How to :

Data Flow Diagrams

(DFDs)
Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)
 Data flow diagram CUSTOMER
Order In-Stock Request
WAREHOUSE

(DFD) is a picture of Status

Message
1.0

the movement of Status Data

Check
Status
Shipping
Order

data between Shipping

2.0
Order
Data
3.0

external entities and Confirmation Pending

Issue D1 Orders
Status
Messages Generate

the processes and

Shipping
Order Data Order

data stores within a

Payment 4.0
Order Data
Invoice

system
Manage
Accounts
Receivable
5.0
Accounting Data Accounts Receivable Data
Produce
Accounts Reports
D2 Receivable
Inventory
Reports

ACCOUNTING
DFD Symbols (Gane & Sarson)

Process

Data Flow

Data Store

Source/Sink (External Entity)

Process
1.0
Grade Detail Grade Report
Produce
Grade
Report

 Work or actions performed on data (inside the

system)
 Labels should be verb phrases
 Receives input data and produces output
Rule 1: Process
 Can have more than one outgoing data flow
or more than one incoming data flow

1.0
Graded Work
Submitted Work
Grade
Student Student Grade
Work

3.0
Hours Worked
Gross Pay
Calculated
Pay Rate
Gross
Pay
Rule 2: Process
 Can connect to any other symbol (including
another process symbol)

1.0 2.0 Inventory

Order Accepted Order Change

Verify Assemble
Order Order
Process: Correct/Incorrect?
5.0
Services Perfomed Invoice

Create
Invoice

Policy Number Payment Amount

Apply
Insurance
Premium

2.1
Hours Worked Pay Rate
Calculate
Gross
Pay
Data Flow
Deposit

 Is a path for data to move from one part of the

IS to another
 Arrows depicting movement of data
 Can represent flow between process and
data store by two separate arrows
2.1
Payment Detail

D1 Accounts
Invoice Detail
Post Receivable
Payment
Data Flow: Correct/Incorrect?
5.0

Post
Payment

Courses

Customer
Payment

Class
List D2 Daily Payments

Daily
Payment
Students

6.0

Prepare
Deposit
Data Store
D1 Students

 Is used in a DFD to represent data that the

system stores
 Labels should be noun phrases
Rule: Data Store
 Must have at least one incoming and one
outgoing data flow

Customer Payment

D1 Daily
Payments

Daily Payment
Data Store: Correct/Incorrect?

2.0 D2 Accounts
Receivable

Book
Flight
Invoice
Payment
Detail
Detail

Fight
Request

3.0

Post
Passengers
Payment
Source/Sink (External Entity)
1.0
Order

CUSTOMER Invoice
Verify
Order

 External entity that is origin or destination of

data (outside the system)
 Is the singular form of a department, outside
organisation, other IS, or person
 Labels should be noun phrases
 Source – Entity that supplies data to the
system
 Sink – Entity that receives data from the
system
Rule: Source/Sink
 Must be connected to a process by a data flow

BANK

Bank
Deposit

2.0

Prepare
Deposit
Source/Sink: Correct/Incorrect?

PAYROLL CUSTOMER CUSTOMER

DEPARTMENT

Paycheck
Payment Payment

EMPLOYEE 3.0
Accounts
Receivable
Apply
Payment
Rules for Using DFD Symbols
 Data Flow That Connects
YES NO
A process to another process

A process to an external entity

A process to a data store

An external entity to another external entity

An external entity to a data store

A data store to another data store

List the errors of this DFD

DF2
E1 1.0

DF5 P2

DF1 DS1
DF3

DF6

2.0
DF4

DF2 P1

E1
Context Diagram
 Top-level view of IS
 Shows the system boundaries, external entities that
interact with the system, and major information flows
between entities and the system.
 Example: Order system that a company uses to
enter orders and apply payments against a
customer’s balance
 Order
Context Diagram of
CUSTOMER WAREHOUSE
Order System

Order
Picking
Reject
List
Notice
Payment Invoice

0 Completed
Order
Order
System

Bank Cash
Commission Receipts
Deposit
Entry

SALES
ACCOUNTING BANK
REP
Level-0 DFD
 Shows the system’s major processes, data flows,
and data stores at a high level of abstraction
 When the Context Diagram is expanded into DFD
level-0, all the connections that flow into and out of
process 0 needs to be retained.
 Order
Context Diagram of
CUSTOMER WAREHOUSE
Order System

Order
Picking
Reject
List
Notice
Payment Invoice

0 Completed
Order
Order
System

Bank Cash
Commission Receipts
Deposit
Entry

SALES
ACCOUNTING BANK
REP
 Order Picking List
Level-0 DFD of CUSTOMER WAREHOUSE
Order System 1.0

Fill
Order Order
Reject
Notice

Invoice

2.0
Payment
Create Completed
Invoice
Invoice Order

Accounts
D1 Receivable

Invoice
Payment 3.0
Detail
Detail
Apply
Payment

Commission Bank Deposit Cash Receipts Entry

SALES
BANK ACCOUNTING
REP
Lower-Level Diagrams
 Functional Decomposition
 An iterative process of breaking a system description
down into finer and finer detail
 Uses a series of increasingly detailed DFDs to
describe an IS
 Balancing
 The conservation of inputs and outputs to a data flow
process when that process is decomposed to a lower
level
 Ensures that the input and output data flows of the
parent DFD are maintained on the child DFD
Strategies for Developing DFDs
 Top-down strategy
 Create the high-level diagrams (Context
Diagram), then low-level diagrams (Level-0
diagram), and so on
 Bottom-up strategy
 Create the low-level diagrams, then higher-
level diagrams
Exercise:
Precision Tools sells a line of high-quality woodworking
tools. When customers place orders on the company’s
Web site, the system checks to see if the items are in
stock, issues a status message to the customer, and
generates a shipping order to the warehouse, which fills the
order. When the order is shipped, the customer is billed.
The system also produces various reports.
 Draw a context diagram for the order system
 Draw DFD diagram 0 for the order system
Identify Entities,Process,Data Stores & Data Flow
 Entities  Data Flows
 Customer  Order
 Warehouse  In-Stock Request
1.0
 Accounting  Order Data
 Processes  Status Data
2.0
 1.0 Check Status  Status Message
 2.0 Issue Status Messages  Shipping Order
3.0
 3.0 Generate Shipping Order  Order Data
 4.0 Manage Accounts  Invoice
Receivable  Shipping Confirmation
4.0
 5.0 Produce Reports  Payment
 Data Stores  Accounting Data
 D1 Pending Orders  Accounts Receivable Data
 D2 Accounts Receivable  Order Data 5.0
 Inventory Reports
 Order
CUSTOMER In-Stock WAREHOUSE
Payment Request

Status 0 Shipping
Message Order
Order
Invoice System Shipping Confirmation

Inventory
Reports

Context
ACCOUNTING
Diagram of
Order
System
 Order In-Stock Request
CUSTOMER WAREHOUSE

1.0
Status
Message
Check Shipping
Status Data Status Order

Order
2.0 Data
Shipping 3.0
Confirmation Pending
Issue D1 Orders
Status
Messages Generate
Shipping
Order Data Order

Payment 4.0
Order Data
Invoice
Manage
Accounts
Receivable
5.0
Accounting Data Accounts Receivable Data
Produce
Accounts Reports
D2 Receivable
Inventory
Level-0 of Reports

Order System
ACCOUNTING