Lesson IV:

Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

Christian B. Peña
Data Flow Diagram
Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
(DFD)
• is a traditional visual representation of the
information flows within a system.
• It shows how the data enters and leaves the
system, what changes the information, and
where data is stored.
Components of DFD
Data Flow
- is a component of DFD that represents the
flow of data into or out the process, entity or
data store.
Process
- is a component of DFD that represents the
actions being done by the system such as
Data Flow Process create, modify, store, view and delete data etc.
External Entity
- is a component of DFD that represents the
origin or destination of data. And sometimes
called source/sink.
Data Store
- is a component of DFD that represents the
External Entity Data Store database of the system or where the data was
being stored.
Rules in Creating DFD
Rules in Creating DFD

1. Process labels should be in verb phrase.

2. No process can have only outputs or only
inputs.
3. Data store and Entity labels should be in
noun phrase.
4. All flows to or from a data store must move
through a process.
5. Data flow labels should be noun phrases.
6. Bidirectional flow between process and
data store is represented by two separate
arrows.
Rule #1
Process labels
should be in verb
CUSTOMER MANAGE
CUSTOMER
phrase.
Rule #2
No process can
have only outputs
or only inputs.
Rule #3
Data store and
SAVE CUSTOMER CUSTOMER
DATABASE
Entity labels should
be in noun phrase.
Rule #4
All flows to or from
a data store must
move through a
process.
Rule #5
Data flow labels
should be noun
phrases.
SEND CUSTOMER
CUSTOMER INFO
INFO
Rule #6
Bidirectional flow
between process
and data store is
represented by two
separate arrows.
DFD Level 0 (Context
DFD Level 0 (Context Diagram)
Diagram)  represents the abstract view of the
project in a single process with external
parties. This level introduces the main
function and basic concept of the
project. The concept will help
understand the work of the project and
the potential data that will roam the
system.
DFD Level 1
DFD Level 1
 contains the broadened concept of DFD
Level 0. Which is done by determining
the included processes to complete the
basic idea from the context diagram. So
as the processes were determined, data
inputs will be specified as well as the
outputs.
DFD Level 2
DFD Level 2
 considered as the highest DFD
abstraction because it completes the
details needed by the system. As the
processes and data were already
revealed in DFD Level 0 and 1 the only
thing missing is the database or data
store. DFD level 2 let’s you know the
ideas on where does the data inputs
where stored and retrieved within
system.