Activity Design Terms
Notation
A list of graphic symbols and rules used to create a graphic model.
SADT (Structured Analysis and Design Technique)
SADT is a notation designed specifically to help people describe and understand artificial systems. It offers building blocks to represent functions, and arrows used to define objects (inputs and outputs of functions).
IDEF0
The functional modeling technique and notation based on SADT. Used to develop functional models comprising system functions, functional relationships, and the data and objects that support systems analysis and design.
Basic Flowchart
The process modeling notation based on SADT. The notation provides shapes to represent process actions, start and end events, decision points and sequence and object flows.
Cross-functional Flowchart
The process modeling notation that is very similar to Basic Flowchart. Additionally, the notation provides the Swimlane shapes that are used to model actors of process actions.
BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation)
The process modeling notation that is developed by The Open Group. The notation provides shapes to model process tasks, events, sequence and message flows, data objects, gateways (used to control how sequence flows interact as they converge and diverge within a process). Swimlanes are used to represent actors of process tasks. The primary goal of BPMN is to provide a notation that is readily understandable by all business users, from the business analysts to the technical developers, and finally, to the business people who will manage and monitor the processes.
EPC (Event-Driven Process Chain)
The process modeling notation that is part of the ARIS methodology. An Event-driven Process Chain is an ordered graph of events and functions. Each function can identify initial and end events, participants, actors, material objects and documents accompanying it. Operators are used to split and join the control flow.
SADT process
A process whose diagram is designed in the notation based on SADT principles (Basic Flowchart, Cross-functional Flowchart).
BPMN process
A process whose diagram is designed in BPMN.
EPC process
A process whose diagram is designed in the EPC notation.
Shapes used as a task model in different notations
- Function – in the EPC notation;
- Task – in BPMN;
- Action – in Basic Flowchart и Cross-functional Flowchart notations.
