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How to Draw Data Flow Diagrams

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HowtoDrawDataFlowDiagrams
WhatisDataFlowDiagram
Dataflowdiagramsillustratehowdataisprocessedbyasystemintermsofinputsandoutputs.Dataflowdiagramscanbeused
toprovideaclearrepresentationofanybusinessfunction.Thetechniquestartswithanoverallpictureofthebusinessandcontinuesby
analyzingeachofthefunctionalareasofinterest.Thisanalysiscanbecarriedouttopreciselythelevelofdetailrequired.Thetechnique
exploitsamethodcalledtopdownexpansiontoconducttheanalysisinatargetedway.
Asthenamesuggests,DataFlowDiagram(DFD)isanillustrationthatexplicatesthepassageofinformationinaprocess.A
DFDcanbeeasilydrawnusingsimplesymbols.Additionally,complicatedprocessescanbeeasilyautomatedbycreating
DFDsusingeasytouse,freedownloadablediagrammingtools.ADFDisamodelforconstructingandanalyzinginformation
processes.DFDillustratestheflowofinformationinaprocessdependingupontheinputsandoutputs.ADFDcanalsobe
referredtoasaProcessModel.ADFDdemonstratesbusinessortechnicalprocesswiththesupportoftheoutsidedata
saved,plusthedataflowingfromtheprocesstoanotherandtheendresults.

DataFlowDiagramsSymbols
Therearesomesymbolsthatareusedinthedrawingofbusinessprocessdiagrams(dataflowdiagrams).Thesearenow
explained,togetherwiththerulesthatapplytothem.

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How to Draw Data Flow Diagrams

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UMLUseCaseDiagram
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Process
Theprocessshaperepresentsataskthathandlesdatawithintheapplication.Thetaskmayprocessthedataorperforman
actionbasedonthedata.

MultipleProcess
Themultipleprocessshapeisusedtopresentacollectionofsubprocesses.Themultipleprocesscanbebrokendowninto
itssubprocessesinanotherDFD.

ExternalEntity
Theexternalentityshapeisusedtorepresentanyentityoutsidetheapplicationthatinteractswiththeapplicationviaanentry
point.

DataFlow
Thedataflowshaperepresentsdatamovementwithintheapplication.Thedirectionofthedatamovementisrepresentedby
thearrow.
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DataStore
Thedatastoreshapeisusedtorepresentlocationswheredataisstored.Datastoresdonotmodifythedata,theyonlystore
data.

PrivilegeBoundary
Theprivilegeboundaryshapeisusedtorepresentthechangeofprivilegelevelsasthedataflowsthroughtheapplication.

DataFlowDiagramsContextDiagrams
Thecontextdiagramrepresentstheentiresystemunderinvestigation.Thisdiagramshouldbedrawnfirst,andusedtoclarify
andagreethescopeoftheinvestigation.
Thecomponentsofacontextdiagramareclearlyshownonthisscreen.Thesystemunderinvestigationisrepresentedasa
singleprocess,connectedtoexternalentitiesbydataflowsandresourceflows.
Thecontextdiagramclearlyshowstheinterfacesbetweenthesystemunderinvestigationandtheexternalentitieswithwhichit
communicates.Therefore,whilstitisoftenconceptuallytrivial,acontextdiagramservestofocusattentiononthesystem
boundaryandcanhelpinclarifyingtheprecisescopeoftheanalysis.
Thecontextdiagramshownonthisscreenrepresentsabooklendinglibrary.Thelibraryreceivesdetailsofbooks,andorders
booksfromoneormorebooksuppliers.
Booksmaybereservedandborrowedbymembersofthepublic,whoarerequiredtogiveaborrowernumber.Thelibrarywill
notifyborrowerswhenareservedbookbecomesavailableorwhenaborrowedbookbecomesoverdue.
Inadditiontosupplyingbooks,abooksupplierwillfurnishdetailsofspecificbooksinresponsetolibraryenquiries.
Note,thatcommunicationsinvolvingexternalentitiesareonlyincludedwheretheyinvolvethe'system'process.Whilstabook
supplierwouldcommunicatewithvariousagencies,forexample,publishersandothersuppliersthesedataflowareremote
fromthe'system'processandsothisisnotincludedonthecontextdiagram.

DataFlowDiagramsContextDiagramGuidelines
Firstly,drawandnameasingleprocessboxthatrepresentstheentiresystem.
Next,identifyandaddtheexternalentitiesthatcommunicatedirectlywiththeprocessbox.Dothisbyconsideringoriginand
destinationoftheresourceflowsanddataflows.
Finally,addtheresourceflowsanddataflowstothediagram.
Indrawingthecontextdiagramyoushouldonlybeconcernedwiththemostimportantinformationflows.Thesewillbe
concernedwithissuessuchas:howordersarereceivedandchecked,withprovidinggoodcustomerserviceandwiththe
payingofinvoices.Rememberthatnobusinessprocessdiagramisthedefinitivesolutionthereisnoabsoluterightorwrong.

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How to Draw Data Flow Diagrams

DataFlowDiagramsLevel1Diagrams
Thelevel1diagramshowsthemainfunctionalareasofthesystemunderinvestigation.Aswiththecontextdiagram,any
systemunderinvestigationshouldberepresentedbyonlyonelevel1diagram.
Thereisnoformulathatcanbeappliedindecidingwhatis,andwhatisnot,alevel1process.Level1processesshould
describeonlythemainfunctionalareasofthesystem,andyoushouldavoidthetemptationofincludinglowerlevelprocesses
onthisdiagram.Asageneralrulenobusinessprocessdiagramshouldcontainmorethan12processboxes.
Thelevel1diagramissurroundedbytheoutlineofaprocessboxthatrepresentstheboundariesofthesystem.Becausethe
level1diagramdepictsthewholeofthesystemunderinvestigation,itcanbedifficulttoknowwheretostart.
Therearethreedifferentmethods,whichprovideapracticalwaytostarttheanalysis.Theseareexplainedinthefollowing
sectionandanyoneofthem,oracombination,mayprovetobethemosthelpfulinanygiveninvestigation.
Therearethreedifferentmethods,whichprovideapracticalwaytostarttheanalysis.Theseareintroducedbelowandanyone
ofthem,oracombination,mayprovetobethemosthelpfulinanygiveninvestigation:

DataFlowDiagramsResourceFlowAnalysis
Resourceflowanalysismaybeausefulmethodforstartingtheanalysisifthecurrentsystemconsistslargelyoftheflowof
goods,asthisapproachconcentratesonfollowingtheflowofphysicalobjects.
Resourceflowanalysismaybeausefulmethodfordevelopingdiagramsifthecurrentsystemconsistslargelyoftheflowof
goods.Physicalresourcesaretracedfromwhentheyarrivewithintheboundariesofthesystem,throughthepointsatwhich
someactionoccurs,totheirexitfromthesystem.Therationalebehindthismethodisthatinformationwillnormallyflowaround
thesamepathsasthephysicalobjects.

DataFlowDiagramsOrganizationalStructureAnalysis
Theorganizationalstructureapproachstartsfromananalysisofthemainrolesthatexistwithintheorganization,ratherthan
thegoodsorinformationthatisflowingaroundthesystem.
Identificationofthekeyprocessesresultsfromlookingattheorganizationalstructureanddecidingwhichfunctionalareasare
relevanttothecurrentinvestigation.Bylookingattheseareasinmoredetail,andanalyzingwhatstaffactuallydo,discrete
processescanbeidentified.
Startingwiththeseprocesses,theinformationflowsbetweenthemandbetweentheseprocessesandexternalentitiesare
thenidentifiedandaddedtothediagram.

DataFlowDiagramsDocumentFlowAnalysis
Thedocumentflowanalysisapproachisappropriateifthepartofthebusinessunderinvestigationconsistsprincipallyofflows
ofinformationintheformofdocumentsorcomputerinputandoutput.

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Documentflowanalysisisparticularlyusefulwhereinformationflowsareofspecialinterest.Thefirststepistolistthemajor
documentsandtheirsourcesandrecipients.Thisisfollowedbytheidentificationofothermajorinformationflowssuchas
telephoneandcomputertransactions.Oncethedocumentflowdiagramhasbeendrawnthesystemboundaryshouldbe
added.

DataFlowDiagramsNumberingRules
Theprocessboxesonthelevel1diagramshouldbenumberedarbitrarily,sothatnopriorityisimplied.Evenwheredatafrom
oneprocessflowsdirectlyintoanotherprocess,thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatthefirstonehastofinishbeforethe
secondonecanbegin.
Thereforetheprocessesonalevel1diagramcouldberenumberedwithoutaffectingthemeaningofthediagram.Thisistrue
withinanybusinessprocessdiagramasthesediagramsdonotimplytime,sequenceorrepetition.
However,astheanalysiscontinuesbeyondlevel1itisimportantthatastrictnumberingconventionisfollowed.The
processesonlevel2diagramsmustindicatetheirparentprocesswithinthelevel1diagram.Thisconventionshouldcontinue
throughlevel3diagrams,andbeyond,shouldthatlevelofanalysiseverberequired.
Thediagramonthisscreenclearlyillustrateshowprocessesonlowerleveldiagramsidentifytheirancestralpath.
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