Software development with ConceptDraw DIAGRAM
ConceptDraw is a tool for technical and business graphics. It provides specialists who create graphic documentation with a possibility to focus not on the process of drawing itself but on the essence of the task. For this ConceptDraw features a huge number of ready-to-use objects (4590 for the moment of writing the article), smart connectors, layers, hyperlinks and many other possibilities.
Modern development of program software leads to a large amount of graphic documentation: diagrams describing the work of applications in various cuts and notations, GUI design, documentation on project management. Each of these fields is represented by topical libraries and templates. To ConceptDraw DIAGRAM new possibilities have been added, thanks to which the program became a sequence higher useful for developers. The most considerable innovations are:
Let us consider typical applications.
Object-oriented design
Over the recent years object-oriented methodology has become more and more widespread. Thanks to this methodology developers manage to deal with growing complexity of applications. More and more programs are written in such programming languages as C++, Java, Visual Basic and Object Pascal. However, the complexity of the designed systems imposes extended requirements as to design of graphic documentation. ConceptDraw possesses powerful tools for designing of technical documentation for object-oriented projects. The libraries included in the package allow to easily draw class hierarchies, object hierarchies and diagrams of data flows with the use of the most popular notations, including UML and Booch notations. And the library for projecting COM-interfaces will spare developers of ActiveX-servers a headache. Flowcharts of algorithms and business-processes
Prototyping Graphical User Interface (GUI)Project management
For a large-scale project to be completed successfully it should be thoroughly projected. One of the generally recognized and visual tools for projecting and tracking timeliness of the work on a project is a Gantt chart. ConceptDraw offers the wizard for automatic creation of Gantt chart. The other side of the question of project management is the dynamism of changes. Changes in a project and its documentation are made daily. All updates should be done in time and be available to each developer. ConceptDraw offers many methods of solving this question:
Automation of management and development processConceptDraw DIAGRAM supports XML. XML for ConceptDraw has been created and, at the same time, support for import XML for Visio. All this allows to develop solutions for automation of various aspects of software development.For instance:
Visualization of dataConceptDraw is a good means for visualization of information of any kind. The program features powerful graphic possibilities. Thus, on the ready graphic kernel ConceptDraw the rest products of the line have been developed: ConceptDraw PROJECT , ConceptDraw MINDMAP . This powerful graphic kernel (2D-graphics) is supported by a number of open formats (including XML). To this add the flexibility of data processing, connected with the scripting language ConceptDraw Basic (included in version V), and also the flexibility in parameterization of objects, which is provided by the whole table of the object parameters (which is available for editing even from the program's interface). So in the end it becomes clear that visualizing of information in ConceptDraw is a good idea. So, the typical task for ConceptDraw Basic is to automate the visualization of some data. This data can be obtained as the result of work of an arbitrary application (including ConceptDraw-script) and saved in a text file, ODBC-compatible database or in one of the open formats supported by ConceptDraw. In the first two cases, data will further be read and visualized with the help of ConceptDraw Basic. In case of using a ConceptDraw open format (XML for ConceptDraw or XML for Visio) the obtained document can be simply opened in ConceptDraw, you can then add some details of design and get a presentable diagram. Possibilities of ConceptDraw Basic considerably increase at using in script the functions exported by the shared libraries. The conclusion is: ConceptDraw is a platform worth considering for writing solutions, connected with data visualization. Work with databases |

Special attention has been given to work with databases. There are libraries for designing databases in various notations: ORM, Chen ERD and Martin ERD, Express-G and relational diagrams. Starting from version V, ConceptDraw supports ODBC-compatible databases. Interaction with them is possible with the help of the scripting language ConceptDraw Basic. Besides, in ConceptDraw Professional package there is Database Model Diagram wizard (it can be found among the templates of the section ERD & Database). It builds a model of an arbitrary presented by the user in the form of DSN database.
Having applied all said above about possibilities of ConceptDraw in fields of projection, automation and visualization of data, we can conclude, that the program is well designed for solving the following tasks:
- design of databases
- ORM-diagrams
- ER-diagrams
- relational diagrams
- reengineering of databases
- visual displaying of data in the form of charts and diagrams
Additional materials
For more details on various applications of ConceptDraw for solution developers read the articles:
- Internet solutions on the basis ConceptDraw
- Visualization of databases with the help of ConceptDraw
- Visualization of networks with the help of ConceptDraw
TEN RELATED HOW TO's:
Flow Map →
A Flow Map is a type of thinking maps which help easy organize and understand information. It consists of the set of boxes and arrows, and visually displays a sequence of events. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software extended with Flowcharts Solution from the "Diagrams" Area of ConceptDraw Solution Park allows you to draw in a few minutes the Flow Map of any degree of complexity.
Martin ERD Diagram →
The vector stencils library Crow's Foot Notation from the solution Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERD) contains specific symbols of the Crow's foot notation such as relationship symbols and entity symbols for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software. The Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERD) solution is contained in the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.
Workflow Flowchart Symbols →
The Workflow diagrams are the specialized type of flowcharts which allow to visualize any sorts of step-by-step processes. They are usually created as flowcharts, with objects that represent in a simple visual manner the steps in the process connected by arrows that indicate the next step. The ability easily create Workflow diagrams visually describing the tasks, documents associated with the tasks, people which are responsible for execution at each stage of workflow is made possible with Workflow Diagrams solution. This solution extends ConceptDraw DIAGRAM with a Workflow Diagram library that contains large collection of predesigned workflow flowchart symbols.
Target Diagram →
Target Diagram is a convenient and visual way of presentation information which is popular and widely used in marketing, business and economics. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software extended with Target and Circular Diagrams solution from the Marketing area of ConceptDraw Solution Park is ideal for fast and easy drawing a Target Diagram.
Line Chart Template for Word →
This sample was created in ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software using the Line Graphs Solution from Graphs and Charts area of ConceptDraw Solution Park. This sample shows the Line Chart of annual percentage change. The Line Chart allows you to clearly see the changes of data over the time.
Scientific Symbols Chart →
ConceptDraw DIAGRAM is the beautiful design software that provides many vector stencils, examples and templates for drawing different types of illustrations and diagrams.Mathematics Solution from the Science and Education area of ConceptDraw Solution Park includes a few shape libraries of plane, solid geometric figures, trigonometrical functions and greek letters to help you create different professional looking mathematic illustrations for science and education.
