Re: Software Requirements Specification Question

[jsokohl -at- mac -dot- com]

> Would this best be structured as a single use case with search by =
> keyword
> and search for article # being functional specifications for it?
> 
> Or would it be best structured as 3 separate use cases, with Search =
> Articles
> containing Includes for "search by keyword" and "search for article #"?
> 
> Or would it best be structured a 2 separate use cases: "search by =
> keyword"
> and "search for article #"?
> 

Hi Noa,

Of course, it depends, :), but here's a couple of things to think about:
1. Essential use cases, as defined by Constantine & Lockwood (1999),
provides a better way to capture and reflect the way people interact with
a system, as opposed to how systems interact with other systems. See Scott
Ambler's http://www.agilemodeling.com/artifacts/essentialUseCase.htm for a
nice example & description.

Here's how I would write the use case (top of my head, no data, blah blah
blah disclaimer blah blah blah)--anyway, hope it helps:

Actor: Information Seeker
Preconditions: 
1. Information searcher posesses a need to find information. is logged in
(if your system requires it).
2. Information searcher has a known item, either article number or a
keyword, to find.
Postconditions: None
Actions:
1. Information Seeker accesses the search interface.
2. Information Seeker enters a keyword or an article number into the
search interface.
2a.The search interface displays the characters as they are inputted.
3. Information Seeker invokes the search.
3a.The search engine compares the entered characters with the database
(cross-ref: Use case that defines the search engine)
3b. The search engine determines any matches and returns those matches to
the screen. [Alt 3b]
4. The Information Seeker accesses the returned items.

Alternate Actions
3b. The search engine determines any matches and finds no match. The
search engine then returns a message informing the Information Seeker.

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