CSEN2091 OOSE Based Application Development

Experiment. 4

State chart and Activity Modelling

Aim:
To learn about the different components of activity diagram and state chart diagram and how these can
be used to represent the dynamic nature of an information system.

State Chart Diagrams

In the case of Object Oriented Analysis and Design, a system is often abstracted by one or more classes
with some well-defined behaviour and states. A Statechart diagram is a pictorial representation of such
a system, with all it's states, and different events that lead transition from one state to another.
Statechart diagrams are normally drawn to model the behaviour of a complex system. For simple
systems this is optional.

Building Blocks of a Statechart Diagram

State: A state is any "distinct" stage that an object (system) passes through in it's lifetime. An object
remains in a given state for finite time until "something" happens, which makes it to move to another
state. All such states can be broadly categorized into following three types:
• Initial: The state in which an object remain when created
• Final: The state from which an object do not move to any other state [optional]
• Intermediate: Any state, which is neither initial, nor final

An initial state is represented by a circle filled with black. An intermediate state is depicted by a
rectangle with rounded corners. A final state is represented by a unfilled circle with an inner black-
filled circle.
Intermediate states usually have two compartments, separated by a horizontal line, called the name
compartment and internal transitions compartment. They are described below:

GITAM Deemed to be University, Bengaluru

CSEN2091 OOSE Based Application Development

• Name compartment: Contains the name of the state, which is a short, simple, descriptive
string
• Internal transitions compartment: Contains a list of internal activities performed if the
system is in this state
The internal activities are indicated using the following syntax: action-label / action-expression. Action
labels could be any condition indicator. There are, however, four special action labels:
• Entry: Indicates activity performed when the system enter this state
• Exit: Indicates activity performed when the system exits this state
• Do: indicate any activity that is performed while the system remain in this state or until the
action expression results in a completed computation
• Include: Indicates invocation of a sub-machine
Any other action label identify the event (internal transition) as a result of which the corresponding
action is triggered. Internal transition is almost similar to self transition, except that the former doesn't
result in execution of entry and exit actions. That is, system doesn't exit or re-enter that state.

States could again be either simple or composite (a state congaing other states). Here, however, we will
deal only with simple states.

Transition: Transition is movement from one state to another state in response to an external stimulus
(or any internal event). A transition is represented by a solid arrow from the current state to the next
state. It is labeled by event [guard-condition]/[action-expression], where
• Event is the what is causing the concerned transition (mandatory) -- Written in past tense
• Guard-condition is (are) precondition(s), which must be true for the transition to happen
• Action-expression indicate action(s) to be performed as a result of the transition
It may be noted that if a transition is triggered with one or more guard-condition(s), which evaluate to
false, the system will continue to stay in the present state. Also, not all transitions do result in a state
change.
Action: Actions represents behaviour of the system. While the system is performing any action for the

GITAM Deemed to be University, Bengaluru

CSEN2091 OOSE Based Application Development

current event, it doesn't accept or process any new event. The order in which different actions are
executed, is given below:
• Exit actions of the present state
• Actions specified for the transition
• Entry actions of the next state

Guidelines for drawing Statechart Diagrams

Following steps could be followed to draw a statechart diagram:
• For the system to developed, identify the distinct states that it passes through
• Identify the events (and any precondition) that cause the state transitions. Often these would be
the methods of a class as identified in a class diagram.
• Identify what activities are performed while the system remains in a given state

Activity Diagrams
Activity diagrams fall under the category of behavioural diagrams in Unified Modeling Language. It is
a high level diagram used to visually represent the flow of control in a system. It has similarities with
traditional flow charts. However, it is more powerful than a simple flow chart since it can represent
various other concepts like concurrent activities, their joining, and so on.

Activity diagrams, however, cannot depict the message passing among related objects. As such, it can't
be directly translated into code. These kind of diagrams are suitable for confirming the logic to be
implemented with the business users. These diagrams are typically used when the business logic is
complex. In simple scenarios it can be avoided entirely.

Components of an Activity Diagram

Activity: An activity denotes a particular action taken in the logical flow of control. This could simply
be invocation of a mathematical function, alter an object's properties and so on [x]. An activity is
represented with a rounded rectangle, as shown in table-01. A label inside the rectangle identifies the
GITAM Deemed to be University, Bengaluru
CSEN2091 OOSE Based Application Development

corresponding activity.
There are two special type of activity nodes: initial and final. They are represented with a filled circle,
and a filled in circle with a border respectively. Initial node represents the starting point of a flow in an
activity diagram. There could be multiple initial nodes, which means that invoking that particular
activity diagram would initiate multiple flows.
A final node represents the end point of all activities. Like an initial node, there could be multiple final
nodes. Any transition reaching a final node would stop all activities.

Flow: A flow (also termed as edge, or transition) is represented with a directed arrow. This is used to
depict transfer of control from one activity to another, or to other types of components, as we will see
below. A flow is often accompanied with a label, called the guard condition, indicating the necessary
condition for the transition to happen. The syntax to depict it is [guard condition].

Decision: A decision node, represented with a diamond, is a point where a single flow enters and two
or more flows leave. The control flow can follow only one of the outgoing paths. The outgoing edges
often have guard conditions indicating true-false or if-then-else conditions. However, they can be
omitted in obvious cases. The input edge could also have guard conditions. Alternately, a note can be
attached to the decision node indicating the condition to be tested.

Merge: This is represented with a diamond shape, with two or more flows entering, and a single flow
leaving out. A merge node represents the point where at least a single control should reach before
further processing could continue.

Fork: Fork is a point where parallel activities begin. For example, when a student has been registered
with a college, he can in parallel apply for student ID card and library card. A fork is graphically
depicted with a black bar, with a single flow entering and multiple flows leaving out.

Join: A join is depicted with a black bar, with multiple input flows, but a single output flow. Physically
it represents the synchronization of all concurrent activities. Unlike a merge, in case of a join all of the
incoming controls must be completed before any further progress could be made. For example, a sales
order is closed only when the customer has receive the product, and the sales company has received it's
payment.

GITAM Deemed to be University, Bengaluru

CSEN2091 OOSE Based Application Development

Note: UML allows attaching a note to different components of a diagram to present some textual
information. The information could simply be a comment or may be some constraint. A note can be
attached to a decision point, for example, to indicate the branching criteria.

Partition: Different components of an activity diagram can be logically grouped into different areas,
called partitions or swimlanes. They often correspond to different units of an organization or different
actors. The drawing area can be partitioned into multiple compartments using vertical (or horizontal)
parallel lines. Partitions in an activity diagram are not mandatory.

The following table shows commonly used components with a typical activity diagram.

GITAM Deemed to be University, Bengaluru

CSEN2091 OOSE Based Application Development

Apart from the above stated components, there are few other components as well (representing events,
sending of signals, nested activity diagrams), which won't be discussed here. The reader is suggested
to go through [x] for further knowledge.

A Simple Example: Following figure shows a simple activity diagram with two activities. The figure
depicts two stages of a form submission. At first a form is filled up with relevant and correct
information. Once it is verified that there is no error in the form, it is then submitted. The two other
symbols shown in the figure are the initial node (dark filled circle), and final node (outer hollow circle
with inner filled circle). It may be noted that there could be zero or more final node(s) in an activity
diagram [ix].Activity diagram

Guidelines for drawing an Activity Diagram

The following general guidelines could be followed to pictorially represent a complex logic.
• Identify tiny pieces of work being performed by the system
• Identify the next logical activity that should be performed
• Think about all those conditions that should be made, and all those constraints that should be
satisfied, before one can move to the next activity
• Put non-trivial guard conditions on the edges to avoid confusion

GITAM Deemed to be University, Bengaluru