I have the below UML activity diagram for a shopping cart use case. It has several decision and fork nodes but there are no corresponding join/merge nodes. Could you please show me:
how to correct the diagram by introducing the merge/join nodes.
how to modify the diagram so that a customer can repeat the process (of adding more products to the shopping cart).
Thank you.
You should look into the token concept. It is introduced in petri nets and also used in the UML activity diagram.
Decision nodes produce one token only, i.e. they follow just one outgoing path. To merge such paths, of which only was is followed, you can use a merge node. Which just looks like a reversed decision node and is able to consume exactly one token. A diamond with multiple incoming edges.
If you use a parallelization node to start concurrent execution paths, you have multiple tokens leaving the parallelization node. To merge these kind of paths, you can use a synchronization node, it looks like a reversed parallelization node and has to consume one token per incoming edge.
(source: amg at www.lcc.uma.es)
Do you have an initial activity element anywhere? Makes it a bit easier to read. To your question, the merge should be used as opposed to having multiple connectors coming into the same activity. For instance, "Acknowledge Msg" should have a merge above it that the other branches can flow into.
As for how to make it repeatable, you may want an "Add to Cart" action, and prior to a "Checkout" action, have a Decision with guards for "Shopping Complete" (which goes to the Checkout action) and "Continue Shopping" (which goes back to "Enter Product #").
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I am Working on a project for Orders data visualization Dashboard.
This is the use case Diagram:
Currently I'm working on the activity diagram and my question is: Can the Manager and the Shipper login into the system and initiate their own activities in the same diagram?
An activity diagram "specifies behavior by sequencing subordinate units". It can perfectly have several initial nodes, e.g. one for Admin and one for Manager or Shipper. And when the activity is invoked, all those initial nodes would be activated at the same time, starting each a concurrent flow, each being performed at its own pace.
But this makes only sense if the Manager's actions and the Shipper's actions are really related, concurrent and somehow synchronized. E.g. every time an Admin login is performed, a Manager login would be expected.
If the Manager flow as well as the Shipper flow are both independent and in reality unsequenced, you should use separate activity diagrams. In this case, trying to squeeze them into a single diagram could even be misleading.
Additional remarks, unrelated to your question:
Typically you'd have a separate activity diagram for each use case. It's not an obligation, but it's a common practice to describe what happens for a specific use-case. In your case, it would mean that only the Ship Order and the Update product stock would be in a situation where actions could be interdependent.
When activity diagrams are used to design systems, it shows in principle what happens inside the system. The actors are outside the system. So the partitions (columns) would in principle not show what an actor does, but what the system does in relation with an actor. Of course, if you use activity diagrams for process modeling, it would be a different story.
Yes, they can. With each InitialNode a flow begins and the tokens run down the actions independently. Probably at a certain time you will have some synchronization between both (this is not mandatory but otherwise it would probably rather pointless to have two independent flows in the same diagram). In that case you either have a MergeNode (bar) to wait for both tokens to arrive or an action has two incoming edges waiting for both tokens in order to commence.
I'm modelling an activity diagram for a project. Directly after initial node is it okay to use a decision node. I just google for it. But I fail to find similar examples even.
Eg:- imagine a person can Search for a dog name or Select the category animal, then dog likewise at the very beginning.......
One of my team mates mention that according to above example those are two different activities and we should create two activity diagrams for it.
This is allowed under condition.
The rules concerning the input flow(s) of a decision node are (formal 2017 § 15.3.3.6 Decision Nodes page 390) :
A DecisionNode shall have at least one and at
most two incoming ActivityEdges, and at least one outgoing ActivityEdge. ... If the DecisionNode has only one
incoming edge, then it is the primary incoming edge. If the primary incoming edge of a DecisionNode is a ControlFlow,
then all outgoing edges shall be ControlFlows and, if the primary incoming edge is an ObjectFlow, then all outgoing edges
shall be ObjectFlows.
Also knowing (§ 15.3.3.1 Initial Node page 387) :
The outgoing ActivityEdges of an InitialNode must all be ControlFlows.
that means in your case, and supposing there is no other input edge to the DecisionNode, all outgoing edges of the DecisionNode shall be ControlFlows, else this is not allowed
Your team mate isn't wrong. This is a design question which should have been clarified beforehand. Activities are functional parts inside of use cases. They represent scenarios like "sunny day", various error scenarios, etc. And again one step back the use cases represent the added value the system under consideration represents for its primary actor.
Now from your examples it's hard to tell what that system should be. Search for dog name could be a use case, but in which context? Is it to name a new dog or to search for an existing dog in a database? Same for Select animal category(and then dog?). Both do not make much sense as use cases. Once you come up with meaningful use cases you can tell exactly which steps the activities should have as actions. Only then you can have the need to decide. The decision which use case to actually use it outside the system and you wont see the steps done for it.
As a recommendation: Bittner/Spence have an excellent book about use cases which (unlike the UML specification) makes a lot of sense. There are also other well known authors teaching the same school (along Ivar Jacobson).
UML specs 2.5 says:
The effect of one ActivityNode on another is specified by the flow of
tokens over the ActivityEdges between the ActivityNodes.
But above definition is obscure; specially because tokens are not explicitly modeled in an Activity.
After reading 15.2.3.3 Activity Edges section of specifications, I think purpose of them is:
to capable the diagram to describe
it may wait for other token
or refuse flow
instead of entering next node immediately
Is it true? Also is it the only purpose of tokens? If it is true, why we do not use a decision node with a condition and a end flow node for showing refusing flow under that condition instead of token and guards? Or grouping information into larger objects node which carries all necessary data instead of using weight?
Activity diagrams and state machines are both derived from Petri nets. Giving a full description would blow this answer, so I try to boil it down.
A token is, so to say, a bit of information. It's atomic and can not be split. Rather it is created from a "big bang" out of an event which is defined in the context (shown usually by a large black dot). It travels along InformationFlow connectors (eventually blocked by guards where it has to wait) to nodes. Nodes have 1 to many InformationFlow connectors. A node becomes active when at all of its incoming InformationFlow connectors a token has arrived. When the node finalizes it sends single tokens along all its outgoing InformationFlow connectors (at least UML actions do so which is called implicit fork). There are special nodes like fork and merge which behave a bit different (see the specs). Finally tokens can fall in a sink (usually a circle with a fat dot inside) where they just vanish as they appeared.
So from a single token (not going to explain the details/issues of multiple start points here) emerging from a start node this token travels in the net, eventually creating other tokens all circulating until (usually) all tokens have gone to sinks. During that the net is said to be active.
tl;dr No, your assumption is not correct that way.
My question is about the merge node in the UML activity diagram, when and why to use it?
Merge node example:
A merge node accepts a single token to continue processing. Other nodes need tokens at all incoming edges to start processing. So if a flow is split by a decision you have a single token passing at one side of it. In order to reach the Join at the lower end, you need to collect either flow left and right to collect the single token and pass it on.
N.B.: Activity diagrams have their root in Petri nets. You could consult Wikipedia to see how they work in detail. There also a couple of answers here on SO.
I need to know this differences in order to undestand how to use them right.
Which are the differences of DFD and Activity diagram?
Actually, it's reasonably logical. You only have to look at the names.
In data flow diagrams, the lines between "boxes" represent data that flows between components of a system. Because these only show the flow of data, they do not give an indication of sequencing.
In activity diagrams, those lines are simply transitions between activities and do not represent data flow at all. They more represent the sequencing of activities and decisions. You can tell from these what order things happen in.
That's a simplistic explanation but should be a good starting point. Further information can be garnered from Wikipedia for DFDs and activity diagrams.
Explicit bias: I'm a DFDs proponent.
#John is correct that Activity diagrams can be used to represent object flow. #pax equally correct they seldom are.
Two big DFD advantages for me:
Link to object model. Data stores on a DFD provide a really nice way to link the data produced / consumed to the object model. Very useful for consistency and ensuring your thinking is joined up.
They de-emphasise control flow. Far too often designs over-constrain sequencing. Activity diagrams do support concurrency - but it requires the user to (a) remember and (b) use it. So the default is over-serialisation. DFDs don't. They lay bare the real sequence dependencies without any extra effort on the part of the user. Consequently they also make it easier to see causal relationships. If processes a and b both require data input D then it's obvious on the diagram. And hence parallel activity is obvious.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not against Activity diags. Where control flow is the primary consideration I'll use an AD over a DFD. But empirically I'd say I find DFDs a more useful tool in ~70-80% of cases.
Of course, YMMV.
Just a humble opinion from someone who has had to explain processes, both computer and manual, to upper management and CIOs. I have found simple is better and pound-for-pound, DFDs get the message across when I am actually "asked" about details. That being said, the better approach is to always practice the story line and answer in simple answers.
One final comment regarding the age of tools and products. Remember that in most cases these are running the business and work pretty darn good. The adage "you break it (or replace it) and you own it" can make you a hero or make you into a clown.
We have a CIO who wants to replace all mainframe application for the simple reason that they are old technology. One must weigh the consequences and understand if the replacement can handle workload. Have you ever wondered why JPMC, Credit Swiss, Walmart, and Bank of America to name a few still run mainframes?
My apologies for taking it in that direction. Just make sure, whatever analysis tool is used, that all aspects of the replacement are documented including workload, I/O, concurrent users, adoption curve, and scalability.
Data Flow represents flow within one module or one independent code. However Sequence Diagram represents sequence of activity in between different modules.
Yes at some points they may pass the same messages.
I basically use Sequence diagram in interface documents which will be shared with other modules/elements, however DFD will be used in Low level design documents which will be used to develop the code within one module or network element.
If we look closer to a dataflow diagram, we can notice that when a node collects data from all its edges, it starts to process them. And to process, it needs an activity token, which represents access to a processor. Usually the process of obtaining that token is omitted, but it has to exist. Typically, the whole node as a token is put in a double-ended queue, where on the other end of that queue free activities (processors or threads) are stored. A thread pool is a perfect example of such a queue, and the nodes ready to work are represented as tasks. As soon as a node meets activity, they both are taken from the queue and actual processing starts. When processing finishes, activity is returned to the queue. This way we can think of activity as a special kind of token.
So both dataflow and activity diagrams are just simplified variants of a general active-data-flow diagram, with either activities or data tokens omitted. But generally, both kinds of tokens can be represented in a diagram simultaneously.
Programmers used to think about threads as activities, but if we look at them closer, we notice that when a thread is ready to execute, it gets in a line to processors, and real execution starts only when a free processor switch to that thread. This is absolute analogy as tasks are executed on a thread pool. So from simplified point of view, a thread is an activity, and from more rigorous point of view a thread is a data token and the only real activity is a physical processor. This shows that activity tokens are not different from data tokens. And indeed, we can omit the route of node chasing an activity and consider a dataflow node as an activity itself, which starts to work immediately when all its edges (inputs) contain data.