Documentation Techniques
• Documentation in a CB environment is
necessary for many reasons.
• Five common documentation techniques:
– Entity Relationship Diagram
– Data Flow Diagrams
– Document Flowcharts
– System Flowcharts
– Program Flowcharts
Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)…
• is a documentation technique to represent the
relationship between entities in a system.
• The REA model version of ERD is widely used in
AIS. REA uses 3 types of entities:
– resources (cash, raw materials)
– events (release of raw materials into the
production process)
– agents (inventory control clerk, vendor,
production worker)
Cardinalities…
• represents the numerical mapping between
entities:
– one-to-one
– one-to-many
– many-to-many
Cardinalities
Entity Relationship Entity
Sales- 1 1 Car
Assigned Type
person
1 M
Customer Places Order
M M
Vendor Supply Inventory
Data Flow Diagrams (DFD)…
• use symbols to represent the processes, data
sources, data flows, and entities in a system
• represent the logical elements of the system
• do not represent the physical system
Data Flow Diagram Symbols
Entity Data Store
Name Name
N
Process
Description Direction of
data flow
Documents Flowcharts…
• illustrate the relationship among processes
and the documents that flow between them
• contain more details than data flow diagrams
• clearly depict the separation of functions in a
system
Symbol Set for Document Flowcharts
Terminal showing source Calculated batch total
or destination of documents
and reports
Source document or
report
On-page connector
Manual operation
Off-page connector
File for storing source Description of process
documents and or comments
reports
Accounting records
Document flowline
(journals, registers,
logs, ledgers)
Sales Department Credit Department Warehouse Shipping Department
Customer
Customer
Order
Prepare
Sales
Orders
Sales
Order #1
Sales
Sales
Order #1
OrderSales
#1
Order #1
First Stages in Constructing Document Flowchart Showing Areas
of Activity
Sales Department Credit Department Warehouse Shipping Department
Sales A
Customer
Order #1 Sales
Order2
Customer Sales
Checks
Order Credit Order 4
Credit
Records Sales
Picks Stock
Prepare Records Order3
Goods
Sales
Orders Signed Sales
Order #1
Customer Sales Picks
Order Order2 Goods
Sales
Order #1
Sales
Sales
Order #1
OrderSales
#1 Sales
Order #1 Order 4
Sales
Signed Sales Order3
N Order #1
Sales
Order2 N
Distribute
SO and
File A
Customer
Sales Customer
Order
Signed Sales
Order #1 Order 4
Sales Finished Document Flowchart
Order3
Sales Showing Areas of Activity
N
Order2
System Flowcharts…
• are used to represent the relationship
between the key elements--input sources,
programs, and output products--of computer
systems
• depict the type of media being used (paper,
magnetic tape, magnetic disks, and terminals)
• in practice, not much difference between
document and system flowcharts
Systems Flowchart Symbols
Terminal input/
Hard copy
output device
Computer process
Process flow
Real-time
Direct access storage (online)
device connection
Video display
device
Magnetic tape
Sales Department Computer Operations Department Warehouse Shipping Department
Customer
Edit and Credit File
Credit Check
Customer
Order
Sales
Orders
Terminal
AR File
Update
Program
Inventory
First Stages in Constructing System Flowchart Showing
Areas of Activity
Sales Department Computer Operations Department Warehouse Shipping Department
Customer Sales A
Edit and Credit File Order1
Credit Check
Customer Sales
Order Order 3
Picks Stock Sales
Sales Records Order2
Goods
Orders
Terminal
AR File
Update Sales Picks
Program Order1 Goods
Customer Inventory Sales
Order Order2
Sales
Order3
N A
N
Sales Sales
Order 3 Order1
Sales
Order2
Sales
Order1
Customer
Finished System Flowchart Showing All Facts
Translated into Visual Symbols
Program Flowcharts…
illustrate the logic used in programs
Program Flowchart Symbols
Terminal start or
Logical process
end operation
Input/output
operation
Decision
Flow of logical
process
