Requirements analysis and

modelling the domain

Software Development Practices
Lecture 4

Where are you at?

Assignment #1

Due next week, Wednesday 3rd September at 12:30 pm

Submission via Blackboard Turnitin

Assignment #2
To be released next week, Wednesday afternoon
Group assignment (Group of 3-4 students, from the same

tutorial session)
Form your group early start NOW
Progress will be monitored by your tutor on a weekly basis

SDP Roadmap

Problem analysis

Domain modelling domain diagrams

Modelling behaviour use cases, use case diagrams

Adding detail to domain model class diagrams

Dynamic behaviour sequence, collaboration diagrams

etc

Defining Architecture deployment diagrams

Detailed design wireframes

Testing
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Overview of This Lecture

Introduction to Case Studies

Requirement Gathering

Use Case Modeling

Domain Modeling / Business Modeling

Case Study 1: The Restaurant

Example developed in the Practical Object-Oriented Design

With UML by Mark Priestley, chapter 4.

Support the day-to-day operations of restaurant by improving

the processes of:
Making Reservations
Allocating Tables

Current System is based on manual booking system:

Hand-written forms in large folder.

Case Study 1: The Restaurant

Current system uses manual booking sheets.

Case Study 1: The Restaurant

Three sittings (slots) in an evening

Booking can span more than one slot

Each Booking records:

Contact Name and Phone Number

Annotation made for various events:

Arrival of customer (Cross out record)
Table switch (Arrow to new table)
Cancellation
Time to vacate
Walk-In Customer
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Case Study 1: Restaurant

Problems with the manual systems/Pain points:

Slow
Confusing and difficult to read/modifiy
No backup copies
Hard to get useful management data

Goal: Develop an automated computerized version.

Case Study 2: The Monopoly Game

Chosen because of its familiarity.

A game played almost in every country.

Developed in the Applying UML and Patterns by Craig Larman,

Chapter 3.

The software version will run as simulation:

User starts the simulation by indicating the number of simulated players.
All turns are simulated with result (trace) printed.

Where are we now?

Business
Modeling

Understanding the problem domain.

Requirement
Analysis &
Design

Business Modeling

Requirement Gathering
Understanding the requirements.

Implementation

Testing
Deployment

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Requirement: Overview

Early phase of the development.

Inputs:
informal specification.

Activities:
create use case model.
define use cases.
create domain model.
create glossary.
create activity diagram.
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Use Case View

Intended to provide a structured view of the system's functionality.
Description of how users interact with the system.
Supported by UML use case diagrams.
Serves as the starting point for all subsequent development.
Three important definitions:
Use Case
Scenario
Actor

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Use Case and Scenarios

Use Case:
The different tasks that users can perform while interacting
with the system.

Scenarios aka. Courses of events:

Are particular instances of the use case:
Basic Scenario: normal flow.
Alternative Scenario: optional flow.
Exceptional Scenario: erroneous flow.

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Actor
Roles played by users when interacting with a system, e.g.:
Receptionist (makes bookings);
Head waiter (assigns tables etc).

Individual user may play one or more roles at different times.

Often corresponds to certain level of access, e.g., logging
into Swinburne website as Staff or Student.

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Use Case Diagram

UML diagram to summarize the relationship between actors

and use cases.

Diagram Element:

Actor

Communication

Use Case
<<Include>>

Inherit
(Actor Relationship)

Constraints

<<Extend>>

Use Case
Dependency
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Case Study 1: Use Cases

A preliminary list of use cases:

1

Record new booking.

Cancel a booking.

Record customer arrival.

Transfer a customer from one table to another.

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Case Study 1: Use Case Diagram

Show use cases, actors and who does what.

System
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Use Cases Description

A use case comprises all the possible interactions that a user
can have when performing a given task.
Often a dialogue between system and user.
These are described as scenarios, or courses of events.
A full description of a use case includes:
an actor;
preconditions;
success guarantees;
a basic scenario;
a number of alternative and exceptional scenarios, also called
extensions.

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Basic Scenario
Describes what happens in the normal case.
For example, for Record Booking:
Record Booking: Basic Scenario

Receptionist enters date of requested reservation;

System displays bookings for that date;
There is a suitable table available: Receptionist enters details
(customers name, phone number, time of booking, number of
covers, table number);
System records and displays new booking.
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Use Case Templates

UML does not define a standard format for use case
descriptions.
Various templates have been defined to structure
descriptions.
Essentially a list of subheadings such as:
Name (of the use case)
Actors/goal
Preconditions:
Success guarantees/ postconditions:
Scenarios (basic + extensions)
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Other Use Case Description Template

This version emphasizes the exchange between user and

system, e.g.:
Actor

System

1.

Receptionist enters date of

requested reservation;

2.

System displays bookings for that

date.

3.

there is a suitable table available: 4.

Receptionist enters details
(customers name, phone
number, time of booking, number
of covers, table number);

System records and displays new

booking.

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User Interface Prototype

During the use case modeling activity, it is usually useful to have a

rough idea of the user interface, e.g.:

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Alternative Scenarios

Describe predicted alternative flows.

For example, if no table is available:

Record Booking No Table Available: Alternative Scenario

1
2
3

Receptionist enters date;

System displays bookings;
no table available: end of use case.

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Exceptional Scenarios

Situations where a mistake has been made.

E.g., allocate a booking to a small table:

Record Booking table too small: Exceptional Scenario
1 receptionist enters date;

2
3
4
5
6

system displays bookings;

receptionist enters details;
system asks for confirmation of oversize booking;
if no, use case terminates with no booking made;
if yes, booking recorded with warning flag.

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Shared Functionality

Different use cases can overlap.

E.g., Record Arrival:

Record Arrival: Basic Scenario

head waiter enters date;

system displays bookings;
head waiter confirms arrival for booking;
system records this and updates display.

First two steps shared with Record Booking (even

though different actor).
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Use Case Inclusion

Move shared functionality to a separate use case:

Display Bookings: Basic Scenario

user enters a date;

system displays bookings for that date.

Include this in other use cases, e.g.:

Record Booking: Basic Scenario (revised)

receptionist performs Display Bookings;

receptionist enters details;

system records and displays new booking.

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The <<include>> Dependency

UML shows inclusion as a dependency between use cases,
labelled with the stereotype <<include>> on the dashed
arrow:

System
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Case Study 1: Use Case Diagram (Revised)

Display
booking

System
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Actor Generalization
The last diagram shows that the Receptionist can performs
the Display bookings use case independently from the Record
Booking use case.
Head Waiters can also performs Display bookings use case.
Introduce a more general actor Staff to show what the other
two actors have in common.
The initial actors are specializations of the general actor.

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Actor Generalization Notation

System
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Use Case Extension

Recording a walk-in can be described as an exceptional
course of events:
someone arrives but theres no booking recorded.

It could also be a separate use case:

a customer arrives and asks if there's a free table.

Then, it can extend Record Arrival:

even without a booking, the customer stays to eat.

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Use Case Extension

Record Walk-in: Basic Scenario:

Head waiter performs Display Bookings use case;

Head waiter enters details (time, number of covers and the table
allocated to the customer);

System records and displays new booking.

Very similar to Record Arrival use case. Can we simplify?

<<Include>> dependency is inappropriate. (why?)
Record Walk-in is performed in some cases of Record Arrival,
when there is no booking for the customer.
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The <<extend>> Dependency

Use case extension is shown with a <<extend>> dependency.
Record walk-in optionally extends the functionality of Record arrival.
States the constraint (condition) which causes the branch off.

No Prior
Booking

System
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Case Study 1: Complete Use Case Diagram

System
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Guidelines
Use case:
Should cover full sequence of steps from the beginning of a task until
the end.
Should describe users interaction with the system.
Should not describe actual computations.
Should be as independent as possible from any particular user
interface design.
Should only include actions in which the actor interacts with the
computer.

Use case diagram should be used to supplement the use case

description, not as the main artifact.
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Use Cases: Strengths

Simple and Familiar

Can be understood easily by untrained personnel, e.g., the

customer.
Involve the customer early in the development.

Emphasize the user goals and perspective.

Scale in term of sophistication and formality.

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Use Cases: Problems

Care must be taken to ensure the use cases are

complete and unambiguous.

Only actor initiated activities are recorded.

Software requirement derived from use cases often

mimics the manual system too closely.

Preventing any innovative or more efficient way to be

developed.

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Domain Modelling
Using UML diagram to construct a model of the real-world
system:
Understand the problem domain.

Model recorded as a simplified class diagram.

Seamless development:
The same notation is used for analysis and design.
The design can evolve from the initial domain model.

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Domain Model Notation

A subset of class diagram model elements are used.

Class Name

Name
Multiplicity

Attributes

Multiplicity

Association

Class

Class
Generalization

Constraints
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Domain Model Notation

Classes represent real-world entities.
Attributes represent the data held about entities.
Associations represent relationships between the entities.
Generalization can be used to simplify the structure of the
model.
Constraints can be used to indicate conditions.

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Case Study 1: Customers and Reservations

Basic business fact: customers make reservations.

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Defining a Relationship
Give a name to the relationship:
use a verb so that the relationship can be read as a sentence:
A customer can make many reservations.

How many people make a reservation?

one principal contact whose details are held;
that principal contact can make more than one reservation (e.g., by
postponing the time);
the expected number of diners can be modelled as an attribute of
the reservation.
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Case Study 1: Tables and Reservation

Is table number an attribute of Reservation?
Better modelled as a separate class:
tables exist even if there are no reservations;
other attributes of tables, e.g., size, can be stored.
This image cannot currently be display ed.

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Use of Constraints
Not all domain properties can be shown graphically:
e.g., it should be impossible to double-book a table.

Constraints add information to models:

written in a note connected to the model element being
constrained.

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Use of Generalization
A superclass can be used to show the properties shared by
different types of booking.
This image cannot currently be display ed.

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Correctness
How do we know when a domain model is complete?
we don't: there are lots of plausible models in most cases.

Domain modelling is not an end in itself, but a guide to

further development.
Realizing use cases tests the domain model, and will
usually lead to refinements.

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Supplementary Documents

Common Supplementary Documentation:

Glossary.
Activity Diagram.

Glossary:
A mini dictionary that captures concepts and vocabulary relevant in

the problem domain.

Avoids misunderstanding and facilitate communication.

Activity Diagram
UML diagram that describes activities.
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Case Study 1: Partial Glossary

Booking: an assignment of diners to a table.
Covers: the number of diners for a booking.
Customer: a person who makes a reservation.
Reservation: a booking made in advance.
Walk-in: a booking that is not made in advance.

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Summary

Introduction to Case Studies

Requirement Gathering

Use Case Modeling

Domain Modeling / Business Modeling

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References

Evans, E. (2004), Domain-driven design : tackling complexity in

the heart of software, Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley (Library
Call Number: 005.1 EVA-D)
Booch et. al. (1998) The unified modelling language user guide,
Amazon.com, 2nd edition. (Swinburne library electronic resource)
Larman, C (2006) Applying UML and Patterns, 3rd Ed Prentice
Hall
Fowler, M. (2004), UML Distilled: a brief guide to the standard
object modeling language, Addison-Wesley
Simon, B., McRobb, S. & Farmer, R. (2006), Object-oriented
systems analysis and design using UML, London : McGraw-Hill
Education, 3rd Edition (Library Call Number: 005.117 BEN-O3)
Bruegge, B & Dutoit, A (2010), OO Software Engineering using
UML, Patterns and Java, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall
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