Software Design & Architecture

UML Activity Diagrams

 UML Activity Diagram
• A UML activity diagram shows sequential and
parallel activities in a process. They are useful
for modeling business processes, workflows,
data flows, and complex algorithms.
• It shows a business process or a software
process as a flow of work through a series of
actions. People, software components, or
computers can perform these actions.
 UML Activity Diagram
• Activity diagram is basically a flow chart to represent
the flow form one activity to another activity. The
activity can be described as an operation of the
system.
• Other diagrams are used to show the message flow
from one object to another but activity diagram is used
to show message flow from one activity to another.
• Activity is a particular operation of the system

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/uml/uml_activity_diagram.htm
 UML Activity Diagram
• Basic UML activity diagram notation involves an
action, partition, fork, join, and object node. In
essence, this diagram shows a sequence of
actions, some of which may be parallel. Most of
the notation is self-explanatory; two subtle
points:
• once an action is finished, there is an automatic
outgoing transition
• the diagram can show both control flow and data
flow
An activity will be expanded in
another diagram
 Signals
• They are useful, for
example, when you
need to model events
such as time triggering
an action, or a
cancellation request.
 Guidelines
• This technique proves most valuable for very complex
processes, usually involving many parties. Use-case text
suffices for simple processes.
• If modeling a business process, take advantage of the
"rake" notation and sub-activity diagrams. On the first
overview "level 0" diagram, keep all the actions at a very
high level of abstraction, so that the diagram is short .
Expand the details in sub-diagrams at the "level 1" level,
and perhaps even more at the "level 2" level, and so forth.
• Related to the above, strive to make the level of
abstraction of action nodes roughly equal within a diagram.
 Activity Diagrams in the UP
• One of the UP disciplines is Business Modeling;
its purpose is to understand and communicate
"the structure and the dynamics of the
organization in which a system is to be
deployed". A key artifact of the Business
Modeling discipline is the Business Object Model
(a superset of the UP Domain Model), which
essentially visualizes how a business works, using
UML class, sequence, and activity diagrams. Thus,
activity diagrams are especially applicable within
the Business Modeling discipline of the UP.
 Constructing Activity Diagrams
• Collect information sources—How am I supposed to know that?
• Find activities and actions—What has to be done when actors
draw upon offered goods and services?
• Adopt actors from business use cases—Who is responsible for
each action?
• Connect actions—In which order are actions processed?
• Refine activities—Do any other activity diagrams have to be
added?
• Verify the view—Is everything correct?

https://sourcemaking.com/uml/modeling-business-systems/external-view/constructing-activity-diagrams
 Constructing Activity Diagrams
• In case study, you can find the following work steps for
passenger services:
• Passenger checks in (derived from use case diagram);
this entails issuing a boarding pass though passenger
services.
• Passenger boards airplane (derived from use case
diagram).

https://sourcemaking.com/uml/modeling-business-systems/external-view/constructing-activity-diagrams
 Constructing Activity Diagrams
• In addition to this, there are other steps and events:
• Passenger arrives at check-in counter and shows his or her
ticket; this event initiates the check-in activity.
• Luggage is loaded into the airplane by baggage
transportation.
• At first, just as above, activities can be described in an
informal manner. We often find pre-existing documentation
of processes, either informal or structured, which can be
used as a basis to find activities and actions.

https://sourcemaking.com/uml/modeling-business-systems/external-view/constructing-activity-diagrams
 Constructing Activity Diagrams

https://sourcemaking.com/uml/modeling-business-systems/external-view/constructing-activity-diagrams
 Constructing Activity Diagrams
• When a passenger checks in, he or she first shows his or
her ticket at the check-in counter. The ticket will be
checked for its validity. If the ticket is not OK the
passenger will be referred to customer service. If the
ticket is OK the passenger will check his or her luggage. If
the luggage has excess weight he or she will pay an
additional fee. The luggage will be forwarded to baggage
transportation. The passenger receives his or her
boarding pass.

https://sourcemaking.com/uml/modeling-business-systems/external-view/constructing-activity-diagrams
 Constructing Activity Diagrams

https://sourcemaking.com/uml/modeling-business-systems/external-view/constructing-activity-diagrams
 Constructing Activity Diagrams

https://sourcemaking.com/uml/modeling-business-systems/external-view/constructing-activity-diagrams