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162 Model Driven Systems Development with Rational Products
Figure 7-11 Context diagram with blocks and associations
A more complex option, but one that will likely carry more information specified
with more precise semantics, would be to use ports and connectors between
blocks in an enclosing context. In this case, I/O entities will be the information
that gets exchanged through the ports and connectors. This will allow for greater
specificity. The danger here is that specificity often comes at a price—perhaps it
is too early in our analysis process to be at this level of detail.
This is a judgement call—we must remember why we are modeling (to manage
complexity and to communicate effectively, among other things) and what we
have to accomplish at any given point in our development process. It is often
better to begin with less specificity (because we really do not know enough yet)
and to refine and get more specific as we progress through our process.
In any case, here is an example of a context diagram using blocks, ports, and
connectors (Figure 7-12).