How to Customize a RACI Chart?
Unless your software development team is a one-man-band, there is a good possibility that the coding activity is divided into parts, responsible by different developers. Take software projects that apply three-tier architecture as an example. It usually involves three groups of developers, with each responsible for one tier. For instance, developer A implements a model class readily to be used by developer B who implements the controller. Visual Paradigm enables you to build chart. In addition to the built-in RACI chart available for general purposes, you can define your own type of chart for problem-specific purposes. In this tutorial, we will develop a chart to show the job division of a development team to show who implements or uses certain classes for an application.
Let's study this case: When the model class has been updated to follow the updated requirement, the developers who use the model class shall look into their code, to make sure the implementation written before is still valid. This proves knowing who does what in a team is needed - who implements certain classes, and who uses these classes. In order to identify who implements or uses what classes, a responsible chart can help.
- Download Time Killer Mini Online Game.vpp.
- Open Time Killer Mini Online Game.vpp by selecting Project > Open from the application toolbar and selecting the Time Killer Mini Online Game.vpp file you just downloaded.
- Create a chart (diagram). Select Diagram > New from the application toolbar.
- Select Chart Diagram and click Next.
- Click OK to confirm.
- Apart from the built-in chart type, you can configure a new type of chart or modify an existing chart by clicking the ... button next to Code Type.
- Let's configure a new chart type by selecting Add > Code Type from the drop-down menu.
- Name the newly created chart type as Class Management.
- Next, configure roles for Class Management by clicking Add > Code from the drop-down menu. The added code will therefore be used as a role in the chart type.
- Let's define a role, Implement for the chart type by entering Implement in the Name field and I in the Code field. Click the ... button next to the Color field and select Orange from the pop-up menu.
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 to add another role, Use. Enter Use in the Name field, select Magenta in the Color field, and enter U in the Code field.
- Click the OK button.
- Now, we can create a responsibility chart. Name the chart as Class Management.
- The new chart type is created in Code Type. Let's select Class Management from the Code Type combo box to build a responsibility chart.
- Next, define team members involved in Class Management. Let's define Peter as a team member by clicking the + button next to Models on Row, entering Peter in the pop-up Input dialog box, and clicking the OK button.
- Repeat the previous step to add three team members: Carlos, Linda, and Pam.
- Let's specify a model element type taken in Class Management by selecting Class under the Model Element Types tab.
- Click the OK button.
- In Class Management, you can assign a specific role for each team member. Let's assign Peter to Implement for Game by clicking the Mark Code to Cell button on top of the chart and then clicking Game.
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Assign the roles to all team members (participants) following the table below:
Participant Class Role Peter TransferCreditController Implement Member Implement CreditTransaction Implement Carlos CreditOrderController Implement RegisterController Implement Linda Game Use TransferCreditController Use Member Use CreditTransaction Use GameScreen Implement CreditOrder Implement Pam Game Use CreditOrderController Use RegisterController Use CreditTransfer Implement
A complete chart is shown below: