Analyzing Current Systems › Analyzing Current System Procedures › Basic Concepts for Procedure Analysis

Basic Concepts for Procedure Analysis

Some key concepts related to procedures and data flows are included here, as well as an introduction to the concept of a data view.

• Procedure is a method of carrying out one or more elementary processes. In current systems analysis, the word "procedure" includes both computer programs and manual activities.
• In procedure analysis, you include only meaningful collections of procedures or processes; these are programs referenced in procedure manuals and manual activities that users perceive as meaningful units. It should not be necessary to describe a system below the level of procedures that execute discretely, or to include error correction procedures.
• Data Store is a repository of data of which users are aware and from which data can be read repeatedly and non-destructively. A data store can be permanent or temporary, depending on the system.
• In current systems procedure analysis, you identify the files, databases, and clerical stores that the selected procedures use or update. Although data stores are sometimes temporary, you should not include transitory files, such as sort files, in the list of data stores. Current systems analysis techniques apply to business data repositories, which are longer-lived files.
• Data View and Layout
  • A data view is an organized collection of fields that is meaningful to a procedure, business system, or organizational unit.
  • A person or program normally requires only a subset of the data in a system. This subset, called a data view, is a limited view of the information.
  • Data views appear within layouts, for example, within screens, files, manual and computerized forms, and reports. A layout is therefore a grouping of fields used to present data to a module or user.
  • A layout can contain more than one data view. For example, a report may contain data about several things. A data view is the part of a layout required for a particular procedure.
• Data Flow is a requirement for a data view to pass between two designed elements, each being a business system, procedure, data store, or external object. In other words, a data flow represents the passing of a data view between two procedures or between a procedure and a data store. It represents how a dependency has been implemented.
  • Expected Effects are the high level definition of the effect (Create, Read, Update, Delete, or "CRUD") that an activity can have on the entities in the implied data model.