[Year 12 SofDev] Contents of Data Dictionary

[Claudia Graham]

 Hi all,

I have always liked this definition from yourdon, and it is what I have been using with my kids. (this does not mean they are creating something like this for their SAC - mine are struggling with bsaic data items let alone anything else!)

http://yourdon.com/strucanalysis/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_10#The_need_for_data_dictionary_notation

The data dictionary is an organized listing of all the data elements that are pertinent to the system, with precise, rigorous definitions so that both user and systems analyst will have a common understanding of all inputs, outputs, components of stores, and intermediate calculations. The data dictionary defines the data elements by doing the following:


  *   Describing the meaning of the flows and stores shown in the dataflow diagrams.
  *   Describing the composition of aggregate packets of data moving along the flows, that is, complex packets (such as a customer address) that can be broken into more elementary items (such as city, state, and postal code).
  *   Describing the composition of packets of data in stores.
  *   Specifying the relevant values and units of elementary chunks of information in the dataflows and data stores.
  *   Describing the details of relationships between stores that are highlighted in an entity-relationship diagram.

The complexity of course is dictated by the programming solution. There was a question on the exam a couple of years ago (2007) that had the data dictionary that had the data flows described, and students had to identify an element that was inappropriate, which was a 'process description'. The table only had Name and Description as its column headings.

Regards
Claudia

________________________________
From: sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au [sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au] on behalf of Mark KELLY [kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au]
Sent: Friday, 20 May 2011 1:04 PM
To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 SofDev] Contents of Data Dictionary

Hi again Ken

The content of data dictionaries tends to cause some debate here, IIRC  :-)

Personally, I think it's useful to add a 'validation rules' column.
I don't use a scope column - it's not a concept used in Filemaker.
Because I use Filemaker, I include calculated fields in the dictionary, but I leave the details of their algorithm for an IPO chart).

Others probably have different preferences.

Cheers
Mark

On 20 May 2011 11:08, Bell, Kenneth C <bell.kenneth.c at edumail.vic.gov.au<mailto:bell.kenneth.c at edumail.vic.gov.au>> wrote:
Hello,

Hoping someone can answer this question.

Does the Data Dictionary contain only “ input data” or should it contain all variables used in the software program?

This is the heading for the Data Dictionary I am using.  Is it correct or does anybody have an alternative version?

Data Item

Type

Size

Scope

Description


Regards

Ken Bell
Mortlake College
Phone 03 5599 2204
Fax 03 5599 2503
Email: bell.kenneth.c at edumail.vic.gov.au<mailto:bell.kenneth.c at edumail.vic.gov.au>


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