Requirements

Let's revisit the ID Card System. Imagine a large corporation with multiple zones (e.g., different buildings, restricted areas within a building like server rooms, or even parking lots). Employees need to use their ID cards to access these zones. The system needs to be robust, secure, and easily extensible to accommodate new zones, card types, and access control policies. We're not building the physical card readers or door mechanisms; we're focusing on the software system that manages the cards, zones, employees, and access rules. We'll need to handle scenarios like temporary access grants, lost or stolen cards, and different levels of clearance for employees. Think about designing a system that can handle thousands of employees and numerous zones efficiently. Consider the implications of concurrent requests for access and how to maintain data integrity. This is not just about allowing or denying access; it's about logging access attempts, auditing, and providing a framework for future integrations (e.g., integration with a HR system). # Requirements ## Functional Requirements 1. **Employee Management:** * Ability to add new employees to the system with relevant details (employee ID, name, department, job title, contact information, etc.). * Ability to update employee information. * Ability to deactivate/activate employee accounts (e.g., upon termination or leave of absence). * Ability to search for employees based on various criteria (ID, name, department). 2. **Zone Management:** * Ability to define new zones within the system with a unique identifier and description. * Ability to update zone information (e.g., description, access restrictions). * Ability to deactivate/activate zones (e.g., for maintenance). * Ability to group zones (e.g., "Building A", "Restricted Areas"). 3. **ID Card Management:** * Ability to issue ID cards to employees, associating the card with the employee's account. Each card should have a unique identifier. * Ability to deactivate/activate ID cards (e.g., if lost or stolen). * Ability to report a card as lost or stolen, immediately revoking access. * Ability to reissue a new ID card to an employee. * Support different types of ID cards (e.g., standard, temporary). 4. **Access Control:** * Ability to define access rules that specify which employees (or groups of employees) can access which zones (or groups of zones). * Support different access control policies (e.g., role-based access control (RBAC), time-based access control). * Ability to grant temporary access to a zone for a specific employee and duration. * Ability to define exceptions to access rules (e.g., "John can access the server room even though his role doesn't typically allow it"). 5. **Access Logging & Auditing:** * Log all access attempts (successful and failed), including employee ID, card ID, zone ID, timestamp, and reason for access/denial. * Provide audit trails to track changes to employee information, zone information, ID card status, and access rules. 6. **Authentication:** * Verify the validity of an ID card when presented at a zone. * Determine if the employee associated with the card has permission to access the zone based on the defined access rules. * Handle scenarios where a card is invalid (e.g., deactivated, not yet activated, not associated with an employee). 7. **Reporting:** * Generate reports on access patterns, such as the number of access attempts per zone, the most frequently accessed zones, and access violations. ## Non-Functional Requirements 1. **Security:** * The system must be secure and protect sensitive employee and access control data. * Prevent unauthorized access to the system and data. * Securely store and manage ID card information and access rules. 2. **Performance:** * The system must be able to handle a large number of concurrent access requests efficiently. * Access verification should be fast to minimize delays at access points. 3. **Scalability:** * The system should be scalable to accommodate a growing number of employees, zones, and access rules. 4. **Extensibility:** * The system should be designed to easily accommodate new zone types, card types, access control policies, and reporting requirements without major code changes. * Consider using design patterns to facilitate extensibility (e.g., Strategy, Factory). 5. **Maintainability:** * The code should be well-structured, documented, and easy to understand and maintain. * Follow SOLID principles to promote maintainability and reduce code complexity. 6. **Testability:** * The system should be designed to be easily testable at both the unit and integration levels. 7. **Thread Safety:** * Ensure thread safety when handling concurrent access requests and data modifications. Consider using appropriate synchronization mechanisms (e.g., locks, concurrent data structures) where necessary. Pay attention to race conditions when updating shared resources. ## Core Entities 1. **Employee:** Represents an employee of the organization. Attributes include employee ID, name, department, job title, contact information, and account status (active/inactive). 2. **Zone:** Represents a physical or logical zone within the organization. Attributes include zone ID, description, and status (active/inactive). 3. **IDCard:** Represents an employee's ID card. Attributes include card ID, employee ID, card type (standard, temporary), and status (active/inactive/lost/stolen). 4. **AccessRule:** Represents a rule that defines which employees (or groups of employees) can access which zones (or groups of zones). Attributes include employee/group, zone/group, start date, end date, and access policy. 5. **AccessLog:** Represents a record of an access attempt. Attributes include employee ID, card ID, zone ID, timestamp, access status (granted/denied), and reason for access/denial. 6. **AccessController**: This is the core component responsible for evaluating access requests based on the defined rules and policies. It interacts with other entities to determine if an employee has permission to access a particular zone. Consider different implementations using the Strategy pattern (e.g., a RoleBasedAccessController, a TimeBasedAccessController). 7. **CardValidator**: Interface for validating ID cards. Implementations would handle different card types and validation mechanisms.

Designing a ID card system which employees use to access any zone/premises.

Requirements

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