Re: [Statemachine-development] Design Tool

[sridhar n. <n_s...@ya...>]

I tried the argoUML tool and haven't run into any problems yet.
I will continue to use it to maintain my private copy of our work.
I can publish the diagrams as gif files.

I had listed 4 high level Use Cases for the UI^SM (User Interface for
the Statemachine project) in an earlier email.
Here is the template I am planning to use for describing the use cases
in more detail. This is from Rational Unified Process and we can fill
in as much detail as we find appropriate.
I have time planned for this work during this weekend. 
If anyone wants to take some use cases and elaborate, please let me
know which use cases you will be working on.

-sridhar

----BEGIN TEMPLATE---------------------
1.Use-Case Name
[The following template is provided for a Use-Case Specification, which
contains the textual properties of the use case.  This document is used
with a requirements management tool, such as Rational RequisitePro, for
specifying and marking the requirements within the use-case properties.

The use-case diagrams can be developed in a visual modeling tool, such
as Rational Rose.  A use-case report (with all properties) may be
generated with Rational SoDA.  For more information, see the tool
mentors in the Rational Unified Process.]

1.1               Brief Description
[The description briefly conveys the purpose of the use case.  A single
paragraph will suffice for this description.]

2.                  Flow of Events
2.1               Basic Flow 
[This use case starts when the actor does something.  An actor always
initiates use cases.  The use case describes what the actor does and
what the system does in response.  It needs to be phrased in the form
of a dialog between the actor and the system.

The use case describes what happens inside the system, but not how or
why.  If information is exchanged, be specific about what is passed
back and forth.  For example, it is not very illuminating to say that
the actor enters customer information. It is better to say the actor
enters the customer’s name and address.  A Glossary of Terms is often
useful to keep the complexity of the use case manageable—you may want
to define things like customer information there to keep the use case
from drowning in details. 

Simple alternatives may be presented within the text of the use case. 
If it only takes a few sentences to describe what happens when there is
an alternative, do it directly within the Flow of Events section.  If
the alternative flow is more complex, use a separate section to
describe it.  For example, an Alternative Flow subsection explains how
to describe more complex alternatives. 

A picture is sometimes worth a thousand words, though there is no
substitute for clean, clear prose.  If it improves clarity, feel free
to paste graphical depictions of user interfaces, process flows or
other figures into the use case.  If a flow chart is useful to present
a complex decision process, by all means use it!  Similarly for
state-dependent behavior, a state-transition diagram often clarifies
the behavior of a system better than pages upon pages of text.  Use the
right presentation medium for your problem, but be wary of using
terminology, notations or figures that your audience may not
understand.  Remember that your purpose is to clarify, not obscure.]

2.2               Alternative Flows
2.2.1          < First Alternative Flow >
[More complex alternatives are described in a separate section,
referred to in the Basic Flow subsection of Flow of Events section. 
Think of the Alternative Flow subsections like alternative
behavior—each alternative flow represents alternative behavior usually
due to exceptions that occur in the main flow.  They may be as long as
necessary to describe the events associated with the alternative
behavior.  When an alternative flow ends, the events of the main flow
of events are resumed unless otherwise stated.]

2.2.1.1     < An Alternative Sub-flow >
[Alternative flows may, in turn, be divided into subsections if it
improves clarity.]

2.2.2          < Second Alternative Flow >
[There may be, and most likely will be, a number of alternative flows
in a use case.  Keep each alternative flow separate to improve clarity.
 Using alternative flows improves the readability of the use case, as
well as preventing use cases from being decomposed into hierarchies of
use cases.  Keep in mind that use cases are just textual descriptions,
and their main purpose is to document the behavior of a system in a
clear, concise, and understandable way.]

3.                  Special Requirements
[A special requirement is typically a nonfunctional requirement that is
specific to a use case, but is not easily or naturally specified in the
text of the use case’s event flow. Examples of special requirements
include legal and regulatory requirements, application standards, and
quality attributes of the system to be built including usability,
reliability, performance or supportability requirements. Additionally,
other requirements—such as operating systems and environments,
compatibility requirements, and design constraints—should be captured
in this section.]

3.1               < First Special Requirement >
 

4.                  Pre-conditions
[A pre-condition of a use case is the state of the system that must be
present prior to a use case being performed.]

4.1               < Pre-condition One >
 

5.                  Post-conditions
[A post-condition of a use case is a list of possible states the system
can be in immediately after a use case has finished.]

----END TEMPLATE---------------------

--- John Rodrigues <jsr...@ya...> wrote:
> I'm not too happy with this tool (ArgoUML). It's buggy
> and somewhat akward!! I guess we could use any drawing
> tool for drawing the use case diagrams (with the stick
> figures) and also for the UML models. 
> 
> We would not be using the UML-tool to generate the
> code anyway.
> 
> Sridhar, when can we start off with the use cases for
> the GUI ??
> 
> Dennis, is Jbuilder just an IDE, or does it also
> provide an add-on framework?? Does it use a repository
> for code??
> 
> Thanks,
> John.
> 
> 
> --- John Rodrigues <jsr...@ya...> wrote:
> > I came across Argo/UML which is an open source
> > (Apache
> > license) CASE tool for UML and Use cases. It
> > generates
> > XML output. Download version 0.8.x which is their
> > production release. It's written in Java.
> > 
> > Get it at :
> > http://argouml.tigris.org/
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > John.
> > 
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