JPH06337770A - Confirmation assisting device for data analytic design information - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make verifying operation efficient by easily understanding the flow of data and the relation among data even in a complicated diagram. CONSTITUTION:This device has a 1st design information retrieval part 7 which retrieves diagram information including data specified on a specification screen in a design information data base 1, a 1st confirmation information display control part 8 which displays the retrieved diagram information on a display device 3 while emphasizing specified data with a thick line, etc., a data structure retrieval part 9 which retrieves structure information regarding the specified data in a data dictionary 2, a 2nd design information retrieval part 10 which retrieves diagram information including data relating to the data specified on the specification screen in the design information data base 1 on the basis of the retrieved data structure information, and a 2nd confirmation information display control part 11 which displays the diagram information retrieved by the 2nd design information retrieval part 10 on the display device 3 while emphasizing the data relating to the specified data with a thick life, etc.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data analysis design information confirmation support device for supporting confirmation work of data analysis design information (diagram) used in software development.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in software development, software analysis and design work are performed using diagrams such as a data flow diagram, a control flow diagram, and a data relation diagram. In such a diagram,
In particular, data flow diagrams and data relation diagrams are important for clarifying the flow of data and the relation between data in analysis and design work on data.

However, in recent years, with the large scale and complexity of software, the diagrams themselves have become very complicated and difficult to understand, and the flow of data between the diagrams and the relation between the data can be understood and the diagrams can be understood. It is difficult to verify the legitimacy of.

On the other hand, as a means for organizing such complicated data, the structure and attributes of data (including terms) handled by the system (parent-child relationship between data, etc.)
A data dictionary that can define is used.

However, since the data dictionary itself exists independently, the work of associating the relationship between the contents of the data dictionary and the diagram is performed manually. Therefore, as the diagram becomes more complex, this is no easy task.

[0006]

As described above, in the past, many of the diagrams created through data analysis and design work are complicated, and it is difficult to efficiently understand the contents and verify the legitimacy. Met.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to easily understand the flow of data and the relation between data even in a complicated diagram, and to improve the efficiency of the diagram verification work. The purpose is to provide a confirmation support device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the data analysis design information confirmation support device of the first invention stores diagram information in which diagram information created through data analysis and design work is stored. Storage means,
The data structure information storage means that stores the structure information of each data included in the diagram information, the specifying means that specifies the data to be confirmed in the diagram information, and the structure information of the data specified by the specifying means is the data structure information. A data structure retrieving means for retrieving from the storage means, and a diagram for retrieving diagram information including data related to the data designated by the designating means from the diagram information storage means based on the structure information retrieved by the data structure retrieving means. The information retrieval means and the display means for displaying the diagram information retrieved by the diagram information retrieval means while emphasizing the data related to the designated data.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the data analysis design information confirmation support device of the second invention is a diagram information storage means for storing diagram information created through data analysis and design work, and a diagram. Data structure information storage means storing structure information of each data included in the information, designating means for designating the data to be confirmed in the diagram information, and diagram information storing the diagram information including the data designated by the designating means First diagram information searching means for searching by means, first display means for displaying the diagram information searched by the first diagram information searching means while emphasizing the data specified by the specifying means, and specifying means The structure information of the data specified by is retrieved from the data structure information storage means. Data structure searching means and second diagram information searching for searching diagram information including data related to the data specified by the specifying means from the diagram information storing means based on the structure information searched by the data structure searching means. And means for displaying the diagram information retrieved by the second diagram information retrieval means while emphasizing the data related to the designated data.

[0010]

In the data analysis design information confirmation support apparatus of the first invention, when the data to be confirmed is designated by the designating means, the data structure searching means stores the structure information of the designated data in the data structure information storage. It retrieves from the means and sends it to the diagram information retrieval means. The diagram information retrieving means, based on this structure information, is related to the data designated by the designating means (lower data constituting the designated data, or higher data having this data as a constituent element). The diagram information including is retrieved from the diagram information storage means and sent to the display means. The display means displays the diagram information while emphasizing the data related to the designated data.

In the data analysis design information confirmation support apparatus of the second invention, when the data to be confirmed is designated by the designating means, the first diagram information retrieving means retrieves the diagram information including the designated data. It is retrieved from the diagram information storage means and sent to the first display means. As a result, the first display means displays the diagram information while emphasizing the designated data. Also, the data structure search means searches the structure information of the designated data from the data structure information storage means, and sends this to the second diagram information search means. The second diagram information retrieval means is
Based on this structure information, the diagram information including the data related to the data specified by the specifying means (the lower-order data forming the specified data, or the upper-order data including this data as a component) It retrieves from the diagram information storage means and sends it to the second display means. The second display means displays the diagram information while emphasizing the data related to the designated data.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the data to be confirmed can be easily identified even in a complicated diagram, and the flow of data between the diagrams and the relation between the data can be easily grasped, and the diagram verification can be performed. Can be done efficiently.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a data analysis design information confirmation support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a design information database in which diagram information such as a data flow diagram (hereinafter referred to as DFD) created through data analysis and design work is stored. Reference numeral 2 is a data dictionary in which information on the structure and attributes of each data included in the diagram information (parent-child relationship between data, etc.) is stored. 3 is C
A display device such as an RT. 4 wants to confirm the designation of the data to be confirmed in the diagram information and the data related to this data (lower data that constitutes the designated data or higher data that has the designated data as a component) It is a designated screen display control unit that controls the display of a designated screen for receiving an instruction of the case from the user. Reference numeral 5 is an input terminal such as a keyboard. Reference numeral 6 denotes a designated screen input processing unit that processes input information from the user for the designated screen. Reference numeral 7 denotes a first design information search unit that searches the design information database 1 for diagram information including data designated on the designation screen. Reference numeral 8 denotes a first confirmation information display control unit which controls the display of the diagram information retrieved by the first design information retrieval unit 7 on the display device 3 while emphasizing the designated data with a bold line or the like. Reference numeral 9 indicates, when a search for diagram information including data related to the designated data (highlighted in the diagram) is designated on the designated screen, structural information relating to the designated data is searched from the data dictionary 2. It is a data structure search unit. A second design information search unit 10 searches the design information database 1 for diagram information including data related to the data designated on the designation screen based on the data structure information retrieved by the data structure retrieval unit 9. . A second confirmation information display control unit 11 controls the display of the diagram information retrieved by the second design information retrieval unit 10 while emphasizing the data related to the designated data with a bold line or the like. Is.

Next, the operation of this data analysis design information confirmation support apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, data D1 is registered in the data dictionary 2, and this data D1 is assumed to be composed of data elements d1, d2, and d3. .

Further, it is assumed that the DFD information as shown in FIG. 4 is registered as the diagram information in the design information database 1. In the figure, 10
The DFD of 1 is a further detailed decomposition of the process of P2 in the DFD of 102.

A description will be given of the case of confirming the flow of the data D1 in the presence of such data-related information.

First, the designated screen display control section 4 is activated to display the designated screen on the display device 3 as shown in FIG. 5 (step 201). This designation screen is a data name designation area 41 for designating the data name to be confirmed.
And what kind of this data (DFD, data relation diagram,
Select the file / database relation diagram etc. ) The diagram name designation area 42 for designating what you want to confirm on the diagram, and the instruction when you want to confirm the lower data that constitutes the designated data or the higher data that has the designated data as a constituent element. It comprises an upper data confirmation instruction area 43 and a lower data confirmation instruction area 44 for inputting.

When the user inputs a data name (D1) and a diagram name (DFD) to be confirmed on this designated screen (steps 202 and 203), the designated screen input processing section 6 displays this input information on the designated screen. The data designated by the user is input to the control unit 4 to be displayed on the screen of the display device 3, and the data name (D1) is input to the first design information search unit 7.
Pass to.

Then, the first design information searching unit 7 searches the design information database 1 for the information of the DFD in which the data D1 is described among all the DFDs (step 20).
4). Then, the first design information searching unit 7 searches the DFD searched for.
Attribute information for highlighting the data D1 is added to the information of (1), and this is sent to the first confirmation information display control section 8.

The first confirmation information display controller 8 receives the data D1 as shown in FIG. 6 based on the received DFD information.
A diagram 201 in which the line is highlighted by a thick line or the like is displayed on the screen of the display device 3 (step 205). At this point, only the DFD 201 in FIG. 6 is displayed.

After that, when it is desired to examine the data elements (d1, d2, d3) forming the data D1 or the data including the data D1 as the constituent elements, the designation screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. It is called again on the screen (step 206), and either the upper data confirmation instruction area 43 or the lower data confirmation instruction area 44 is designated on this designation screen. Here, a case where the lower data confirmation instruction area 44 is designated will be described. In this case, the designated screen input processing unit 6 sends to the data structure search unit 9 a search request for a structure related to lower data of the data D1.

Then, the data structure search unit 9 searches the data dictionary 2 for the structure information (D1 = d1 + d2 + d3) regarding the lower data of the data D1 shown in FIG. 3, and the data structure information is searched for by the second design information search unit 10. (Step 208).

After that, the second design information retrieval unit 10 retrieves all the DFD information in which the data d1, d2 and d3 are described from the design information database 1. And the second
The design information search unit 10 adds attribute information for highlighting the data d1, d2, and d3 to the searched DFD information, and sends this to the second confirmation information display control unit 11 (step 209).

Based on the received DFD information, the second confirmation information display control unit 11 receives the data d as shown in FIG.
Diagram 202 in which 1, d2, d3 are emphasized with thick lines
Is displayed on the screen of the display device 3 (step 205).
At this time, the data D1 and the data d1, d2, and d3 are displayed with different line thicknesses so that the parent-child relationship of each data can be identified.

Further, when the data d1, d2, d3 are composed of fine data elements or the data D1 is a constituent element of other data, the upper data confirmation instruction area 43 or the lower data confirmation is displayed on the designated screen. By designating one of the designation areas 44, the related data can be highlighted in the diagram in the same procedure.

In this operation example, the confirmation of the data on the DFD is designated on the designation screen. However, when other diagrams such as a data relation diagram or a file / database relation diagram are designated, the same method is used. The diagram containing the data you are viewing is displayed.

Thus, according to the data analysis design information confirmation support device of this embodiment, it is possible to search the design information database 1 for a diagram including the data to be confirmed and display the data in an emphasized manner. Further, based on the structure information of the data defined in the data dictionary 2, a diagram including data related to a certain data can be searched and displayed in the same manner. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily identify the data to be confirmed even in a complicated diagram, and it becomes easy to grasp the data flow between the diagrams and the relationship between the data, thereby efficiently performing the diagram verification. be able to.

As a method of highlighting the data in the diagram, there is a method of changing the thickness of the line and a method of changing the color or the size of the character. In addition to the method of changing the highlighted display format for each layer, the highlighted display format may be changed for each data type on the same layer. Further, lines may be sequentially highlighted along the flow of data.

[0032]

As described above, according to the data analysis design information confirmation support apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to easily identify the data to be confirmed even in a complicated diagram, and the data flow and data between the diagrams. It becomes easier to understand the relationship between them, and the diagram verification can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data analysis design information confirmation support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a chart.

3 is a diagram showing an example of data structure information stored in a data dictionary in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of diagram information stored in a design information database in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a designation screen for accepting an instruction from a user to designate data to be confirmed in the diagram information and an instruction to confirm data related to this data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a diagram in which data to be confirmed is highlighted.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Design information database, 2 ... Data dictionary, 3 ... Display device, 4 ... Designated screen display control part, 5 ... Input terminal, 6 ... Designated screen input processing part, 7 ... 1st design information search part, 8 ... 1 confirmation information display control unit, 9 ... Data structure search unit, 10
... second design information search unit, 11 ... second confirmation information display control unit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A diagram information storage means for storing diagram information created through data analysis and design work; a data structure information storage means for storing structure information of each data included in the diagram information; Designating means for designating data to be confirmed in the diagram information, data structure searching means for searching the structure information of the data designated by the designating means from the data structure information storing means, and data structure searching means for searching. Diagram information retrieving means for retrieving the diagram information containing data related to the data designated by the designating means from the diagram information storing means based on the structured information, and the diagram information retrieved by the diagram information retrieving means. The data related to the specified data. Checking support device data analysis design information, characterized by comprising display means for displaying emphasizing the data. 2. A diagram information storage means for storing diagram information created through data analysis and design work; a data structure information storage means for storing structure information of each data included in the diagram information; Designating means for designating data to be confirmed in the diagram information, first diagram information searching means for searching diagram information including data designated by the designating means from the diagram information storing means, and the first diagram First display means for displaying the diagram information retrieved by the information retrieval means while emphasizing the data designated by the designating means; and the structure information of the data designated by the designating means, the data structure information storing means A data structure searching means for further searching, and the data structure searching means Second diagram information retrieving means for retrieving diagram information containing data related to the data designated by the designating means from the diagram information storing means based on the structural information retrieved by the second diagram, A confirmation support device for data analysis design information, comprising: second display means for displaying the diagram information retrieved by the information retrieval means while emphasizing the data related to the designated data.