Appendix A: Detailed Use Case Description Template


The following template is used for capturing detailed use case description as explained in Chapter 2. You may tailor this according to the dynamics of your team and project.

Use Case Name Provide a brief description and the purpose of the use case.

Actors Specify all the entities that interact with this use case, including other packages (or subsystems) of the application and other external systems.

Precondition(s) Preconditions are assertions that must be true at the beginning of the use case. The use case is responsible for keeping its part of the contract only if these preconditions are satisfied.

Postcondition(s) Assertions that must be true at the conclusion of a use case. The state of the system is stable and consistent only if these assertions are satisfied.

Include/Extend Use Cases Specify use cases that are subordinate to this use case. The subordinate use cases factor common behavior and provide a means for creating atomic units that become part of a whole.

User Interface Illustrate the user interface being serviced by this use case. These are typically wire frames that may be used to articulate the flow of events.

Main Flow of Events This flow of events is at a more granular level than the flow of events in use case summary. We take advantage of the fact that we can illustrate the flow of events in conjunction with user actions in the context of a user interface depicted by wire frames.

Exceptional Flow of Events This flow of events expresses exception or optional behavior of the system that deviates from normal flow of events. The availability of wire frames helps in identifying exceptional flows by examining the choices the users have in exercising various options provided by the navigational schemes.

Activity Diagram Use activity diagrams to explain complex scenarios.

Sequence Diagram For use cases, sequence diagrams provide lesser value when compared to activity diagrams. Use it only when there are several entities interacting with the use case.




Practical J2ee Application Architecture
Practical J2EE Application Architecture
ISBN: 0072227117
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 111
Authors: Nadir Gulzar

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net