Use Case Diagram in Detail

CT1414
February 2012
By: Fatimah Alakeel
Reviwed by: Asma Alzaid
 use case
• Use cases are technique for capturing functional requirements of a
system.
• It describe the typical interaction between the users of the system
and the system itself.
• A scenario is a sequence of steps describing an interaction between
a actors and a System .

• An actor is something with behavior, such as a person (identified by

role), computer system, or organization; for example, a cashier.

Scenario Example (web based online store)

The customer browses the catalog and adds desired

items to the Shopping basket. When the customer
wishes to pay, the customer describes the shipping
and credit card information and confirms the sale .
The System Checks the authorization and the credit
card and confirms the sale both immediately and with
a follow-up e-mail .
 Use Case
• Start the use case by writing the main success
scenario as a sequence number of step.
• Then take the other (alternative) scenario and
write the as Extensions.
 Main Success Scenario Example
Buy a Product
Goal Level : Sea Level
Main Success Scenario :
1 . Customer browses catalog and selects items to buy
2 . Customer goes to check out
3. Customer fills in shipping information (address ; next-day or 3-day delivery)
4. System presents full pricing information, including shipping
5 . Customer fills in credit card information
6 . System authorizes purchase
7 . System confirms sale immediately
B . System sends confirming e-mail to customer
Extensions :
3a : Customer is regular customer
.1 : System displays current shipping, pricing, and billing information
.2 : Customer may accept or override these defaults, returns to MSS at step 6
6a : System fails to authorize credit purchase
.1 : Customer may reenter credit card information or may cancel
 Use Case Types and Formats
• Black-box use cases are the most common and
recommended kind.
• They do not describe the internal workings of the
system, its components, or design.
• The system is described as having responsibilities.
• Specify what the system must do (the functional
requirements) without deciding how it will do it (the
design).
 Black Box Style Example

Not Black-box style

The system writes the sale to a database. The system records the sale.
...or (even worse):
The system generates a SQL INSERT
statement for the sale...
 Use Case Format
• Fully dressed - the most elaborate. All steps
and variations are written in detail, and there
are supporting sections, such as preconditions
and success guarantees.
• Brief - terse one-paragraph summary, usually
of the main success scenario.
• Casual - informal paragraph format. Multiple
paragraphs that cover various scenarios.
 Use Case Steps
1. Choose the system boundary. Is it just a software
application, the hardware and application as a unit, that plus
a person using it, or an entire organization?
2. Identify the primary actors. Those that have user goals
fulfilled through using services of the system.
3. For each, identify their user goals. Raise them to the highest
user goal level that satisfies the EBP guideline.
4. Define use cases that satisfy user goals; name them
according to their goal. Usually, user goal-level use cases will
be one-to-one with user goals, but there is at least one
exception, as will be examined.
 Actors
Name
• An actor is anything with behavior, including
the system under discussion.
• 3 kind of Actor:
o Primary actor-> has user goals fulfilled through
using services of the system under discussion.
o Supporting actor-> provides a service to the
system under discussion.
o Offstage actor -> has an interest in the behavior of
the use case, but is not primary or supporting
 Using Use Case Diagrams
• Use case diagrams are used to visualize, specify,
construct, and document the (intended) behavior of
the system, during requirements capture and
analysis.
• Provide a way for developers, domain experts and
end-users to Communicate.
• Use case diagrams contain use cases, actors, and
their relationships.

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 :Elements of Use Case Diagram

1-Use Case 2-Actor Relationships-3

Between use Between use

Between Actors
cases cases and actors

Generalization Include Extend

 Use Case Do something

• System function (process – automated or

manual). Named by verb.
 Each Actor must be linked to a use case,
while some use cases may not be linked to actors.

Use Case =

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 Relationship
• Relationship can be:
– Between usecases
– Between Actors
– Between usecases and actors.
 Relationships between Use Cases 3.1
1. Generalization - use cases that are specialized
versions of other use cases.
2. Include - use cases that are included as parts
of other use cases. Contain the functionality of
another use case as part of their normal
processing.
3. Extend - use cases that extend the behavior of
other core use cases. Enable to factor variants.

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 Generalization .1
• The child use case inherits the
behavior and meaning of the parent

parent use case.

• The child may add to or
child
override the behavior of its parent.

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 More about Generalization

registration

non-graduate graduate
registration registration

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 Generalization Example

• The actor Order Registry

Clerk can instantiate the
general use case Place
Order. Place Order can
also be specialized by
the use cases Phone
Order or Internet Order.
Generalization Example
 Include .2

base <<include>> included

• The base use case explicitly incorporates the

behavior of another use case at a location
specified in the base.
• The included use case never stands alone. It
only occurs as a part of some larger base that
includes it.

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 More about Include
• Enables to avoid describing the same flow of
events several times by putting the common
behavior in a use case of its own.

updating
grades <<include>>
verifying
student id
output <<include>>
generating

21 ‫ניתוח מערכות מידע‬

 Include relationship
• Include relationship – a standard case linked to a
mandatory use case.

• Example: to Authorize Car Loan (standard use case),

a clerk must run Check Client’s Credit History (include use case).

• The standard UC includes the mandatory UC (use the verb

to figure direction arrow).

• Standard use case can NOT execute without the include

case  tight coupling .

• Note: Visio calls this “uses” relationship.

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 Reading use case diagram
with Include relationship

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Include Example
 Extend .3

base <<extend>> extending

• The base use case implicitly incorporates the

behavior of another use case at certain points
called extension points.
• The base use case may stand alone, but under
certain conditions its behavior may be
extended by the behavior of another use case.

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 More about Extend
• Enables to model optional behavior or
branching under conditions.

<<extend>> Exam-grade
Exam copy
request appeal

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 Extend relationship
• Extend relationship – linking an optional use case
to a standard use case.

• Example: Register Course (standard use case) may have

Register for Special Class (extend use case) – class for
non-standard students, in unusual time, with special
topics, requiring extra fees…).

• The optional UC extends the standard UC

• Standard use case can execute without the extend case

. loose coupling

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Extend Example
 Relationships between Actors 3.2
• Generalization.

student

graduate non-graduate
student student

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 Relationships between Use Cases 3.3
and Actors
• Actors may be connected to use cases by
associations, indicating that the actor and the
use case communicate with one another using
messages.

updating
grades
faculty

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 Example

place
place <<extend>>
conference
phone call
call
cellular
network receive
receive <<extend>>
additional
phone call
call

use
user scheduler
Cellular Telephone

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 A More Complicate Example

Update Items

Bookshop
Worker

Ship Order

Update Staff Details

Customer Bookshop
1 Manager

Register Details

<<include>>
System Login
<<extend>>

Handle Order

<<include>>
<<include>> Update Customer Details

Make Order Add Items to ShoppingCart

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 Use Case Description
:Each use case may include all or part of the following
 Title or Reference Name - meaningful name of the UC
 Author/Date - the author and creation date
 Modification/Date - last modification and its date
 Purpose - specifies the goal to be achieved
 Overview - short description of the processes
 Cross References - requirements references
 Actors - agents participating
 Pre Conditions - must be true to allow execution
 Post Conditions - will be set when completes normally
 Normal flow of events - regular flow of activities
 Alternative flow of events - other flow of activities
 Exceptional flow of events - unusual situations
 Implementation issues - foreseen implementation problems

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EXAMPLE
 Example- Money Withdraw
• Use Case: Withdraw Money
• Author: ZB
• Date: 1-OCT-2004
• Purpose: To withdraw some cash from user’s bank account
• Overview: The use case starts when the customer inserts his credit card
into the system. The system requests the user PIN. The system validates
the PIN. If the validation succeeded, the customer can choose the
withdraw operation else alternative 1 – validation failure is executed. The
customer enters the amount of cash to withdraw. The system checks the
amount of cash in the user account, its credit limit. If the withdraw
amount in the range between the current amount + credit limit the system
dispense the cash and prints a withdraw receipt, else alternative 2 –
amount exceeded is executed.
• Cross References: R1.1, R1.2, R7

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 Example- Money Withdraw (cont.)
• Actors: Customer
• Pre Condition:
– The ATM must be in a state ready to accept transactions
– The ATM must have at least some cash on hand that it can dispense
– The ATM must have enough paper to print a receipt for at least one
transaction
• Post Condition:
– The current amount of cash in the user account is the amount before
the withdraw minus the withdraw amount
– A receipt was printed on the withdraw amount
– The withdraw transaction was audit in the System log file

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 Example- Money Withdraw (cont.)
 Typical Course of events:
Actor Actions
1. Begins when a Customer arrives at ATM
2. Customer inserts a Credit card into ATM
5. Customer chooses “Withdraw” operation
7. Customer enters the cash amount
13. Customer takes the cash and the receipt
System Actions
3. System verifies the customer ID and status
4. System asks for an operation type
6. System asks for the withdraw amount
8. System checks if withdraw amount is legal
9. System dispenses the cash
10. System deduces the withdraw amount from
account
11. System prints a receipt
12. System ejects the cash card
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 Example- Money Withdraw (cont.)
• Alternative flow of events:
– Step 3: Customer authorization failed. Display an error
message, cancel the transaction and eject the card.
– Step 8: Customer has insufficient funds in its account.
Display an error message, and go to step 6.
– Step 8: Customer exceeds its legal amount. Display an
error message, and go to step 6.
• Exceptional flow of events:
– Power failure in the process of the transaction before step
9, cancel the transaction and eject the card

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 Example- Money Withdraw (cont.)
 One method to identify use cases is actor-based:
- Identify the actors related to a system or organization.
- For each actor, identify the processes they initiate or participate in.
 A second method to identify use cases is event-based:
- Identify the external events that a system must respond to.
- Relate the events to actors and use cases.
 The following questions may be used to help identify the use cases for a
system:
- What are tasks of each actor ?
- Will any actor create, store, change, remove, or read information in the system ?
- What use cases will create, store, change, remove, or read this information ?
- Will any actor need to inform the system about sudden, external changes ?
- Does any actor need to be informed about certain occurrences in the system ?
- Can all functional requirements be performed by the use cases ?

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 Moving on
• The “things” that “live” inside the system are
responsible for carrying out the behavior the
actors on the outside expect the system to
provide.
• To implement a use case, we create a society
of classes that work together to carry out the
behavior of the use case.

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 How to create use case diagram

1. List main system functions (use cases) in a column:

– think of business events demanding system’s response
– users’ goals/needs to be accomplished via the system
– Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD) data tasks

2. Draw ovals around the function labels

3. Draw system boundary

4. Draw actors and connect them with use cases (if more intuitive, this can be
done as step 2)

5. Specify include and extend relationships between use cases

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 Elements of use case diagram
Summary
Connection between Actor and Use Case

Boundary of system

>>include<<

Include relationship between Use Cases (one UC must

call another; e.g., Login UC includes User Authentication UC)

>>extend<<

Extend relationship between Use Cases (one UC calls

Another under certain condition; think of if-then decision points)

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 Elements of use case diagram
Summary

name Use case , starts with a verb

Actor can be human or other

system
name
 Extra reading
• http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/90-754/
umlucdfaq.html
 References
• http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/managem
ent/faculty/btravica/9351/class8.ppt
• http://brd4.braude.ac.il/~zbarzilay/L04_UML1
_UseCase[2].ppt
• http://www.ts.mah.se/RUP/RationalUnifiedPr
ocess/process/modguide/md_ucgen.htm