How do I best organize these Use Cases ?

[alcoUML]

Hi, I don't know if this is the right forum, but it seems quite active on UML, so I'll try...

I have to draw/write a use case diagram "Edit customer info", which in GUI terms will probably consist of a form, from where the user may edit data in several text fields, and also open other dialogs to enter/edit certain information. We'll have to use dialogs where the data cannot be changed easily in the form text fields, for example to edit a list of contact persons, or manage a set of specific parameters, etc.

Now, I have drawn this as a use case "Edit customer info", connected to actor "Secretary", and I have added use cases like "edit contact persons set", "edit address list", "edit xxx" etc, with <<extend>> relations to the "main" use case "Edit customer info".

Is this OK you think ?

Feels a bit odd to have that many use cases, which are really very similar to each other, extending the main UC. But making alternative flows in the main UC, would probably result in a single very complex UC...

Any suggestion on this?

Very thankful to any suggestions!!!

Best regards/
Alco

[Jumbik]

Hi alco,

- use <<extend>> in case of any condition of extension is needed,   (for instance "Place Order" is extended with condition "salesperson asks for catalogue" at point "after creation", use case of extension is "Request catalogue", example from UML 1.4)  

- <<include>> when co-used use cases including in other use cases are found = re-use

- use gen spec in co-used use cases where generalization - specialization whas found (Use Case "Adding new Cross-roads" with specification "with lights Y/N" is specialization of more general abstract Use case "Adding new Point on map"), it is another type of re-use.

You can use <<include>> when no re-use was found in case of "very long" use cases - but it is not necessary, it is only organization, not re-use (like long function splitted to smaller functions, but these are not re-used and called from other functions)  ...

Jumbik
 

[AlcoUML_]

Ok, thanks a lot for answering! - but the issue is more how to decide when a potential "extension" ("Edit contact persons list", that MAY be invoked from "Edit customer info") should be

[1] specified as a new Use Case (extending main one), or when it can just be an...

[2] "If"-statement in the existing "Edit Customer info" use case text (main flow), or when it should go as an...

[3] "alternate flow" in the main use case??

These are the three main options, the way I see it.

Regards,
Alco

[jaimeglz]

Hi Alco,

All three solutions in your last posting are consisteng with UML rules, so you can choose a solution depending on other considerations; for instance:

Just how finely grained do you want your use case diagrams to be? If my model is grained to the point where I have a use case for each non-trivial dialog, then the creation of a new use case that <<extends>> the general customer info edit use case is appropriate.

How cluttered is you diagram? This is related to the previous question, and if the answer is "its getting more and more cluttered", what I would recommend is to create a subbordinate diagram, with the use cases pertaining to customer info editing.

For navigation from the general diagram into the more detailed use case diagrams, check other items in this forum on how to link one diagram to another.

Keep us posted if this does not answer your question.

Jaime Gonzalez