Presented By –

M.M. Rakibul Hasan

Faculty, CSE, IUBAT University
 Introduction to DFD
• What is DFD?

– A data flow diagram is a graphical depiction of flow

of data through intended software system and is
used as 1st step to create an overview of system.

– It’s really useful as it provides overview of data as

well as functionality to software designers

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 2
 Components Of DFD: Entity
• External Entities:
– They could be a person (facebook users), another
software( like facebook) or a hardware ( sensors)
which provide to or consume information from the
intended software.
– Represented by rectangle:
• Must be named
• No direct data flow between two entities ever.

User
M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 3
 Components Of DFD: Process
• A circle (sometimes called a bubble) represents a
process or transform that is applied to data and
changes it in some way.
• The basic rules:
– It must be properly labeled
– It must not be repeated in a diagram

Ticket School
Management
Booking System

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 4
 Components Of DFD: Data Flow
• The basic rules:
– Data flows can’t be bidirectional, i.e the input data
flow and the output data flow for a process, data
store or for an entity should always be different.
– The data flows should always be labelled
– The labels should be precise and informative
– You can join two similar input data flows(join) or two
similar output data flows (fork)

Login info
User Login Login status

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 5
 Components Of DFD: Data Store
• Data stores are places where data may be
stored. This information may be stored either
temporarily or permanently by the user.
• They are internal to the system.
• The basic rules:
– Never shown in context level diagram
– No direct data flows between two data sources
– Symbol:
DB university

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 6
 DFD General rules
• Basic rules that apply to all DFDs:

– No internal logic should be shown like loops, if-else, this is not

a flow chart
– In order to keep the diagram uncluttered, you can repeat data
stores and external entities
– No process can have only output data flows (a miracle).
– No process can have only input data flows (black hole).
– Data cannot be moved directly from one store to another
without a process.
– Data cannot move directly from an external entity to a data
store without a process.
– Data stores can’t be sink( only input data flows) or source (
only output data flows) in level 1 DFD

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 7
 Context Level Diagram
• A level 0 DFD, also called a fundamental system
model or a context model.
• It represents the entire software element as a single
process with input and output data.
• All the external entities should be identified and
shown.
• Rule:
– Only one process
– Data flows should be labeled.
– No data store can be shown in context diagram

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 8
 Context Level Diagram for CRS
Context Diagram for Course Registration System:

Courses & other info.

Faculty Students
01
Course
Registration
System Class schedule
Class list

Registrar

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 9
 Level 1 DFD
• The level 1 DFD we construct is a more refined version
of the context diagram.
• It covers the entire system, all the main processes are
shown
• The DFD should be balanced with respect to context
diagram
– No new external entities should be there
– The data flows from context diagrams should be visible
• Rules:
– It should consists of 5-9 processes(bubbles).
– Repetition of data sources is allowed.
– Process can not be repeated.
M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 10
 Level 1 DFD for CRS
Level 1 DFD: Student Record
Course perquisite info DB university
Students
Semester
Courses & Individual Course Course info
Other info. Registration
Information 2
1
Compile
Enroll Information
Students
Schedules Registrar
Class Lists

Students Faculty

Note: External entity Students is replicated to avoid crossing lines

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 11
 Level 2 DFD
• Only those processes that merit being expanded
need to have level 2 DFDs .
• Level 2 DFD completely describes any one
process from the level 1 DFD.
• Rules:
– All the data flows into and out of selected process
on the level 1 DFD also appear on the level 2 DFD
– Repetition of data sources is allowed.
– A Data store can appear as a sink or source within
level 2 DFD
M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 12
 Level 2 DFD for CRS
Level 2 DFD Process 1 (Enroll Students):
Courses &
Other info. DT Student Records DT Course Prereqs

1.1
Obtain List of 1.2
Student Preferences
Preferences Check
Eligibility

Eligible Students

1.3
Enroll
Students in
Class Individual course registration
information
M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 13
 Check List
• There are many errors that may occur when
drawing data flow diagrams.

– External entities must be people or systems that

send information to or accept information form the
system to be engineered

– Check the direction of data flows to and from data

stores

– Data flows must always be labelled with the data

they contain. Do not put verbs in the data flow
description as this implies a process
M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 14
 Check List Continued..
– Parent and child diagrams should be consistent.
– Make sure each process has at least one input and
one output.
– Each data store should have at least one input and
one output on the DFDs somewhere.
– Each process name should start with a verb

M.M. Rakibul Hasan, Faculty, IUBAT University CSC-387 [System Analysis and Design] 15
Thank You