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MIS 3510 Systems Analysis & Design * Instructor: Bob Travica

Instructions for the Lab on Drawing Systems Diagrams

(Updated 2017)

In this lab, you will create system diagrams by using Visioand iGrafx.By the end of the lab, you are supposed to submit one diagram of your choice to your instructor (check the diagrams link below for examples). This willnot be graded but it will serve as a proof that you covered the material studied in the lab.

1. Visio

Visio is specialized software for creating system documentation as well as other diagrams. However, it does not have the intelligence of CASE software (e.g., it can’t create code automatically).

Visio was an independent company, before Microsoft acquired it. The versionavailable in your lab is Visio 2013.

The basic concept in Visio is shape. A shape represents a graphical symbol used in systems diagrams. For example, the shape of oval is the symbol for use case, that is, for a system function in the UML notation. From the perspective of object-oriented software, you can think aboutthe shape as a class that has attributes of form, size, color, text box, and connection points as well as associated methods (e.g., functions for creating, deleting, and resizing objects of this class).

A shape can be connected to other shapes via lines and connectors. A shape can be grouped with other shapes and lines/connectors, rotated, and so on.

1.1 Starting Visio

Find a Visio icon on the screen and click it. There are several file-opening procedures in Visio, depending on the Visio setup and your needs.

Assume you want to open a file with shapes for making a use case diagram. Here is one procedure:

  1. After starting Visio, you get a screen resembling a Microsoft Office software. Click the File function to get folders with different shapes.
  2. Click the folderUML Use Case (if not displayed, you may need to search for it).
  3. On the next screen, click Create.

The output of the procedure above should be a blank drawing space covering most of the screen and a folder (“Stencil”) with UML shapes on the left side. See Figure 1.1(UML=Unified Modeling Language.)

Figure 1.1 An example of the Visio screen with a folder and drawing space
1.2 Creating Diagrams

The default size of the Visio drawing space can be too small, so you may want to increase it. On the menu atop the screen, click View, Zoom, and chose the desired percentage.

Let’s try to draw quickly a use case diagram – one of important diagrams in systems analysis & design.

Visio uses the drag-and-drop method of drawing. This means that you have to "take" a shape from a stencil by clicking it without releasing the mouse button. Then you drag the shape into a designated drawing space.

Try this method in order to create a use case diagram. You need the stencil UML Use Case that you selected by the procedure above. If UML Use Case stencil is not displayed do the following:

  1. Find the stencil heading More Shapes on the left side of the screen, and click it.
  2. On the drop-down menus that follow, select Software and Database/Software/UML Use Case.

Then, perform this procedure:

  1. In the area with stencils on the left, find the person figure that represents an actor (user; if you place the cursor over a shape without clicking it, you will get a tip on the shape’s purpose).
  2. Click the Actor shape and, while holding the mouse button pressed, drag the shape into the drawing space. Once at the desired destination, release the mouse button.
  3. Repeat step 2 to draw the shape Use Case
  4. Repeat step 2 to draw the shape Association. Place the association line so that it links the actor and the use case ovalby touching some of the dots on both shapes.
  5. Draw another use case and link it to the actor.
  6. DrawSystem Boundary (“Subsystem”) around use cases; resize it as needed

That’s it! What is left to do is just a finishing touch, such as naming your use case symbols and deleting some unwanted details:

  1. Double click the symbol of Actor; the cursor should appear in a newly opened text box underneath the actor figure.
  2. In the text box, type Customer.
  3. Double click the symbol of use case; in the field Name of the input form, type Place order.
  4. Insert other details as shown in the diagram depicted in Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2 Use Case diagram for Customer Order System

You are done! For connections between an actor and an oval, you can also use the function Connector. On the top bar menu, click Insert and then Connector. You don’t need to drag into the drawing space, but you can start drawing by clicking in the drawing space. The connector has some special attributes, such as elbowing (curving under the right angle).

If you use these lines, note that you must finish a function of using a particular line by clicking the button called Pointer Tool, which is close to the lines button. It is marked by an upright thick arrow:

1.3 Quick Drawing by Utilizing Automation Features

There is a fast way to get aquickly drawn diagram into a better form. Try the following procedure:

  1. In the Design ribbon, click the Pointer Tool button.
  2. In the drawing area, click the mouse in the drawing area but outside of your shapes, and drive the cursor around all the shapes you want to get arranged (the same way you would do this in PowerPoint).
  3. In the Design ribbon, click Re-Layout Page. Select some of the available options.

This rearrangement can sometimes introduce more of chaos than order. If nothing works for you, undo the changes by using the Undo button in the uppermost menu (a left-pointing arrow): .

1.4 Other Useful Procedures

The procedures below are used often.

Saving Visio file:

  1. In the File Menu, select File/Save.
  2. Navigate to the desired folder, name the file, and click Save.

Deleting shapes:

  1. Make a shape active by clicking the Pointer Tool and then the desired shape
  2. Press the Del key (or in the File Menu, select Edit/Cut)

Recovering deleted shape:

1. On the uppermost menu, click the Undo button.

Modifying shape size:

This procedure works like with PowerPoint:

  1. Make a shape active by clicking it.
  2. Place the cursor on one of the white rectangles and move the mouse in a desired direction.

Editing shapes:

  1. Right-click the shape whose text you want to position in a new way.
  2. In the pop-up menu, select Format Shape.
  3. From here, you can work on the fill or some other attribute.

Exiting Visio:

1. In the File Menu, click File/Close.

1.5 Drawing More Diagrams

Note that there are many more functions in Visio. You can explore them by activating different toolbars. Usually, some combination of help and trial-and-error can help you learn a new procedure.

Nevertheless, you are ready to implement your Visio skills on drawing some diagrams that are used in the Unified Process methodology for developing information systems.

You can use your textbook or check the diagrams linkfor the exampleson diagrams to draw. These are provided for your practice. You need to submit just one diagram to your instructor as a proof that you covered the lab. You can do this at the end of this lab or at some later date.

If you want to draw a class diagram (a diagram representing a system’s data, the one on the bottom of the file with diagram examples), use the stencil called UML Class. To get it, focus on Shapes pane, then make selections More Shapes/Software and Database/Software/UML Class.

2. iGrafx

iGrafx is software for drawing process diagrams and analyzing processes in various ways. You will be using the 2015 version of iGrafx. In this lab, the drawing functionality will be addressed.(Note that Visio also supports process diagrams, and does that much better than with the older versions of the software.)

2.1 Starting iGrafx

To start iGrafx:

1. Click theiGrafx icon.

2. Select New document, and then Cross-functional Process.

3. Click Create.

2.2 Changing Orientation of Swimlanes

The horizontal orientation of swimlanes may be a default format. It could save the space, since the user can stack process elements atop of each other in different swimlanes while preserving the sense of time flow. Still, the vertical orientation is often used in the system documentation. To get to it, run the procedure below.

To make vertical swimlanes,

1. Start a new file if you have not already.

2. In the top menu, click Arrange/Swimlanes/Swimlane Manager

3. On the Swimlane Manager form, check Vertical for Swimlane Orientation, and Horizontal for

Text Orientation. Click OK.

The output should be like in Figure 2.1 below.

Figure 2.1 Vertical swimlane orientation

2.3. Creating Diagrams

To create a process diagram (that is, an activity diagram in the UML notation), you need shapes for

  • activity (a process step)
  • decision (another kind of step)
  • flow (also called controls)
  • startpoint and end-points
  • some othersless frequently used.

Here are some procedures to prepare you for creating a process diagram.

Process shapes should be displayed on a Toolbox placed along the left edge of the screen. If not, focus on the horizontal main menu placed at the top of the screen, and select View/Toolbars/Toolbox. Toolbox may appear underneath the main menu horizontally. You can move it around the screen as you wish.

To move Toolbox (or any other Toolbar):

  1. Place cursor on the upper edge of the Toolbox ribbon marked with dots; the cursor becomes a cross.
  2. Press the left mouse button and while keeping it pressed move the Toolbox to another location (anyedge or anywhere on the screen)

To explore the available shapes, do this:

1. Focus on the right-hand portion of the screen. You should see a window called Shape Palettes, which displays shapes. If the window Shape Palettes is not present, go to the main menu and select View/Shape Palettes. This should activate the window.

2. At the bottom of the Shape Paletteswindow find an arrow pointing to the left and the other to the right. By clicking these you can browse through Shape Palettes.

It is possible to combine different shapes in the same diagram, provided they belong to the same category (for example, UML).

TIP: One way of quitting a function after being used is by clicking the Selector shape in the Toolbox.

To create a process diagram displayed in Figure 2.3, the following partial procedure can get you started:

  1. A shape for department should already be displayed (named as “Dept. 1”) in a swimlane. To change the orientation of swimlanes run procedure 2.2 above. To add a new swimlane, click the swimlane in Toolbar, name it, and click OK.
  2. A shape for the starting step (technically, an Activity) should also be displayed. If not, click the Department shape in the Toolbox, and then click anywhere in the drawing space. To name a department as Sales, just start typing over the label Dept 1. When done, click outside the text box.

Alternatively, double-click the Department shape in the Toolbox. On the form that gets displayed, type in the name of department in the appropriate space.

  1. Name the first step as Open order.
  1. In the Tool menu, click shape Activity and drop it into the Sales space, next to the first activity. Name it as Fill order.
  1. To add an arrow from the first step to the second step, click the Connector Tool in Toolbox, and then drawthe arrow. You can choose between different arrow forms (see the down-pointing arrowhead next to the Connector button in the Toolbox). Then, follow through Figure 2 below showing a Customer Order Fulfillment Process.
  1. For the decisions point, it has a default Yes/No options attached to its outflows. You can use these, in which case, the decision question should be adjusted. See Figure 2.3.

Optionally, disable the Yes/No labels: right-click the decision shape, choose Properties/Guide, and type in new labels for decision options (“Regular” and “Rush”). Note the Add button, and use it if a new outflow (third, etc.) needs to be added.

  1. To add the start point in the UML fashion, delete the default iGrafx start point

that looks like this. Then, use the Shape Palettecalled BPMN. On the bottom of the Shape Palette window, click the icon Choose Shape Palette, and then click BPMN(Business Process Modeling Notation).Chose the circle shape (Event), format its fill (right-click the shape, and then in the forms that follow select Format, Solid, and Theme – black).

For the process end-point use the shape called Terminate Event.

Figure 2.2 Customer Order Fulfillment Process

Figure 2.3 Using a default Yes/No decision

Now that you know basics of iGrafx, you can draw quickly process diagrams.

And you can also loop back to Visio, which supports the creation of activity diagrams as well. To try it, start a new Visio file, focus on Shapes pane, then make selections More Shapes/Software and Database/Software/UML Activity.

That’s all, Folks!

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