Tool Mentor: Using Rational Rose® to Find Actors and Use Cases

Purpose

This tool mentor describes how to use Rational Rose® to record the results of finding actors and use cases.

Related Rational Unified Process activities:

• Find Actors and Use Cases

Overview

To record the results of finding actors and use cases using Rational Rose™:

1. Create the use-case model package
2. Create a use-case diagram
3. Create actors
4. Create use cases
5. Document the relationship between actors and use cases
6. Transfer the use cases and actors to a Rational RequisitePro™ project

1.   Create the Use-Case Model Package

A separate use-case model can be represented in Rational Rose® using a package within the Use Case View named "Use-Case Model". To create a package called "Use-Case Model" in the Use Case View:

• Right-click to select the Use Case View in the browser.
• Select Package from the New option on the short-cut menu. A "NewPackage" browser icon is added to the browser.
• With the new package icon selected, type the name "Use-Case Model".

A separate use-case model package is only necessary if you are maintaining both business use-case model and system use-case model in one and the same Rose model. Otherwise the use cases and actors can be created directly under the Use Case View in the browser.

2.   Create a Use-Case Diagram

Actors and use cases can be created in a use-case diagram.

To create a use-case diagram for the use-case model:

• Right-click to select the package named "Use-Case Model" in the browser and make the short-cut menu visible.
• Select Use Case Diagram from the New option on the short-cut menu. A "NewDiagram" use-case diagram icon is added to the browser.
• With the new use case diagram selected, type a name of the diagram.
• Double-click on the new use-case diagram to bring it up in the diagram window.

3.   Create Actors

To create an actor in the use-case diagram, do the following:

• Double-click on a use-case diagram in the Use Case View in the browser to display the diagram in the diagram window.
• Select Actor in the toolbox. The shape of the cursor changes to a plus sign.
• Left-click in the use-case diagram where you want to place the actor symbol. Type the name of the new actor.

To briefly describe the actor, do the following:

• Open the Actor Specification dialog box by double-clicking on the actor’s symbol in a use-case diagram or the browser. The Class Specification is displayed with "Actor" defined as the stereotype setting.
• Open the General tab.
• Write a brief description of the actor in the Documentation field.
• Click OK to accept the brief description entry and close the Actor Specification dialog box.

4.   Create Use Cases

To create a new use case in a use-case diagram, do the following:

• Double-click on a use-case diagram in the Use Case View in the browser to display the diagram in the diagram window.
• Select Use Case in the toolbox. The shape of the cursor changes to a plus sign.
• Left-click in the use-case diagram where you want to place the use case symbol. Type the name of the new use case.

To briefly describe the use case, do the following:

• Open the Use Case Specification dialog box by double-clicking on the use case’s symbol in a use-case diagram or the browser. Open the General tab.
• Write a brief description of the use case in the Documentation field.
• Click OK to accept the brief description entry and close the Use Case Specification dialog box.

5.   Document the Relationship between Actors and Use Cases

To insert a communicates-association from an actor to a use case in a use-case diagram, do the following:

• Select the Association arrow from the toolbox in the use-case diagram editor.
• Position the cursor on the actor in the use-case diagram. Left-click and move the cursor to the sue-case symbol and release.
• Double-click on the created association and select the <<communicates>> stereotype in the Association Specification dialog box.
• Click OK.
• Right-click on the created association, and make sure that the Show Stereotype selection is checked in the shortcut menu.
• The stereotype label can be repositioned by dragging and dropping it in the diagram.

To briefly describe a communicates-association, do the following:

• Open the Association Specification dialog box by double-clicking on the association symbol in a use-case diagram.
• The General tab in the Association Specification dialog box now appears by default.
• Write a brief description in the Documentation field.
• Click OK to accept the brief description entry, and close the Association Specification dialog box.

To describe the multiplicity of a role in a communicates-association, do the following:

• Right-click on the association line close to the actor or use case where the multiplicity is to be specified.
• Select the multiplicity from the multiplicity section of the shortcut menu. Values not predefined in the shortcut menu can be specified in the Association Specification dialog box, which can be opened by double-clicking the association.

To specify the navigability of a role in a communicates-association, do the following:

• Right-click on the association line close to the actor or use case where the navigability is to be specified.
• Select or de-select the Navigable property in the shortcut menu.

6.   Transfer the Use Cases and Actors to a Rational RequisitePro™ Project

If you are using Rational RequisitePro™ to develop your use-case model and your design model, you may transfer the use cases and actors from your Rational Rose® model to your RequisitePro™ project.

The steps presented assume that you have a Rational Synchronizer rules project associated with the Rational Rose and Rational RequisitePro projects.

To create the requirements for your use cases and actors:

• Select Synchronize… from the Tools menu. The Synchronization Wizard appears.
• If the RequisitePro™ project is not a part of a Rational repository, you will be asked to identify the file containing the set of rules to be used for the synchronization.
• You only want to create the RequisitePro requirements corresponding to the actors and use cases in your Rational Rose model. Select "Search for a subset of items" in the Wizard and press Next.
• The next screen shows the projects and items you can synchronize with. Select actors and use cases from your Rational Rose™ model. Press Next.

• The next screen asks how you want to synchronize the items you selected. Select Broadcast and press Next.
• The next screen summarizes your choices. Make sure that it is correct and press Finish.
• The next window shows all of the items that will be updated and created. If you have made no other changes to the projects other than finding actors and use cases in Rational Rose™, all of the items should have the Action column say Create and the Domain say RequisitePro. If this is not the case you need to analyze whether to cause the rules other than creating Rational RequisitePro™ items to be executed. Select all of the actions you want to occur and press the "Synchronize Selected Actions" button or menu selection. The rules are executed, the items are created in the Rational RequisitePro™ project.
• Exit the Rational Synchronizer.