Department of Computer Science
College of Engineering University of Nevada Reno
CS 425/625 Software Engineering
Guidelines for Project Part 2
1 Adding Methods to Classes
1.1 Recommended Format
I recommend that you simply list the
methods in the classes of the class diagram and, separately, describe each method
using the following format.
Table I Recommended Format for Describing Methods
|
Class |
|
|
Method |
|
|
Visibility |
|
|
Return type |
|
|
Parameters, types |
|
|
Methods called |
|
|
Messages |
|
|
Description |
|
Note
that rows Methods called and Messages are not required, but they are
included here for the sake of completeness.
1.2 Two Examples
Below are two examples, one simple, one
more complex related to last year’s project (2002). The first one is a simple
query operation that doesn’t change the state of the object, while the second
is a higher-level method.
Table II Method player:getNumber()
|
Class |
Player |
|
Method |
getNumber |
|
Visibility |
public |
|
Return type |
int |
|
Parameters, types |
none |
|
Description |
Simple
query operation that returns the number assigned to a player |
Note
that in the title of Table II the name of method is player:getNumber(), which means this method that can
be invoked through each object of the class Player. If it were a class method in the
Java sense (invoked only through the class), it would have been denoted Player:getNumber().
Table III Method game:runSimulation()
|
Class |
Game |
|
Method |
runSimulation |
|
Visibility |
private |
|
Return type |
boolean |
|
Parameters, types |
firstTeam:Team,
secondTeam:Team, result:GameResult |
|
Description |
Higher
level method that simulates the evolution of a game. Returns true if game is
completed, false if cancelled. |
2 Designing the User Interface
2.1 An Example of Text-based
User Interface
For designing the user interface, I
suggest that you proceed in a top-down fashion: start with the main menu (or window)
and go down to details via functions and sub-functions. An example of
screenshot for a text-based interface related to last year’s project (2002) is
given in Fig. 1. Note the use of a fixed-size font, Courier in this case.
Screen #1
Description: Main
user interface of the Brio Cup software
Select one of the following options:
1 Parameterize Competition
2 Register
Teams
3 Schedule
Competition
4 Proceed
to Next Game
5 Display
Statistics
6 Display
Reports
7 Cancel Competition
8 Exit
Your selection (a number between 1 and 8): _
Fig. 1 Example of Text-based
User Interface
2.2 Pointer to a GUI
Design
For an example of GUI description I
refer you to Appendix C of my PhD thesis (p. 359-374), available through a link
in the Extras section of the course’s web-page. It shows the design of Harmony,
an integrated environment for combined semi-formal (UML) and formal (Z++)
software specification. Of course, this example is more complex than what you
are required to do for part 2 of the project but it might give you an idea on
how the description of a GUI can be done, starting from the main window and
then continuing with menus, submenus, and so on.