Use Cases

Principles of Object Technology
Module 2: Modeling System Behavior with Use-Cases
Objectives: System Behavior

Understand the concept of system behavior and how to capture it in a model Understand the benefits of use-case modeling Understand how to create, read, and interpret use-case models and activity diagrams
<Course Title and Version Number> Copyright 2000 Rational Software, all rights reserved
Where Are We?

Concepts in use-case modeling Use-case diagram contents Understanding use-case specifications Creating activity diagrams
What Is System Behavior?

System behavior is how a system acts and reacts.
It is the outwardly visible and testable activity of a system
System behavior is captured in use cases.

Use cases describe the system, its environment, and the relationship between the system and its environment.
What Is a Use-Case Model?

A model that describes a systems functional requirements in terms of use cases A model of the systems intended functions (use cases) and its environment (actors)
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Student
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What Are the Benefits of a Use-Case Model?

Used to communicate with the end users and domain experts
Provides buy-in at an early stage of system development Insures a mutual understanding of the requirements
Used to identify
Who interacts with the system and what the system should do The interfaces the system should have
Used to verify
All requirements have been captured The development team understands the requirements
Major Concepts in Use-Case Modeling

An actor represents anything that interacts with the system. A use case is a sequence of actions a system performs that yields an observable result of value to a particular actor.
Actor
Use Case
Where Are We?

What Is an Actor?
Actors are not part of the system. Actors represent roles a user of the system can play. They can represent a human, a machine, or another system. They can actively interchange information with the system. They can be a giver of information. They can be a passive recipient of information.
Actor
Actors are EXTERNAL.

Useful Questions in Finding Actors?

Who will supply, use, or remove information? Who will use this functionality? Who is interested in a certain requirement? Where in the organization is the system used? Who will support and maintain the system? What are the systems external resources? What other systems will need to interact with this one?
Actor
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Focus on the Roles

An actor represents a role that a human, hardware device, or another system can play.
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A User May Have Different Roles

Charlie as student
Charlie
Student
Charlie as professor
Professor
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Practice: Find the Actors

In the Course Registration System Requirements document, read the Problem Statement for the Course Registration case study. As a group, identify the following
Actors Description of the actor
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Practice: Solution
The external system responsible for student billing
Student
Billing System
A person who is registered to take courses at the University The unabridged catalog of all courses offered by the University
A person who is teaching classes at the University

Professor
Course Catalog
Registrar
The person who is responsible for the maintenance of the course registration system
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What Is a Use Case?

A sequence of actions a system performs that yields an observable result of value to a particular actor
Use Case
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Use Cases and Actors

A use case models a dialog between actors and the system. A use case is initiated by an actor to invoke a certain functionality in the system.
Actor
Communicates Association
Use Case
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How to Find Use Cases

Answer the following questions to find use cases.
For each actor you have identified, what are the tasks the system would be involved in? Does the actor need to be informed about certain occurrences in the system? Will the actor need to inform the system about sudden, external changes? What information must be modified or created in the system?
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Naming the Use Case

The name indicates what is achieved by its interactions with the actor(s). The name may be several words in length. No two use cases should have the same name.
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How Would You Read This Diagram?

View Report Card
Student Register for Courses Maintain Professor Information Course Catalog
Login
Maintain Student Information
Select Courses to Teach

Registrar Professor
Submit Grades
Close Registration
Billing System
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Where Are We?

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Use-Case Specifications
Name Brief description Flows of Events Relationships Activity and State diagrams Use-Case diagrams Special requirements Pre-conditions Post-conditions Other diagrams
Use-Case Model
Actors Use Cases
...
Use-Case Reports
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Use-Case Flow of Events

Has one normal, basic flow (Happy Path) Several alternative flows
Regular variants Odd cases Exceptional flows handling error situations
Happy Path
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What Are Scenarios?

A scenario is an instance of a use case.
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Where Are We?

Concepts in use-case modeling Use-case diagram contents Understanding use-case documentation Creating activity diagrams
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What Is an Activity Diagram?

An activity diagram in the use-case model can be used to capture the activities in a use case. It is essentially a flow chart, showing flow of control from activity to activity.
Flow of Events This use case starts when the Registrar requests that the system close registration. 1. The system checks to see if registration is in progress. If it is, then a message is displayed to the Registrar and the use case terminates. The Close Registration processing cannot be performed if registration is in progress. 2. For each course offering, the system checks if a professor has signed up to teach the course offering and at least three students have registered. If so, the system commits the course offering for each schedule that contains it.
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What Is an Activity State?

An activity state is an ongoing nonatomic execution that
Can be decomposed. May be interrupted and take some time to complete.
An activity state represents the performance of an activity or step within the workflow.
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Example: Activity Diagram

Decision
[ add course ]
[ delete course ]
Delete Course
Activity State
Select Course
Synchronization Bar (Fork)

Check Schedule
Concurrent threads
Check Pre-requisites
Transition Guard Condition Synchronization Bar (Join)
[ checks completed ]
[ checks failed ]
Assign to course
[ student added to the course ]
Resolve conflicts
Update schedule
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Swimlanes
Sales Fulfillment
Determine Need
Take Order
Fill Order Setup Payment
Deliver Order
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Which Comes First?
OR
OR
Use-Case Specification Activity Diagram
It depends on how you prefer to work.

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Checkpoints: System Behavior

Have you found all the use cases? Do the use cases meet all the functional requirements? Does the use-case model contain any superfluous behavior. That is, does it present more functions than were called for in the requirements? By studying the use-case model, can you form a clear idea of the system's functions and how they are related?
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Checkpoints: System Behavior (continued)

Have you found all the actors? Is each actor involved with at least one use case? Can you name at least two people who would be able to perform as a particular actor? Do any actors play similar roles in relation to the system? Will a particular actor use the system in several different ways, or does he have several completely different purposes for using the use case?
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Principles of Object Technology

Module 2: Modeling System Behavior with Use-Cases

Objectives: System Behavior

Where Are We?

What Is System Behavior?

System behavior is captured in use cases.

What Is a Use-Case Model?

View Report Card

Register for Courses

What Are the Benefits of a Use-Case Model?

Major Concepts in Use-Case Modeling

Where Are We?

Actors are EXTERNAL.

Useful Questions in Finding Actors?

Focus on the Roles

A User May Have Different Roles

Practice: Find the Actors

A person who is teaching classes at the University

What Is a Use Case?

Use Cases and Actors

How to Find Use Cases

Naming the Use Case

Register for Courses

Login Maintain Student Information

How Would You Read This Diagram?

Student Register for Courses Maintain Professor Information Course Catalog

Select Courses to Teach

Where Are We?

Actors Use Cases

Use-Case Flow of Events

What Are Scenarios?

Where Are We?

What Is an Activity Diagram?

What Is an Activity State?

Example: Activity Diagram

Synchronization Bar (Fork)

Transition Guard Condition Synchronization Bar (Join)

Fill Order Setup Payment

Which Comes First?

It depends on how you prefer to work.

Checkpoints: System Behavior

Checkpoints: System Behavior (continued)

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