Any ramblings and blog posts associated with the UNISA ICT 2621 tag should be considered study notes for my lectures…
Objectives of Chapter 6
Explain how the traditional approach and the object oriented approach differ when modelling the details of a use case. List the components of a traditional system and the symbols representing them on a data flow diagram. Describe how data flow diagrams can show the system at various levels of abstraction Develop data flow diagrams, data element definitions, data store definitions, and process descriptions Develop tables to show the distribution of processing and data access across system locations Key Word & Definitions data flow diagram (DFD) – a diagram that represents system requirements as processes, external agents, data flows, and data stores external agent – a person or organization outside the system boundary, that supplies data inputs or accepts data outputs process – a symbol on a DFD that represents an algorithm or procedure by which data inputs are transformed into data outputs data flow – an arrow on a DFD that represents data movement among processes, data stores, and external agents data store – a place where data is held pending future access by one or more processes level of abstraction – any modelling technique that break the system into a hierarchical set of increasingly more detailed models context diagram – a DFD that summarizes all processing activity within the system in a single process symbol DFD fragment – a DFD that represents the system response to one event within a single process symbol event-partitioned system model, or diagram 0 – a DFD that models system requirements using a single process for each event in a system or subsystem information overload – difficulty in understanding what occurs when a reader receives too much information at one time rule of 7+-2 – the rule of model design that limits the number of model components or connections among components to no more than nine minimization of interfaces – a principle of model design that seeks simplicity by limiting the number of connections among model components balancing – equivalence of data content between data flows entering and leaving a process and data flows entering and leaving a process decomposition DFD black hole – a process of data store with a data input that is never used to produce a data output miracle – a process or data store with a data element that is created out of nothing Structured English – a method of writing process specifications that combines structured programming techniques with narrative English decision table – a tabular representation of processing logic containing decision variables, decision variable values, and actions or formulas decision tree – a graphical description of process logic that uses lines organized like branches of a tree data flow definition – a textual description of a data flow’s content and internal structure data dictionary – a repository for definitions of data flows, data elements, and data stores location diagram – a diagram or map that identifies all of the processing locations of a system activity location matrix – a table that describes the relationship between processes and the locations in which they are performed Traditional & Object-Oriented Views of Activities/Use Cases Traditional approach
views system as a collection of processes contains instructions that are typically sequential involves processes, stored data, inputs & outputs, processing models OO Approach
views system as a collection of interacting objects objects are based on things in the problem domain objects are capable of behaviours (methods) that allow them to interact with each other no conventional computer processes or data files per se includes models that show objects, their behaviour, and their interactions with other objects Data Flow Diagrams (See wiki for more info)
Data flow diagram is the most commonly used process model. It is a graphical system model that shows all of the main requirements for an information system in one diagram. It is easy to read. There are only five symbols to learn in a DFD
external agent (square) process (rectangle with rounded corners) data flows (lines with arrows) real-time link – communication back and forth between external agents. data store (flat open ended rectangle) TMPDFD
An example of a basic DFD using these elements is shown below…
TMPDFDEG
When employing the traditional approach, identify use cases and then model the details of each use case with a data flow diagram fragment
DFD’s & Entity Diagrams
The DFD integrates processing triggered by events with the data entities modelled using the ERD. The picture below summarizes the correspondence among components of the DFD, events described in the event table and the entities defined in the ERD.
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Data Flow Diagrams & Levels of Abstraction
DFD’s can show either higher level or lower level vies of a system. A context diagram is a DFD that describes the most abstract view of a system – it summarizes all processing activity within the system in a single process symbol. The topmost DFD is the context diagram. A context diagram…
clearly shows the system boundary does not usually show data stores because all of the system’s data stores are considered within the system scope. usually created in parallel with the event table External agents that supply or receive data from the system are outside the system scope, everything else is in the system scope and would be represented as one or more processes.
A DFD fragment…
is a DFD that represents the system response to one event within a single process symbol is a self contained model showing how the system respond to a single event usually created one at a time A event-partitioned system model, or diagram 0…
a DFD that models system requirements using a single process for each event in a system or subsystem used primarily as a presentation tool summarises an entire system or subsystem in greater detail than the context diagram diagram is often complex and unwieldy Physical & Logical DFDs
A DFD can be a…
physical system model, or a logical system model, or a blend of the two. If a DFD is a logical system model it assumes that the system might be implemented with any technology.
If a DFD is a physical model one or more assumptions about the technology will be embedded in the DFD.
A number of elements indicate assumptions about implementation technology…
Technology-specific processes Actor-specific process names Technology- or actor-specific process orders Redundant processes, data flows, and files If it is a logical system, it will make an assumption of perfect technology – meaning there would be no need to put in redundancy – i.e. capturing data incorrectly.
Analysts should avoid creating physical DFD’s during all analysis activities, except when generating alternatives.
Evaluating DFD Quality
High quality DFD’s are…
readable internally consistent accurately represent system requirements have minimized complexity Over complex models lead to information overload.
Information overload is when you have difficulty in understanding what occurs or when a reader receives too much information at one time. To avoid information overload we have the 7+-2 rule.
The rule of 7+-2 is the rule that limits the number of model components or connections among components to no more than nine.
Minimization of interfaces is directly related to the 7+-2 rule and is the principle of model design that seeks simplicity by limiting the number of connections among model components.
Ensuring Data Flow Consistency
Look for the following things in a DFD…
Differences in data flow content between process and its process decomposition. Data outflows without corresponding data inflows. Data inflows without corresponding data outflows. The following words denote the above items one should look out for…
balancing – equivalence of data content between data flows entering and leaving a process and data flows entering and leaving a process decomposition DFD black hole – a process of data store with a data input that is never used to produce a data output miracle – a process or data store with a data element that is created out of nothing How can black holes & miracles be detected…
Sometimes they can be detected by simply examining the DFD’s for consistency. In some cases close examination of the data dictionary or process descriptions is also required. Ensuring data flow consistency is a straightforward but tedious process, fortunately most analysis tools automatically perform consistency checks. Documentation of DFD Components In the traditional approach, DFD’s show all three types of internal system components on one diagram…
Processes Data Flows Data Stores Process Descriptions
Each process of a DFD must be defined formally. There are several options for process definition, they include…
Process Decomposition (Explained in previous chapter) Structured English Decision Tables Decision Trees Each type of process is suited to a particular type of DFD process, i.e. a Structured English process might be well suited to record customer information, while a decision tree process might be a bad choice to represent this process.
Structured English is a method of writing process specifications that combines structured programming techniques with narrative English. See the example below…
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Decision table is a tabular representation of processing logic containing decision variables, decision variable values, and actions or formulas. See the example below…
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Decision tree is a graphical description of process logic that uses lines organized like branches of a tree. See the example below…
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Functional requirements documentation for the traditional approach includes
an ERD with attributes the set of DFD’s (context DFD, DFD Fragments, and any needed detailed DFD’s process descriptions data flow definitions, data store definitions & data element definitions
A data flow definition is a textual description of a data flow’s content and internal structure.
Data element definitions describe a data type, such as a string or integer. Each element should be described to indicate specifically what it represents.
Analysts need to maintain a central store of all these definitions as a project reference and to ensure consistency. A data dictionary is a repository for definitions of data flows, data stores, and data elements.
DFD Summary
A DFD will contain
Data Flow Diagrams Process Definitions Data Definitions ERD Diagrams Locations & Communication through Networks Because structured systems analysis concentrates on logical modelling, physical issues such as processing locations and networks are sometimes ignored during analysis. However a great deal of information about process, data, and user distribution is needed during the early stages of design. Examples include…
Number of locations of users Processing and data access requirements of users at specific locations Volume and timing of processing and data access requests Gathering location information during analysis enables analysts to make better decisions during the last two analysis activities…
Generate & Evaluate Alternatives Review Recommendations with Management There are a few steps involved in gathering location information, they are outlined below…
Generate a location diagram Generate an activity matrix based on the location diagram
