Sequence Diagrams
Dan Fleck
Coming up: Interaction Diagrams
Interaction Diagrams
UML Specifies a number of interaction
diagrams to model dynamic aspects of the
system
Dynamic aspects of the system
Messages moving among objects/classes
Flow of control among objects
Sequences of events
Coming up: Dynamic Diagram Types
Dynamic Diagram Types
Interaction Diagrams - Set of objects or roles and the
messages that can be passed among them.
Sequence Diagrams - emphasize time ordering
Communication Diagrams - emphasize structural
ordering
State Diagrams
State machine consisting of states, transitions, events
and activities of an object
Activity & Swimlane Diagrams
Emphasize and show flow of control among objects
Coming up: Sequence Diagrams
Sequence Diagrams
Describe the flow of messages, events, actions
between objects
Show concurrent processes and activations
Show time sequences that are not easily depicted
in other diagrams
Typically used during analysis and design to
document and understand the logical flow of your
system
Emphasis on time ordering!
Sequence Diagram
Coming up: Components
Sequence Diagram
Time Increasing -->
All lines should be horizontal to indicate
instantaneous actions. Additionally if ActivityA
happens before ActivityB, ActivityA must be above
activity A
Lower = Later!
Coming up: Components
Diagonal Lines
:Student :Registration
System
Time=A GetDetails()
Time=B
What does this mean?
Do you typically care?
Components
Objects: aStudent is a specific
instance of the Student class
Generic (unnamed)
Specific Generic
objects(unnamed)
Instance of an objects of class type Seminar
Object and Course
Coming up: Components
Components
execution
lifeline
Coming up: Components
Components
Method call
Return value
Coming up: Components
Components
c : Client o : ODBCProxy
create() : Transaction
setActions(a, b, c)
setValues(a, 3, 4)
setValues(b, c, 7)
(committed)
destroy()
create()
destroy()
Synchronous message
Asynchronous message
Coming up: Components: Guards
Return message
Async Message Example
There are problems here what are they?
Synchronous message
Asynchronous message
Coming up: Components: Guards
Return message
Components: alt/else
Coming up: Components: option
Components: option
Coming up: Components: loop
Components: loop
Coming up: In class exercise
Rules of thumb
Rarely use options,loops,alt/else
These constructs complicate a diagram and make them
hard to read/interpret.
Frequently it is better to create multiple simple diagrams
Create sequence diagrams for use cases when it
helps clarify and visualize a complex flow
Remember: the goal of UML is communication and
understanding
Summary
Sequence diagrams model object interactions with an
emphasis on time ordering
Method call lines
Must be horizontal!
Vertical height matters! Lower equals Later
Label the lines
Lifeline dotted vertical line
Execution bar bar around lifeline when code is running
Arrows
Synchronous call (youre waiting for a return value) triangle arrow-
head
Asynchronous call (not waiting for a return) open arrow-head
Return call dashed line
Coming up: In class exercise
In class exercise
Draw a sequence diagram for:
In Beauty and the Beast kitchen items came to
life. Draw a sequence diagram for making a
peanut butter and jelly sandwich if the following
objects are alive: knife, peanut butter jar (and
peanut butter), jelly jar (and jelly), bread, plate. I
may or may not want the crusts cut off. Dont
forget to open and close things like the jars, and
put yourself away, cleanup, etc
Coming up: In class exercise
In class exercise
Draw a sequence diagram for:
Returning a movie to Netflix. When you return
it a person scans it in, the s/w detects that
and then goes through a sequence of steps to
get the new movie to you. Think of the
different classes that would be involved:
Queue, Shipping, Inventory, UserAccount,
other classes??
Coming up: In class exercise
In class exercise
Draw a sequence diagram for:
Adding a picture to Flickr (or any online image
database). Login, pick an album, upload a picture,
etc Think about the software classes that would be
involved WebGUI (think of this as reporting what the
user does), UserAccount, Album, AlbumList, etc
Dont forget to check and update their current disk
usage. For this diagram show the check coming back
as acceptable.. you would do a second diagram for
them running over quota.
Coming up: In class exercise
In class exercise
Draw a sequence diagram for:
Getting on a flight. Start at home, check in at
the counter, go through security, and end up at
the gate. (If you have time during the exercise,
get yourself to your seat.)
You may get searched in security
Coming up: In class exercise
In class exercise
Draw a sequence diagram for:
Getting money from an ATM machine
Treat each part of the ATM as a class
Money dispenser
Screen
Keypad
Bank computer
Etc
Coming up: References
References
Example diagrams from:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational
/library/3101.html
Also see Booch G.,The Unified Modeling
Language User Guide, ch 19.
Coming up: References
