Question Question

The word “system” in the phrases “system analysis” and What are the three basic steps in system analysis?
“system design” actually refers to two different systems.
What are they?
Answer
Answer 1. Identify agents and their operations.
System analysis is a detailed appraisal of the existing system 2. Identify agent/operation relationships.
(manual or computerized), whereas system design produces 3. Identify data requirements.
a design for the new system (which will replace the existing
one).

103-1 103-2

Question Question
Under what circumstances should you use top-down design, What are the seven steps (the “seven steps to heaven”) in
and under what circumstances should you use evolutionary the simplified system design cycle?
design?
Answer Answer
Top-down design 1. Definition
v systems with well-defined objectives
2. Specification
v well-understood implementation techniques 3. Design
v limited human-computer interaction 4. Construction
5. Testing
Evolutionary design
6. Installation
v experimental systems
7. Maintenance
v new techniques need to be developed
v involve significant human-computer interaction 103-3 103-4

Question Question
What are the four basic elements in a dataflow diagram? In a typical accounts system (such as the “lemonade stand”),
there are two types of database operations: ones specified
in the dataflow diagram and ones required by users of the
Answer system. Give two examples of the first kind and three of the
1. Process second kind.
2. Source
Answer
3. Sink Operations specified in dataflow diagram
4. Data store. vadd purchase record
vadd income record
(Perhaps also “data flow”, but I don’t think this is really an
“element”) Operations required by users
vcalculate account balance
vsummarize purchases
103-5 vsummarize income 103-6

1
 Question Question
An established wholesale paper warehouse wants to computerize its sales, inventory and
What is a “structure chart”? customer billing systems. The warehouse buys its stock directly from the manufacturer in
packages of very large sheets of paper. It cuts and sells packages of smaller paper sizes to
various printers and stationers.

Answer The wholesaler’s sales people bring purchase orders from the customers to the warehouse
and give them to the stock clerk. The clerk checks first to see if the order can be satisfied
A structure chart is a graphical depiction of procedural logic. with offcuts (paper ends left over from previous orders after cutting). If no suitable offcuts
are available, the clerk sends a stock handler to retrieve new stock from the warehouse
shelves. Once the appropriate stock has been collected together, the stock clerk sends it to
the paper cutter who trims it to the desired dimensions. Any useable offcuts are returned to
the stock clerk in case they can be used for subsequent purchase orders. The cutter sends
the trimmed stock to the shipping clerk who checks to see if the order has been satisfied
correctly. If there are any problems, the shipping clerk sends the trimmed stock back to the
stock clerk who corrects the order and sends it back by way of the cutter. Once the
shipping clerk has a correctly filled order, it is given to the truck driver for delivery, and the
purchase order is sent to accounting for appropriate billing.

a) Identify the scope of the system using a context diagram (level 0 dataflow diagram)
b) Draw a level-1 dataflow diagram to represent the activity in the physical system. The
diagram should show top-level activity only.
c) Give a process description for one process from your top-level dataflow diagram.
103-7 103-8

(b) Second-level dataflow diagram (level 1)

Answer
customers order
purchase
1
(a) Top-level dataflow diagram (level 0) salesperson
order
2
receives stock clerk
order checks
new offcuts
offcuts
3
stock
paper paper handler
0 stock manufacturer purchase retrieves
orders offcuts offcut bin order
suitable
offcuts new stock
paper
new
stock
customers warehouse
5 purchase order 4
new stock
warehouse
paper stock clerk
cutter trims shelves
filled
system accounting stock
appropriate stock assembles
stock
purchase new stock
orders trimmed purchase 8
orders stock
order accounting
incorrect purchase stock
purchase
stock order handler
order
6 restocks
shipping 7 shelves
correct
clerk checks stock truck driver
order new paper stock
filled
delivers
order order paper
manufacturer
103-9 103-10

(c) Process description

6. Shipping Clerk checks order

The Shipping Clerk receives the purchase order and the

trimmed stock from the Paper Cutter.
The Shipping Clerk checks that the trimmed stock matches
the order, and that all of the paper ordered is present, i.e.
the order has been filled correctly.
If the order has been filled correctly, the paper is sent to the
Truck Driver for delivery and the purchase order is sent to
Accounting.
If the order is not correctly filled, or there is a problem with
the paper or its trimming, both the paper for the order and
the purchase order are sent back to the Stock Clerk.
103-11