NICMananger

Introduction

This software is designed to digitize law enforcement records on local systems and servers for ease of access by personnel needing access to NCIC NIC file entries for records look-up, file maintenance, and hit confirmation request and response purposes. Many agencies still use hard copies (paper filing) for its NIC entry files, and personnel must search--by hand--the archive in order to find the relevant records. Digitizing these records can speed up the process of locating valid files quickly and easily.

About

This application was designed as a Windows desktop application using Visual Studio. It is written in the C# programming language and uses a MySQL database back end for data storage and retrieval.

Target Version Information

• Windows 10 or 11

• C# .NET Framework 4.7.2 or newer

• MySQL 8.0.30 or newer (or equivalent MariaDB)

Server Deployment Testing Environment

• Database: 10.4.24-MariaDB - mariadb.org binary distribution

• Charset: UTF-8 Unicode (utf8mb4)

Changelog

Version 0.03 - 9/23/2022

• Converting simple forms to MDI application.

Version 0.02 - 09/20/2022

• Create one-way digest algorithm encryption for user passwords (SHA256).
  • Authenticator uses SHA256 encryption by default.
• Create authenticator class.
• Design login form in Visual Studio.
• Login and authentication system.

Version 0.01 - 09/19/2022

Video presentation of early features in this build: YouTube: NICManager - Query Tool

• Complete Build #2. 0 errors.
• Improved status feedback system to user for input validation.
• Query tool input validation for valid input.
• Complete Build #1. 0 errors.
• Connect to back end database from solution.
• Setup solution for MySQL connectivity.
• Setup database server for test environment (MariaDB 10.4.24).
• Build SQL export (genesis file) from MySQL Workbench (8.0.30).
• Design of initial database complete.
• Primary form design for query tool.
• Solution creation in Visual Studio Community 2022.

To Do/In Progress

• Design and code user authentication system.
  • Create password recovery/forgot password functionality.

Roadmap

Anticipated before 10/01/2022

• Design and code supporting document attachment system for entries. TODO

• Design and code queries and returns for sample data set. TODO

Anticipated by 10/15/2022

• Version 1.0 - production-ready release candidate.

Future Additions

• Explore Microsoft SQL database deployment.
• Explore other database drivers.

Known Issues

As this is the first release, many issues are known and too numerous to list here. This will be refined as time goes on.