Process Models: Data Flow Diagrams

Special thanks goes to Dr. Jack T. Marchewka for many of the ideas and examples contained in these notes.

Process Modeling

Objective:

Understand the concept of business processes Understand and create Data Flow Diagrams.

DFDs

Visually represent
data flows processes

Emphasize the logic of system Provide documentation for Analysis & Design

Data Flow Diagrams

Data Flow
Process

File or Data Store

Source or Entity
Gane & Sarson Methodology

DFDs

Do not show technical aspects Show interrelations of systems & subsystems Facilitates
developer understanding user-developer communication

Completeness of data & process definitions

The Systems Concept

Input

Process

Output

DFDs
1

Data Flow Input

Data Flow Output

Process

Developing DFDs

Context Diagram
System Overview Little or no detail

Zero Level Explosion

More detailed More detailed levels

First,Second, Third Levels

Context DFD

Basic overview of the system Contains only 1 process

given the number zero

Shows all external entities Major data flows among entities Generally no data stores Assign a name to the whole system

Context DFD Examples

Apartment Rental Receipts, Notices

Tenant

Lease, Payments

Apartment Rental System

Lease Cash Report

External Manager

Bank Deposit

Bank

Recall: on-line university registration (from Use Case examples)

The system should enable the staff of each academic department to examine the course offered by their department, add and remove course, and change the information about them (e.g., the maximum number of students). It should permit students to examine currently available courses, add and drop courses to and from their schedules, and examine the course for which they are enrolled. Department staff should be able to print a variety of reports about the courses and the students enrolled in them. They system should ensure that no student takes too many course and that students who have any unpaid fees are not permitted to register. (Assume that a fees data store is maintained by the university's financial office that the registration system accesses but does not change.)

Registration Context Diagram

Course information Department Staff

Enrollment information

Course offerings

Course Registration System

Student schedules

Students

Recall: real estate (from Use Case examples)

A Real Estate Inc. (AREI) sells houses. People who want to sell their houses sign a contract with AREI and provide information on their house. This information is kept in a database by AREI and a subset of this information is sent to the citywide multiple-listing service used by all real estate agents. AREI works with two types of potential buyers. Some buyers have an interest in one specific house. In this case, AREI prints information from its database, which the real estate agent uses to help show the house to the buyer (a process beyond the scope of the system to be modeled). Other buyers seek AREIs advice in finding a house that meets their needs. In this case, the buyer completes a buyer information form that is entered into a buyer database, and AREI real estate agents use its information to search AREIs database and the multiple-listing service for houses that meet their needs. The results of these searches are printed and used to help the real estate agent show houses to the buyer.

AREI Context Diagram

0 House information AREI System

Buyer information Buyers House information

Sellers

House Information

House Information

Multiple Listing Service

Level 0 DFD

Detail from exploding the contextlevel DFD Show less than 9 processes Number each process Show data stores (master files) Ignore the handling of exceptions Show all external entities

Level 0 DFD: Apartment Rental Copy of lease

Tenant Info

D1 Tenant File

Lease

1
New Tenant Process

Tenant

Receipt

Bank Deposit

Bank

2
Notice Payments
Collection Process

Cash Report

Tenant Info

Unpaid Charges

D1 Tenant File
Delinquencies

3
Delinquent Process

Ext. Mgr
Delinquency Report

Level 0 DFD: Registration

Course Offering Changes 1 Course Offering List Maintain department course offerings Course Offering Updates Course enrollment request Available courses

Available course request

2 Available courses

Course Offerings

Maintain student enrollments

Course enrollment
Student schedule

Students

D2 Dept Staff

Course Offerings Course information

Student schedule Enrollments Fee Payment History

D3

Student Enrollment Report Request Student Enrollment Report

3
Course Enrollment Reports Enrollment information D1 Fees

Level 0 DFD: AREI

Sales Contract D2 Maintain house seller information Sales Contracts

1 Sales Contract

House information

Sellers

House information

House information D1 Multiple Listing Services File D3 Offered Houses

House information

2 House information request Buyer information form Generate requested report

House information

Buyers

Buyer information D4 Buyers

House information

Create Child Diagrams

Vertical Balancing

A child diagram cannot produce output or receive input that the parent does not produce or receive

External entities are not shown May contain additional data stores

e.g.., transaction files

Primitive when no longer exploded

Level 1 DFD: Apartment Rental

Deposit Checks
Tenant Info

2.1
Collect Security Deposit

Deposit Receipts

Bank Deposit

D1 Tenant File
Tenant Info

Bank Deposit
2.2
Collect Rent

Rent Checks

Payment Receipts

Unpaid Charges

Cash Report

Level 2 DFD: Apartment Rental

Deposit Check

2.1.1
Make Bank Deposit

Bank Deposit

Deposit Info

2.1.2
Update Tenant File

Update Info

D1 Tenant File

2.1.3
Receipt
Create Receipt

Tenant Info

Level 1 DFD (1 of 3): Registration

Department ID

1.1 Produce course offering list

Course offering list Department ID

Course Offering List Request

1.2 New Course Add new course D2 Course Offerings

New Course information 1.3 Delete course

Dept. Staff

Course to delete

Course to delete

1.4 Course modifications Modify existing courses

Existing Course information

Course modifications

Level 1 DFD (2 of 3): Registration

Available Course Request

2.1 Produce course offering list

Available courses

Available Courses

D2 2.2

Course Offerings

Course enrollment add Course to add to enrollment Add course to schedule Fee payment history D1 2.3 Fees

Students

Course to delete

Course enrollment add

Course to delete D3

Delete course from schedule

Enrollments

2.4
Current schedule request Obtain current schedule Student enrollment information

Student schedule

Level 1 DFD (3 of 3): Registration

3.1 Report Request Obtain report type

Report type Course offering information D2 Generate requested report Enrollment information D3 Enrollments Course Offerings

3.2 Dept. Staff

Requested report

Common Errors

Forgetting data flows Arrow pointing wrong way Connecting data stores & sources Incorrectly labeling processes or flows Too many processes (break it up!) Data flows entering a process must be different when leaving!

Logical & Physical DFDs

Logical
focuses on modeling the business system independent

Physical
focuses on modeling the system system dependent

Logical DFDs - Current System

Good for communication & understanding Focus on business activities

User view of the current system

Model of the business

Logical DFDs - New System

Look for improvements

effectiveness - i.e., doing the right thing efficiency - i.e., doing the thing right

Transition from Analysis to Design

Physical DFDs

Use the new logical DFD to make transition to a CBIS Define Machine versus manual boundaries

processes = programs or manual procedures data stores = data files or manual files

Define controls, validations, & security Define actual file names & printouts

Master & transaction files

Partitioning the Physical DFD

Defining
manual procedures automated procedures

circled using a dotted line

Batch versus On-Line Procedures

Deposit Check

2.1.1
Make Bank Deposit

Bank Deposit

Deposit Info

2.1.2
Update Tenant File

Update Info

D1 Tenant File

2.1.3
Receipt
Create Receipt

Tenant Info