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Exploring a Workflow
<< Key Concepts | Starting with Actors and Use Cases >>
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Chapter 3 - Learning About the Rational Unified Process
A role is defined as the behavior and responsibilities of an individual or a group
of individuals on a project team. One person can act in the capacity of several
roles over the course of a project. Conversely, many people can act in the
capacity of a single role in a project. Roles are responsible for creating artifacts.
A workflow is the sequence of activities that workers perform toward a common
goal. A workflow diagram serves as a high-level map for a set of related activities.
The arrows between activities represent the typical, though not required, flow
of work between activities.
An activity is a unit of work that is performed by a particular role. It is a set of
ordered steps, like a recipe, for creating an artifact.
An artifact is something a role produces as the result of performing an activity.
In RUP, the artifacts produced in one activity are often used as input into other
activities. An artifact can be small or large, simple or complex, formal or
informal. Examples of artifacts are: a test plan, a vision document, a model of a
system's architecture, a script that automates builds, or application code.
3
Below the diagram, scroll to the first section, Software Engineering Process, and read
it for a quick summary of the Rational Unified Process.
Exploring a Workflow
Exercise: Explore the Requirements discipline.
RUP provides guidance on how to enhance existing systems. During this tutorial, you
use RUP guidelines to work on refining the online store application, ClassicsCD.com.
Display the workflow diagram for Requirements:
1
In the tree browser, go to Disciplines > Requirements to display the Requirements
workflow diagram, as shown in Figure 9.
Workflow detail diagrams show the roles involved, the artifacts used as input, the
resulting artifacts, and the activities that make up this part of the overall
workflow. For more information about any of these elements, click that area of the
diagram.
2
On the diagram, scroll to the bottom of the diagram, then click
Refine the System Definition
to display workflow details (see Figure 9).