Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)
Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)
Data flow diagram (DFD) is a picture of the movement of data between external entities and the processes and data stores within a system
Order CUSTOMER Status Message Status Data 2.0 Shipping Confirmation
In-Stock Request WAREHOUSE 1.0 Shipping Order
Check Status Order Data D1 Pending Orders 3.0
Issue Status Messages
Order Data Payment Invoice Manage Accounts Receivable 5.0 Accounting Data Accounts Receivable Data 4.0 Order Data
Generate Shipping Order
D2
Accounts Receivable Inventory Reports
Produce Reports
ACCOUNTING
DFD Symbols (Gane & Sarson)
Process
Data Flow Data Store
Source/Sink (External Entity)
Process
1.0
Grade Detail
Grade Report
Produce Grade Report
Work or actions performed on data (inside the system) Labels should be verb phrases Receives input data and produces output
Rule 1: Process
Can have more than one outgoing data flow or more than one incoming data flow
1.0
Graded Work Student Grade
Submitted Work
Grade Student Work
3.0
Hours Worked Pay Rate
Calculated Gross Pay
Gross Pay
Rule 2: Process
Can connect to any other symbol (including another process symbol)
1.0
Order
2.0
Accepted Order
Verify Order Assemble Order
Inventory Change
Process: Correct/Incorrect?
5.0
Services Perfomed
Invoice
Create Invoice
Policy Number
Apply Insurance Premium
Payment Amount
2.1
Hours Worked
Calculate Gross Pay
Pay Rate
Data Flow
Deposit
Is a path for data to move from one part of the IS to another Arrows depicting movement of data Can represent flow between process and data store by two separate arrows
2.1
Payment Detail Invoice Detail
Post Payment
D1
Accounts Receivable
Data Flow: Correct/Incorrect?
5.0 Post Payment
Courses
Customer Payment
Class List
D2
Daily Payments
Students
Daily Payment
6.0
Prepare Deposit
Data Store
D1 Students
Is used in a DFD to represent data that the system stores Labels should be noun phrases
Rule: Data Store
Must have at least one incoming and one outgoing data flow
Customer Payment
D1
Daily Payments
Daily Payment
Data Store: Correct/Incorrect?
2.0
D2
Accounts Receivable
Book Flight
Invoice Detail
Fight Request
3.0
Payment Detail
Passengers
Post Payment
Source/Sink (External Entity)
Order
CUSTOMER
1.0
Invoice
Verify Order
External entity that is origin or destination of data (outside the system) Is the singular form of a department, outside organisation, other IS, or person Labels should be noun phrases Source Entity that supplies data to the system Sink Entity that receives data from the system
Rule: Source/Sink
Must be connected to a process by a data flow
BANK
Bank Deposit
2.0
Prepare Deposit
Source/Sink: Correct/Incorrect?
PAYROLL DEPARTMENT
CUSTOMER
CUSTOMER
Paycheck
Payment
Payment
EMPLOYEE
3.0
Accounts Receivable
Apply Payment
Rules for Using DFD Symbols
Data Flow That Connects
YES NO
A process to another process A process to an external entity
A process to a data store
An external entity to another external entity An external entity to a data store A data store to another data store
List the errors of this DFD
DF2 E1 1.0 DF5 P2
DF1
DS1 DF3 DF6 DF4 DF2 E1 2.0 P1
Context Diagram
Top-level view of IS Shows the system boundaries, external entities that interact with the system, and major information flows between entities and the system. Example: Order system that a company uses to enter orders and apply payments against a customers balance
Context Diagram of Order System
Order
CUSTOMER WAREHOUSE
Order Reject Notice Payment Invoice
Picking List
Completed Order
Order System
Commission
Bank Deposit
Cash Receipts Entry
SALES REP
ACCOUNTING
BANK
Level-0 DFD
Shows the systems major processes, data flows, and data stores at a high level of abstraction When the Context Diagram is expanded into DFD level-0, all the connections that flow into and out of process 0 needs to be retained.
Context Diagram of Order System
Order
CUSTOMER WAREHOUSE
Order Reject Notice Payment Invoice
Picking List
Completed Order
Order System
Commission
Bank Deposit
Cash Receipts Entry
SALES REP
ACCOUNTING
BANK
Order
Picking List WAREHOUSE 1.0
Level-0 DFD of Order System
CUSTOMER
Order Reject Notice
Fill Order
Invoice 2.0 Payment Invoice Accounts Receivable Create Invoice Completed Order
D1
Payment Detail
Invoice Detail
3.0
Apply Payment Commission Bank Deposit Cash Receipts Entry
SALES REP
BANK
ACCOUNTING
Lower-Level Diagrams
Functional Decomposition
An
iterative process of breaking a system description down into finer and finer detail Uses a series of increasingly detailed DFDs to describe an IS
Balancing
The
conservation of inputs and outputs to a data flow process when that process is decomposed to a lower level Ensures that the input and output data flows of the parent DFD are maintained on the child DFD
Strategies for Developing DFDs
Top-down strategy
Create
the high-level diagrams (Context Diagram), then low-level diagrams (Level-0 diagram), and so on the low-level diagrams, then higherlevel diagrams
Bottom-up strategy
Create
Exercise:
Precision Tools sells a line of high-quality woodworking tools. When customers place orders on the companys Web site, the system checks to see if the items are in stock, issues a status message to the customer, and generates a shipping order to the warehouse, which fills the order. When the order is shipped, the customer is billed. The system also produces various reports. Draw a context diagram for the order system Draw DFD diagram 0 for the order system
Identify Entities,Process,Data Stores & Data Flow
Entities
Data Flows
Customer Warehouse Accounting 1.0 Check Status 2.0 Issue Status Messages 3.0 Generate Shipping Order 4.0 Manage Accounts Receivable 5.0 Produce Reports
Processes
Data Stores
D1 Pending Orders D2 Accounts Receivable
Order In-Stock Request 1.0 Order Data Status Data 2.0 Status Message Shipping Order 3.0 Order Data Invoice Shipping Confirmation 4.0 Payment Accounting Data Accounts Receivable Data 5.0 Order Data Inventory Reports
Order CUSTOMER Payment In-Stock Request WAREHOUSE
Status Message
Shipping Order
Invoice
Order System
Shipping Confirmation
Inventory Reports
Context Diagram of Order System
ACCOUNTING
Order CUSTOMER Status Message Status Data 2.0 Shipping Confirmation
In-Stock Request WAREHOUSE 1.0 Shipping Order
Check Status Order Data D1 Pending Orders 3.0
Issue Status Messages
Order Data Payment Invoice Manage Accounts Receivable 5.0 Accounting Data Accounts Receivable Data 4.0 Order Data
Generate Shipping Order
D2
Accounts Receivable Inventory Reports
Produce Reports
Level-0 of Order System
ACCOUNTING
