Creating subsystem interfaces from use case scenarios

There are many methods by which subsystem interfaces can be created. For example, a common approach is to refine the black box activity diagrams from the use case analyses into so-called white box activity diagrams with activity partitions representing the subsystems. When control flows cross into other swim lanes, the flow or service invocation is added to the relevant subsystem interface. Another common approach is to do the same thing but use the use case sequence diagrams rather than the activity diagrams. The advantage of these approaches is that they tie back into the use case analysis. It is also possible to create the interfaces de novo from the allocation of system features to the subsystems.

This recipe focuses on using sequence diagrams in the creation of the system interfaces. One advantage of this approach is that this approach can leverage sequence diagrams created from the execution of the use case models that...