Lecture 9, Part 1:

Modelling Interactions
J ennifer Campbell
CSC340 - Winter 2007
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Moving Towards Specifications
What functions will the new system
provide?
How will people interact with it?
Describe functions from a users perspective
UML Use Cases
Used to show:
the functions to be provided by the system
which actors will use which functions
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UML Use Case Diagrams
Capture the relationships between actors
and use cases.
Campaign
Manager
Accountant
Staff contact
[BMF99]
Add a
new client
Change a
client contact
Record
client payment
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Notation for Use Case Diagrams
Actor
Place book order
Communication
association
System
boundary
Use case
[BMF99]
Customer
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Use cases and Actors
Use case:
a pattern of behavior that the new system is required
to exhibit
a sequence of related actions performed by an actor
and the system via a dialogue.
Actor:
anything that needs to interact with the system:
a person
a role that different people may play
another (external) system.
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Example: Staff Management
Add new
staff member
Add new
staff category
Calculate staff
bonuses
Change category
for staff member
Accountant
Change rate
for staff category
Staff
Management
System
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<<extends>>
When one use case adds behaviour to a base case
used to model a part of a use case that the user may see as
optional system behavior;
also models a separate sub-case which is executed conditionally.
Registrar
Distribute info
to students
Distribute schedule
info to students
<<extends>>
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<<uses>>
One use case invokes another (like a procedure call);
used to avoid describing the same flow of events several times
puts the common behavior in a use case of its own.
Cashier
Check out item
Swipe UPC
code
<<uses>>
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Example: Car
Driver Mechanic
<<extends>>
<<uses>>
GasAttendant
<<uses>>
<<uses>>
<<uses>>
Fix Car
Check Oil
Drive
Fill Up
Fix car on
the road
Turn On
Engine
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Example: Meeting Scheduler
Provide
constraints
Edit
Constraints
Withdraw
Validate
User
Schedule
meeing
Initiator
Participant
<<uses>>
<<extends>>
<
<
u
s
e
s
>
>
Generate
Schedule
<
<
u
s
e
s
>
>
<
<
u
s
e
s
>
> <
<
u
s
e
s
>
>
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Identifying Actors
Look for:
the users who directly use the system
also others who need services from the system
To find actors that are people/roles ask:
Who will be a primary user of the system? (primary actor)
Who will need support from the system to do her daily tasks?
Who will maintain, administrate, keep the system working?
(secondary actor)
Who or what has an interest in the results that the system
produces ?
To find actors that are external systems ask:
Which hardware devices does the system need?
With which other systems does the system need to interact with?
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Finding Use Cases
For each actor, ask the following questions:
Which functions does the actor require from the system?
What does the actor need to do ?
Does the actor need to read, create, destroy, modify, or store
some kinds of information in the system ?
Does the actor have to be notified about events in the system?
Does the actor need to notify the system about something?
What do those events require in terms of system functionality?
Could the actors daily work be simplified or made more efficient
through new functions provided by the system?
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Generalization relations: is a
Generalizations
Actor classes
Its sometimes useful to identify
classes of actor
E.g. where several actors belong
to a single class
Some use cases are needed by
all members in the class
Other use cases are only needed
by some members of the class
Actors inherit use cases from
the class
Use Case classes
Sometimes useful to identify a
generalization of several use
cases
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Exercise: Online Order System
Prepare a use case diagram for the online order
system:
Using the online order system, the customer
places his order (by adding items, possibly
removing items, and then submitting the order).
The order clerk retrieves the order from the
system and assigns it to a delivery person.
The delivery person delivers the order to the
customer.
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UML Sequence Diagrams
Describe a Use Case using Sequence Diagrams
Sequence diagrams show step-by-step whats
involved in a use case
Which objects are relevant to the use case
How those objects participate in the function
You may need several sequence diagrams to
describe a single use case.
Each sequence diagram describes one possible scenario for
the use case
Sequence diagrams
should remain easy to read and understand.
do not include complex control logic
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Example:
Place book order
:Customer
:OnlineStore :OrderDepartment
search for book
[book exists] order book
submit order request
:Bank
debit account
Customer
Place
book order
Customer
initiates the
sequence
Time
Customer Invokes
the search method
in OnlineStore
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Example: Calculate staff bonuses
:Accountant
:PayrollSystem :Bank
list payroll
*[for each staff] schedule direct deposit
[for each staff] *calculate bonus
update payroll
:Staff
[for each staff] *get account
*[for each staff] update account
iteration
Activation
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Example: Add an advertisement
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Modelling Sequences of Events
Objects owninformation and behaviour
Objects dont knowabout other objects
information, but can ask for it.
To carry out business processes, objects
have to collaborate.
by sending messages to one another to invoke
each others operations
Objects can only send messages to one
another if they knoweach other
I.e. if there is an association between them.
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Exercise: Online Order System
Prepare a sequence diagram for the Assign
Driver use case:
The order clerk requests a list of drivers from the
system. Using the system, he selects a driver
and the system checks the drivers availability.
This is repeated until a driver has be selected
(until an available driver is found). Then the
order clerk assigns the driver using the system,
and the system notifies the delivery person.
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References
[Amb03] Ambler, S. W. 2003. The Elements of UML
Style. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press.
[BMF99] Bennett S., McRobb S., and Farmer R. 1999.
Object-Oriented System Analysis and Design
using UML. Berkshire, UK: McGraw Hill.