The group‐noted state transition method applied to a PC management system

Abstract

AbstractTo improve software productivity, my colleagues and I pointed out in a previous paper that the state transition method is suitable as the functional description and implementation method. In that paper we proposed the distributed state transition method, which was derived from the model of distributed sequential machines and showed results obtained by applying it to an electronic switching system. In this paper, to enlarge the application range of the state transition method, I consider applying it to a PC management database system, and propose a new integrated design method derived from the single sequential machine model as being suitable. First I propose the “group‐noted state transition method” by introducing the sequential machine model. Then I propose this design method as follows. Initially, the function of the outer world of the system is classified into several groups, and management jobs are then divided into the same number of groups corresponding to them. The database information can also be classified in the same way and can support the design of the database system. After that, the state transition description is defined from the input/output information to/from the groups of the outer world. Furthermore, the method of notation in which the status group is added to the status name is proposed by classifying statuses using the concept of the management cycle. I also propose a new method for designing the software structure in which state transition diagram information is stored in the database system by converting it to table format. Results clarify that it is possible to make an integrated management database system by using this state transition method. They also clarify how to make a more advanced system by cooperating with the workflow system. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Syst Comp Jpn, 32(10): 13–21, 2001