DATA FLOW

DIAGRAM
(PART 2)
Four basic rules
The DFD must have at least one process, and must not
have any freestanding objects or objects connected to
themselves
A process must receive at least one data flow coming
into the process and create at least one data flow leaving
from the process
A data store should be connected at least one process
External entities should not be connected to each other.
Although they communicate independently, that
communication is not part of the system we design using
DFDs

Creating Data Flow Diagrams
Creating DFDs is a highly iterative process of
gradual refinement.
General steps:
1. Create a preliminary Context Diagram
2. Identify Use Cases, i.e. the ways in which users
most commonly use the system
3. Create DFD fragments for each use case
4. Create a Level 0 diagram from fragments
5. Decompose to Level 1,2,
6. Go to step 1 and revise as necessary
7. Validate DFDs with users.

Context Diagram
Top-level view of IS
A data flow diagram (DFD) of the scope of an
organizational system that shows the system
boundaries, external entities that interact with the
system and the major information flows between the
entities and the system
Example: Order system that a company uses to
enter orders and apply payments against a
customers balance

DFD RulesContext Diagram
One process, numbered 0.
Sources and sinks (external entities) as
squares
Main data flows depicted
No internal data stores are shown
They are inside the system
External data stores are shown as external
entities
How do you tell the difference between an
internal and external data store?
0
Order
System
SALES
REP
CUSTOMER
WAREHOUSE
BANK
ACCOUNTING
Order
Order
Reject
Notice
Picking
List
Completed
Order
Payment Invoice
Commission
Bank
Deposit
Cash
Receipts
Entry
Context
Diagram of
Order
System
Level-0 DFD
Shows the systems major processes, data flows,
and data stores at a high level of abstraction
When the Context Diagram is expanded into DFD
level-0, all the connections that flow into and out of
process 0 needs to be retained.
0
Order
System
SALES
REP
CUSTOMER
WAREHOUSE
BANK
ACCOUNTING
Order
Order
Reject
Notice
Picking
List
Completed
Order
Payment Invoice
Commission
Bank
Deposit
Cash
Receipts
Entry
Context
Diagram of
Order
System
1.0
Fill
Order
2.0
Create
Invoice
3.0
Apply
Payment
SALES
REP
BANK ACCOUNTING
CUSTOMER WAREHOUSE
Order
Order
Reject
Notice
Picking List
Accounts
Receivable
D1
Invoice
Invoice
Invoice
Detail
Payment
Detail
Payment
Commission
Bank Deposit
Cash Receipts Entry
Completed
Order
Level-0
DFD of
Order
System
Lower-Level Diagrams
Functional Decomposition
Balancing
Decomposition of DFDs
Functional decomposition
An iterative process of breaking a system description
down into finer and finer detail
Uses a series of increasingly detailed DFDs to
describe an IS
Act of going from one single system to many
component processes
Repetitive procedure
Lowest level is called a primitive DFD
Level-N Diagrams
A DFD that is the result of n nested decompositions of
a series of subprocesses from a process on a level-0
diagram
Balancing DFDs
When decomposing a DFD, you must conserve
inputs to and outputs from a process at the next
level of decomposition
Ensures that the input and output data flows of
the parent DFD are maintained on the child DFD
This is called balancing
Example: Hoosier Burgers
In Figure 1, notice that there is one input to the
system, the customer order
Three outputs:
Customer receipt
Food order
Management reports
Figure 1
Context diagram of Hoosier Burgers Food ordering
system
Balancing DFDs Example
(Continued)

Notice Figure 2. We have the same inputs
and outputs
No new inputs or outputs have been
introduced
We can say that the context diagram and
level-0 DFD are balanced
Figure 2
Level-0 DFD of Hoosier Burgers food ordering system
Balancing DFDs:
An unbalanced example
Figure 3:
In context diagram, we have one input to the
system, A and one output, B
Level-0 diagram has one additional data flow,
C
These DFDs are not balanced
Figure 3: An unbalanced set of data
flow diagrams
SOURCE
SINK
(a) Context diagram
(b) Level-0 diagram
SOURCE 1
SINK
0
SOURCE 2
1.0
2.0
A
B
A
C
B
Balancing DFDs
We can split a data flow into separate data
flows on a lower level diagram (see Figure
4)
Balancing leads to four additional
advanced rules
Example of data flow splitting
x.0
Payment & coupon
x.1
Payment
x.2
Coupon
Composite data
flow
Disaggregated
data flow
Advanced Rule for DFD
A composite DF on 1 level can be split into component
DF as the next level, but no new data can be added n all
data in the composite must be accounted for in 1 or
more subfollows
The inputs to a process must b sufficient to produce the
outputs from the process
At the lowest level of DFD, new data flows may be
added to represent data that r transmitted under
exceptional condition, these data flows typically
represent error message
To avoid having data flow lines cross each other, u may
repeat data strores or sources/sinks on a DFD. Use an
additional symbol, like a double line on the middle
vertical line of data strore symbol, or a diagonal line in a
corner of a sink/source square to indicate a repeated
symbol

Strategies for Developing DFDs
Top-down strategy
Create the high-level diagrams (Context
Diagram), then low-level diagrams (Level-0
diagram), and so on
Bottom-up strategy
Create the low-level diagrams, then higher-
level diagrams
Exercise:
Precision Tools sells a line of high-quality woodworking
tools. When customers place orders on the companys
Web site, the system checks to see if the items are in
stock, issues a status message to the customer, and
generates a shipping order to the warehouse, which fills the
order. When the order is shipped, the customer is billed.
The system also produces various reports, such as
inventory reports for Accounting.
Draw a context diagram for the order system
Draw DFD diagram 0 for the order system
Identify Entities,Process,Data Stores & Data Flow
Entities
Customer
Warehouse
Accounting
Processes
1.0 Check Status
2.0 Issue Status Messages
3.0 Generate Shipping Order
4.0 Manage Accounts
Receivable
5.0 Produce Reports
Data Stores
D1 Pending Orders
D2 Accounts Receivable


Data Flows
Order
In-Stock Request
Order Data
Status Data
Status Message
Shipping Order
Order Data
Invoice
Shipping Confirmation
Payment
Accounting Data
Accounts Receivable Data
Order Data
Inventory Reports


1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
ACCOUNTING
WAREHOUSE CUSTOMER
0
Order
System
Order
Payment
In-Stock
Request
Status
Message
Invoice
Shipping Confirmation
Shipping
Order
Inventory
Reports
Context Diagram of Order System
1.0
Check
Status
2.0
Issue
Status
Messages
3.0
Generate
Shipping
Order
ACCOUNTING
CUSTOMER WAREHOUSE
4.0
Manage
Accounts
Receivable
5.0
Produce
Reports
Order In-Stock Request
Status Data
Status
Message
Pending
Orders
D1
Order
Data
Order Data
Shipping
Order
Shipping
Confirmation
Invoice
Payment
Accounts
Receivable
D2
Accounting Data
Accounts Receivable Data
Order Data
Inventory
Reports
Level-0 of
Order
System