the client project team. Example of these documents follows:

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).

Application (BCMS Log-in)

Before logging-in the BCMS demonstration Oracle database, we ask that you please take a moment to register with us at Database Services@e24x7inc.com. We will promptly respond to any questions or comments you might have, and we will send you the "user name and password" to login into the database. If you were interested in our services, we would appreciate if you would provide us with an optional brief description of your company/agency. This will help us better understand your needs prior to returning your e-mail.

To run the application for the first time, you will have to download and install the Oracle JInitiator 1.1.8.16 on your PC. This is a free and safe plug-in distributed by Oracle. The JInitiator is a file of about 10 Mb in size, and may take some time to download, depending on your connection speed. After the installation is complete, click on the "RUN FORM" button.

Upon entering BCMS, you can choose between several interfaces:

• Permit Management System Editboard
• Violation Management System Editboard
• Project Management System Editboard
• Microfilm Management Interface Editboard
• Locator Queries Form
• Reports Form

DISCLAIMER: The BCMS application shown on this site is intended for demonstration purposes only. The data is NOT production data and is only representative of the type of data used by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Beaches and Coastal System. If you would like more information about Coastal Permit applications ofthe State of Florida, please contact the Office of Beaches and Coastal System of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection at:

3900 Commonwealth Blvd., MS 300

Tallahassee, FL, 32399-3000

Phone: 850.487.4471

Fax: 850.488.5257

We thank the Office of Beaches and Coastal System for letting us use our solution as demo, and for their interest and enthusiasm during the development phase of this project!