In systems analysis, the concept of "entity life history" typically refers to the complete set of
events, states, and transitions that an entity (such as an object, component, or actor) goes through
during its existence in a system. This is a common approach in fields like software engineering,
information systems, and business process modeling to understand how entities behave and
interact with other parts of the system.
Key Components of Entity Life History in System Analysis
1. Entity: An entity in systems analysis refers to a distinct object or component that plays a
role within a system. It could represent a physical object (e.g., a piece of equipment) or
an abstract concept (e.g., a customer in a business process or a record in a database). The
life history focuses on how this entity evolves over time.
2. State: The state of an entity describes its current condition or status at a given moment in
time. Each entity typically moves through different states throughout its life cycle. For
example, in a system managing orders, an order may have states like "Created,"
"Processed," "Shipped," and "Completed."
3. Events: Events trigger transitions between different states of an entity. For example, in a
business process system, an event like "Order Received" or "Payment Processed" can
cause the state of an order to change. Events can be user actions, system messages, or
external triggers.
4. Transitions: Transitions describe the movement from one state to another in response to
an event. These are often captured in diagrams such as state transition diagrams or
entity life cycle diagrams. Transitions may involve certain conditions that must be met
or actions that need to be executed.
5. Life Cycle: The life cycle of an entity defines all the possible states it can occupy and the
transitions between those states. It provides a holistic view of how the entity moves
through its life history in the system. For example, in a customer relationship
management (CRM) system, a customer entity might move through states like
"Prospective," "Active," "Loyal," and "Inactive."
6. Actions/Processes: Actions or processes are often associated with certain states or
transitions. These represent tasks that the system or users must perform when an entity is
in a particular state or when an event occurs. For instance, when an order moves from
"Shipped" to "Delivered," the system might trigger an action to notify the customer.
Example: Order Processing System
Imagine an order processing system. The entity here is an Order, and its life history could look
like this:
State 1: "New": The order is created but not yet processed.
o Event: "Payment Received"
o Transition: Moves to "Processing"
State 2: "Processing": The order is being processed by the system.
o Event: "Order Shipped"
o Transition: Moves to "Shipped"
State 3: "Shipped": The order is on its way to the customer.
o Event: "Order Delivered"
o Transition: Moves to "Delivered"
State 4: "Delivered": The order is delivered to the customer, and the life cycle of the
order may come to an end unless further actions (like returns or customer support) are
initiated.
Entity Life History Diagram
In systems analysis, an entity life history diagram (or state machine diagram) is often used to
visually represent this concept. It shows the states an entity goes through, the events that trigger
state transitions, and any conditions or actions involved.
Use in Performed System Analysis
1. System Design: When designing a system, understanding the life history of key entities
helps in building effective data models, workflows, and business rules. For example, in a
healthcare system, tracking the life history of a "Patient" entity could involve states like
"Registered," "Under Treatment," "Discharged," and "Follow-up."
2. Process Optimization: By analyzing the life history of entities, system analysts can
optimize processes. For example, understanding bottlenecks in an entity's transitions can
lead to process improvements.
3. Data Modeling: In database design, entities with clearly defined life histories allow for
better database structuring, ensuring that all potential states and transitions are accounted
for in the schema.
4. Automation and Workflow: Many systems use an entity's life history to automate
workflows. For instance, a ticketing system may move a "Ticket" entity from "Open" to
"Closed" based on user inputs or predefined business logic.
Conclusion
In performed systems analysis, the entity life history is a key conceptual framework used to
model the behavior, interactions, and evolution of an entity throughout its existence in the
system. By mapping out the different states, events, transitions, and actions associated with an
entity, system analysts can design more efficient, logical, and functional systems.
