preview

Top-Down Approach to Drawing Data Flow Diagrams Essay

Decent Essays

The top-down approach to drawing data flow diagrams essentially involves moving “from the general to the specific” in terms of the detail level displayed (Kendall & Kendall, 2008, p. 220). Using information gathered from interviews, investigation, and personal observation, the systems analyst begins by developing a list of business activities. They then use the list to define the four elements of a data flow diagram, as follows:

§ External entities – send/receive data to/from the system
§ Data flows – the movement of data
§ Processes – the change or transformation of data
§ Data stores – a virtual storehouse where data can be added, examined, or retrieved
(Kendall & Kendall, 2008)

The analyst continues by creating a context …show more content…

221-222). For a vertical balance to exist, no input or output can appear on the child diagram unless it is also on the parent diagram.

The analyst now should check the diagram for errors. When drawing data flow diagrams, the analyst might commit any of five common mistakes, as follows:

§ Forget to include a data flow, or, point an arrow in the wrong direction: every process on the diagram represents a transformation of data and must receive/produce input/output.
§ Connect data stores and external entities directly to each other: data stores and external entities may only connect via a process.
§ Incorrectly label a process or data flow.
§ Include more than nine processes.
§ Omit data flow: the diagram may inadvertently include linear flow, that is, data flow in which every process has a single input and a single output. The authors advise that linear flow is rare and usually means that some data flow is missing from the diagram.
(Kendall & Kendall, 2008)

The analyst must also be mindful not to create in child diagrams what the authors refer to as “unbalanced decomposition” (Kendall & Kendall, 2008, pp. 221-222). With unbalanced decomposition, the child and parent diagrams do not have the same data flow inputs and outputs. There are generally only minor exceptional instances where output might rightfully only appear on a child diagram and not on its parent (Kendall & Kendall, 2008).

After correcting any errors, the analyst’s next step is to

Get Access