MCS-270 Lab 2: Conceptual Modeling (Spring 2001)

Due: February 20, 2001

In this lab, you will continue the example of a classified ad system. This time you will draft a conceptual model.

I will divide the class into five groups, with each group containing three or four students. The students in each group will come from different lab 1 groups, so that as much insight from the requirements analysis phase as possible is represented. (This implies that the group members may need to reconcile conflicts between their requirements analyses, to the extent the conflicts imply differing conceptual models. Often the concepts will be the same, though, even where the requirements differ.) Our class discussion of use cases, and the unwritten use cases you have in your heads, should also drive your conceptual modeling.

Each lab group will be given a room with a whiteboard to work in, and should develop a draft conceptual model. At the end of the class period, the current draft should be copied down onto paper. The group should then agree on a process for turning that draft into a more polished one on paper before the lab due date, and turn in a single conceptual model for the group on the due date. (Unless there are irreconcilable differences, in which case multiple models can be turned in.) Note that a model need not be represented in a single diagram. In order to control the size and complexity of the diagrams, it may make sense to illustrate your model with multiple diagrams, each focusing on a specific coherent aspect of the model.

Your conceptual model should include concepts, attributes, associations, and invariants.


Instructor: Max Hailperin