BCIS 4610 Visible Analyst Tutorial 2010
Part 9. Relating DFDs to ERDs
This tutorial is based on the following DFD and ERD.
Our task is to show the composition of our data stores and data flows in terms of elements of
our data model (Attributes of entities).
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BCIS 4610 Visible Analyst Tutorial 2010
1. On your DFD, right-click on the Data store “Store” and
select define. A define Item dialog will appear.
2. Click on the add attribute icon. The attributes for
stores dialog will appear.
3. Click on the search button. A list of available data elements will appear.
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BCIS 4610 Visible Analyst Tutorial 2010
4. Select Store Id and press enter (or double click). Store ID will now appear as an attribute of
a data store. Click OK. Save and close the Defne Item Dialog.
5. Repeat these steps for each data store and data flow on you Level 0 DFD.
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BCIS 4610 Visible Analyst Tutorial 2010
Part 10. Printing repository reports.
1. With your project open in Visible Analyst, on the menu bar go to Repository>Reports. A
repository reports dialog box will open.
2. In order to produce a data
flow report, select “Data Flow”
as project scope, “Detailed
listing” as report type, “All
Standard DFD types” as included
types and Single diagram for
report scope.
3. Check Preview and press
print. Your report will appear in
Internet Explorer. Save the
report as a PDF, print and add to
your Interim Report.
4. Similarly create and Entity Relationship Report, by selecting “Entity Relationship as a
project scope, and “All” as included types.
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BCIS 4610 Visible Analyst Tutorial 2010
Par 11. Creating a CRUD matrix.
The educational version of the Visible Analyst does not allow automatic creation of a CRUD
matrix. Therefore, you will need to create it manually.
CRUD matrix shows how data from your ERD entities is created (C), retrieved (R), updated (U)
or deleted (D) when your DFD processes are executed.
1. In order to create a CRUD matrix, create a table (in Word or Excel). In addition to title
column and row, your table should have as many rows as the number of processes on your
Level 0 DFD, and as many columns as the number of entities in your ERD (including associative
and attributive entities). So for our example with 5 processes and 3 entities, we will create a
6x4 table.
EMPLOYEE
STORE
TIMECARD
1. Add Employee
2. Edit Employee
3. Add Store
4. Edit Store
5. Add timecard
2. Now, complete the matrix, by indicating which data is created, updated, retrieved or
deleted by each of the processes.
EMPLOYEE
1. Add Employee
C
2. Edit Employee
UD
STORE
3. Add Store
C
4. Edit Store
UD
5. Add timecard
R
R
TIMECARD
C
3. Make sure that your CRUD matrix is consistent with your data flows on your DFD.
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