Tutorial

Case Study 1

Precision Tools sells a line of high-quality woodworking tools. When customers place
orders on the company’s Web site, the system checks to see if the items are in stock,
issues a status message to the customer, and generates a shipping order to the warehouse,
which fills the order. When the order is shipped, the customer is billed. The system also
produces various reports.

1. Draw a context diagram for the order system.

2. Draw a diagram 0 DFD for the order system.

Case Study 2

University Library Borrowing System

The system will record the books owned by the library and will record who has borrowed
what books. Before someone can borrow a book, they must show a valid ID card that is
checked to ensure that it is still valid against the student, faculty/staff database or guest
database. The system must also check to ensure the borrower does not have any overdue
books or unpaid fines before he or she can borrow another book. Every Monday, the
library prints and mails postcards to those people with overdue books. If a book is
overdue by more than 2 weeks, a fine will be imposed, and a librarian will telephone the
borrower to remind him or her to return the book(s). Sometimes, books are lost or are
returned in damaged condition. The manager must then remove them from the database
and will sometime impose a fine on the borrower.

1. Create the Context Diagram for the system.

2. Create the Level 0 Data Flow Diagram for the system.
(Note: You should include all major processes in your Level 0 diagram.)

Case Study 3

The pharmacy at Mercy Hospital fills medical prescriptions for all patients and distributes
these medications to the nurse stations responsible for the patient's care. Medical
prescriptions are written by doctors and sent to the pharmacy. A pharmacy technician
reviews the prescriptions and sends them to the appropriate pharmacy station.
Prescriptions for drugs that must be formulated (made on site) are sent to the lab stations,
prescriptions for off the shelf drugs are sent to the shelving station, and prescription for
narcotics are sent to the secure station.

At each station, a pharmacist reviews the order, check the patient's file to determine the
appropriateness of the prescriptions, and fills the order if the dosage is at a safe level and
is will not negatively interact with the other medications or allergies indicated in the
patient's file. If the pharmacist does not fill the order, the prescribing doctor is contacted
to discuss the situation. In this case, the order may ultimately be filled or the doctor may
write another prescription depending on the outcome of the discussion. Once filled, a
prescription label is generated listing the patient's name, the drug type, and dosage, an
expiration date, and any special instructions. The label is placed on the drug container
and the orders are sent to the appropriate nurse stations. The patients admission number,
the drug type and amount dispensed, and the cost of the prescription are then sent to the
billing department.

From the problem statement above, answer the following questions.

1. Draw a DFD context diagram for the system.

2. Draw a DFD level 0 diagram.
3. Draw a DFD level 1 diagram.