Introduction of
Microsoft Visio.
Microsoft Visio
is a part of the Microsoft Office Suite of products which consists of Microsoft
Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Project.
Microsoft Visio is a diagramming tool that can be used to visually communicate
technical as well as non-technical representations of ideas, processes,
concepts, structures, layouts, software models, blueprints, etc. Microsoft
Visio eliminates the laborious process of creating diagrams by providing the
tools to create complex diagrams in a user friendly manner. Whether you want to
create an office layout, a basic flowchart or an organizational structure, you
can do it with minimal effort using Microsoft Visio.
What can it do?
Visio is a user
friendly tool to create diagrams; hence it can be used by everyone. You do not
need to know software programming in order to use Visio. If you know how to use
the computer, you can use Visio. Visio can be used in all walks of life. Using
Visio, an electrician can create Electrical Diagrams, a student can create a
flowchart to understand the process flow, Sales persons can create charts and
graphs, Engineers can create Mechanical Engineering diagrams, Managers can
create organizational charts and Software programmers can create UML Diagrams
and User Interface prototypes. No matter what kind of diagram you need, you can
use Visio to create a professional, impressive diagram with minimal effort.
Visio can be used by a technical as well as non-technical user to easily create
many different kinds of diagrams for documenting and communicating ideas,
concepts, blueprints, etc. Some of the different kinds of diagrams that you can
create using Visio are:
Flowcharts
- Block Diagrams
- Business Process Diagrams
- Charts and Graphs
- Database Models
- Data Flow Diagrams
- Electrical Diagrams
- Mechanical Engineering Diagrams
- Systems and Network Architecture Diagrams
- Organizational Charts
- Gantt Charts
- User Interface Prototypes
- Sitemaps for Websites
- UML Diagrams, etc.
Visio diagrams are compatible
with all of the MS Office applications and can be used with word and html
documents through the copy paste feature. They can also be used with email
programs like Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express.
2.) What
is UML?
UML, or Unified Modeling
Language, is a specification language that is used in the software engineering
field. It can be defined as a general purpose language that uses a graphical
designation which can create an abstract model. This abstract model can then be
used in a system. This system is called the UML model. The Object Management
group is responsible for defining UML, and they do this via the UML Meta model.
XMI can be used to serialize the UML model.
The Unified Modeling Language is
commonly used to visualize and construct systems which are software intensive.
Because software has become much more complex in recent years, developers are
finding it more challenging to build complex applications within short time
periods. Even when they do, these software applications are often filled with
bugs, and it can take programmers weeks to find and fix them. This is time that
has been wasted, since an approach could have been used which would have
reduced the number of bugs before the application was completed.
However, it should be emphasized
that UML is not limited simply modeling software. It can also be used to build
models for system engineering, business processes, and organization structures.
A special language called Systems Modeling Language was designed to handle systems
which were defined within UML 2.0. The Unified Modeling Language is important
for a number of reasons. First, it has been used as a catalyst for the
advancement of technologies which are model driven, and some of these include
Model Driven Development and Model Driven Architecture.
Unified Modeling Language Characteristics
It must be emphasized that UML
is an extensible language. It has two elements that are used for customization,
and these are stereotypes and profiles. Much of the semantics for this language
were greatly improved with the UML 2.0 update. In 1996, a group of developers
came together to create the UML Partners.
It was this collaboration which
allowed them to create the Unified Modeling Language. When it was first
created, the developers offered it as the response to OMG RFP. While the
semantic integration was weak when the language was first introduced it, these
problems were fixed with the release of UML 2.0.
Another characteristic of UML is
that is borrows many concepts from the object oriented approach. When UML was
created, one of the goals of the developers was to create a language that could
support every object oriented approach. Some of the features which UML supports
includes time analysis, data analysis, object oriented structure design, and
state charts. With all these features, UML became the program of choice for
professionals who needed to solve various engineering challenges.
Engineers commonly use it for
single processes and systems which are distributed. However, UML is not limited
to the engineering field. It is useful in any situation where developers need
to map out complex systems or processes that can be understood by others.
3.) What
is an Object?
An object is a component of a program
that knows how to perform certain actions and to interact with other pieces of
the program. Functions have previously been described as "black
boxes" that take an input and spit out an output. Objects can be thought
of as "smart" black boxes. That is, objects can know how to do more than
one specific task, and they can store their own set of data. Designing a
program with objects allows a programmer to model the program after the real
world. A program can be broken down into specific parts, and each of these
parts can perform fairly simple tasks. When all of these simple pieces are
meshed together into a program, it can produce a very complicated and useful
application.
4.) What
is a class?
A class is an organization of data
and functions which operate on them. Data structures are called data members
and the functions are called member functions. The combination of data members
and member functions constitute a data object or simply an object. Imagine a
company that manufactures shoe boxes hires you to write a program that would
help design and identify those shoe boxes. A shoe box is recognized for its
dimensions (length, width, and height), color, and shoe size that a particular
box can contain, etc.
5.) What
are models?
When you talk about UML, it is
very important to differentiate between the system diagrams and the UML model.
A system diagram is a portion of a graphical symbol, and it is used to denote
the system's model. The model will have what is called a semantic backplane,
and this is a document that is used to deal with the diagrams and elements of a
model. There are three areas of the system model that you will want to become
familiar with. These are the object model, the functional model, and the
dynamic model. Each model has specific roles that it must play for the proper function
of the system.
6.) Define
OMT.
OMT was developed as an approach
to software development. A fundamental assumption of OMT is that
object-oriented thinking represents a more natural and intuitive way for people
to reason about reality.
The purposes of modeling are,
·
Testing physical entities before building them
(simulation),
·
Communication with customers,
·
Visualization (alternative presentation of
information), and
·
Reduction of complexity.
OMT proposes three main types of models:
• Object model
The object model
represents the static and most stable phenomena in the modeled domain (Rum
Baugh et al., 1991:21). Main concepts are classes and associations, with
attributes and operations. Aggregation and generalization (with multiple inheritances)
are predefined relationships.
•Dynamic model
The dynamic
model represents a state/transition view on the model. Main concepts are
states, transitions between states, and events to trigger transitions. Actions
can be modeled as occurring within states. Generalization and aggregation
(concur-rency) are predefined relationships.
•Functional model
The functional
model handles the process perspective of the model, corresponding roughly to
data flow diagrams. Main concepts are process, data store, data flow, and actors.
The entire OMT
software development process has four phases: Analysis, system design, object
design, and implementation of the software. Most of the modeling is performed
in the analysis phase.
7.) Define Object Model.
The Object model will be responsible
for demonstrating the system structure and substructure, and it will do this by
using relationships, attributes, and operations. Class diagrams are closely
related to this model.
8.) Define Functional Model.
The functional
model will demonstrate the system functionality from the view of the user. It
will be directly connected to the use case diagrams. Corresponding roughly to
data flow diagrams. Main concepts are process, data store, data flow, and
actors.
9.) Define Dynamic Model.
The dynamic
model will be responsible for demonstrating inner behavior of a system. It is
directly connected to state machine diagrams, sequence diagrams, and activity
diagrams.
