IS223D: OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN
Information Systems
Department Lecture 6: State Machine Diagram
Objectives
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To explain what is dynamic modeling.
To explain what is State Machine Diagram.
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Dynamic Modeling
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All systems have static structure and dynamic
behavior.
Class diagrams are best used to document and
express the static structure of a system—the classes,
objects, and their relationships.
Class diagrams does not explain how things
cooperate to manage their tasks and provide the
functionality of the system.
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Dynamic Modeling (cont.)
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How objects communicate and the effects of such
communication are referred to as the dynamics of a
system; that is:
how the objects collaborate through communication
how the objects within the system change state during
the system’s lifetime.
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Dynamic Modeling (cont.)
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The dynamic diagrams described in this chapter
are:
State machine diagrams
Activity diagrams
Interaction diagrams
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State Machine
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Capture the life cycles of objects, subsystems, and
systems.
They tell the states an object can have and how
events affect those states over time.
A behavioral state machine should be attached to
all classes that have clearly identifiable states and
complex behavior; the state machine specifies the
behavior and how it differs depending on the
current state.
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States and Transitions
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All objects have a state.
The state is a result of previous activities
performed by the object and is typically
determined by the values of its attributes and links
to other objects.
A class can have a specific attribute that specifies
the state, or the state can be determined by the
values of the “normal” attributes in the object.
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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Examples of object states are:
The invoice (object) is paid (state).
The car (object) is standing still (state).
The engine (object) is running (state).
Jim (object) is playing the role of a salesman (state).
Kate (object) is married (state).
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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An object transitions (changes) from one state to
another state when something happens, which is
called an event; for example, someone pays an
invoice, starts driving the car, or gets married.
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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State machine diagrams can have a starting point
and several endpoints.
A starting point (initial state) is shown as a solid
filled circle, and an endpoint (final state) is shown
as a circle surrounding a smaller solid circle.
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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A state is shown as a rectangle with rounded
corners. The name of the state is shown with text
inside the rounded rectangle or as a name tab
attached to the rounded rectangle.
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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Between the states are state transitions, shown as a
line with an arrow from one state to another.
The state transitions may be labeled with the event
causing the state transition.
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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A state may contain two kinds of compartments:
Name compartment :
The name of the state, for example, idle, paid, and
moving.
Action compartment (optional).
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Action compartment
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Lists behavior in response to events.
The formal syntax for the action compartment is:
event-name argument-list ‘/’ action-expression
You can define your own event, such as selecting a
Help button, as well as the activity to respond to
that event.
Three standard events names are reserved in UML:
entry, exit, and do.
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Action compartment (cont.)
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The event-name can be any event, including the
standard events, entry, exit, and do.
The action-expression tells which action should be
performed (for example, operation invocations,
incrementing attribute values, and so on).
It is also possible to specify arguments to the events
(entry, exit, and do events do not have any
arguments).
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Action compartment (cont.)
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The entry event can be used to specify actions on
the entry of a state; for example, assigning an
attribute or sending a message.
The exit event can be used to specify actions on exit
from a state.
The do event can be used to specify an action
performed while in the state; for example, sending
a message, waiting, or calculating.
These standard events cannot be used for other
purposes.
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Action compartment (cont.)
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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A state transition normally has an event attached to
it, but it is not necessary.
If an event is attached to a state transition, the state
transition is performed when the event occurs.
If a state transition does not have an event
specified, the attached state changes when all
internal actions in a state are performed.
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States and Transitions (cont.)
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Event-Signature
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Event-signature, which consists of an event-name
and parameters, specifying the event that triggers
a transition
The syntax of parameters:
Parameter-name ‘:’ type-expression, Parameter-name ‘:’ type-expression
...
The parameter-name is the name of the parameter
and the type-expression is the type of the
parameter, for example, integer, Boolean, and
string.
The type-expression may not shown.
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Event-Signature (cont.)
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Guard-Condition
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Is a Boolean expression placed on a state transition.
If the guard-condition is combined with an event-
signature, the event must occur and the guard-
condition must be true for the transition to fire.
If only a guard-condition is attached to a state
transition, the transition fires when the condition
becomes true.
Examples:
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Guard-Condition (cont.)
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Action-Expression
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Action-expression is a procedural expression
executed when the transition fires.
It is possible to have more than one action-
expression on a state transition, but they must be
delimited with the backward slash (/) character.
It is possible to have a state-transition that contains
only an action-expression.
Examples:
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Action-Expression (cont.)
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Simple and Composite States
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Simple States :simplest of all states, they have no
substates.
Composite States - have one or more regions for
substates.
A region is simply a container for substates.
A composite state with one region is called non-
orthogonal.
A composite state with two or more regions is called
orthogonal.
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Non-orthogonal composite state
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Only one of the substates at a time.
ATM example:
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Orthogonal composite state
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Concurrent regions are independent and can
complete at different times.
Each region is separated from the others by a
dashed line.
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Orthogonal composite state (cont.)
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Maintenance state from ATM example:
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Example 1
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The watch displays the current time and it has a
single mode button and a single advance button.
Pressing the mode button once allows setting the
hours. Each press of the advance button increments
the hour by one. Pressing the mode button the
second time allows setting the minutes. Each press of
the advance button increments the minute by one.
Pressing the mode button a third time displays the
current time. Pressing the mode button allows the
user to set the hour again.
Draw a state machine diagram.
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Example 1 (cont.)
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Example 2
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To take IS340, a student must go through the
following process. When the instructor posts
assignment 1, each student must form a team, do
the assignment and hand it in. When assignment 2 is
posted, each student works on it with her team; in
parallel, when the midterm is made available, each
student writes it. After both assignment 2 and the
midterm are done with, each student waits for
assignment 3, and when it is available, does it with
her team.
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Example 2 (cont.)
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Draw a state diagram that models this process.
Make sure to model activities (e.g., doing an
assignment, writing a test) as states, not transitions.
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Example 2 (cont.)
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Class Activity
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Draw a state machine diagram describing the
operation of a phone.
The user dialing the number, if he/she enters a
wrong digit the calling will be invalid. If the dialing
digits valid, the phone will connecting. The tone may
be ringing tone or busy tone.
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Reference
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“UML 2 Toolkit”, Hans-Erik Eriksson , Magnus Penker,
Brian Lyons, and David Fado, Chapter 5
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