Video-Rental LTD case study

Video-Rental LTD is a small video rental store. The store lends videos to customers for a fee, and
purchases its videos from a local supplier. A customer wishing to borrow a video provides the
empty box of the video they desire, their
membership card, and payment payment is always with the credit card used to open the
customer account. The customer then returns the video to the store after watching it. If a loaned
video is overdue by a day the customer's credit card is charged, and a reminder letter is sent to
them. Each day after that a further card is made, and each week a reminder letter is sent. This
continues until either the customer returns the video, or the charges are equal to the cost of
replacing the video. New customers fill out a form with their personal details and credit card
details, and the counter staff give the new customer a membership card. Each new customer's
form is added to the customer file. The local video supplier sends a list of available titles to
Video-Rental LTD, who decide whether to send them an order and payment. If an order is sent
then the supplier sends the requested videos to the store.

Example Case Study Pizza Supreme

A large pizza business makes pizzas and sells them. The pizzas are manufactured and kept in
cold storage for not more than two weeks.
The business is split into a number of functional units. There is Production Control,
Manufacturing, Stores, Accounts, Sales, Shipping and Purchasing. Production Control are
responsible for organising which pizzas to produce in what order and in what quantity. They need
to schedule the production of the pizzas according to the current and expected sales orders
together with the number of pizzas already in Stores. Manufacturing take the raw materials from
the Stores and manufacture pizzas returning the completed goods to the Stores. Accounts deal
with the payments for the pizzas when delivered to the customer and the payment to the
suppliers of the raw materials. Sales deal with customer orders whilst Purchasing organise the
buying of raw material from suppliers. Shipping manage the packing and delivery of the goods to
the customer with a delivery note.

When a sales order is received by sales they record what is being ordered and by whom. They
also record the details of the expected date of delivery. Production Control access this
information and make sure that, if required, pizzas are produced by Manufacturing and are ready
in Stores for when the delivery needs to be made.

After the delivery is made Accounts make sure that the customer receives an invoice and that
payment for the invoice is received at which time a receipt is issued. Purchasing look at the
current stock of raw materials and by using current stock levels, supplier turn around times and
quantity to be ordered decide what needs to be ordered on a daily basis. Their aim is never to
run out of an ingredient but to minimise the amount of raw material kept in stock.

Casestudy
Correspondence courses

A college offers correspondence courses to students. Each course lasts 20 weeks and is based on
a weekly study module and progress test. At the end of the course students sit an invigilated
examination.

The college Registrar deals with enquiries and applications, and students applying who have
sufficient qualifications are asked to register by completing and submitting an application form.

After approval by the Academic Director, the application form is returned to the Registrar who
creates a student file. The Accounts department receive the application form and using
information from the student file creates an invoice that is sent to the student. Payments made
are registered on the invoice file. The first batch of student material and tests is issued from the
library only to students who have paid fees (this information is taken from the invoice file).

Progress tests are marked by academic staff and the results, together with comments, are sent
out with next weeks study block. The library will only issue study material/progress tests when a
student has returned test answers from the previous week.
Casestudy
Animal Park

The keepers in an animal park look after the feeding of the animals. Each animal is located in a
different area of the park. Each area has its own keeper who reports to the head keeper.

The head-keeper maintains a record of the sorts of food that each animal species or type in the
park should be fed, and in what quantities. There is no distinction made between different
animals of the same species. The keepers access the information so they know what to feed each
animal type. Each animal type may be given more than one type of food, and each type of food
may be fed to a number of animal types. Each day the keepers will take out the food needed for
the animals in their care and record this on the information system. These food types can be
perishable or non-perishable according to their shelf life. For example, fresh fruit and vegetables
would be perishable where tinned produce or cereals would be considered to be non-perishable.
The office staff keep a track of the food supplies. They monitor which foods are running low every
two or three days and draw up a list of that which needs to be ordered. In order to help them, the
information system contains details about re-order quantities and re-order levels. Sometimes
they may need to readjust their re-order levels.
A number of suppliers are used, and their names, addresses and telephone numbers are kept in
the system. Because of the large quantities required and the difficulty of obtaining some foods at
certain times of the year, there is more than one possible supplier for each type of food. Most of
the ordering is done via the telephone. A standard order form is then created. The order form
usually contains details of more than one food type to be ordered from a particular supplier. The
order also contains details of the date of the order and what quantities are required for each food
type.
When deliveries are received, the keepers check the delivery note against the goods received,
amend it if necessary and pass it on to the office. Here it is checked against the orders placed. It
they agree, this is recorded in the system. The office staff check the received orders against an
invoice sent by the supplier. If they agree, payment is be made. Any discrepancies are taken up
with the supplier, and the supplier's response is noted in the system. Most suppliers send an
invoice each month.

Casestudy

Doctors Surgery

A doctors surgery consists of five doctors a receptionist and a manager. They need an
information system to help them to run the facility.
A patient may ring the surgery to make an appointment with a doctor. Each patient nominally
has a doctor associated with him or her but they may often opt to see any doctor in the surgery
that is available. The receptionist sees which doctors are on duty on which days and offers
appointment alternatives from which the patient may choose. If an appointment is not available
within a short time and the patient must be seen quickly they are asked to attend an emergency
surgery that takes place every evening between 5 and 6 p.m. The appointment can be 5, 10 or
20 minutes long, dependent on the reported reason for seeing the doctor. This reason is recorded
on the system. Sometimes patients ring to cancel appointments. Appointments may be made for
up to six weeks in advance. Appointments that are more than 3 weeks old are automatically
deleted from the system. Some appointments are for a doctor to go and visit a patient at home
when the patient cannot come to the surgery. Every day one of the doctors is available for home
visits in the afternoon.
A record is kept of each patient and the treatments they have received for any ailments they
may have had. Here are recorded many details such as allergies, details of which drugs patients
have been administered in which quantities and when. Also relevant personal details of each
patient are recorded. Typically the doctor who sees a patient will want access to this information
before deciding on the relevant treatment to give. When the doctor prescribes treatment, details
will be recorded in the patients record.
Repeat prescriptions are automatically produced by the system and are available for collection at
the surgery by the patient. At any time a doctor may suspend or cancel the prescriptions.
Patients may register with the surgery providing the number registered to each doctor is not
above a certain maximum. Sometimes patients die or leave the area. In this case the patient is
removed from the system and their details are archived. The manager is responsible for dealing
with this aspect.
Suppose you are given the details of a small mail order catalogue system that allows people to
shop from home. When a customer receives the catalogue and wants to buy something, they can
telephone, fax or email their order to the company. The company gets the order and sends the
goods and an invoice. When the customer receives the goods with a delivery note, they send
payment and receive a receipt for their payment. The first thing we must do is model the main
outputs and sources of data in the scenario above. Then we draw the system box and name the
system. Next we identify the information that is flowing to the system and from the system.

Here is the Level 0 (also known as the context diagram) DFD for the Mail Order system:

When a patient arrives at Mosspark Surgery with a repeat prescription request, the receptionist
checks the prescription file and writes out a prescription. This has to be authorised by the doctor
before being passed to the resident chemist for dispensing. The chemist then gives the
prescription to the patient. If the patient is entitled to free prescriptions, the chemist verifies this
and fills in the appropriate details on a form, which is filed in the free prescriptions file. Otherwise
the chemist takes the appropriate amount of money from the patient and gives them a receipt.

Level 1 DFD
The next stage is to create the Level 1 Data Flow Diagram. This highlights the main functions
carried out by the system. As a rule, we try to describe the system using between two and seven
functions - two being a simple system and seven being a complicated system. This enables us to
keep the model manageable on screen or paper.

When FlashIT are interviewing and selecting new employees for their company, they ask
applicants to send their application forms and their CVs to personnel. The personnel department
then checks these forms for completeness and, if found to be complete, they are stored in the
applications file. Otherwise these forms are returned to applicants for resubmission.

The applications are then scrutinised for possible interviewees. Any candidates not considered
suitable for the post are sent a refusal letter. Suitable candidates are requested to come in for
interview. After interviews have taken place, a decision on the most suitable candidate is taken
and they are offered the post. The interviewees who have been unsuccessful are sent a refusal
letter.

The final stage in data flow modelling is to take each Level 1 Function and break it down into its
constituent parts. These parts are the fundamental Processes which make up the function.

Mavisbank High School has a library that lends books to staff and students. Pupils are allowed to
borrow six books and teachers are allowed to borrow ten. When someone borrows a book the
library book file is updated, as is the borrower file. Everyone issued with a book has it for a
period of one month, after which time they are sent a reminder. If, after six months, they haven't
returned the book, they are sent a bill for the cost of recovery of the book.
A Bank Manager actor provides New account details to the Open Account process which
results in Customer details being persisted in the Customer Database data store and
Account details being persisted in the Account Database data store. Although we have used
the phrase results in as part of this explanation, the DFD implies no such cause and effect; all it
shows is that the Open Account process can read in data from the Bank Manager interface
and write out data to the Customer Database and Account Database data stores in no
particular order.

A Customer actor using the Online Banking Login process must provide some data in the form
of a set of Login credentials such as a user name and password.

A Customer actor can receive a Money amount from the Withdraw process and can supply a
Money amount to the Deposit process; in either case causing (although this causation cannot
be explicitly modeled) an Account balance update to the Account Database data store.

A Customer actor can initiate the Transfer Funds process, to which he or she must provide an
Account destination and money amount. The Transfer Funds process can send a Money
amount to another bank via the Other Bank interface.

Just like the Customer actor, a Third Party actor can make use of the Deposit process (but
obviously not the Withdraw process) by supplying a Money amount.

Estate agency case study

Clients wishing to put their property on the market visit the estate agent, who will take details of
their house, flat or bungalow and enter them on a card which is filed according to the area, price
range and type of property .
Potential buyers complete a similar type of card which is filed by buyer name in an A4 binder.
Weekly, the estate agent matches the potential buyer requirements with the available
properties and
sends them the details of selected properties.
When a sale is completed, the buyer confirms that the contracts have been exchanged, client
details
are removed from the property file, and an invoice is sent to the client. The client receives the
top
copy of a three part set, with the other two copies being filed.
On receipt of the payment the invoice copies are stamped and archived. Invoices are checked on
a
monthly basis and for those accounts not settled within two months a reminder (the third copy of
the
invoice) is sent to the client.
Create a context diagram for this Estate Agency case study.
A discussion on this review question can be found at the end of this chapter.
Buses come to a garage for repairs.
A mechanic and helper perform the repair, record the reason for the repair and record the
total cost of all parts used on a Shop Repair Order.
Information on labor, parts and repair outcome is used for billing by the Accounting
Department, parts monitoring by the inventory management computer system and a
performance review by the supervisor.

Problems and Exercises Solutions


1. Using the example of a retail clothing store in a mall, list relevant data flows,
data stores, processes, and sources/sinks. Observe several sales transactions. Draw a
context diagram and a level-0 diagram that represent the selling system at the store.
Explain why you chose certain elements as processes versus sources/sinks.
A suggested context diagram and level-0 diagram are provided below.

Level-0 Diagram

 2. Choose a transaction that you are likely to encounter, perhaps ordering a cap and
gown for graduation, and develop a high-level DFD, or context diagram. Decompose this
to a level-0 diagram.
A suggested context diagram and a level-0 diagram are provided below.

Context Diagram

Level-0
Diagram

3. Evaluate your level-0 DFD from Problem and Exercise 2 using the rules for
drawing DFDs in this chapter. Edit your DFD so that it does not break any of these rules.
Students should go through the rules discussed in this chapter (and presented in Table 52
and Figure 56) one at a time and check each of their data-flow diagrams. Alternatively, if
the students are using a CASE tool to create their data-flow diagrams, the CASE tool may
be used to automatically check for errors in the diagrams. There are no rule violations in
the example DFDs, but we cannot verify that there are no logical problems until we
decompose the diagrams to a primitive level. One obvious missing system capability is
how to handle invalid orders; typically, processes to handle abnormal conditions, like
invalid orders, are shown on primitive or at least low-level diagrams.

4. Choose an example like that in Problem and Exercise 2, and draw a context
diagram. Decompose this diagram until it doesnt make sense to continue. Be sure that
your diagrams are balanced, as discussed in this chapter.

Level-1 Diagram

Students may choose a variety of situations to use for the nth level data-flow diagrams for
this answer. Basically, students should continue the process of decomposition until they
have reached the point where no subprocess can logically be broken down further (i.e.,
each process meets the definition of a primitive process). See the level-1 data-flow
diagram for this exercise, which shows a sample decomposition of the process titled
Finalize Order from the level-0 data-flow diagram provided for Problem and Exercise 3.
The (italicized) labels for processes and sources/sinks without borders represent the origin
or destination of flows that pass between this subsystem and other system components.
Note that the Goods Sold File is a potential black hole or should possibly be treated as a
sink.

 5.
Refer
to
Figure
5-22 A
and B,
which

contains drafts of a context and a level-0 DFD for a university class registration system.
Identify and explain potential violations of rules and guidelines on these diagrams.
Some errors and peculiarities in these diagrams include:

In the level0 diagram, the data store, Class Roster, does not have the data
flow, Scheduled Classes, flowing into it, rather this data flow connects processes
2 and 3; thus, these DFDs are not balanced.
Process 1 appears to accomplish nothing since its inflow and outflow are
identical; such processes are uninteresting and probably unnecessary; it is
possible that this process will become interesting when it is decomposed, where
validation and error handling processes might appear.
Process 2 does not appear to need Course Request as input in order to
perform its function, as implied by its name.
Some students may also wonder if process 3 has input sufficient to produce
its output; for example, where are prior class registrations kept so that process 3
can determine when a course is full?

6. Why should you develop both logical and physical DFDs for systems? What
advantage is there for drawing a logical DFD before a physical DFD for a new information
system?
Physical data-flow diagrams help you better understand the people and/or computer
systems that are used in the overall systems processing. Logical data-flow diagrams help
you better understand the essence of the system, the data and the processes that
transform them, regardless of actual physical form. Further, the new logical data-flow
diagrams can then show any additional functionality necessary in the new system, to
indicate which, if any, obsolete components have been eliminated, and any changes in the
logical flow of data between system components, including different data stores. The
data-flow diagrams for the new physical system can then be constructed with the data-
flow diagrams for the new logical system as a guide.

7. This chapter has shown you how to model, or structure, just one aspect, or
view, of an information system, namely the process view. Why do you think analysts have
different types of diagrams and other documentation to depict different views (e.g.
process, logic, and data) of an information system?
The various views (e.g., process, logic, data) of an information system each have their own
unique characteristics and provide the most relevant information to different information
system specialists. This variety is best understood, expressed, and managed by using
diagrams and documentation that are specifically tailored for each view of the system. For
example, data-flow diagrams are useful for capturing the flow of data through business
processes, but they are not useful for describing the forms and relationships among data.
As information systems become larger and more complex, it becomes even more
important to use the right tool and technique to develop each component of an
information system. One technique that captured all aspects of an information system
model on one diagram or in one notation would likely be too complex for systems
professionals to handle.

 8. Consider the DFD in Figure 523. List three errors (rule violations) on this
DFD.
Three major errors in Figure 523 are:

Process 1.0 (P2) has only inputs, making it a black hole.

Data flow DF5 should not move directly from source E1 to data store DS1 without first
going through a process.
Data flow DF1 should not move directly from source E1 to sink E2 without first going
through a process.
Other peculiarities (such as Process 1.0 has label P2 and the data store has only a
label, not a number) are only that, not errors.

9. Consider the three DFDs in Figure 524. List three errors (rule violations) on
these DFDs.
These diagrams show the decomposition of process P1 on the level-0 diagram. Three
particular logical errors in Figure 524 are:

The data store DS1, not DS2, should be represented on the level-1 diagram.
Data flow DF3 should be an outflow on the level-1 diagram, and data flow DF6 should
not be on the level-1 diagram.
Process P1.4.2 has no inputs and is thus a miracle.

10. Starting with a context diagram, draw as many nested DFDs as you consider
necessary to represent all the details of the employee hiring system described in the
following narrative. You must draw at least a context diagram and a level-0 diagram. In
drawing these diagrams, if you discover that the narrative is incomplete, make up
reasonable explanations to complete the story. Supply these extra explanations along
with the diagrams. (The Projects, Inc. narrative is provided in the textbook.)
A suggested context diagram and level-0 diagram are provided below.

Context-Level Diagram

11. a. Starting with a context diagram, draw as many nested DFDs as you consider
necessary to represent all the details of the system described in the following narrative. In
drawing these diagrams, if you discover that the narrative is incomplete, make up
reasonable explanations to complete the story. Supply these extra explanations along
with the diagrams. (The Maximum Software narrative is provided in the textbook.)
b. Analyze the DFDs you created in Part a. What recommendations for
improvements in the help desk system at Maximum can you make based upon this
analysis? Draw new logical DFDs that represent the requirements you would suggest for
an improved help desk system. Remember, these are to be logical DFDs, so consider
improvements independent of technology that can be used to support the help desk.
The sample context and level-0 data-flow diagrams represent one possible way to model
the help desk process described in this question. In our solution, we have chosen to
include the processes performed by the consultants and operators as subsystems within
the system rather than as sources/sinks; this adds detail, but allows bottlenecks in these
processes to be corrected. Note that the data stores are repeated in the level-0 diagram,
to avoid excessive crossing of data flow lines. Several processes could be exploded
further, but the student would probably have to make many assumptions to do so.

There are a number of ways that the students could choose to improve this system. For
example, with the current system a customer may have to explain his problem and/or
question over and over to multiple people: an operator and possibly several consultants.
The customer may begin to believe that he is getting the run-around characteristic of a
large bureaucracy. One way to avoid this potential problem is to let the initial operator
have access to the customer problem database so that when the caller is handed off to a
consultant the customers already opened problem file will go along with him. In addition,
the operator could have sufficient information and the option to direct the call to the
proper consultant. Alternatively, clients could call the assigned consultant directly on
follow-up calls to an initial call for help.

Ask your students for characteristics of a DFD that imply areas for improvement. Possible
answers are: processes that simply collect and pass on information rather than
transforming data, collecting the same information into several processes, placing
untransformed data into data stores thus causing unknown delays in processing this data,
or cycles or loops that have no apparent termination.

A suggested context diagram and level-0 diagram are provided below.

Context-Level Diagram

 b. Modify Hoosier Burgers level-0 diagram (Figure 55) to reflect the changes
mentioned in the case.
Although student answers will vary, a suggested answer is provided below.

c. Prepare level-1 diagrams to reflect the changes mentioned in the case.

Student answers will vary; to facilitate discussion, a level-1 diagram is provided below.


Level-1 Diagram

d. Exchange your diagrams with those of another class member. Ask your classmate
to review your diagrams for completeness and consistency. What errors did he or she
find? Correct these errors.
Encourage students to review the data-flow diagramming rules presented in Table 52.
Using these rules as a guide, students should then evaluate their classmates diagrams.

3. Evergreen Nurseries Case Exercises Solutions

a. Construct a context data-flow diagram, illustrating Evergreen Nurseries

wholesale system.
 Student interpretations will vary. A suggested answer follows.
Context-LevelDiagram

 b. Construct a level-0 diagram for Evergreen Nurseries wholesale system.

Student interpretations will vary; a suggested answer follows.

Level-
0Diagram
 c. Using the level-0 diagram that you constructed in part b, select one of the
level-0 processes, and prepare a level-1 diagram.

A suggested answer is provided below.

Level-1Diagram

d.

Exchange
your
diagrams
with those
of another
class
member.
Ask your
classmate
to review
your
diagrams
for

completeness and consistency. What errors did he or she find? Correct these errors.
Encourage your students to review the data-flow diagramming rules presented in Table 5
2. Using these rules as a guide, your students should then evaluate their classmates
diagrams.

Broadway Entertainment Co., Inc. Case Questions Solutions

1. Does the context diagram in BEC Figure 51 represent an accurate and

complete overview of the system as described in this case for requirements collected
during the analysis phase? If not, what is wrong or missing? If necessary, draw a new
context diagram in light of what is explained in this case. Why might a context diagram
initially drawn at the end of project initiation and planning need to be redrawn during the
analysis phase?
Please refer to the updated context diagram in Figure BEC Answer 51 at the end of this
section. There should be a data flow from the system to the Entertainment Tracker that
represents the request for a rental extension. There also needs to be a data flow from the
Entertainment Tracker to the system and one from the system to the customer to
represent the acceptance or denial of a rental extension request. There should also be a
data flow from the employee to the system representing the request for the list of new
products requested by customers. A data flow from the system to the employee should be
shown to represent the list of new products requested by the customers. There should be
a data flow from the Entertainment Tracker to the system representing the customers
sales and rental history. There should also be a data flow from the system to the customer
that represents the employees favorite picks. The context diagram might change during
the analysis phase, because new data flows and sources/sinks could be discovered after
more analysis of the requirements of the system is done.

2. In the context diagram of BEC Figure 5-1, why is the Rental Extension Request
data flow shown as an inflow to the system? Why is the Rental Status data flow shown as
an outflow from the system? Do you agree with these designations of the two data flows?
Why or why not?
The Rental Extension Request data flow is an inflow into the system because the data are
originating from an external source, the customer, and are input into the system. The
Rental Status data flow is an outflow from the system because the destination of that data
is the Customer sink. The student should agree with the designations of these data flows
because they logically represent the data moving between the customer and the system.
The Rental Extension Request will cause the system to generate the Rental Extension
Accept/Denial data flow. Rental Status is generated by a customer request, which is
assumed on this diagram, and would appear on some explosion diagram. Students may
recommend that a Rental Status Request data flow be added to the context diagram
shown in BEC Figure 51.

 3. The store manager is not shown in the context diagram in BEC Figure 51,
except implicitly as an Employee who enters Favorite Picks. Based on the descriptions in
this case, does it make sense that store manager does not appear on the context
diagram? If not on the context diagram, where might store manager appear? As an
external entity on a lower-level diagram? As a process or data store on a lower-level
diagram? Based on the description in this case, are there any external entities missing on
the context diagram of BEC Figure 51?
The distinction between the store manager and the other employees is not important in
describing this system and its interaction with external entities, so the store manager does
not need to exist as a separate source/sink from the employee source/sink. The store
manager cannot be added as a source/sink in a lower-level diagram because that would
unbalance the diagrams. The store manager should not be represented as a data store or
a process on a lower level diagram, because he/she does not store data or process data
with the system. There are no missing external entities on the context diagram that
directly interact with the system.

4. Based on the descriptions in this case of each data flow from the context
diagram, draw a level-0 data-flow diagram for MyBroadway using Microsoft Visio (begin by
drawing the context diagram, then explode to level-0). Be sure it is balanced with the
context diagram you might have drawn in answer to Question 1.
Suggested answers are provided below.
BEC Level0


5. Write
project dictionary
entries (using
standards given to
you by your
instructor) for all
the data stores
shown in the level-
0 diagram in your
answer for
Question 4. Are
there other data
stores hidden
inside processes
for your level-0
diagram? If so,
what kinds of data
do you anticipate
are retained in
these hidden data
stores? Why are these data stores hidden inside processes rather than appearing on the
level-0 diagram?
We do not provide an entry for every data store since each instructor may have different
expectations. Here is an example of a project dictionary entry for data store D1: Comment
File, typical of dictionary contents:

Definition
Identifier: Comment
Name: Comment File
Remark: Stores the comments that customers make about products. Comments are
qualitative statements that explain a customer's reactions to a product. Comments can be
positive or negative, or may simply describe, in the customer's own words, what he or she
considers to be the characteristics of the product, appropriateness for different audiences,
or quality.
Contents
Entity: Comment
Attributes: Comment ID, Comment, Date, Identifier of who made comment.

Another data store hidden inside a process is a New Product data store in the Process New
Product Request process.

6. Write project dictionary entries (using standards given to you by your

instructor) for all the data flows shown in the level-0 diagram in your answer to Question
4. How detailed are these entries at this point? How detailed must these entries be for
primitive DFDs?
Again, here is an example of a project dictionary entry for data flow Rental Extension
Request, typical of many project dictionary entries:

Name: Rental Extension Request

 Definition: The data needed by Entertainment Tracker to process a request by a customer
to extend the rental of a product.
Source Type: Function
Source Name: Process Rental Ext. Request
Destination Type: External
Destination Name: Entertainment Tracker
Entity: Rental
Attributes: Rental ID, Customer ID, Rental Date, Due Date, Number of days to extend.

7. Regarding your answer to Question 4, explain how you modeled the process
that receives the New Product Request data flow. Was this a difficult process to model on
the DFD? Did you consider several alternative ways to show this process? If so, explain
the alternatives and why you chose the representation you drew in the level-0 diagram for
Question 4.
It was a challenge to model the process that receives the New Product Request data flow
because it was necessary to decide on whether to include in that process the production of
the list of new products requested for the manager. The generation of that list should be
included in that process because it is very simple and closely tied to the New Product
Request data flow. Since a DFD shows no timing, there can be a delay between entry of
new requests and the production of the request list.

8. Look at your answer to Question 4 and focus attention on the process for the
Rental Extension Request data flow. Using Microsoft Visio, draw a level-1 diagram for this
process based on the description of this data flow in the case and in the following
explanation. A customer provides his or her customer number or name and a product
number or title and then MyBroadway finds in its records the rental information for this
customer's outstanding rental of this product, including the due date. Then the customer
may decide that he or she can return the item by the due date, in which case no request
for extension is made. If the customer decides to extend the due date, the customer can
request a one-day or two-day extension, each with a different fee, which will be due when
the product is returned. MyBroadway will then send a Rental Extension Request
transaction to Entertainment Tracker as if it were a point-of-sale terminal from which the
same request was being made. Entertainment Tracker may reject the request if the
customer has delinquent fees. Once Entertainment Tracker makes its decision, it returns a
code to MyBroadway indicating a yes or the reason for a no to the request. If the decision
is no, the customer is given a message to explain rejection. If yes, MyBroadway rental
data are updated to reflect the extension, and the user is given a confirmation message.
Please refer to the Level-1 DFD for the Process Rental Extension Request below.

BEC Level-1

9. Does your answer to Question 7 necessitate any changes to your answer to

Question 4? If so, what are these changes? Prepare a new level-0 diagram for
MyBroadway.
The answer does not necessitate changes.

 10. Investigate the capabilities of Microsoft Visio to store and report project dictionary
entries for objects on data-flow diagrams. What capabilities of CASE tools does Visio not
provide?
Student answers will vary.