Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Applying Use Case Logic Patterns in Practice: Lessons Learnt

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Engineering Software Systems: Research and Praxis (KKIO 2018)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 830))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Use cases are popular means to specify functional requirements in terms of application logic. A typical way to represent this logic is through scenarios expressed using textual or graphical notations. Use case scenarios can be generalised to offer abstract use cases – use case logic patterns. Such patterns capture recurring logic of user-system interactions independent of the particular problem domain. They are composed of abstract use case models and use case scenarios formulated in constrained natural language. Scenarios refer uniformly to an abstract domain model. Use case patterns can be easily instantiated through substituting the abstract domain with a concrete one. In this paper we present a study on application of use case patterns in a real industry project. At first, the project attempted at specifying reoccurring functionality using an ad-hoc approach. This resulted in poor quality specifications as judged by experienced analysts. Following this, we have proposed to use the pattern approach which could be compared with the previous attempt. We have used a library of patterns that were applied through instantiating them in a particular problem domain. Lessons learnt from this comparison show improvement in clarity, repeatability and correctness, regardless of a tooling environment used.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Permission to use the name of the system or the organization was not given due to commercial issues. As a result, all the examples were generalized and detached from the original business domain of the study.

References

  1. Aballay, L., Introini, S.C., Lund, M.I., Ormeno, E.: UCEFlow: a syntax proposed to structuring the event flow of use cases. In: 8th IEEE Computing Colombian Conference, pp. 1–6 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1109/ColombianCC.2013.6637517

  2. Adolph, S., Bramble, P., Cockburn, A., Pols, A.: Patterns for Effective Use Cases. Addison Wesley, Reading (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Ambroziewicz, A., Smialek, M.: Application logic patterns - reusable elements of user-system interaction. In: MODELS 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 6394, pp. 241–255 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16145-2_17

  4. Astudillo, H., Génova, G., Śmiałek, M., Llorens Morillo, J., Metz, P., Prieto-Diáz, R.: Use cases in model-driven software engineering. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 3844, pp. 262–271 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/11663430_28

  5. Chou, A., Yang, J., Chelf, B., Hallem, S., Engler, D.R.: An empirical study of operating system errors. In: Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (2001). https://doi.org/10.21236/ada419594

  6. Cockburn, A.: Writing Effective Use Cases. Addison-Wesley, Reading (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Díaz, I., Losavio, F., Matteo, A., Pastor, O.: A specification pattern for use cases. Inf. Manag. 41(8), 961–975 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2003.10.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Génova, G., Llorens, J., Metz, P., Prieto-Díaz, R., Astudillo, H.: Open issues in industrial use case modeling. In: Jardim Nunes, N., Selic, B., Rodrigues da Silva, A., Toval Alvarez, A. (eds.) UML Modeling Languages and Applications, pp. 52–61. Springer, Heidelberg (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-31797-5_6

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. Georgiades, M.G., Andreou, A.S.: Patterns for use case context and content. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Software Reuse, pp. 267–282 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38977-1_18

  10. Issa, A., Odeh, M., Coward, D.: Using use case patterns to estimate reusability in software systems. Inf. Softw. Technol. 48, 836–845 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2005.10.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Jacobson, I., Christerson, M., Jonsson, P., Övergaard, G.: Object-Oriented Software Engineering: A Use Case Driven Approach. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1992)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. Kaindl, H., Smialek, M., Wagner, P., et al.: Requirements specification language definition. Project Deliverable D2.4.2, ReDSeeDS Project (2009). www.redseeds.eu

  13. Kulak, D., Guiney, E.: Use Cases: Requirements in Context, 2nd edn. Addison Wesley, Reading (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Langlands, M.: Inside the oval: use case content patterns. Technical report, Planet Project, v. 2 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Metz, P., O’Brien, J., Weber, W.: Against use case interleaving. In: UML 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 2185, pp. 472–486 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45441-1_34

  16. Misbhauddin, M., Alshayeb, M.: Extending the UML use case metamodel with behavioral information to facilitate model analysis and interchange. Softw. Syst. Model. 14(2), 813–838 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10270-013-0333-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Object Management Group: OMG Unified Modeling Language, version 2.5, ptc/2013-09-05 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ochodek, M., Koronowski, K., Matysiak, A., Miklosik, P., Kopczynska, S.: Sketching use-case scenarios based on use-case goals and patterns. In: Proceedings of XVIIIth KKIO Software Engineering Conference on Software Engineering: Challenges and Solutions, pp. 17–30 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43606-7_2

  19. Overgaard, G., Palmkvist, K.: Use Cases: Patterns and Blueprints. Addison Wesley, Reading (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Powell, S.G., Baker, K.R., Lawson, B.: Errors in operational spreadsheets. J. Organ. End User Comput. 21(3), 24–36 (2009). https://doi.org/10.4018/joeuc.2009070102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Simons, A.J.H.: Use cases considered harmful. In: Proceedings of the 29th Conference on Technology of Object-Oriented Languages and Systems, Nancy, France, pp. 194–203. IEEE Computer Society Press, June 1999. https://doi.org/10.1109/tools.1999.779012

  22. Śmiałek, M., Jarzebowski, N., Nowakowski, W.: Runtime semantics of use case stories. In: 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), pp. 159–162. IEEE (2012). https://doi.org/10.1109/VLHCC.2012.6344506

  23. Śmiałek, M., Jarzebowski, N., Nowakowski, W.: Translation of use case scenarios to Java code. Comput. Sci. 13(4), 35–52 (2012). https://doi.org/10.7494/csci.2012.13.4.35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Śmiałek, M., Nowakowski, W.: From Requirements to Java in a Snap: Model-Driven Requirements Engineering in Practice. Springer, Cham (2015). ISBN 978-3-319-12837-5

    Book  Google Scholar 

  25. Śmiałek, M., Straszak, T.: Facilitating transition from requirements to code with the ReDSeeDS tool. In: 2012 20th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), pp. 321–322. IEEE (2012). https://doi.org/10.1109/RE.2012.6345825

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, pl. Politechniki 1, Warsaw, Poland

    Albert Ambroziewicz & Michał Śmiałek

Authors
  1. Albert Ambroziewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michał Śmiałek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michał Śmiałek .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information Systems, Military University of Technology in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Piotr Kosiuczenko

  2. Institute of Teleinformatics and Automation, Military University of Technology in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Zbigniew Zieliński

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Ambroziewicz, A., Śmiałek, M. (2019). Applying Use Case Logic Patterns in Practice: Lessons Learnt. In: Kosiuczenko, P., Zieliński, Z. (eds) Engineering Software Systems: Research and Praxis. KKIO 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 830. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99617-2_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation