11/13/2019 CS 410/510 - Software Engineering class notes

CS 410/510 - Software Engineering

System Modeling

Reference: Sommerville, Software Engineering, 10 ed., Chapter 5

The big picture

System modeling is the process of developing abstract models of a system, with each model presenting a
different view or perspective of that system. It is about representing a system using some kind of graphical
notation, which is now almost always based on notations in the Unified Modeling Language (UML).
Models help the analyst to understand the functionality of the system; they are used to communicate with
customers.

Models can explain the system from different perspectives:

An external perspective, where you model the context or environment of the system.
An interaction perspective, where you model the interactions between a system and its
environment, or between the components of a system.
A structural perspective, where you model the organization of a system or the structure of the data
that is processed by the system.
A behavioral perspective, where you model the dynamic behavior of the system and how it responds
to events.

Five types of UML diagrams that are the most useful for system modeling:

Activity diagrams, which show the activities involved in a process or in data processing.
Use case diagrams, which show the interactions between a system and its environment.
Sequence diagrams, which show interactions between actors and the system and between system
components.
Class diagrams, which show the object classes in the system and the associations between these
classes.
State diagrams, which show how the system reacts to internal and external events.

Models of both new and existing system are used during requirements engineering. Models of the
existing systems help clarify what the existing system does and can be used as a basis for discussing its
strengths and weaknesses. These then lead to requirements for the new system. Models of the new system
are used during requirements engineering to help explain the proposed requirements to other system
stakeholders. Engineers use these models to discuss design proposals and to document the system for
implementation.

Context and process models

Context models are used to illustrate the operational context of a system - they show what lies outside the
system boundaries. Social and organizational concerns may affect the decision on where to position system
boundaries. Architectural models show the system and its relationship with other systems.

System boundaries are established to define what is inside and what is outside the system. They show
other systems that are used or depend on the system being developed. The position of the system boundary
has a profound effect on the system requirements. Defining a system boundary is a political judgment since
there may be pressures to develop system boundaries that increase/decrease the influence or workload of
different parts of an organization.

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Context models simply show the other systems in the environment, not how the system being developed is
used in that environment. Process models reveal how the system being developed is used in broader
business processes. UML activity diagrams may be used to define business process models.

The example below shows a UML activity diagram describing the process of involuntary detention and the
role of MHC-PMS (mental healthcare patient management system) in it.

Interaction models
Types of interactions that can be represented in a model:

Modeling user interaction is important as it helps to identify user requirements.

Modeling system-to-system interaction highlights the communication problems that may arise.
Modeling component interaction helps us understand if a proposed system structure is likely to
deliver the required system performance and dependability.

Use cases were developed originally to support requirements elicitation and now incorporated into the UML.
Each use case represents a discrete task that involves external interaction with a system. Actors in a use case
may be people or other systems. Use cases can be represented using a UML use case diagram and in a more
detailed textual/tabular format.

Simple use case diagram:

Use case description in a tabular format:

Use case title Transfer data

A receptionist may transfer data from the MHC-PMS to a general patient record database
that is maintained by a health authority. The information transferred may either be updated
Description
personal information (address, phone number, etc.) or a summary of the patient's diagnosis
and treatment.
Actor(s) Medical receptionist, patient records system (PRS)
Patient data has been collected (personal information, treatment summary);
Preconditions The receptionist must have appropriate security permissions to access the patient
information and the PRS.

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Postconditions PRS has been updated

1. Receptionist selects the "Transfer data" option from the menu.
Main success 2. PRS verifies the security credentials of the receptionist.
scenario 3. Data is transferred.
4. PRS has been updated.
2a. The receptionist does not have the necessary security credentials.
Extensions 2a.1. An error message is displayed.
2a.2. The receptionist backs out of the use case.

UML sequence diagrams are used to model the interactions between the actors and the objects within a
system. A sequence diagram shows the sequence of interactions that take place during a particular use case
or use case instance. The objects and actors involved are listed along the top of the diagram, with a dotted
line drawn vertically from these. Interactions between objects are indicated by annotated arrows.

Structural models
Structural models of software display the organization of a system in terms of the components that make
up that system and their relationships. Structural models may be static models, which show the structure of
the system design, or dynamic models, which show the organization of the system when it is executing. You
create structural models of a system when you are discussing and designing the system architecture.

UML class diagrams are used when developing an object-oriented system model to show the classes in a
system and the associations between these classes. An object class can be thought of as a general definition
of one kind of system object. An association is a link between classes that indicates that there is some
relationship between these classes. When you are developing models during the early stages of the software
engineering process, objects represent something in the real world, such as a patient, a prescription, doctor,
etc.

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Generalization is an everyday technique that we use to manage complexity. In modeling systems, it is

often useful to examine the classes in a system to see if there is scope for generalization. In object-oriented
languages, such as Java, generalization is implemented using the class inheritance mechanisms built into
the language. In a generalization, the attributes and operations associated with higher-level classes are also
associated with the lower-level classes. The lower-level classes are subclasses inherit the attributes and
operations from their superclasses. These lower-level classes then add more specific attributes and
operations.

An aggregation model shows how classes that are collections are composed of other classes. Aggregation
models are similar to the part-of relationship in semantic data models.

Behavioral models
Behavioral models are models of the dynamic behavior of a system as it is executing. They show what
happens or what is supposed to happen when a system responds to a stimulus from its environment. Two
types of stimuli:

Some data arrives that has to be processed by the system.

Some event happens that triggers system processing. Events may have associated data, although
this is not always the case.

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Many business systems are data-processing systems that are primarily driven by data. They are controlled by
the data input to the system, with relatively little external event processing. Data-driven models show the
sequence of actions involved in processing input data and generating an associated output. They are
particularly useful during the analysis of requirements as they can be used to show end-to-end processing in
a system. Data-driven models can be created using UML activity diagrams:

Data-driven models can also be created using UML sequence diagrams:

Real-time systems are often event-driven, with minimal data processing. For example, a landline phone
switching system responds to events such as 'receiver off hook' by generating a dial tone. Event-driven
models shows how a system responds to external and internal events. It is based on the assumption that a
system has a finite number of states and that events (stimuli) may cause a transition from one state to
another. Event-driven models can be created using UML state diagrams:

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