Systems Analysis

Artificial intelligence 

An entity type that associates the instances of one or more entity types and contains attributes that are peculiar to the relationship between those entity instances.

One of the types of entities used in entity-relationship diagrams. Something useful in describing attributes, especially repeating groups. 

Base elements are fields or elements that need to be keyed during an activity where a response and trigger are used. They are stored in a file. 

Bipolar closed questions are questions have a finite value such as yes, no, 15 or the like. 

CASE tooles are tools that have been created explicitly to improve their routine work through the use of automated support. 

THe diagram that results from tools that include computer-based automated diagramming, analyzing, and modeling capabilities. 

A type of question used in interviews or on surveys that closees the possible response set available to respondents. 

The degree to which information in a company does not freely flow between departments or individuals in a corporation. 

Openness refers to the free flow of information within the organization. 

The most basic data flow diagram of an organization showing how processes transform incoming data into outgoing information. 

A state where one input or output is inconsistent with another input or output. 

The longest path calculated using the PERT scheduling technique; the path that will cause the whole systems project to fall behind if even one day's delay is encountered on it. 

A reference work of data about data (metadata) created by the systems analyst based on data flow diagramsl collects and coordinates specific data terms, confirming what each term means to different people in the organization. 

Data Diagram Element is a simple piece of data, can be base of dirived; should be difined in  the data dictionary. 

Data diagram flows are data that moce in the system from one place to another; input and output are depicted using an arrow with an arrowhead in data flow diagrams. 

Data Diagram stores are data that are at rest in the system; depicted using an open-ended rectangle in data flow diagrams.

Data diagram structures are structures composed of data elements, typically described using algebraic notation to produce a view of elements. The analyst begins with the logical design and then designs the physical data structures. 

A method of decision analysis for structured dicisions; an appropriate approach when actions must be accomplished in a certain sequence. 

Data Flow Diagram is a graphical representation of data processes, data flows, and data stores in a business system. 

A source or destination of data considered to be external to the system being described. Also called an entity. 

The activities that transform or change data in an information system. They can be either

Doing business electronically, including via e-mail, Web technologies, BBS, smart cards, EFT, and EDI, among suppliers, customers, government agencies, and other businesses to conduct and execute transactions in business, administrative, and consumer activites. 

A person, group, department, or system that either recieves or originates information or data. One of the primary symbols on a data flow diagram. 

A graphical representation of an E-R model.

A computer based system that captures and uses the knowledge of an expert for solving a particular problem. Basic components are the knowledge base, an interface engine, and the user interface. 

A graphical representation of a project that shows each task activity as a horizontal bar, the length of which is proportional to its time for completion. 

Joint application design is IBM's proprietary approach to panel interviews conducted with analysts and executives to accomplish requirements analysis jointly. 

The explosion (or decomposition) of the context-level data flow diagram, showing the three to nine major processes, important data flows, and data stores of the system under study. 

A model that focuses on the business and how the business operates; describes the business events that take place and the data required and produced by each event. 

Metadata is data about data. 

Management Information System is a computer based system composed of people, software, hardware, and procedures that share a common database to help users interpret and apply data to the business. 

A development model and philosophy of distributing software free and publishing its source code, which can then be studied, shared, and modified by users and programmers. The Linux operating system is an example. 

A type of question used in interviews or on surveys that opens up the possibile response set available to respondents. 

A core practice of the agile approach wherein two programmers who choose to work together both do the programming, run the tests, and talk to one another about ways to efficiently and effectively get the job done. 

A tool used to determine critical activities for a project. it can be used to improve a project schedule and evaluate progress. It stands for Program Evaluation Review Technique. 

A model that shows how a system will be implemented, including the hardware, software, people, and files involved. 

Follow-up questions primarily used during interviews between analysts and users. 

A rapid, interactive process between users and analysts to create and refine portions of a new system; it can be used as part of the systems development lifecycle for requirments determination or as an alternative to the SDLC.

Rapid Application Development is an object oriented approach to systems development that includes a method of development as well as software tools. 

The existence of many of the same elements in the data structure. 

The Software Development life Cycle is a seven phase approach to systems analysis and design that holds that systems are best developed through the use of a specific cycle of analyst and user activities. 

A collection of subsystems that are interrelated and interdependant, working together to accomplish predetermined goals and objectives. All systems have input, processes, output, and feedback. Examples are a computer information system, and an organization. 

The person who systemmatically assesses how the businesses function by examining the inputting and processing of data and the outputting of information with the intent of improving organizational processes and the quality of work life for users. 

A Transaction Processing System is a computerized information system developed to process large amounts of data for routine business transactions, such as payroll and inventory. 

Unified Modeling Language provides a standardized set of tools to document the object oriented analysis and design of a software system.

A use case is a sequence of transactions in a system; the purpose is to produce something of value to an actor in the system; focuses on waht the system does rather than on how it does it. The use case model is based on the interactions and relationships of individual use cases. In a use case, an actor using the system initiates an event that begins a related series of interactions in the system. 

A precise way to define the content of an XML document; may include the exact number of times an element can occur, the type of data within elements, limits on the data, and the number of places to the left and right of the decimal number. 

Document type definition is used to determine whether the XML document content is valid, that is, whether to order and type of data that must be present in the document. 

• There are four basic symbols used in Data Flow Diagrams. 
• Square with shaded area is an entity.
• Arrow is a data flow.
• A rectangle with rounded corners is a process.
• A elongated rectangle with an open end is a data store. 

A technique of interviewing a user where the questions start out specific and then become broad, then get narrowed down to the specific. 

A interview questioning technique whereby the questions in the interview start out specific but become broad based questions by the end of the interview. 

A interview questioning technique whereby the questions start out broad but end up specific. 

A decision support system departs from the traditional management information system because it emphasizes the support of decision making in all its phases, although the actual decision is still the exclusive province of the decision maker. 

The consideration of time and resources into a project where the result of the project must be more valuable than the resources that were put into it over the course of tis life. 

Enterprise Resource Planning systems are designed to integrate all systems in the organization and provide information pertaing to all departments to the top executives.

The act of increasing the detail of a diagram to show processes that underly another process in a high level diagram. 

A prototypeing technique that builds a functional first product, then seeing its results then adding features and dunctions to it alter to further increase its capabilities and performance. 

A prototype that has limited or no functionality but serves as a test base to see how well it can be interacted with and the users may only be able to guage the prototype based on the interface. 

The object oriented approach  that is similar to the agile approach to systems development that includes a mothed of development as well as software tools.

Some characteristic of an entity. There can be many attributes for each entity. 

Often described as "has a" relationship when using UML for an object-oriented approach. Aggregations provide a means of showing that the whole object is composed of the sum of its parts. 

A common template for a group of idividual objects with common attributes and common behavior in object-oriented analysis and design and UML.

Used to graphically model the static structural  design view of a system; illustrates the functional requirements of the system gathered by way of analysis, as well as the physical design of the system. 

A type of interface that allows users to control the application with a series of keystrokes, commands, phrases, or some sequence of these three methods. 

Used in structure charts to govern which portion of a module is to be executed, associated with IF, THEN, ELSE, and other similar types of statements. 

The analyst creates CLass, Responsibilities, and Collaborators cards to represent the responsibilities of classes and the interaction between the classes when beginning to model the system from an object-oriented perspective. Analyst create the cards based on scenarios that outline system requirements. 

Data that move in the system from one places to another; input and output are depicted using an arrow with an arrowhead in data flow diagrams. 

Data that are at rest in the system; depicted using an open-ended rectangle in data flow diagrams. 

One of many GUI design elements that permits users to click on a box that appears to drop down on the screen and list a number of alternatives, which can be subsequently chosen. 

A computer security software used to erect a barrier between an organization's LAN and the internet. ALthough it prevents hackers from getting into an internal network, it also stops organizational members from getting direct access to the Internet. 

A systyem documentation technique based on traditional methods used in gathering information about people and legends.

GUI (Graphical User Interface) is an icon-based user interface, with features such as pull-down menus, drop-down lists, and radio buttons. 

In object-oriented analysis and design, classes can have children. The aprent class known as the base class, and the child class is called a derived class. The derived class can be created to inherit all the attributes and behaviors of the base class. 

LAN (Local Area Network) The cabling, hardware, and software used to connect workstations, computers, and file servers located in a confined geographical area. 

An interface that permits the user to speak or write in human language to interact with the computer. 

In UML, things can be grouped together in packages, which can be considered physical subsystems. Systems are implemented and deployed in packages. 

Alternative behaviors among derived classes in object-oriented approaches. When several classes inherit both attributes and behaviors, the behavior of a derived class might be different from its base class or its sibling-derived classes. 

THe total amount that a series of future payments is worth; a way to assess the economic outlays and revenues of the information system over its economic life and compare costs today with future benefits. 

In UML, a sequence diagram illustrates a succession of interactions between object instances over time. Often used to illustrate the processing described in use case senarios.

A culture built on quality; the goal is to eliminate all defects. 

A tool for designing a modular, top-down system consisting of rectangular boxes and connecting arrows. 

A technique for analyzing structured decisions based on structure logic and simple English statements, such as add, multiply, and move. 

A systematic peer review of the system's programming and overall development that points out problems and allows the programmer or analyst to make suitable changes. 

Zones used in activity diagrams to indicate partitioning; can show which activities are done on which platform and by which user group; can also depict system logic. 

XP (Extreme programming!!!!!) is a systems development approach that accepts what we know as good systems development practices and takes them to the extreme!

Abstract classes are classes that cannot be directly instantiated. Abstractclasses are those that are linked to concrete classes in a generalization/specialization (gen/spec)relationship.

Activity diagrams show the sequence of activities in a process, including sequential and parallelactivities, and decisions that are made. An activity diagram is usually created for one use case andmay show the different possible scenarios.

The term actor refers to a partic-ular role of a user of the system. For example, an actor may be an employee, but also may be acustomer at the company store.

The simplest type of relationship is an association, or a structural connectionbetween classes or objects. Associations are shown as a simple line on a class diagram.

Boundary, or interface, classes provide a means for usersto work with the system. There are two broad categories of interface classes: human and system.

The client-server model, client-server computing, client-server technology, and client-server ar-chitecture all refer to a design model that can be thought of as applications running on a network. When you think of the client-server model, you should think of a system that accentuates theusers as the center of the work, with their interaction with data being the key concept.

Communication diagrams describe the interactions of two or morethings in the system that perform a behavior that is more than any one of the things can doalone.

The deployment diagram illustrates the physical implementation of the system, including thehardware, the relationships between the hardware, and the system on which it is deployed. Thedeployment diagram may show servers, workstations, printers, and so on.

Elements that are not keyed but are rather the result of a calculation or logical operation arecalled derived elements.

Conversion by direct changeover means that, on a specified date, users stopusing the old system and the new system is put into use.

• The top five most legible combinations of foreground lettering on background are (startingwith the most legible combination):
• 1. Black on yellow.
• 2. Green on white.
• 3. Blue on white.
• 4. White on blue.
• 5. Yellow on black.

Distributed conversion refers to a situation in which manyinstallations of the same system are contemplated, as is the case in banking or in franchises suchas restaurants or clothing stores.

Document Type Definition (DTD). ADTD is used to determine whether the XMLdocument content is valid, that is, whether it conforms to the order and type of data that must be present in the document.

Entity classes represent real-world items, such as people, things, and so on.

A use case always describes three things: an actor that initiates an event; the event that trig-gers a use case; and the use case that performs the actions triggered by the event.

Frequently Asked Questions. Web sites often have a page devoted to these so that the company sales force or tech support is not inundated with the same questions over and over againand users can have 24-hour access to answers.

A generalization describes a relationship between a general kind of thing anda more specific kind of thing. This type of relationship is often described as an “is a” relationship.For example, a car is a vehicle and a truck is a vehicle. In this case, vehicle is the general thing,whereas car and truck are the more specific things.

In Gradual or Phased Conversion, the volume of transactions handled by the new system is gradually increased as the system is phased in.

• At the top of the levels of management is Strategic Management, Strategic man-agers look outward from the organization to the future
• Middle management forms the second, or intermediate, tier of the three-tiered managementsystem. Middle managers make short-term planning and control decisions about how resourcesmay best be allocated to meet organizational objectives.
• Operational control forms the bottom tier of three-tiered management. Operations managersmake decisions using predetermined rules that have predictable outcomes when implementedcorrectly.

Method overloading refers to including the same method (or operation) several times in a class.

Polymorphism (meaning many forms), or method overriding (not the same asmethod overloading), is the capability of an object-oriented program to have several versions ofthe same method with the same name within a superclass/subclass relationship.

Modular conversion uses the building of self-contained, operationalsubsystems to change from old systems to new in a gradual manner. As each module is modifiedand accepted, it is put into use.

• Nominal scales are used to classify things. A question such as: What type of software do you use the most?
• 1 = AWord Processor
• 2 = A Spreadsheet
• 3 = A Database
• 4 = An Email Program

An object is a computer representation of some actual thing or event. Objects may be customers, items, orders, and so on. Objects are represented by and grouped into classes that are optimal for reuse and maintainability.

Object-oriented (O-O) analysis and design is an approach that is intended to facilitate the development of systems that must change rapidly in response to dynamic business environments.

Operational feasibility is dependent on the human resources available for the project and involves projecting whether the system will operate and be used once it is installed.

Bias is introduced to output when the analyst and users make choices about how information is sorted for a report. Common sorts include alphabetical, chronological, and cost.

Parallel conversion refers to running the old system and the new system at the same time, in parallel. When the same results can be gained over time, the new system is put into use and the old one is stopped.

Each process on Diagram 0 may in turn be exploded to create a more detailed child diagram. Theprocess on Diagram 0 that is exploded is called the parent process, and the diagram that results is called the child diagram.

Partitioning is the process of examining a data flow diagram and determining how it should be divided into collections of manual procedures and collections of computer programs.

The first kind of prototyping has to do with constructing a system that works but is patched up or patched together.

 It can be quite difficult to manage prototyping as a project in the larger systems effort. Users and analysts may adopt a prototype as a completed system when it is in fact inadequate and was never intended to serve as a finished system.

• Deciding when to prototype depends on the advantages and disadvantages and the analysts should weigh these issues to determine of prototyping is appropriate for them. 
• Advantages:
• potential for changing the system early in its develop-ment, the opportunity to stop development on a system that is not working, and the possibility ofdeveloping a system that more closely addresses users’ needs and expectations.
• Disadvantages:
•  It can be quite difficult to manage prototyping as a project in the larger systems effort. Users and analysts may adopt a prototype as a completed systemwhen it is in fact inadequate and was never intended to serve as a finished system.

Reliability measures consistency. If the questionnaire was administered once and then again under the same conditions and if the same results were obtained both times, the instrument is said to have external consistency. If the questionnaire contains subparts and these parts have equiva-lent results, the instrument is said to have internal consistency.

A repository is acollection of text descriptions for the project. Describe states with information about the state, such as the Web page name, elements on the Web page, and so on.

Skins are alternate graphical user interface opstions that change the look and feel of the interface. The user can select different skins that make the interface either more functional or more esthetically pleasing. 

Sliders and spin buttons are used to change data that have acontinuous range of values, giving users more control when choosing values. Moving the sliderin one direction or the other (either left/right or up/down) increases or decreases the values.

Structured query language (SQL) is another popular way to implement queries. It uses a series of words and commands to select the rows and columns that should be displayed in the resulting table.

Secure Socket Layering which is used for authentication. 

The statechart, or state transition, diagram is another way to determine class methods. It is used to examine the different states that an object may have. A statechart diagram is created for a single class.

Objects exist in these various states, which are the conditions of an object at a specific time.An object’s attribute values define the state that the object is in, and sometimes there is an attrib-ute, such as Order Status (pending, picking, packaged, shipped, received, and so on) that indicatesthe state.

“Stickiness” is a quality a Web site can possess. If a user stays at your site for a long periodof time, your site has a high degree of stickiness.

Ause case diagram contains the actor and use case symbols, along with connecting lines. Actors are similar to external entities; they exist outside of the system. The term actor refers to a particular role of a user of the system.

Validity is the degree to which the question measures what the analyst intends to measure.

WANs are Wide Area Networks that can serve users over several miles or across entire continents.

The analyst must find out whether it is possible to develop the new system given the current technical resources. If not, can the system be upgraded or added to in amanner that fulfills the request under consideration?

A rectangle represents a text box, as mentioned previously, and is used to outline data entry and display fields. Care must be taken to ensure that the text box is large enough to accommodate all the characters that must be entered.

With a top-down approach to diagramming data movement, the diagrams move from general tospecific.