3. Quick Tour A sample design file called acctg.dsn is provided with Personal CASE. This illustrates a typical application of Personal CASE in the design of an accounting software application. In this chapter: - Start Personal CASE - Load a Sample Design - Manipulate Diagram Components - Manipulate Data Flows - Browse Diagram Pages - Use the Data Dictionary - Print and Save - Quit Personal CASE Start Personal CASE From the MS-DOS executive, double-click on pcase.exe or use the arrow keys to highlight pcase.exe and press enter. If the file name is not displayed, open the directory or drive in which the program was installed with the Change Directory command from the Special menu. The program will display its startup screen and message (Figure 3-1). Click on the OK button. In addition to the standard window components, Personal CASE displays the Toolbox Window (Figure 3-2). The Toolbox is used to select drawing actions. There are four choices, each represented by an Icon. Icon: Meaning: (top left) Draw and manipulate Components. (top right) Add,delete and route Data Flows between Components. (bottom left) Add and edit descriptive text. (bottom right) Manipulate group of Components as a unit using the Windows clipboard. There are three ways to choose a drawing tool: Quick Tour 7 - Click on the tool’s icon in the toolbox with the mouse. - Use the keys ctrl + numpad plus or numpad minus to move the highlight to a different icon. numpad plus and numpad minus are the "+" and "-" keys located on the numeric keypad area. - Choose the tool from the Toolbox menu. Load a Sample Design Choose the Open command from the File menu. A dialog box will appear from which you choose the design file to be opened (Figure 3-3). If the sample design files are found in the current directory, you will see the name acctg.dsn in the list box. If the samples are in a different directory, choose the proper directory from the list box. Double-click on the directory name to open it. Double-click on the "[..]" item to open the parent directory. Double-click on the "[-A-]", "[-B-]", etc. items to access a different disk unit. Click on the scroll bar to scroll entries through the list box. Double-click on the design file acctg.dsn to open it or click on the file name and then click on the OK button. The file will be opened and its contents displayed in the program’s main window. You may see the message: UNABLE TO open GLOBAL data dictionary .... try another file name? where "..." is the file name of the Data Dictionary. This message tells you that the design files have been moved to a different disk or directory, as is done when you copied them to your hard disk. The program is attempting to locate the data dictionary file in the new directory, prompting you for approval. Click on the Retry button and a list of Data Dictionary file names will appear. Double-click on the name acctg.dct and the design file will be displayed. Once you save the design in its new directory, this message shouldn’t reappear. Manipulate Diagram Components Diagram Components can be directly manipulated with the mouse. They can be moved to new locations, re-sized or erased. New diagram Components can be added in the same way. The Data Flows connected to a Component are automatically re-drawn whenever a Component is manipulated. Activate Component Mode Quick Tour 8 Click on the Component Icon in the Toolbox Window, or highlight it with the ctrl+numpad PLUS or ctrl+numpad minus keys. Move Component with the Mouse Click on a Component with the mouse, hold down the mouse button and move the mouse to a new location. A dotted-line outline will follow the mouse as it is moved. Release the mouse button, and the Component will be placed at its new location. Note that Components may not overlap on a page. Move Component with the Keyboard Move the mouse pointer onto the component with the arrow keys. Press and hold down the space bar. Drag the component to its new location with the arrow keys. Release the space bar at the new location. Change Component Size with the Mouse Hold down the ctrl key, click on the Component and drag it as above. The Component size will be increased in the direction that you are moving the mouse. A Component is made smaller by holding down both the shift and ctrl keys when clicking on the Component. Change Component Size with the Keyboard Move the mouse pointer onto the component with the arrow keys. Press and hold down ctrl + space bar. Release the ctrl key. Drag the component to its new larger size with the arrow keys. Release the space bar at the new location. To make the component smaller, hold down both ctrl and shift when pressing the space bar. Delete Component The Component which was last selected with the mouse is highlighted on the screen. To delete it, press shift + delete. Any Data Flows associated with the Component are deleted as well. Add Components Click on the Component Icon from the Toolbox Window until the icon of the new Component is shown. Then click the mouse in a vacant area of the page. The program will prompt for Data Dictionary information for each new Component with the Dictionary Add dialog box. For now, click on the Cancel button to defer dictionary information, or press the esc key. Dictionary information may be added later on. Manipulate Data Flows Data Flows are manipulated via their endpoint Components. Whenever a Component is moved or re-sized, its attached Data Quick Tour 9 Flows are re-drawn. Whenever a Component is deleted, its attached Data Flows are deleted. Select Data Flow Tool Click on the Data Flow icon from the Toolbox. Add Data Flow Click on the source and then destination Components. The Data Flow will be automatically drawn between the Components. If the two Components are already connected, a dialog box will ask whether a new data flow is to be added, or an existing one deleted. Click on the add button of the dialog box. The program will prompt for Data Dictionary information for the new Data Flow. Again, defer the entry of Data Dictionary information by choosing the Cancel button, or pressing esc. Delete Data Flow To delete an existing Data Flow, click on its source and then destination Components. A dialog box will ask whether a new data flow is to be added between the components, or an existing one is to be deleted. In the dialog box list box, click on the name of an existing data flow and then click the delete button. Browse Diagram Pages The sample design contains a number of pages. Choose one of the commands from the Page menu to view the different pages. Or press ctrl + page up or ctrl + page down to move between pages. Use the Data Dictionary Data Dictionary information can be added or changed for any Component or Data Flow in the design. When a new Component or Data Flow is added, the program will prompt for Data Dictionary information (Figure 3-4). You can add it at that time, or defer the task. Add Data Dictionary Information Each Component and Data Flow must be given a Class Label. Optionally, an item may additionally be given an Instance Label, which specifically identifies it as a particular member of a class of items. This is analogous to "data types" and "variable name" in a programming language. Type a label for your new item. If the label is already in the Data Dictionary, the related Description and other information will be displayed. If not, the Description must be typed at this point. Click on the Add button to add the Dictionary information. Quick Tour 10 The Data Dictionary information is now linked to the Component or Data Flow. It will be shown in the diagram inside of a Component and at the mid-point of a Data Flow. Update Data Dictionary Information To change the Data Dictionary information for a Component, select the Component Tool and double-click on the Component. For a Data Flow, select the Data Flow Tool, double-click on the Data Flow’s source Component and click on its destination, or double-click on the Data Flow's descriptive label. The Dictionary Change dialog box will pop up showing the requested Data Dictionary information. The Class or Instance Label for the item’s Dictionary information may be changed to associate the item with a new or different entry from the Data Dictionary. The Description associated with a given label may be changed only by using the Browse command from the Dictionary menu. Move a Data Flow's Description By default, Data Dictionary information for a Data Flow is shown at the arrow's midpoint. With the Component Tool, the descriptive text from the Dictionary may be dragged to a different location. Browse the Data Dictionary Choose the Browse command from the Dictionary menu. A dialog box (Figure 3-5) will allow you to browse through the entries in the data dictionary. The large scroll bar at the right edge of the dialog box is clicked to move one at a time through the dictionary in alphabetical order. The dictionary label, description and entry type are displayed. To call up a particular dictionary entry, type its label in the Label edit control and press the tab key. The dictionary information for that label will be displayed. To see a list of all available dictionary labels, click on the "?" button and a list box containing all labels used in the diagram will pop up. Select the desired label and click on the OK button. The Description for a dictionary entry can be changed by tabbing to the Description field and editing the displayed text. Finally, the expansion page for a process can be selected while browsing. If a Process Component is selected, click on the Details button, and the diagram page containing the details of that process will be selected. The Details button moves you deeper into the hierarchy. Quick Tour 11 If an External or Parameter Component is selected, click on the Owner button, and the owning page is shown. The Owner button moves you upward towards the top of the hierarchy. Print and Save Choose the Diagram command from the Reports menu. A dialog box will prompt you for the printer to be used. (Figure 3-6) A list of printers that have been installed in Windows is shown. Double- click on the name of the desired printer, and your diagram will print. A number of textual reports can also be printed based upon information from the data dictionary. To see these reports, choose the Dictionary Contents, Process Hierarchy, Process Usage or Data Flow Usage commands from the Reports menu. Finally, save your work. Choose the Save command (or press ctrl + S) and your design will be saved with the same file name. Quit Personal CASE Choose the Exit command from the File menu. Or choose the Close command from the System Menu. You will be returned to the MS-DOS Executive. To stop Windows, choose the Exit command from the File menu or the Close command from the System Menu.