Information System

Soft-Wear, Limited (SWL), is a continuing case study that illustrates the knowledge and skills described in each chapter. In this case study, the student acts as a member of the SWL systems development team and performs various tasks.

Rick Williams, a systems analyst, and Carla Moore, a programmer/analyst, continued their work on the SWL payroll system project. After completing detailed interviews and other fact-finding activities, Rick and Carla now understand how the current system operates and the new requirements desired by users. They are ready to organize and document their findings by preparing a logical model of the payroll system.

Business Rules

After they completed the preliminary investigation, Rick and Carla felt that they knew more about the system entities and how they interacted.

The two analysts knew that the payroll department issues pay-checks based on timesheet data submitted by department heads, and that each employee receives a W-2 form at the end of the year. They also knew that the human resources department prepares employee status changes, and the payroll department enters the pay data. The diagram also noted the output of state and federal government reports and internal reports to SWL’s finance and payroll departments. The credit union and the SWL stock transfer department reports and fund transfers also were included.

At the meeting, Amy made several comments:

 The human resources department would be setting up additional ESIP deduction choices for employees under a new 401(k) plan. Human resources also would receive ESIP reports from the payroll system.

 The payroll department enters timesheet data received from department heads, who do not interact directly with the system. Rather than showing the department head entity symbol on the context diagram, the input data flow from the payroll department should be expanded and called PAY DETAIL.

 State and federal reporting requirements differ, so they should be treated as two...