Supporting Modeling Structured Analysis and Design

Abstract

The first case study focuses on evaluating the capability of the CAME environment of supporting a problem area that requires a structured analysis and design method. The specific problem lies in the financial and administration sector of the example problem, Dutch flower auction (see Chapter 3). Financial administration is an activity that is required frequently within organizations, and the analysis, design, and development of such an information system are normally supported by a structured analysis and design method. This case investigates the modeling process and techniques required for a popular structured analysis and design method known as the YOURDON method. The financial and administration sector’s problem is used as the problem area of this case study based on the following considerations: a problem preferably of a general nature, meaning that development of similar information systems is common, is the object of investigation. The Dutch flower auction’s financial and administration sector’s problem is one of a typical data processing nature, and this is clearly a frequently occurring problem area in information systems development. The problem area has to be such that a structured analysis and design method would be adopted during information systems analysis and design. Otherwise it could not be considered to be information systems modeling support according to a structured analysis and design method. The YOURDON method (Yourdon, 1989) is particularly well known for its support of the problem area of data processing and real-time systems analysis and design. This means all clones of the YOURDON method described in literature include the real-time analysis and design. The selection of the YOURDON method to investigate this particular problem is based on the preference of students who worked with this particular example problem based on the course “Information Systems Analysis and Design Methodologies” at Delft University of Technology. The various versions of the YOURDON method give varying interpretations of its modeling techniques Data Flow Diagram (DFD), Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD), and State Transition Diagram (STD). The automated support must provide not only the required modeling techniques, but also the different variations of these techniques as required to deal with the problem area.