BCS THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR IT

BCS HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS & DESIGN

Monday 23rd March 2015 – Morning

Answer any FOUR questions out of SIX. All questions carry equal marks
Time: TWO hours

Answer any Section A questions you attempt in Answer Book A

The marks given in brackets are indicative of the weight given to each part of the question.

Calculators are NOT allowed in this examination

Case Study for both sections A and B

Compu-Fix Computer Repairs

Compu-Fix is a computer repair company operating out of a small workshop. The owner, Lee is
the only person working in the company but he hopes to expand and employ more engineers in
the near future. At present Lee holds much of the information about repair jobs in a filing cabinet
but this is rather disorganised and he realises that a computer system would be a better method
especially as any new members of staff would also need access to this information.
When a customer brings in a faulty computer Lee logs the fault and the customer’s details giving
him/her an estimated date for the repair to be completed. Every day he checks the list of repairs
and selects the jobs to be done that day. If he finds he doesn’t have the required parts in stock
for a repair he places a purchase order with his supplier and reschedules the job to a later date.
When a repair is complete and the customer comes to collect the computer, Lee gives him/her an
invoice and the customer pays immediately.
Once a week Lee checks his stock of parts, and orders any that are getting low from his supplier.

[Turn over]
 Section A
Answer Section A questions in Answer Book A

A1
a) Explain the differences between a physical and a logical data flow diagram (DFD).
(9 marks)

b) List the processes and the external entities that you would include on a LOGICAL top
level data flow diagram (DFD) of the Compu-Fix company. (You do not need to draw the
DFD). (7 marks)

c) Produce a Use Case diagram for the Compu-Fix system. (Hint – correct <<include>> or
<extend>> relationships will attract additional marks). (9 marks)

A2
a) List SEVEN techniques for eliciting requirements. (7 marks)

b) Explain TWO of these techniques in detail including the advantages and disadvantages
of each technique. (18 marks)

A3
a) Describe a system development method of your choice. You should include a description
of the stages/phases of your method as well as the interim products produced at each
stage. A diagram of the method should be produced if appropriate. (15 marks)

b) Discuss whether your chosen method would be suitable for developing a new computer
system to support Compu-Fix as described in the case study. (10 marks)

[Turn over]
 Section B
Answer Section B questions in Answer Book B

B4 The table below shows an example of a list of repair jobs in the Compu-Fix Computer
Repairs company described in the case study:
. Start date: End date: Customer Customer tel.
Jobcode: name: no.:
15/10/2014 19/10/2014
C28 A Smith 6071213
Part code: Part details: Supplier Supplier tel. no.:
CPUInt name:
INTEL Dual Core 6224546
E7600 CompParts
Part code: Part details: Supplier Supplier tel. no.:
RAM name:
2GB Samsung 5121314
DDR3 Electronix
Job code: Start date: End date: Customer Customer tel.
name: no.:
M13 20/10/2014 23/10/2014
P Jones 5081214
Part code: Part details: Supplier Supplier tel. no.:
FuseM name: 5121314
Fuse FX3
Electronix
a) Normalise the table to produce a set of relations in the Third Normal Form. You must
show all of your working explaining each step. (18 marks)

b) Draw an entity relationship diagram (ERD) based on the relations produced in part (a).
(7 marks)

B5 Consider the following extra information about the Compu-Fix system described in the
case study:
“Compu-Fix plan to employ two types of engineers: full time engineers and part time
engineers. The following data should be stored about each engineer: Engineer number,
Engineer name, Address, Tel number. For full time engineers Annual salary is also
stored, while for part time Hourly rate and Hours worked are stored. “
“An object of class Computer consists of a System unit, a Keyboard, and a Monitor.”
Explain the following relationships between classes using examples from the Compu-Fix
company system to illustrate your answers:
i) Association,
ii) Aggregation or Composition,
iii) Generalisation/Inheritance. (15 marks)

a) Discuss at least TWO similarities and TWO differences between class diagrams and
entity relationship diagrams. (10 marks)
[Turn over]
B6
a) Explain how the following UML diagrams relate to each other:
(i) class diagrams,
(ii) sequence diagrams,
(iii) state machines/statecharts. (7 marks)

b)
(i) Give a brief explanation of the role state machines/statecharts play in systems
modelling. (4 marks)

(ii) Produce a state machine/statechart for the class Job in the Compu-Fix system
described in the case study. You may assume that objects of this class are affected
by the following ‘events’ (listed in alphabetical order):
cancel job, completion of job, create job, delete job, reschedule job, schedule job.
Please note that jobs are deleted automatically 6 months after their completion or
cancellation. (14 marks)