The example you gave is a clear case where it is a very bad idea to relate a use case to an actor.
It makes no sense at all that a 'system' should do something to a 'person'. Even if you imagine the system flashing a message on that 'person's' screen, the system is not really doing something to the person - it is simply doing something to a system device. You should never have a causal relationship _from_ a use case _to_ a person 'actor'. On the other hand, many analysts treat external systems as 'actor's. In this case you might have a relationship from one of your use cases to the 'actor'. For example, one of your requirements might be that your system send data to an external accounting system for the company's book-keeping. In this case you could represent the accounting system as an 'actor' and may have a use case like 'post accounting item' which is related to this actor. When doing this it is a good idea to ensure that in your diagrams the stereotype display of 'actor's that are really external systems is different to the stereotype display of people 'actor's - use the icon (a stick man) for people and the label (a box with the <<actor>> label) for external systems. Stephen. > -----Original Message----- > From: Jo�o Paulo Marto Pereira [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: 09 October 2001 11:42 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: (ROSE) Use case to actor Yes or No > > > > Hi, again > > I've had answers saying I could point a use case to an actor, > an others that > said, no way! Is it possible and desireble or not? > > Thanks > > P.S. Please reply to [EMAIL PROTECTED], there are more > people out that > with the same problem > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at > http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > > ************************************************************** > ********** > * Rose Forum is a public venue for ideas and discussions. > * For technical support, visit http://www.rational.com/support > * > * Admin.Subscription Requests: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > * Archive of messages: > http://www.rational.com/support/usergroups/rose/rose_forum.jsp > * Other Requests: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > * > * To unsubscribe from the list, please send email > * > * To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > * Subject:<BLANK> > * Body: unsubscribe rose_forum > * > ************************************************************** > *********** > ************************************************************************ * Rose Forum is a public venue for ideas and discussions. * For technical support, visit http://www.rational.com/support * * Admin.Subscription Requests: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Archive of messages: http://www.rational.com/support/usergroups/rose/rose_forum.jsp * Other Requests: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To unsubscribe from the list, please send email * * To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Subject:<BLANK> * Body: unsubscribe rose_forum * *************************************************************************
