Glossary

Glossary

Activity diagram

A diagram showing the flow of activities. Used to give a high-level view of a business process.

Actor

An external person or system that interfaces with (that is, uses or is used by) the system. Depicts a user 's logical role.

Aggregation

A relationship between model elements indicating that one element is a part of another element (aggregate).

ANSI

American National Standards Institute.

Association

A relationship between two model elements.

Association class

A class that embodies properties of an association (typically an association between two other classes).

Attribute

The properties of a class.

Business actor

An actor that is external to the business.

Business entity

Something used by a business worker while fulfilling a use case.

Business model

A model that describes the business operation. The business model is composed of the business use case model and the business object model.

Business object model

An object model that provides the realization of a business use case. An internal view of the business.

Business use case

A use case, initiated by a business actor, that the business performs .

Business use case model

A use case model that describes the business functions from a business actor's point of view. An external view of the business.

Business worker

An actor that is internal to the business whose work helps realize a business use case.

Candidate key

A column or set of columns that uniquely identifies a row in a table.

Class diagram

A diagram that shows classes, their interrelationships, and their relationships with other model elements. The intent is to show the basic structure of the system.

Component diagram

A diagram for database design that depicts physical storage of the database, including the DBMS, tablespaces, and partitions. Can also include applications and their interfaces to each other and to database elements.

Conceptual model

A very high-level model of a system or database. Typically this model contains high-level domain entities and their basic relationships with other major domain entities. Its main purpose is to define the scope of the system. This model should be technology independent.

Constraint

A rule that limits the value of or actions on the specified data field.

Control class

An active class that controls the behavior of one or more other classes.

Data dictionary

When referring to databases, a file or files that contain in formation describing the data in the database; also called a system catalog.

Database

A collection of information.

Database diagram

A diagram depicting the structure of the database, including tables, columns, constraints, and so on.

DBMS

Database management system.

DDL

Data Definition Language.

Denormalization

A process applied to a database schema that reduces its level of normalization. Used to improve the operational effectiveness (for example, simplified access, better performance, and so on) of the database.

Deployment diagram

A diagram depicting the hardware configuration that is used for the database and applications.

Derived attribute

An attribute whose value is determined by the value of other attributes.

Domain

The valid set of values for an attribute or column.

Entity

An object in the business or system.

Entity-relationship diagram

A diagram depicting entities and their relationships with each other.

ER

Entity-relationship.

Extends

A stereotype of a relationship that indicates an optional use case flow that may be executed, based on specific criteria.

Extension point

Location in the flow of events of a use case where the use case is extended by another use case.

Foreign key

A column or set of columns within a table that map to the primary key of another table.

Functional decomposition

An approach to systems development in which the larger system is broken down into smaller parts. Those parts may then be broken down into even smaller parts, and so on. Each part of the system that is so decomposed is an aggregate of its smaller parts .

Generalization

A relationship between model elements indicating that one element (subclass) is a type of another element (superclass).

Identifying relationship

A relationship between two tables in which the child table must coexist with the parent table.

Includes

A stereotype of a relationship that indicates a use case flow that is inserted into another use case or use cases.

Inclusion point

Location in the flow of events of a use case where another use case is inserted into the flow of the original use case.

Index

A file that enables faster data access.

Inheritance

The mechanism by which more-specific elements incorporate the structure and behavior of more general elements.

Interaction diagram

Sequence and/or collaboration diagrams, both of which show the interaction of objects within the system. Can be used to understand queries that will affect the database and even build indexes based on the information modeled .

Key migration

A process whereby the primary key of a table is added as a foreign key to a related table.

Logical design

An analysis/design-level model of a system or database. Its main purpose is to define architecture and overall design of the system.

MDS

Minimum Data Set. A standard collection of information about a resident who is being cared for in a healthcare facility.

Non-identifying relationship

A relationship between two tables in which each table can exist independently of the other.

Normalization

An analytical technique used to produce a correct relational database design.

Package

A UML element used to group other elements together.

Partition

A division of storage space.

Passive class

A class that is not active and does not embody any control of the system.

Physical model

A detailed implementation-level model of a system or database. Its main purpose is to define the specific, detailed implementation of the system.

Postcondition

Possible states of the system that exist after the execution of a use case.

Precondition

The required state of the system, or conditions that must be true, for a use case to be executed.

Primary key

The candidate key that is chosen to identify rows in a table.

Profile

An extension to the UML that uses stereotypes and tagged values to extend the UML for specialized purposes while keeping the UML metamodel intact.

RDBMS

Relational database management system.

Referential integrity

A rule that states if a foreign key exists in a table, its value must be null or must also appear in a related table's candidate key.

Relationship

An association between tables.

Requirement

A statement describing a desired capability of the system.

Role

A set of behaviors of an element specific to its interaction with other elements in a given situation.

Schema

A description of a database's structure.

Sequence diagram

A diagram of collaborating objects and the messages they send to each other arranged in time order. Sequence diagrams show how use cases are realized.

SQL

Structured Query Language.

Statechart

A diagram that captures the dynamic behavior of a class or part of the system.

Stereotype

A specialized version of a standard UML element.

Stored procedure

An independent procedural function that typically executes on the server.

Swimlane

A vertical delimiter on an activity diagram used to partition the activities performed by specific responsible parties.

Tablespace

A construct representing an amount of storage space that is to be allocated to tables, indexes, and so on.

Tagged value

Allows additional information about a standard UML element to be specified.

Transaction

An operation or series of operations applied against a database.

Trigger

A procedural function designed to execute when a table is modified.

UML

Unified Modeling Language.

Use case

A complete flow of actions initiated by an actor that the system performs, which provide value to that actor.

Use case diagram

A diagram that shows use cases and their relationships with actors and other use cases. The use case model is a model of the system's intended functions and its environment, which supports the business processes. This model serves as a contract between the customer and the developers.

View

A virtual table that, from the user's perspective, behaves exactly like a typical table but has no independent existence of its own.