


DFD depicts the logical flow of information in the system.The following are the advantages of using the data flow diagrams:
ACTIVITY DIAGRAM DATA STORE SOFTWARE
It describes the physical requirements of the system containing hardware and software specifications, people involved in the system, etc. Physical DFD – A physical DFD describes how the system will be implemented, information that is used to build a system.Datastores describe data storage locations without explaining how it is stored. These diagrams also contain external entities, data stores, and data flows between the entities and processes. In this diagram, the processes are business activities. Logical DFD – A Logical DFD describes how the business operates.From entities, the information flows into the system (also known as a source) or the entities receive data from the system (also known as a sink). Entities are represented using rectangles.ĭata flow diagrams can be categorized into two types: External Entities – An external entity can be a person, organization, or system that is external to the system.Please note that this tutorial follows Gane and Sarson’s style of symbols developed by Chris Gane and Trish Sarson. We use the following basic elements or DFD symbols to describe how the data flows in a system. External devices or systems that interact with the system by sending and receiving the data.It shows the current system or the new system to be developed visually.įollowing are the major DFD Symbols or the elements of Data flow diagram. It is used by the analysts, customers, and developers to understand the requirements more clearly mainly during the requirements gathering and analysis phase of the SDLC. The data flow diagram is used to model a perspective of the system that can be easily understood by the non-technical users as the symbols and syntax used in DFD are simple. DFD also describes inputs and outputs of the process and where the data will be stored. One such process modeling technique is data flow diagramming.Ī data flow diagram (DFD) graphically describes business processes and the flow of information that passes among them. It can be used for the as-is system or to-be system. In other words, it is a graphical representation of how the system should operate. DFD Symbols | Data Flow Diagram SymbolsĪ process model is used to describe system activities and the flow of data among them.
