I need to document requirements and uses cases for a Cognos implementation. This is new territory for me. Would someone have some helpful guidance/templates/examples to share?
Submitted by Matt John on Tue, 2009-12-29 05:41. *
Use cases describe the system from the user's point of view.
Use cases describe the interaction between one or more actors (an actor that is the initiator of the interaction may be referred to as the 'primary actor') and the system itself, represented as a sequence of simple steps. Actors are something or someone which exists outside the system ('black box') under study, and that take part in a sequence of activities in a dialogue with the system to achieve some goal. Actors may be end users, other systems, or hardware devices. Each use case is a complete series of events, described from the point of view of the actor.
According to Bittner and Spence, "Use cases, stated simply, allow description of sequences of events that, taken together, lead to a system doing something useful." Each use case describes how the actor will interact with the system to achieve a specific goal. One or more scenarios may be generated from a use case, a+ practical exams, corresponding to the detail of each possible way of achieving that goal. Use cases typically avoid technical jargon, preferring instead the language of the end user or domain expert. Use cases are often co-authored by systems analysts and end users. The UML use case diagram can be used to graphically represent an overview of the use cases for a given system and a use-case analysis can be used to develop the diagram. Use cases are not normalized by any consortium, unlike the UML use case diagram by OMG.
Within systems engineering, use cases are used at a higher level than within software engineering, often representing missions or stakeholder goals. The detailed requirements may then be captured in SysML requirement diagrams or similar mechanisms.
Use cases describe the system
Use cases describe the system from the user's point of view.
Use cases describe the interaction between one or more actors (an actor that is the initiator of the interaction may be referred to as the 'primary actor') and the system itself, represented as a sequence of simple steps. Actors are something or someone which exists outside the system ('black box') under study, and that take part in a sequence of activities in a dialogue with the system to achieve some goal. Actors may be end users, other systems, or hardware devices. Each use case is a complete series of events, described from the point of view of the actor.
According to Bittner and Spence, "Use cases, stated simply, allow description of sequences of events that, taken together, lead to a system doing something useful." Each use case describes how the actor will interact with the system to achieve a specific goal. One or more scenarios may be generated from a use case, a+ practical exams, corresponding to the detail of each possible way of achieving that goal. Use cases typically avoid technical jargon, preferring instead the language of the end user or domain expert. Use cases are often co-authored by systems analysts and end users. The UML use case diagram can be used to graphically represent an overview of the use cases for a given system and a use-case analysis can be used to develop the diagram. Use cases are not normalized by any consortium, unlike the UML use case diagram by OMG.
Within systems engineering, use cases are used at a higher level than within software engineering, often representing missions or stakeholder goals. The detailed requirements may then be captured in SysML requirement diagrams or similar mechanisms.