ZEIT2301

Design of Information Systems

Behavioural Design:
State Machines

School of Engineering and Information Technology

UNSW@ADFA

Dr Kathryn Merrick
 Topic 06: Behavioural Design

 Objectives
 To discuss the role of behavioural models in IS development.

 To understand the notation, rules and style guidelines for creating

behavioural models:
 This week we will look at state machines
 Next week we will look at a subset of behavioural models called
interaction diagrams:
 Sequence diagrams

 communication diagrams

 To appreciate the relationship between behavioural models and structural

and functional models.

Reference: Text Ch 7

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 Behavioural Models

 Behavioural models describe the internal dynamic aspects of an IS

that supports business processes in an organization

 As distinct from:
 Functional models which depict the external behavioural view
 Structural models which depict the static view

 Behavioural modelling focuses on objects whereas structural

modelling focuses on classes.

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 Behavioural Models
 During the analysis phase, behavioural models capture a basic
understanding of the dynamic aspects of the underlying business
process.

 Later, behavioural models are enhanced and refined during design

phase and implementation details are added.

 Creating behavioural models, like other models already discussed, is an

iterative process.
 As the behavioural models develop, it may be necessary to re-visit the
structural and functional models.

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 Revision: Objects

 Objects are instantiations (particular instances) of a class:

 An object has attributes that describe it
 An object’s state is determined by the value of its attributes
 An object’s behaviour is described by the operations it can perform
(later called methods)
 Objects can send and receive messages
 Messages are sent to other objects to tell the object to execute a
behaviour – these behaviours become operations of the recipient
object

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 State Machines

 State machines represent the changes in an object’s state (i.e.

changes in the values of its attributes).

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 State Machine Diagram

 State machine diagram – a dynamic model that shows the

different states of an object and the events that cause the object to
transition from one state to another.

 State machine are useful for understanding the objects of classes

that are very dynamic and complex.
 It is not necessary to produce state diagrams for objects of every class

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 State Machine Diagram

 In addition to modelling the states of an object in a class, a state

machine diagram may also be used to model changes in the states of:
 a set of classes
 a subsystem
 an entire system (e.g. off, standby, on)

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 Elements of a State Machine Diagram

 The elements of a state machine are:

 States
 Events or actions
 Transitions

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 States

 State – the state of an object is defined by the value of its attributes and
its relationships with other objects at a particular point in time.

 Example: possible states of Patient class: checked-in, admitted, under-

observation, released

 Note: not all attributes or attribute changes will make a difference (e.g. a
change in the patient’s address should not determine how the patient is
treated.)

Session 2, 2010 10
 Events
 Event – something that takes place at a certain point in time and
changes a value(s) that describes an object, which in turn changes the
object’s state.

 An event can be:

 a condition becoming true
 receiving a message from another object to execute an operation
(a method call)
 the passage of a designated period of time

 The state of an object determines exactly what the response to the event
will be.

 Example: patient (current state ‘under observation’) is diagnosed as

healthy, status changes to ‘released’. 11
 Transitions

 Transition – the movement of an object from one state to

another.

 A guard condition is a True/False expression. Transition only

takes place if expression is True.
 Expression includes attributes values

 Example: a patient transitions from the state ‘under-

observation’ to ‘released’ when [Diagnosis = Healthy]

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State Machine Diagrams - Syntax

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State Machine Diagram – Example

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 Building a State Machine Diagram

 Steps for building a state machine diagram:

 Set the context
 Identify the initial, final, and stable states of the object (class)
 Determine the order in which the object will pass through the stable
states
 Identify the events, actions, and guard conditions associated with the
transitions
 Validate the state machine diagram

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State Machine for the Order Class

Exercise:
Spend a few minutes studying this model.
Look for: States, Events, Transitions,
Guards
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 State Machine for the Order Class

Event

State
Transition

Guard

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 Summary

 After today’s lecture you should be able to

 Construct state machine diagrams

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