COMSATS Institute of Information Technology

Software Engineering-I

Data and Process Modeling

INTRODUCTION
 During the requirements modeling process you used fact-
finding techniques to investigate the current system and
identify user requirements.
 Now, you will use that information to develop a logical
model of the proposed system and document the system
requirements.
 A logical model shows what the system must do,
regardless of how it will be implemented physically.
 Later, in the systems design phase, you build a physical
model that describes how the system will be constructed.
 Data and process modeling involves three main tools:
 data flow diagrams,
 a data dictionary,
 and process descriptions.

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DATA FLOW DIAGRAMS
 A data flow diagram (DFD) shows how data
moves through an information system but
does not show program logic or processing
steps.
 A set of DFDs provides a logical model that
shows what the system does, not how it does
it.

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DFD Symbols
 DFDs use four basic symbols that represent
processes, data flows, data stores, and
entities.
 Several different versions of DFD symbols
exist, but they all serve the same purpose.
 Gane and Sarson symbol set.
 Yourdon symbol set.
 Symbols are referenced by using all capital
letters for the symbol name.

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PROCESS
 A process receives input data and produces
output that has a different content, form, or
both.
 Processes can be very simple or quite
complex.
 Processes contain the business logic, also
called business rules, that transform the data
and produce the required results.

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PROCESS SYMBOL
The process name identifies a specific function and
consists of a verb (and an adjective, if necessary)
followed by a singular noun.
Examples
 APPLY RENT PAYMENT, CALCULATE COMMISSION, ASSIGN
FINAL GRADE, VERIFY ORDER, and FILL ORDER.
 Processing details are not shown in a DFD.
 For example, you might have a process named
DEPOSIT PAYMENT.
 The process symbol does not reveal the business
logic for the DEPOSIT PAYMENT process.
 To document the logic, you create a process
description.
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Data flow diagram symbols, symbol
names, and examples

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 Cont…..
 In DFDs, a process symbol can be referred to as
a black box, because the inputs, outputs,
and general functions of the process are known,
but the underlying details and logic of the
process are hidden.
 We can zoom in on a process symbol and create
a more in-depth DFD that shows the process’s
internal workings — which might reveal even
more processes, data flows, and data stores.
 In this manner, the information system can be
modeled as a series of increasingly detailed
pictures.

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DATA FLOW
 A data flow is a path for data to move
from one part of the information system to
another.
 A data flow in a DFD represents one or more
data items.
 For example, a data flow could consist of a single
data item (such as a student ID number) or
 It could include a set of data (such as a class
roster with student ID numbers, names, and
registration dates for a specific class).

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DATA FLOW SYMBOL
 The symbol for a data flow is a line with a single or
double arrowhead.
 The data flow name appears above, below, or
alongside the line.
 A data flow name consists of a singular noun and
an adjective, if needed.
 Examples
 DEPOSIT, INVOICE PAYMENT, STUDENT GRADE, ORDER,
and COMMISSION.
 Exceptions to the singular name rule are data flow
names, such as GRADING PARAMETERS, where a
singular name could mislead you into thinking a
single parameter or single item of data exists.
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Examples of correct combinations of
data flow and process symbols.

•Because a process changes

the data’s content or form,
at
least one data flow must
enter and one data flow
must exit each process
symbol.

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 Examples of incorrect combinations of
data flow and process symbols.

Spontaneous generation

Black hole

Gray hole

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DATA STORE
 A data store is used in a DFD to
represent data that the system stores
because one or more processes need to use
the data at a later time.
 For instance, instructors need to store student
scores on tests and assignments during the
semester so they can assign final grades at
the end of the term.
 A DFD does not show the detailed contents of
a data store

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DATA STORE SYMBOL
 In a DFD, the Gane and Sarson symbol for a data store is a
flat rectangle that is open on the right side and closed on
the left side.
 The name of the data store appears between the lines and
identifies the data it contains.
 A data store name is a plural name consisting of a noun
and adjectives, if needed.
 Examples of data store names are
 STUDENTS, ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE, PRODUCTS, DAILY
PAYMENTS, PURCHASE ORDERS, OUTSTANDING CHECKS,
INSURANCE POLICIES, and EMPLOYEES.
 Exceptions to the plural name rule are collective nouns
that represent multiple occurrences of objects.
 For example, GRADEBOOK represents a group of students
and their scores.
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 Examples of correct uses of data store
symbols in a data flow diagram.

• A data store must be connected to a process with a data flow.

• In each case, the data store has at least one incoming and one
outgoing data
flow
15 and is connected to a process symbol
Software with a data flow.
Engineering-I
Examples of incorrect uses of data store
symbols

• Two data stores cannot be connected by a data flow without an

intervening
process,
• Each data store should have an outgoing and incoming data flow.

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 Cont….
 In some situations, a data store has no input
data flow because it contains fixed reference
data that is not updated by the system.
 For example,
 Consider a data store called TAX TABLE, which
contains withholding tax data that a company
downloads from the Internal Revenue Service.
When the company runs its payroll, the
CALCULATE WITHHOLDING process accesses data
from this data store.
 On a DFD, this would be represented as a one-way
outgoing data flow from the TAX TABLE data store
into the CALCULATE WITHHOLDING process.
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ENTITY
 A DFD shows only external entities that provide
data to the system or receive output from the
system.
 A DFD shows the boundaries of the system and
how the system interfaces with the outside world.
 For example,
 A customer entity submits an order to an order
processing system.
 Other examples of entities include a patient who
supplies data to a medical records system, a
homeowner who receives a bill from a city property tax
system, or an accounts payable system that receives
data from the company’s purchasing system.

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 Cont….
 DFD entities also are called terminators, because they
are data origins or final destinations.
 Systems analysts call an entity that supplies data to the
system a source, and an entity that receives data from
the system a sink.
 An entity name is the singular form of a department,
outside organization, other information system, or person.
 An external entity can be a source or a sink or both, but
each entity must be connected to a process by a data
flow.
ENTITY SYMBOL
 The symbol for an entity is a rectangle, which may be
shaded to make it look three-dimensional.
 The name of the entity appears inside the symbol.

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Examples of correct uses of external
entities in a data flow diagram

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Examples of incorrect uses of external
entities

• An external entity must be connected by a data flow to a process,

and not
directly to a data store or to another external entity.

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Guidelines for Drawing DFDs
 Step 1: Draw a Context
Diagram
 The first step in constructing
a set of DFDs is to draw a
context diagram.

 A context diagram is a
top-level view of an
information system that
shows the system’s
boundaries and scope.

 Data stores are not shown in

the context diagram
because they are contained
within the system and
remain hidden until more
detailed diagrams are
created.
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 Step 2: Draw a Diagram 0 DFD
 To show the detail inside the
black box, you create DFD
diagram 0.
 Diagram 0 zooms in on the
system and shows major
internal processes, data
flows, and data stores.
 Diagram 0 also repeats the
entities and data flows that
appear in the context
diagram.
 When you expand the context
diagram into DFD diagram 0,
you must retain all the
connections that flow into
and out of process 0.
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Context diagram and diagram 0 for the order
system.
Context Diagram Diagram 0

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Step 3: Draw the Lower-Level
Diagrams
 To create lower-level diagrams, you must use
leveling and balancing techniques.
 Leveling is the process of drawing a series of
increasingly detailed diagrams, until all
functional primitives are identified.
 Balancing maintains consistency among a
set of DFDs by ensuring that input and output
data flows align properly.

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Leveling Example
Diagram 1 DFD shows
Diagram 0 details of the FILL ORDER

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Balancing Example
Order System Diagram 0 DFD Order System Diagram 3 DFD

The two DFDs are balanced, because the child diagram at the bottom
has the same input and output flows as the parent process 3 shown at
the top.
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Lab Tasks
 Activity 1:
 By considering your knowledge about Library
System draw a context level data-flow diagram for
a simple library system intended to automate the
issuing of library items. You may use any of
instructed DFD (Gane and Sarson or Yourdon)
symbol set.
 Activity 2:
 Draw the next level of the data-flow diagram
by decomposing the library system bubble into
its sub-functions which shall participate in
issuing of library items.

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