Modern Systems Analysis and Design Chapter 7 (Structuring System Process Requirements) with Appendices A,B,C,D
Use Case
A depiction of a system's behaviour or functionality under various conditions as the system responds to requests from users.
Decision table
A matrix representation of the logic of a decision, which specifies the possible conditions for the decision and the resulting actions
Asynchronous message
A message in which the sender does not have to wait for the recipient to handle the message.
Simple Message
A message that transfers control from the sender to the recipient without describing the details of the communication.
Data flow diagram (DFD)
A picture of the movement of data between external entities and the processes and data stores within a system.
Use Case Diagram
A picture showing system behaviour, along with the key actors that interact with the system.
Scenario
A scenario, in UML refers to a single path, among many possible different paths, through a use case.
Synchronous message
A type of message in which the caller has to wait for the receiving object to finish executing the called operation before it can resume execution itself.
Extend Relationship
An association between two use cases where one adds new behaviours or actions to the other. [The base use case can stand alone without the _____ case(s)].
Include Relationship
An association between two use cases where one use case uses the functionality contained in the other. [The base use case can't function without the ___ case(s).]
Actor
An external entity that interacts with a system.
Data store
Data at rest, which may take form of many different physical representations.
Sequence diagram
Depicts the interactions among objects during a certain period of time
Trigger
Event that initiates a use case.
Gateway
In business modelling, a decision point.
Event
In business process modelling, a trigger that initiates the start of a process.
Pool
In business process modelling, a way to encapsulate a process that has two or more participants.
Swimlane
In business process modelling, a way to visually encapsulate a process.
Activity
In business process modelling, an action that must take place for a process to be completed.
Flow
In business process modelling, it shows the sequence of action in a process.
Stakeholder
People who have a vested interest in the system being developed.
Level
Perspective from which a use case description is written, typically ranging from high-level to extremely detailed.
Sequence Diagram - Generic Form
Shows all possible sequences of interactions, that is, the sequences corresponding to all the scenarios of a use case.
Activity Diagram
Shows the conditional logic for the sequence of system activities needed to accomplish a business process.
Sequence Diagram - Instance Form
Shows the sequence for only one scenario.
Balancing
The conservation of inputs and outputs to a DFD process when that process is decomposed to a lower level
DFD completeness
The extent to which all necessary components of a DFD have been included and fully described
DFD consistency
The extent to which information contained on one level of a set of nested DFDs is also included on other levels
Minimal Guarantee
The least amount promised to the stakeholder by a use case
Primitive DFD
The lowest level of decomposition for a DFD
Source/sink
The origin and/or destination of data; sometimes referred to as external entitiies
Action stubs
The part of a decision table that lists the actions that result for a given set of conditions
Condition stubs
The part of a decision table that lists the conditions relevant to the decision.
Rules
The part of a decision table that specifies which actions are to be followed for a given set of conditions.
Gap analysis
The process of discovering discrepancies between two or more sets of DFDs or discrepancies within a single DFD
Extension
The set of behaviours or functions in a use case that follow exceptions to the main success scenario.
Activation
The time period during which an object performs an operation.
Process
The work or actions performed on data so that they are transformed, stored, or distributed
Preconditions
Things that must be true before a use case can start.
Success Guarantee
What a use case must do effectively in order to satisfy stakeholders.
Level-n diagram
a DFD that is the result of n nested decompositions from a process on a level-0 diagram
Level-0 diagram
a DFD that represents a system's major processes, data flows, and data stores at a high level of detail
Functional decompoition
an iterative process of breaking the description of a system down into finer and finer detail, which creates a set of charts in which one process on a given chart is explained in greater detail on another chart
Context diagram
an overview of an organizational system that shows the system boundaries, external entities that interact with the system, and the major information flows between the entities and the system.
Indifferent condition
in a decision table, a condition whose value does not affect which actions are taken for two or more rules.