Toward an Extension of Interaction Diagrams

In use case based approaches to software design, interaction diagrams are produced by analyzing the use case model that is developed during requirements analysis. Each interaction diagram shows an interaction of several participating objects in a use case through message passing between objects in time sequence. However, existing interaction diagrams are in need of extension because they capture only limited information such as single event behavior. A two-level approach to interaction diagrams is proposed which separates simple and complex features. The resultant extended interaction diagram supports a variety of features needed to describe system behavior without ambiguity. Further, it employs a formalized notation to depict these features. Consequently, it allows us to capture comprehensive behavioral aspects of the system at a higher level of abstraction.