Re: Use Cases - question about the process

[Tim Janik <timj gtk org>]

On Sun, 8 Feb 2004, Henning Sprang wrote:

> Hy,
> when getting started with the UseCases documentation and analysys for
> beast some questions are raising up and I wonder if anybody has an idea
> about this

> * how should a use case be documented? What questions must the
> information therein answer? maybe write these rules down here, so it's
> more clear what is the way we describe our things on this page

you could try googeling on the issue or simply read up in literature
on use cases. basically a use case is a short description of valid
tasks, people should be able to accomplish with a program.

> * if i have a UseCase, do i have everything documented that is needed to
> start writing the code that makes it happen?

no, not at all. based on the use case, you can try to produce GUI mockups,
reflecting what you think program interaction may look like to accomplish
the task at hand. at that point, someone familliar with the overall
structure of the program (e.g. me) will have to judge how viable a
mockup/implementation is, what's required on the GUI side (BEAST) to realize
ideas from teh mockup and what functionality of the model is missing (BSE)
to implement the scenario.

> * what is the difference between a requirements document, a use case

a requirements document is usually a bullet
list of items a program has to fullfill when handed over to the
customer. we don't have any such relationship and not a formal
requirements document either.

> collection and a "storyboard" for sequences of actions users want/need
> to perform to accomplish their tasks?

to contrast a story board from a use case, the board more focusses on a
specific task for a specific user. it then describes the sequence of
actions necessary for the user to get the task accomplished. this can be
accompanied by small pictures actually showing the user do things.
the main purpose of a story board is to get potentiall computer-illiterate
customers (or employees of a customer) familliar with the plans of the
programmers and to figure whether the program correctly fits into the
normal workflow.

> * is there already y formal "requirements" document for beast? is it the
> TODO file in CVS?

no and no. currently the TODO is used to:
- list more or less critical bugs/FIXMEs for me
- list todo items of the documentation system
- list rough/speculative bullet points on future plans/ideas
- list todo/fixme items of the idl compiler mostly for stefan

>
> i appreciate every idea or comment,
>
> Henning
>

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ciaoTJ