Chapter 5 – System Modeling

Chapter 5 System Modeling 1

Topics covered

 Context models
 Interaction models
 Structural models
 Behavioral models
 Model-driven engineering

Chapter 5 System Modeling 2

Introduction

 User requirements must be written in natural languages

because they have to be understood by people who are
not technical experts.
 However, more detailed system requirements may be
expressed in a more technical way.
 One widely used technique is to document the system
specification as a set of system models.
 Because system models have graphical representations,
they are more understandable than detailed natural
descriptions of the system requirements.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 3

System modeling

 System modeling is the process of developing abstract

models of a system, with each model presenting a
different view or perspective of that system.
 System modeling has now come to mean representing a
system using some kind of graphical notation, which is
now almost always based on notations in the Unified
Modeling Language (UML).
 System modelling helps the analyst to understand the
functionality of the system and models are used to
communicate with customers.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 4

Existing and planned system models

 Models of the existing system are used during requirements

engineering. They 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.
 In a model-driven engineering process, it is possible to
generate a complete or partial system implementation from
the system model.
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System 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.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 6

Unified Modeling Language

 The UML is a standard representation devised by the

developers of widely used object-oriented analysis and
design methods.
 It is a graphical language for
 specifying
 visualizing
 constructing
 documenting
the artifacts of software systems
 It has become an effective standard for object-oriented
modeling.
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UML Diagrams

Chapter 5 System Modeling 8

UML diagram types

 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.

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Use of graphical models

 As a means of facilitating discussion about an existing or

proposed system
 Incomplete and incorrect models are OK as their role is to
support discussion.
 As a way of documenting an existing system
 Models should be an accurate representation of the system but
need not be complete.
 As a detailed system description that can be used to
generate a system implementation
 Models have to be both correct and complete.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 10

Context models

Chapter 5 System Modeling 11

Context models

 Context models are used to illustrate the operational

context of a system - they show what lies outside the
system boundaries.
 Social and organisational concerns may affect the
decision on where to position system boundaries.
 Architectural models show the system and its
relationship with other systems.

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System boundaries

 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
 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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The context of the Mentcare system

Chapter 5 System Modeling 14

The context of an ATM system

Chapter 5 System Modeling 15

Process perspective

 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.

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Process model of involuntary detention

Chapter 5 System Modeling 17

Interaction models

Chapter 5 System Modeling 18

Interaction models

 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 case diagrams and sequence diagrams may be
used for interaction modelling.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 19

Use case modeling

 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.
 Represented diagrammatically to provide an overview of
the use case and in a more detailed textual form.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 20

Use case modeling

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Chapter 5 System Modeling 21
Use Case Diagrams - Relationships

 Inclusion <<includes>>
 Inclusion enables to reuse one use case's steps inside another
use case.
 Allow one to express commonality between several different use
cases.
 Extension <<extends>>
 Allows creating a new use case by adding steps to existing use
cases
 Generalization
 Allows child use cases to inherit behavior from parent use cases
 Much like super classes in a class diagram

Chapter 5 System Modeling 22

Example of Use Case Diagram

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Transfer-data use case

 A use case in the Mentcare system

Chapter 5 System Modeling 24

Use cases in the Mentcare system involving the
role ‘Medical Receptionist’

Chapter 5 System Modeling 25

Use case modeling

Name: Give a short, descriptive name to the use case.

Actors: List the actors who can perform this use case.
Goals: Explain what the actor or actors are trying to achieve.
Preconditions: State of the system before the use case.
Summary: Give a short informal description.
Related use cases.
Steps: Describe each step using a 2-column format.
Post conditions: State of the system in following
completion.
 Name and steps are the most important
Chapter 5 System Modeling 26
Tabular description of the ‘Transfer data’ use-
case

MHC-PMS: Transfer data

Actors Medical receptionist, patient records system (PRS)
Description A receptionist may transfer data from the Mentcase
system to a general patient record database that is
maintained by a health authority. The information
transferred may either be updated personal information
(address, phone number, etc.) or a summary of the
patient’s diagnosis and treatment.
Data Patient’s personal information, treatment summary
Stimulus User command issued by medical receptionist
Response Confirmation that PRS has been updated
Comments The receptionist must have appropriate security
permissions to access the patient information and the
PRS.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 27

Sequence diagrams

 Sequence diagrams are part of the UML and 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.
Chapter 5 System Modeling 28
Sequence diagram for View patient information

Chapter 5 System Modeling 29

 Sequence
diagram for
Transfer Data
30/10/2014 Chapter 5 System Modeling 30
Structural models

Chapter 5 System Modeling 31

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.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 32

Class diagrams

 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.
Chapter 5 System Modeling 33
UML classes and association

Chapter 5 System Modeling 34

Classes and associations in the MHC-PMS

Chapter 5 System Modeling 35

The Consultation class

Chapter 5 System Modeling 36

Generalization

 Generalization is an everyday technique that we use to

manage complexity.
 Rather than learn the detailed characteristics of every
entity that we experience, we place these entities in
more general classes (animals, cars, houses, etc.) and
learn the characteristics of these classes.
 This allows us to infer that different members of these
classes have some common characteristics e.g.
squirrels and rats are rodents.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 37

Generalization

 In modeling systems, it is often useful to examine the classes in

a system to see if there is scope for generalization. If changes
are proposed, then you do not have to look at all classes in the
system to see if they are affected by the change.
 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 super classes. These lower-level classes
then add more specific attributes and operations.
Chapter 5 System Modeling 38
A generalization hierarchy

Chapter 5 System Modeling 39

A generalization hierarchy with added detail

Chapter 5 System Modeling 40

Library Class Hierarchy

Chapter 5 System Modeling 41

User Class Hierarchy

Chapter 5 System Modeling 42

Object class aggregation models

 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.
 The UML notation for aggregation is to represent the
composition by including a diamond shape on the source
of the link.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 43

Object aggregation representing a course

Chapter 5 System Modeling 44

The aggregation association

Chapter 5 System Modeling 45

Behavioral models

Chapter 5 System Modeling 46

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.
 You can think of these stimuli as being of two types:
 Data Some data arrives that has to be processed by the system.
 Events Some event happens that triggers system processing.
Events may have associated data, although this is not always
the case.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 47

Data-driven modeling

 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.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 48

An activity model of the insulin pump’s
operation

Chapter 5 System Modeling 49

Event-driven modeling

 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 modeling 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.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 50

State machine models

 These model the behaviour of the system in response to

external and internal events.
 They show the system’s responses to stimuli so are
often used for modelling real-time systems.
 State machine models show system states as nodes and
events as arcs between these nodes. When an event
occurs, the system moves from one state to another.
 State charts are an integral part of the UML and are used
to represent state machine models.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 51

State diagram of a microwave oven

Chapter 5 System Modeling 52

States and stimuli for the microwave oven (a)

State Description
Waiting The oven is waiting for input. The display shows the current time.
Half power The oven power is set to 300 watts. The display shows ‘Half power’.
Full power The oven power is set to 600 watts. The display shows ‘Full power’.
Set time The cooking time is set to the user’s input value. The display shows
the cooking time selected and is updated as the time is set.
Disabled Oven operation is disabled for safety. Interior oven light is on.
Display shows ‘Not ready’.
Enabled Oven operation is enabled. Interior oven light is off. Display shows
‘Ready to cook’.
Operation Oven in operation. Interior oven light is on. Display shows the timer
countdown. On completion of cooking, the buzzer is sounded for five
seconds. Oven light is on. Display shows ‘Cooking complete’ while
buzzer is sounding.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 53

States and stimuli for the microwave oven (b)

Stimulus Description
Half power The user has pressed the half-power button.

Full power The user has pressed the full-power button.

Timer The user has pressed one of the timer buttons.

Number The user has pressed a numeric key.

Door open The oven door switch is not closed.
Door closed The oven door switch is closed.
Start The user has pressed the Start button.
Cancel The user has pressed the Cancel button.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 54

Model-driven engineering

Chapter 5 System Modeling 55

Model-driven engineering

 Model-driven engineering (MDE) is an approach to

software development where models rather than
programs are the principal outputs of the development
process.
 The programs that execute on a hardware/software
platform are then generated automatically from the
models.
 Proponents of MDE argue that this raises the level of
abstraction in software engineering so that engineers no
longer have to be concerned with programming language
details or the specifics of execution platforms.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 56

Usage of model-driven engineering

 Model-driven engineering is still at an early stage of

development, and it is unclear whether or not it will have
a significant effect on software engineering practice.
 Pros
 Allows systems to be considered at higher levels of abstraction
 Generating code automatically means that it is cheaper to adapt
systems to new platforms.
 Cons
 Models for abstraction and not necessarily right for
implementation.
 Savings from generating code may be outweighed by the costs
of developing translators for new platforms.
Chapter 5 System Modeling 57
Model driven architecture

 Model-driven architecture (MDA) was the precursor of

more general model-driven engineering
 MDA is a model-focused approach to software design
and implementation that uses a subset of UML models to
describe a system.
 Models at different levels of abstraction are created.
From a high-level, platform independent model, it is
possible, in principle, to generate a working program
without manual intervention.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 58

Types of model

 A computation independent model (CIM)

 These model the important domain abstractions used in a
system. CIMs are sometimes called domain models.
 A platform independent model (PIM)
 These model the operation of the system without reference to its
implementation. The PIM is usually described using UML models
that show the static system structure and how it responds to
external and internal events.
 Platform specific models (PSM)
 These are transformations of the platform-independent model
with a separate PSM for each application platform. In principle,
there may be layers of PSM, with each layer adding some
platform-specific detail.
Chapter 5 System Modeling 59
MDA transformations

Chapter 5 System Modeling 60

Multiple platform-specific models

Chapter 5 System Modeling 61

Agile methods and MDA

 The developers of MDA claim that it is intended to

support an iterative approach to development and so can
be used within agile methods.
 The notion of extensive up-front modeling contradicts the
fundamental ideas in the agile manifesto and I suspect
that few agile developers feel comfortable with model-
driven engineering.
 If transformations can be completely automated and a
complete program generated from a PIM, then, in
principle, MDA could be used in an agile development
process as no separate coding would be required.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 62

Adoption of MDA

 A range of factors has limited the adoption of MDE/MDA

 Specialized tool support is required to convert models
from one level to another
 There is limited tool availability and organizations may
require tool adaptation and customization to their
environment
 For the long-lifetime systems developed using MDA,
companies are reluctant to develop their own tools or
rely on small companies that may go out of business

Chapter 5 System Modeling 63

Adoption of MDA

 Models are a good way of facilitating discussions about a

software design. However the abstractions that are
useful for discussions may not be the right abstractions
for implementation.
 For most complex systems, implementation is not the
major problem – requirements engineering, security and
dependability, integration with legacy systems and
testing are all more significant.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 64

Adoption of MDA

 The arguments for platform-independence are only valid

for large, long-lifetime systems. For software products
and information systems, the savings from the use of
MDA are likely to be outweighed by the costs of its
introduction and tooling.
 The widespread adoption of agile methods over the
same period that MDA was evolving has diverted
attention away from model-driven approaches.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 65

Key points

 A model is an abstract view of a system that ignores system details.

Complementary system models can be developed to show the
system’s context, interactions, structure and behaviour.
 Context models show how a system that is being modeled is
positioned in an environment with other systems and processes.
 Use case diagrams and sequence diagrams are used to describe
the interactions between users and systems in the system being
designed. Use cases describe interactions between a system and
external actors; sequence diagrams add more information to these
by showing interactions between system objects.
 Structural models show the organization and architecture of a
system. Class diagrams are used to define the static structure of
classes in a system and their associations.

Chapter 5 System Modeling 66

Key points

 Behavioral models are used to describe the dynamic behavior

of an executing system. This behavior can be modeled from
the perspective of the data processed by the system, or by
the events that stimulate responses from a system.
 Activity diagrams may be used to model the processing of
data, where each activity represents one process step.
 State diagrams are used to model a system’s behavior in
response to internal or external events.
 Model-driven engineering is an approach to software
development in which a system is represented as a set of
models that can be automatically transformed to executable
code.
Chapter 5 System Modeling 67