A Seven Step Methodology for Systems Analysis

SAaM2011

A Seven Step Methodology(with Case Study)

forSystems Analysis

Custodial

Activity

C

A DFD of A Hypothetical Event

Stimulus A

Data Store

S

Mixed

Activity

E

Custodial

Activity

B

Stimulus U

Stimulus J

Data Store

T

Fundamental

Activity

F

Fundamental

Activity

D

ExternalResponse K

External Response I

CustodialResponse H

CustodialResponse G

FundamentalData Access D

Mixed Data Access Q

Mixed Data Access N

FundamentalData Access M

Custodial Response O

Custodial Response P

Fundamental

Activity

V

External Response L

External Response X

Stimulus W

External Entity

AA

External Entity

BB

External Entity

CC

External Entity

BBStimulus X

CustodialData Access Y

Dr. Richard LUCAS University of Canberra

The Seven Step Outline

IN this guide I do two things: Firstly I give a seven step procedure for performing systems analysis.Secondly I outline a case study, and I use the seven step procedure to create an analysis model for thecase study. The seven step procedure is designed to give the analyst a practical method for using the

ideas and concepts in Lectures on A Methodology for Systems Analysis.

The two parts are:

Part 1. The Seven Steps1) Establish Purpose2) Uncover ( Events)3) Construct a Table of Events and Responses4) Build Activity Tables5) Create Event -Activity Related DFD’s and an E-R Diagram 6) Transform Event -Activity Related DFD’s into Abstract DFD’s, Normalize the E-R Diagram 7) Create Documentation for all Activities

Part 2. Canberra Disability Services Case Study

Section 1. Outline1) Profile2) Example Forms

Section 2. Analysis1) Establish Canberra Disability Services’ Purpose2) Discover Canberra Disability Services’ Events3) Construct a Table of Events and Responses4) Build Activity Tables5) Create Event -Activity Related DFD’s and E-R Diagrams6) Transform Event -Activity Related DFD’s into Abstract DFD’s7) Create Documentation for all Activities

SAaM Methodology 1

2 Richard Lucas UCAN

The Seven Steps

The procedure here begins with uncovering the purpose of a system and ends with documenting allactivities. In between are steps that uncover the events, activities, and information, abstracts these.Remember that it is only those are required to meet the purpose of the system that are so analyzed.

The steps are:

Step 1. Establish Purpose

Step 2. Discover Events

Step 3. Construct a Table of Events and Responses

Step 4. Build Activity Tables

Step 5. Create Event Related DFD’s and an E-R Diagram

Step 6. Transform Event Related DFD’s into Abstract DFD’s

Step 7. Create Documentation for all Activities

SAaM Methodology 3

Step 1 – Establish Purpose

The first and most important task in analysis is to determine what the purpose of the system is. Like thenext three steps, Uncovering Events, Constructing a Table of Events and Responses, and Building ActivityTables (one for each Event), it is crucial that the Purpose be determined primarily by the User of the System.

How do you do this? Well, it turns out that the ones in the best position to know is the domain expert user.This methodology does not include the vagaries of Purpose gathering but the analyst should not construethat Purpose gathering is an easy or trivial process.

Ask the user/owner.And keep asking until a) the answer does not change, or b) the user gives up.

Step 2 – Uncover Events

Through interviewing the user and examining existing documentation the analyst will unearth the Eventsin the systems environment that ought to be responded to by the system. This is done by comparing knownEvents with the systems’s purpose.

Where there are apparent differences between the stated Purpose and an Event then either, the Purposeought to be modified to include the new Event (and subsequent Activities) or, have the Event excluded forthose to be considered.

Step 3 – Construct a Table of Events and Responses

After having established a list of Events then the next task is to work out what the system should give backto the environment as a response. In other words what does the user of the system expect the system todeliver? This response may be made up of many parts.

In accordance with the methodology the table of Events and Responses ought to have columns for Event,Event Type, Response, and Response Type. See Lectures on A Methodology for Systems Analysis for themeanings of these terms.

Step 4 – Build Activity Tables

For each Event, the analyst now needs to establish exactly what the system ought to do to be able to producethe identified Response, As the user is an expert in what the system ought to do they then should outlinewhich procedures should be followed to be able to produce the desired response.

In accordance with the methodology these Tables of Activities ought to have a heading indicating whichEvent is being modelled as well as columns for each Activity, Activity Type, Response, and Response Type.See Lectures on A Methodology for Systems Analysis for the meanings of these terms.


Step 5 – Create an Event-Activity Related DFD Set andan E-R Diagram

While mostly a mechanical conversion process of the Event-Response and Activity Tables, much care needsto be taken to ensure an accurate translation of Events and activities into DFD’s and an E-R Diagram.There are three sections in this Step:

Section1 – External EntitiesThis Step involves:

Identifying External Entities as the source of the stimuli. Most of the time this is a straightforward process with the name of the External Entity frequently being part of the Event Name.(Eg. Client Requests Services). Remember that it is because of the stimuli that we are awareof the occurrence of an Event .

Section2 – DFD ContextHere we create a set of data flow diagrams beginning with a Context Diagram using the ExternalEntities from the previous section. At this point the analyst creates up to two one-way dataflows between each External Entity and the System. These data flows are labelled as —

for the stimuli,

< ExternalEntityName > Stimuli + < ResponseName >

and, for the responses

< ResponseName > to < ExternalEntityName >

Where it is not possible for this to be done because there are too many stimuli and responsesto come from and go to a particular External Entity then these data flows should be left blank.

Section3 – Primitive DFD’sUsing the Activities identified in each Event -Activity Table, make primitive Level DFDs: Onefor each Event

The Activities are named thus:

Event nn + Activity mm + < descriptivename >

At this point the analyst can specifically label the responses from individual fundamental activ-ities as these are known from the Activity Tables. The results from Custodial Activities may beoptionally labelled if they are known and can be identified accurately without losing simplicityof the diagram.

At this stage the Entity-Relationship Diagram starts to take shape with the data stores in theDFDs containing groups of data structures which are equivalent to entities in the E-RD. Itis natural to want to normalize the E-RD but this is not absolutely necessary until the nextsection. As well, the data dictionary should be starting to be built.

SAaM Methodology 5

Step 6 – Transform Event Related Primitive DFD’s intoAbstract DFDs

Section1 – Remove Event and Technology ReferencesSo far the steps have been fairly procedural with the analyst’s principle task being recording,classifying, and clarifying what the user describes. Now it is the job of the analyst to examinethe DFDs and extract from them the essence of the system. This involves a practical applicationof the methodology explained in Lectures on A Methodology for Systems Analysis.

In particular, Event references are eliminated entirely from the DFDs and the Activities havetheir labels changed to remove any reference to both External Entities and technology.

Now, the Entity-Relationship Diagram needs to be checked so that it conforms to the level of normalization required for the model (at least 3rd normal form – 3NF, possibly higher) as wellas being both complete and consistent for the model of the system.

Section2 – High Level DFD’sOnce all references to Events have been removed from the DFD,s use the guidelines for con-structing a set of High Level DFDs. Each high level process represents an appropriate groupingbased on the coupling/cohesion guidelines described in Lectures on A Methodology for SystemsAnalysis.

The data flows for these DFDs are modelled using the descriptions:

for stimuli < Stimuli Name >

for responses < Response Name >

and

for data accesses < Data Structure Name >

Step 7 – Create Documentation for all Activities

The final step in the analysis process is to document all activities by creating some form of narrative thatprovides enough detail about each activity so that the succeeding phases can be completed. This can be inthe form of Pseudocode, Structured English, Nassi-Schneiderman Diagrams, or in Object Oriented Analysismethodologies – Use Case Narratives, Activity Diagrams, and Sequence Diagrams.


Canberra Disability Services –Case Study Outline

IN this part I describe Canberra Disability Services and give a set of example forms.

The sections of this part are:

Part 1. Profile

Part 2. Example Forms

Canberra Disability Services Example 7

Part 1. Profile

Canberra Disability Services is a nonprofit enterprise which provides a number of services to disabled indi-vidual in the greater Canberra region. Services provided to the disabled (about 300 clients) include variousforms of therapy, assistance to family and friends who provide care, and assistance in obtaining aid fromgovernment agencies. These services are provided by a staff of some twenty care-givers, the size of the staff varies with load and funding. The care-givers are certified professionals who are required to maintain andupdate their skills through continuing education.

The Service (as it is usually called by our clients) is managed by Kim Putnam, who is herself a professionalcare-giver. She has two full-time staff, one of whom also works as a care-giver, the other is an officeassistant. Kim has asked you to build a system with a prototype for The Service. Her immediate concern isthe management of records on clients and on care-givers. She is currently using a manual system borrowedfrom a colleague in Canada (which has some peculiarities not appropriate to Australia). The informationon the forms (examples follow) is mostly that required by government agencies. Both the content and thelayout of existing forms must be used in the proposed system. Except, of course, for the obvious differencesbetween here and Canada.

Beyond this, the system should support the preparation of the fortnightly payroll. This involves the produc-tion of a report. The care-givers are paid on a fee-for-service basis. Each care-giver turns in a slip of paper(hand-written) for each contact with a client; the slip details the nature of the contact, the client, and thecare-giver. This determines the care-giver’s fee. These slips are totalled and cross-checked at every secondthursday. Currently this takes three employee-days. At the moment the slips are stored in the client’s file.

Data may be entered into the system by Kim or her two assistants. Owing to confidentiality requirementscertain client data may be entered by only Kim. or her care-giving qualified assistant. The office assistantis responsible for entering all data on the care-givers although Kim can if there is a pressing need to do so.Each care-giver can access data on their clients but only their clients.. Kim and her assistance may accessany information about any client. No other person may access any information whatsoever. The systemmust provide for security and appropriate restrictions of access. Reports are prepared periodically, someweekly, others monthly, quarterly, annually, or as needed.

None of the staff are particularly computer-literate but the ACT government has agreed to supply thetechnology required to build the system. This is subject to the normal limits of the kinds of equipment thegovernment supplies to its own staff.


Part 2. Example Forms

List of forms:

Form Number Name

1 Daily Comment Log2 Client Identification Sheet3 In-Home Training/Family Interview4 Care-Giver Training Record5 Progress Review6 IPP Objectives7 File Access Record


Daily Comment Log

On Call Care-Giver’s Name Contact


Client Identification Sheet

Name: —————————————-Address:

——————City:

———————State:

——-PostCode:

—–Phone (1): ———————Phone (2):

———————BirthPlace:

———————BirthDate:

———————Gender: ———————Sex:

———————Culture:

———————Race:

———————Religion: ———————Hair Colour:

———————Eye Colour:

———————Marital Status:

———————Language (1): ———————Language (2):

———————Residency Status:

———————Communication Skills:

———————Characteristics:Height:

——–Weight:

—–Assisting Devices:

—————————-Physical Disabilities:

—————————-Gait: —————————-Posture:

—————————-

Primary Diagnosis: —————————-Age of Onset: —————————-Allergies: —————————-Date:

—————————-Prepared By:

—————————-Title:

—————————-Admission and Financial Info:Date:

—————————-Referred From:

—————————-Reason for Admission:

—————————-

Date of Admission: —————————-Residential: —————————-Day Services: —————————-Other:

—————————-Other:

—————————-Country:

—————————-Social Security Number:

————————Legal Status:

—————————-Benefits:Type:

—————Number

————Type:

—————Number

————Type: ————— Number ————Medicare: —————————-Veterans: —————————-Legal Status:

—————————-

(continued over)


Page 2 of 2

Medical Alert: —————————–Last Tetanus:

——————Emergency Contacts:1. Name: ———————Relationship:

———————Address:

———————State: ——- PostCode: —–Phone (1):

———————Phone (2):

———————2. Name:

———————Relationship:

———————Address:

———————State:

——-PostCode:

—–Phone (1):

———————Phone (2): ———————3. Name:

———————Relationship:

———————Address: ———————State:

——-PostCode:

—–Phone (1):

———————Phone (2): ———————Parent Information:Mother’s Maiden Name:

———————BirthDate: ———————Address:

———————State:

——-PostCode:

—–Phone (1): ———————Phone (2):

———————Father’s Name:

———————BirthDate: ———————Address:

———————

State: ——- PostCode: —–Phone (1):

———————Phone (2):

———————Police:

———————Fire: ———————Hospital:

———————Medical Practitioner:

———————Phone (1): ———————Phone (2):

———————Legal:Dependent Child : —————————-Full Guardianship: —————————-Custodial:

—————————-Limited Guardianship:

——-Yes/No

——–Emancipated Adult: ——- Yes/No ——–Voting Rights:

——-Yes/No

——–Payee:

—————————-Guardian: —————————-Relationship:

—————————-Address:

———————State:

——-PostCode:

—–Phone (1): ———————Phone (2):

———————Additional GuardianInformation —————————-Name of Advocate–

—————————-Relationship:

—————————-School: —————————-Social Worker:

—————————-Phone:

—————————-


In-Home Training/Family Interview

Primary Care-Giver: ———————————————————-

Training/Interview Address: —————————————————-

City: ———————————– PostCode: —–

Individual’s Name: —————————————————-

DSMIII Diagnosis:—————————————————-

Medical Diagnosis (if appropriate):—————————————————-

Siblings in Respite Care:—————————————————-

Training and/or Interview Complete: ———————————– Date: —–

Signature of Primary Care-Giver: —————————————————-

Signature of Direct Staff/Secondary Care-Giver: ———————————————

RETURN TO REGIONAL OFFICE WHEN COMPLETE,COPIES TO BE KEPT IN FAMILY FILE, REGIONALFILE, AND CAREGIVERS FILE.

1) Review general information form. Where is it kept? . The individual fileis to be available to direct care staff when in the residence of the person seeking care.

2) Check emergency medical release. See that it is appropriate for the situation.

3) Instructions for emergencies (Fire, Accident, Flood, etc.)

4) Which first aid supplies are kept and where?

5) Where is fuse box or circuit breaker?


6) Where are the utilities shut off?

a) Water?b) Electricity?c) Gas?

7) Where is the nearest phone for an emergency? If the phone does not havea phone, where is the nearest location of a pay phone or neighbour’s phone that canbe used?

8) Emergency Phone Numbers:

a) Fire?b) Utility Company?c) Ambulance?d) Plumber?e) Police?f) Electrician?

9) Special Instructions:

10) Persons Restricted from Premise:

Name:

Name:

11) Pets:

Name: Care:

Name: Care:

12) Client Diagnosis

13) Client Strengths

14) Hobbies or Leisure activities

15) Client Needs:

16) Behaviour Management Techniques:

17) Administration of Medication:


Care-Giver Training Record

Name of Staff:———————————————-

Medicare Number:——————

Start Date:————————–

City: ———————————– PostCode: —–

Module Score Date Practicum Comments


Progress Review

Note: Date and signature must be included in each entry

Date: —/—/— Progress: ————————————————————————————

Signature:—————————————-

Date:—/—/—

Progress:————————————————————————————

Signature:—————————————-

Date:—/—/—

Progress:————————————————————————————

Signature:—————————————-


IPP Objectives

( ) High( ) Medium( ) LowIndividual:

———————————————-Staff:

——————

Start Date:—/—/—

Target Date:—/—/—

Terminated Date:—/—/—

Objecctive and Description:———————————————————————-

Where training is to occur:———————————-

Frequency of contact:————–

Method of Data Coll.: ———————————- Frequency of Monitor: ————–

Reinforcement: ———————————- Frequency of Reinf.: ————–

Special Materials:—————————————————————————————-

Anticipated Barriers: —————————————————————————————-

Method/Procedure:—————————————————————————————-


File Access Record

No File Viewed By: Date/Time

1——————————————————————————— ——————-

2 ——————————————————————————— ——————-3 ——————————————————————————— ——————-4

——————————————————————————— ——————-5

——————————————————————————— ——————-6

——————————————————————————— ——————-7

——————————————————————————— ——————-8

——————————————————————————— ——————-9

——————————————————————————— ——————-10 ——————————————————————————— ——————-11 ——————————————————————————— ——————-12 ——————————————————————————— ——————-13

——————————————————————————— ——————-14

——————————————————————————— ——————-15

——————————————————————————— ——————-16

——————————————————————————— ——————-17

——————————————————————————— ——————-18

——————————————————————————— ——————-19 ——————————————————————————— ——————-20 ——————————————————————————— ——————-21 ——————————————————————————— ——————-22

——————————————————————————— ——————-23

——————————————————————————— ——————-24

——————————————————————————— ——————-25

——————————————————————————— ——————-26

——————————————————————————— ——————-27

——————————————————————————— ——————-28 ——————————————————————————— ——————-29 ——————————————————————————— ——————-30 ——————————————————————————— ——————-


Canberra Disability Services –Analysis

HERE I show how the seven step process is used in practice.

The parts of this process are:

Step 1: Establish Canberra Disability Services’ Purpose

Step 2: Discover Canberra Disability Services’ Events

Step 3: Construct a Table of Events and Responses

Step 4: Build Event-Activity Tables

Step 5: Create Primitive (Event -Activity Related) DFD’s and E-R Diagrams

Step 6: Transform Primitive (Event -Activity Related) DFD’s into Abstract DFD’s

Step 7: Create Documentation for all Activities


Step 1 – Establish Canberra Disability Services SystemPurpose

Purpose— To assist Canberra Disability Services with the management of their clients,caregivers, the annual telethon, and in preparing the payroll.

Step 2 – Uncover Events

Event Number Description Type

1 A Person Requests Assistance External2 A Client Changes Their Personnel Details External3 A Client Changes Other Details External4 A Client Arrives for their Detailed (2nd) Interview External5 A Care Giver Changes Their Personal Details External6 Kim Requests a Comment Log Report External7 A Care Giver Completes a Client Session External8 A Care Giver Submits a Care Completion Slip External9 A Care Giver Completes a Training Module External10 An Authorised Person Requests Access to a Client’s Information External11 Time to Complete the Shift Comment Log Temporal12 A Care Giver Completes a Family Interview External13 Kim Requests an Ad Hoc Report External14 Kim Requests an Individual Client’s External

Service Objectives Log Report External15 Time to Prepare the Monthly Payroll Summary Report Temporal16 A Care Giver Completes a Progress Review External17 A Care Giver Reassesses a Client External18 Kim Requests a Client’s File Access Summary Report External19 Kim Hires a New Care Giver External


Step 3 – Construct a Table of Events and Responses

After having established a list of Events then the next task is to work out what the systemshould give back to the environment as a response. In other words what does the user of thesystem expect the system to deliver? This response may be made up of many parts.

– Table of Events and Responses.

Event (Type) Responses (Type)

1. A person Requests Assistance 1.1 Client Acceptability Notice(External) (Fundamental)

1.2 Preliminary Client Assessment(Custodial)

1.3 Preliminary Service Objectives(IPP) (Custodial)

1.4 2nd Interview Notice (Fundamental)

1.5 Client Care Details (Custodial)

2. A Client Changes Their Personnel Details 2.1 Client Personal DetailsAcknowledgement

3. A Client Changes Other Details 3.1 Client Other DetailsAcknowledgement

4. A Client Arrives for their 4.1 Client Details AcknowledgementDetailed (2nd) Interview 4.2 Detailed (2nd) Interview

Summary Report

5. A Care-Giver Changes Their 5.1 Care-Giver Personal DetailsPersonnel Details Acknowledgement

6. Kim Requests a 6.1 Shift Comment Log ReportComment Log Report Acknowledgement

7. A Care Giver Completes a Client Session 7.1 In-Home Training Report

8. A Care Giver Submits a 8.1 Slip Completion ReceiptCare Completion Slip


9. A Care Giver Completes a Training Module 9.1 Care Giver TrainingAcknowledgement

10. An Authorised Person Requests Access to 10.1 Initial Security Responsea Client’s Information 10.2 Second Security Resp onse

10.3 Final Security Response10.4 Client Details Report

11. Time to Complete the Shift Comment Log 11.1 Shift Comment LogAcknowledgement

12. A Care Giver Completes a Family Interview 11.1 Family Interview Report

13. Kim Requests an Ad Hoc Report 11.1 Ad Ho c Report

14. Kim Requests an Individual Client 14.1 Individual ClientService Objectives Log Report Service Objectives Log Report

15. Time to Prepare the 15.1 Monthly Payroll SummaryMonthly Payroll Summary Report Report

16. A Care Giver Completes a Progress Review 16.1 Client Progress Review Report16.2 Progress Review Summary

Report

17. A Care Giver Reassesses a Client 17.1 Client Reassessment SummaryReport

18. Kim Requests a Client’s File Access 18.1 Kim Requests a Client’s FileSummary Report Access Summary Report

19. Kim Hires a New Care Giver 11.1 New Care Giver EmploymentAcknowledgement


Step 4 – Build Event-Activity Tables.

Event 1 – A Person Requests Assistance

When we consider the task of a person asking for help we get the following Activity-ResponseTable.

Activity (Type) Responses (Type)

1.1 Identify Person (Type - Mixed) 1.1.1 Person Details (Type - Custodial)

1.1.2 Request Acknowledgement(External)

1.2 Perform Preliminary Assessment 1.2.1 Preliminary Assessment Result(Custodial) (Custodial)

1.3 Determine Client Acceptability 1.3.1 Client Acceptability (Custodial)

(Mixed) 1.3.2 Client Acceptability Notice(External)

1.4 Determine Preliminary 1.4.1 Preliminary Service ObjectivesService Objectives (IPP) (IPP)(External)

(Fundamental)

1.5 Select Client’s Primary Care Giver 1.5.1 Client Care Details (Custodial)

(Custodial)

1.6 Notify Client of Primary Care Giver 1.6.1 2nd Interview Notice(Fundamental) (External)

1.7 Notify Care Giver of New Client 1.7.1 2nd Interview Notice (External)

(Fundamental) 1.7.2 Client Care Details (External)

1.7.3 Preliminary Service Objectives(External)

1.7.4 Client Acceptability Notice(External)


Step 5 – Create Event-Activity Related DFD’s and E-RDiagrams

While mostly a mechanical conversion process of the Event-Response and Event-Activity Ta-bles, much care needs to be taken to ensure an accurate translation into DFD’s and an E-RDiagram. There are three sections in this Step:

Section1 – External EntitiesThis Step involves:

Identifying External Entities as the source of the stimuli. Where does the Eventcome from? Remember that it is because of the stimuli that we are aware of theoccurrence of an Event .

Section2 – DFD ContextCreate a Context Diagram using the External Entities from the previous section.At this point the analyst creates two one-way data flows between each ExternalEntity and the System. These data flows are labelled as —

< ExternalEntityName > Stimuli + < ExternalEntityName >

Responses. These represent the stimuli coming from the External Entity and theresponses the system creates that go back to the External Entity.

Recall that it may not be possible to render the complexity of the stimuli and responses intoa single descriptive names.

Section3 – Primitive (Event-Activity Related) DFD’sUsing the guidelines for constructing DFD’s build primitive DFDs, one for eachEvent. Each primitive DFD represents an Event and its Activities. Putting allthe Events on one DFD violates the modeling principles described in Lectures on AMethodology for Systems Analysis.

The data flows for these DFDs are modelled using the descriptions,

for stimuli -

< ExternalEntityName > Stimuli for Event nn

for responses -

< ExternalEntityName > Response from Event nn

where nn is the number of the Event in the Table of Events. If the descriptivenames of an Event is short then the descriptive name can be added to give themore complete, and hopefully helpful, label:

for stimuli -


< ExternalEntityName > Stimuli for Event nn + < descriptivename >

for responses -

< ExternalEntityName > Response from Event nn + < descriptivename >

Section4 – E-R DiagramAt this point the basics of the E-R Diagram ought to be substantially complete.

Data Dictionary

Name Type Description

Daily Comment Log Data Structure Comments made by the on-call Care-GiverClient Identification Sheet Data Structure The form used to collect initial data about a ClientIn-Home Training Data Structure

/Family Interview Data StructureCare-Giver Training Record Data StructureProgress Review Data StructureIPP Objectives Data StructureFile Access Record Data Structure

Step 6 – Transform Event-Activity Related DFD’s intoAbstract DFDs

So far the steps have been fairly procedural with the analyst’s principle task being recording,classifying, and clarifying what the user descries Now it is the job of the analyst to examinethe DGDs and extract from the the essence of the system. This involves a practical applicationof the explained in Lectures on A Methodology for Systems Analysis.

In particular, the Event processors are eliminated entirely and the Activity processors havetheir labels changed to remove any reference to both External Entities and technology.

Now the Entity-Relationship Diagram needs to be checked so that it conforms to the level of normalization required for the model (at least 3rd normal form – 3NF, possibly higher) and isboth complete and consistent for the model of the system.


Step 7 – Create Documentation for all Activities

In this worked example I will use simplified Use Case Narratives, Activity Diagrams, andSequence Diagrams.


Documents

A Seven Step Methodology for Systems Analysis