SiSy
| SiSy | |
|---|---|
| Basic data
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| developer | Laser & Co. Solutions GmbH |
| Current version | (3.6x) |
| operating system | Windows |
| category | Visualization program |
| License | Proprietary |
| German speaking | Yes |
| www.laser-co.de | |
SiSy [ sisi ] (abbreviation of Si mple Sy is STEM) a visualization program for displaying models such as management models or software models , that is a tool for the business process modeling , mapping a quality management system , the software system design , the data modeling , and others. "SiSy" is a brand name of Laser & Co. Solutions GmbH and has been on the market since 1992. In 1993 Markt und Technik Verlag published a book with one of the first SiSy versions on an accompanying disk. A concentration on a certain development direction or a certain industry cannot be recognized. The tool is available for purely business use cases as well as a software development environment . In some respects SiSy looks outdated in terms of the design of the GUI or does not conform to Windows. However, if one looks at the development of the versions since 1992, then continuity in the GUI design can be certified. The user interface, which sometimes takes getting used to, is one of the main points of criticism among users, along with the delayed porting to current operating system versions.
The current price of the professional version is € 990 for private use and € 25,000 for business use.
Process modeling
With SiSy you can create business process models (organizational structure = organizational chart , information structure = entity relationship model , process structure = business processes ). Documentation for the business processes can be automatically generated from the models created. This documentation is particularly suitable for the presentation of QM systems . This obviously also results in the QM version of SiSy that is specially offered for this application. According to the manufacturer, however, the further development of this version has been discontinued. In order to be able to create an entire business process model in SiSy, the organization and the information structure and the necessary documents must first be mapped. Only when the organization, the data and the documents are mapped can the business process be mapped completely (WHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHAT). The various models are connected to one another by referencing objects (cf. a link). Business processes can be mapped in SiSy with three different notations. On the one hand with the so-called process chains , on the other hand with a notation similar to a program flow chart or the possibilities of UML .
organization
In SiSy it is possible to map and document the organization of a company as an organizational chart . SiSy can map the organization hierarchically or networked. The user can assign natural persons to positions in an organization. The graphic design options of organizational charts compared to programs like Visio are, however, rather modest. However, it is not just a picture, but a model of the organization based on a special database, a so-called repository , which enables automatic evaluations through to fully generated job descriptions and organizational manuals.
Entity relationship diagram
SiSy enables the creation of databases . To this end, an entity relationship diagram can be created in order to automatically generate the necessary SQL statements from this model . An ODBC driver is required for the desired target database. SiSy provides different options for the notation of the ERD . The standard notation is according to Chen , a min-max notation and the crow's foot notation are also offered. However, the generation of the database fails for some target databases. The reason is that the ODBC driver selected in this case expects proprietary SQL statements. In this case, the user has to correct the automatically generated statements by hand. Obviously, the automatically generated statements are primarily tailored to Microsoft Access .
SiSy as a development environment
In the original version, the manufacturer referred to SiSy as a CASE tool , which supported the entire development cycle of a software, starting with the analysis, through the design, to the implementation. The generation of the source code from structure diagrams was a specialty in the 1990s . Back then it was more common to generate the structogram from the source code ( reverse engineering ). The techniques offered at that time in SiSy were limited to the structured analysis , the structured design ( Jackson diagram ), the entity relationship diagram and the structogram . In the further course of development, the manufacturer mainly used the term modeling tool. This designation reflects the development of SiSy into a tool that works on the basis of a metamodel . This explains that with one and the same basic program SiSy by adding very simple extensions (description scripts for the metamodel ), so different models can be processed. At the same time, this universality obviously also presents restrictions with regard to specializing in certain models.
SiSy as a UML tool
In the current versions of the SiSy modeling tool (version 3.02 is available to the author), the focus on the development of UML skills can be clearly seen. The tool obviously remains true to the concept of generating the source code completely from the model. It dispenses with the usual synchronization between IDE and UML tool , i.e. between code and model. Embedding in an IDE and reverse engineering of object-oriented source codes is not offered. The exchange of diagrams with other UML tools is not possible in the current version. Programming takes place exclusively in SiSy. The UML class diagram in SiSy is therefore very focused on generating source code and allows you to work quickly. However, this makes the modeling of platform-independent class diagrams in SiSy rather uncomfortable. A special feature is the solution offered by SiSy for the sequence diagram . This is generated dynamically from the associated code within the class diagram for the selected class method. The tool recently started offering the generation of source code from the UML state diagram . This modeling technique plays a special role in the development of embedded systems .