I need help on this data flow diagram pretty much i dont have a clue what i am doing. And my instructor has been no help all year so could somebody please do this for me. i dont have a clue how to use visio either. I have to do a dfd base on the JaD session example. A JAD Session Example A portion of the JAD session follows: Jill: I'm really excited about this new opportunity. I hope to recruit some top-notch training professionals for the new group. I hope we can launch a major marketing effort early next year. By the way, I like the name TIMS - it stands for training information management system. I want Amy to put all existing SCR clients on a special list so they will be the first to get announcements about new course offerings. The TIMS system should manage students, courses, and instructors. We should build a master list of courses, students, and instructors -- some of them also might be SCR employees who have a dual role. The system should track registration, right up to the day that the course is held. Corporate courses don't depend on size -- that is determined by the contractual arrangement we have with the client. Courses that are open to the public, however, will require a minimum size in order to conduct the class, as well as a maximum number of students. For now, we want the administrative support group to handle the training information system. They have the current records, and they can coordinate the administration while we focus on developing and marketing the courses. I've cleared that approach with Robert Stacy. His only concern is the workload. If we reach a point where Sandy can't handle the volume, we'll have to create a new training coordinator position; we should figure that into the cost of the new system, along with facilities, salaries, and systems development costs. I'll meet with the executive committee and the accounting people to come up with projections for the other costs and benefits. Sandy, do we have records for former students? Sandy: I found that we do have some records, but the information is not well organized. Starting in August, I developed a simple database and I have that information for August and September. By the way, August was a little quiet, but September was a fairly typical month for our corporate training activity. Jill: Can we use any of that as a model for the new system? A JAD Session Example A portion of the JAD session follows: Jill: I'm really excited about this new opportunity. I hope to recruit some top-notch training professionals for the new group. I hope we can launch a major marketing effort early next year. By the way, I like the name TIMS - it stands for training information management system. I want Amy to put all existing SCR clients on a special list so they will be the first to get announcements about new course offerings. The TIMS system should manage students, courses, and instructors. We should build a master list of courses, students, and instructors -- some of them also might be SCR employees who have a dual role. The system should track registration, right up to the day that the course is held. Corporate courses don't depend on size -- that is determined by the contractual arrangement we have with the client. Courses that are open to the public, however, will require a minimum size in order to conduct the class, as well as a maximum number of students. For now, we want the administrative support group to handle the training information system. They have the current records, and they can coordinate the administration while we focus on developing and marketing the courses. I've cleared that approach with Robert Stacy. His only concern is the workload. If we reach a point where Sandy can't handle the volume, we'll have to create a new training coordinator position; we should figure that into the cost of the new system, along with facilities, salaries, and systems development costs. I'll meet with the executive committee and the accounting people to come up with projections for the other costs and benefits. Sandy, do we have records for former students? Sandy: I found that we do have some records, but the information is not well organized. Starting in August, I developed a simple database and I have that information for August and September. By the way, August was a little quiet, but September was a fairly typical month for our corporate training activity. Jill: Can we use any of that as a model for the new system? Sandy: To be honest, no. The new system should resemble a registration system that a school would use. We'll have to produce transcripts and verify records for former students. I'll work on a possible list of data items for courses and students, but I'll probably need some help from the systems group. Dave: No problem, Sandy. Let's get together and work on it this afternoon. We can build a model and begin to document the data requirements. Meg: As a trainer, it would be nice if the new system could produce a class roster that gave us some background information about the students. That way, we would know more about the collective experience of the group, and we could consider that when we deliver the training. I hope that Sandy and Dave consider that option. Dave: That's certainly possible, Meg. Overall background information is no problem. But if we want specific information that relates to a particular course, the instructor might have to develop a form that students fill in when they register. The results could be printed along with the class roster. Amy: As SCR's client service representative, I want to be able to send out a schedule that shows all offerings for the next 90 days. Companies need time to plan, especially if employees are taking two or three days off to attend a session. I also want the system to produce attractive certificates that attest to the successful completion of the course. Jill: What about the questionnaire that Jesse Baker suggested? That seems like a great idea. Let's send it to a sample of former students and prospective students. We need to know what people liked and find out what could be improved. Most of all, we need to identify popular course offerings and then estimate the number of students we can expect. We need to form a sub-team of systems people, trainers, and administrative support staff to work on the questionnaire and distribute it as soon as possible. JAD team members form sub-groups, and report back to the main team after a break Dave: We batted this around, and our team feels that the system will have four main functions. Actually it has quite a few more, but they can be broken down into four groups. Obviously, TIMS will manage class scheduling, handle student registration, track classes that are conducted, and produce various kinds of output. Thinking ahead, Jill, what output will be required? Jill: Well, the training administrator will need a report on courses conducted and a listing of instructor assignments. I'd like a schedule report for future reference to see which classes are most popular. Amy: SCR's corporate clients will certainly want a report on their students. Roy: As a trainer, I can tell you that students will appreciate receiving an attractive certificate. I'm sure the system can generate signature ready certificates. I suggest that we update the old design and come up with a logo for the new SCR training group. Wayman: The accounting system will need an update so we can reconcile student accounts and bill corporate clients for any unpaid balances. Mark: From a Web design viewpoint, although we won't be launching online registration until late next year, I'll go ahead and update the SCR Web site now as part of our marketing effort. The JAD team is working now on a model of student registration forms and input screens. As soon as they are ready, I'll design a set of Web forms that we can use when we go online. Emails from Jesse Date: 09/20/2008 Subject: Process and logical modeling of TIMS Hi ~ , Now we're ready to build a process model of TIMS. Based on the JAD summary, the entities probably should include instructors, students, corporate clients, courses, and the training administrator. TIMS will interface with the SCR accounting system, so be sure to include it as an entity. I think at least four processes are involved: the system must manage course scheduling, register students, maintain training records, and produce reports. I'd also like to see a lower-level diagram for one or more of the processes that you identify in diagram 0. You can label the data flows in a general manner on the context diagram, then go into more detail in the lower-level diagrams. I spoke to Jill Martin and Amy Hawkins today, and I learned that we'll offer various discounts on training course fees. The idea is that students can receive one or more discounts if they register for multiple courses or are employed by SCR's corporate clients. Jill and Amy have three specific rules in mind: All students will be eligible for a discount when they enroll for a second course. Let's call that discount rate A. Whether or not they register for multiple courses, any student who currently is employed by one of SCR's corporate clients will be eligible for a discount. Let's call that discount rate B. From time to time, Amy Hawkins, as client service representative, will waive the employment requirement for discount B. Amy plans to use that discount as a marketing tool. When you develop process descriptions for TIMS, remember to include a logical model that represents those rules. I'd like to see both an initial decision table that shows all possibilities and a simplified version. Also, please include a decision tree. Thanks. Let me know if you have any questions. Jesse Baker Date: 09/20/2008 Subject: Use Case Diagram of TIMS Hi ~ , Now we're ready to build a use case model for the TIMS system. Based on the JAD summary, we can use the same entities that we already identified, so the list should include instructors, students, corporate clients, course listings, and the training administrator. Also, remember that TIMS will interface with the SCR accounting system, so be sure to include it as an entity. After you review the JAD summary, think some more about how the entities relate to each other, and to the overall system. If an external entity, such as a student, interacts with the system, then you should identify that entity as an actor – and sketch out a use case that shows the interaction. Identify at least three of these, and send them to me. For each use case, remember to create a use case description, which looks like a table with sections for use case name, actor, description, successful completion, alternatives, preconditions, postconditions, and assumptions. If you can, also draw a use case diagram that shows the actors and their actions. Remember to put a system boundary around the diagram so you’ll know what is internal and what is external to the system. Let me know if you have any questions. Jesse Baker Tasks: 1. Jesse wants to see a context diagram and a diagram 0 DFD for TIMS. Be sure to include at least four processes in the diagram 0 DFD. 2. Jesse would also like to see a lower-level diagram for each of the four processes that you identify in diagram 0. You can label the data flows in a general manner on the context diagram, then go into more detail in the lower-level diagrams. 3. Prepare a decision table and a decision tree that show the logical rules described in Jesse's message about fees and discounts. 4. Jesse wants you to identify possible use cases and actors and draw a use case diagram for at least three use cases such as Determine Schedule, Register, and Maintain Training Records. Possible actors might include Training Administrator, Instructor, Student, and Corporate Client. Remember to put a system boundary around the diagram so you’ll know what is internal and what is external to the system. Hints for drawing DFD: 1. TIMS system has six external entities: Corporate client, Training Administrator, Instructor, Student, Course and Accounting system. 2. There are four major processes and three major data stores to be displayed in Diagram 0. Processes are “Manage Course Scheduling”, “Register Students”, “Maintain Training Records”, and “Produce Reports”. Data stores are “Student Data”, “Schedule Data” and “Training Data”. 3. TIMS system manages course scheduling by integrating scheduling decisions from training administrator, course data and training data. Through this process, TIMS will generate a course schedule and course assignment for instructors. Managing course scheduling involves at least three lower level processes: analyze schedule demand, analyze instructor availability and create schedule. 4. TIMS registers students by integrating course requests, course schedule data, students’ current registration data (or training data), and payment. Through this process, TIMS will generate registration confirmation and invoice for students, a roster for instructor and accounting data for accounting system. Registering students involves at least five lower level processes: process course requests, update registration data, create course roasters, handle invoices and payments and prepare accounting data. 5. Maintain training records process receives course completion data from instructors and updates the training data. 6. TIMS also uses training data to produce various reports such as training reports for training administrator and training summary report for corporate clients.