Which diagram I should change in UML?

Question

Hi,

Can anyone tell which UML diagram I should change if there is a slight change in the design of application.

The change is -> Earlier the application was using Active directory for authentication now I want to use the Membership provider instead.

I want to keep the change minimum in diagrams.

Thanks

Answer 1

It will surely depend the diagrams at your disposal. Sound like a correction in one of the static diagram types, like the component diagram ...

Answer 2

This of course depends on how you structure your documents and your uml-diagrams.

In general I have a Conceptual model, Class Diagram and a Design Diagram which are diractly linked to the architecture. And then you should in most cases have System Sequence Diagrams and more. However, depending on how your structure is and to minimize the "changes" required.

I would suggest that you use something more generic for the parts that might be changed. Active Directory Authentication and Membership Provider Authentication is both Authentication methods, which means that you can, instead of displaying the whole sequence at the Authentication step, just use "Authentication".

Now, in the conceptual models and in the design + class diagrams, you will need to change and add some fields, tables or whatever is added. But it shouldn't matter if you need to add more or less, because the documents need to reflect upon your software as accurate as possible.

So, to minimize changes, use more generic types.

Answer 3

Sounds like component diagrams or class diagrams. Check out the following topics and illustrations for VS 2010 Ultimate RC:

UML Component Diagrams: Reference at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd409390%28VS.100%29.aspx:

A component diagram shows the parts of a design for a software system. A component diagram helps you visualize the high-level structure of the system and the service behavior that those pieces provide and consume through interfaces.

UML Class Diagrams: Reference at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd409437%28VS.100%29.aspx

A UML class diagram describes the object and information structures used by your application, both internally and in communication with its users. It describes the information without reference to any particular implementation.