Topic 1.3 Systems Development & Documentation Techniques Flashcards
What is a documentation
- a set of documents and models
- narratives, data flow models, flowcharts
- describe who, what, why, when, where of systems
- input, process, storage, output and controls
What do data flow diagrams follow
- Data source/ destination
- data stores
- processes
Four basic elements and shapes of DFD
= data store
-> data flow
O processes
Square entity
What does the entity (square) represent in a data flow diagram
- the source of the data or the input
- represents the destinations output of the destination
What does the data flow (->) show
The movement of data between:
- processes
- entities
- data store
The arrow should label what is moving
What does the process represent in the DFD
The process represents the transformation of data
What does the data store (=) represent
The data at rest
What are the 3 levels of data flow diagrams
Context
Level-0
Level-1
What does the context diagram involve
Highest level (summary form) Purpose: show inputs and outputs into system Characteristics: one process symbol only, no data stores
What does a level 0 data flow diagram include
Purpose: show all major activity steps of a system
Characteristics: processes are labelled 1.0, 2.0 etc
What does a level 1 data flow diagram include
Purpose: show one major activity divided into sub activities
Characteristics: processes are labeled 1.1, 1.2 etc
What do flow charts show?
- Use symbols to logically decipher transaction processing and the flow of data through a system
- Use pictures or symbols to explain
What are the 3 types of flowcharts
- document
- system
- program
What does the document flowchart involve?
- Shows the flow of documents and data for a process
- useful in evaluating internal controls
What does the document flowchart show
- Tells us who is doing what, very good when you are evaluating internal control
- start in top left and go down to bottom right
- shows everything from cradle to grave
- can highlight where there are weaknesses and inefficiencies. Unnecessary complexities
What are business process diagrams?
- are a visual way to represents the activities in a business process
- intent is that all business users can easily understand the process from a standard notion
Preimer Life Company is a life insurance company that collects, stores, prepares and provides customerized life insurance policy to customers in the Midwest. When a customer’s information is received, it is recorded in a database and a ticket is provided to the policy underwriter . When the life insurance policy is issued, the database is updated so that it always reflects the correct amount of life insurance coverage and the length of the policy available to the customers. In a data flow diagram, which type of symbol would be used to represent the process of updating customers’ life insurance records in the system?
Circle
In a data flow diagram, a triangle represents
An internal control
In a data flow diagram of the order shipping process, what symbol would most appropriately denote a “Bill of Lading” (a form of shipping document) used in the process?
An arrow
In a customer payment processing DFD, the “update receivables” activity will be represented by ________, the “accounts receivable file” will be represented by ________, and the “credit manager” will be represented by ________.
A circle, two horizontal lines, a square
Graphical representations of information are often supplemented by
Narrative descriptions
In a data flow diagram of the vendor payment process, what symbol would most appropriately reflect an update of the payables account?
A circle
A data flow diagram created at the highest level or summary view is referred to as
Context diagram
Preimer Life Company is a life insurance company that collects, stores, prepares and provides customerized life insurance policy to customers in the Midwest. When a customer’s information is received, it is recorded in a database and a ticket is provided to the policy underwriter . When the life insurance policy is issued, the database is updated so that it always reflects the correct amount of life insurance coverage and the length of the policy available to the customers. In a data flow diagram, which type of symbol would be used to represent the system processing customer’s information?
Circle
Terrell and Monique Anderson run an antique store in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. To find items to sell in their shop, they travel around the United States and Europe buying unique artifacts. Within an hour of making a purchase, they use their smartphone to take a picture of the item and post a short tweet about the item on Twitter. Which symbol should be used to represent the transfer of data to Twitter in a context diagram of this process?
Data flow arrow
In a data flow diagram of the vendor payment process, “Vendor” will appear above or in
A square
A flowchart that depicts the relationships among the input, processing, and output of an AIS is
A system flowchart
In a data flow diagram that depicts a company’s internal controls, where is each internal control typically explained in detail?
on a table that accompanies the internal control data flow diagram
More than one arrow is needed between symbols on a DFD if
Data flow at different times
In general, a data destination will be shown by
An arrow pointing in
In a data flow diagram of the customer payment process, “Customer” will appear above or in
A square
Preimer Life Company is a life insurance company that collects, stores, prepares and provides customerized life insurance policy to customers in the Midwest. When a customer’s information is received, it is recorded in a database and a ticket is provided to the policy underwriter . When the life insurance policy is issued, the database is updated so that it always reflects the correct amount of life insurance coverage and the length of the policy available to the customers. In a data flow diagram, which type of symbol would be used to represent the storage location of data in the system?
A data store =
