Asper School of Business University of Manitoba Systems Analysis & Design Instructor: Bob Travica Analyzing systems process: Activity diagram Updated 2014

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica2 of 12 Outline Activity diagram concept Elements of activity diagram Reading activity diagrams Process logic in activity diagram Creating activity diagrams

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica3 of 12 Activity Diagram (AD) concept A diagram used for showing systems requirements; results from process analysis AD depicts: business processes (workflow) – manual & automated (carried by a system) process logic – time order of process steps (activities) & decision points actors (touch system), business event sources (initiate actors to work) AD resembles old flow charts and data flow diagram

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica4 of 12 AD components – Quote Process Who/What performs activity Swimlane (column) Activity, Process step Decision point; yes/no branching Process flow (control) Start End Loop, one technique: decision + flow back Time approxi- mation Page 146 * * System=information system; sometimes called just “computer”

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica5 of 12 AD components – Parallel Steps Parallel steps, run at the same time Provide Technical Details Synchronization Bars, indicate parallel processes

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica6 of 12 AD for Customer Ordering by Telephone – more components Loop -One method -Note: 1. loop bars 2. enter & exit condition Page 227 (bit modified) Decision shown as Activity: - N outflows - Outflows named Pasting activities to save space

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica7 of 12 Process logic Sequential (step 1, step 2, step 3…) Conditional: If-Then (decision points: if condition A, then step n); binary or N-ary choices as outflows Iteration/loop: Control back to a previous step while a certain condition persists) Slide 4, feedback from the “Change required?” decision point Slide 6, loop between bars For each item to End of each

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica8 of 12 What AD does not show? Data passed between steps (Data flow diagram shows it) Objects (But can be inferred; e.g., Customer, Order, Clerk) User interface (Clerk--System connection)

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica9 of 12 How to create AD 1. Identify activities (steps) of a process 2. Identify who/what performs activities (process steps) 3. Draw swimlanes 4. Identify decision points (if-then) 5. Determine if a step is in loop (For each…, or if-then loop) 6. Determine if step is parallel with some other 7. Identify order of activities, decision points Continues…

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica10 of 12 How to create AD (cont.) 8. Draw the start point of the process in the swimlane of the first activity (step) 9. Draw the oval of the first activity (step) 10. Draw an arrow to the location of the second step 11. Draw subsequent steps, while inserting decision points and synchronization/loop bars where appropriate 12. Draw the end point after the last step. You can tabulate these data (see next slide).

3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Bob Travica11 of 12 How to create AD (cont.) Step ID Process Activity or Decision Who/What Performs Parallel Activity LoopPreceding Step 1Request quoteCustomerNo - 2Develop requirement notes SalespersonNoYes1 3Decision: Help?Salesperson-Yes2 4Salesperson enters data SalespersonNoYes3 5Check requirements Technical Expert NoYes3 6Tech. expert enters data Technical Expert NoYes5 7Calculate quoteSystemNoYes4, 6 8Review quoteCustomerNoYes7 9Decision: Changes? CustomerNoYes8 10Accept quote as order CustomerNo