CA 2E Quick Tour › Analysis and Design

Analysis and Design

Analysis and Design is the first major phase of development in CA 2E. Some of the tasks include:

• Making a design model
• Creating prototype panels
• Using Toolkit panel designs
• Entering sample data

  

The following three components must be established before you begin:

• Business requirements based on business operations
• Data elements based on the identified business requirements
• Entity relationship diagram (ERD)

Most of this information is obtained through discussion and analysis of the business you are working with.

The following lists show examples of the type of results you might obtain for a horse racing business. See the Tutorial for further information.

Business requirements may include:

• A record of the Sire (father) and Dam (mother) for each horse to ensure that they are older than the horse
• A record of horses entered in each race
• A list of all horses including a count and total value, and a list of the races each horse has entered

  Data elements may include:

• Course name
• Course location
• Course seating capacity
• Horse name
• Horse age
• Horse gender
• Race name
• Race date

These lists are examined and studied to develop an entity relationship diagram. The entity relationship diagram associates data elements with business requirements so the data can be stored in the most logical and efficient manner.

An entity is a significant item with distinct characteristics. The following table contains an example of some possible entities and their relationships to each other:

It is often a good idea to draw a picture of the ERD rather than just listing relationships in a table. See the Tutorial for more details on relationships.