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I'm developing a video web system like YouTube where users can upload, view, update and delete their own videos (CRUD operation). Original I drawn the use case diagram like this:

enter image description here

But I learned later that it's better to use one use case called "manage video" to simplify the whole diagram where there are a lager number of use cases presented, so the above diagram is modified to this one:

enter image description here

However, in this way I have difficulty creating the detailed description for the "manage video" use case as the procedure of uploading video is much more complex than that of other operations and I can't summarize all of them into one single written use case. Thus I think it's better to write separate written use case for each CRUD operation. But this brings the inconsistency between the use case diagram and written use case document as the "manage video" use case in the use case diagram is not mapped to any written use case. Is it OK with that? If not, how can I solve this problem?

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    You can show both, a "manage video" use case which is split up into those other 4 CRUD use case like shown here: jot.fm/issues/issue_2005_11/article4 Of course, this depends on if your diagramming tool will support this. Moreover, we cannot decide for you which level of abstraction you are going to draw graphically, and which in text, that is something you have to discuss with your team or your audience. Text is always on a different level of abstraction than diagrams, that does not make it "inconsistent".
    – Doc Brown
    Commented Jun 23, 2016 at 9:13
  • Based on the answers in this question, I don't think it's a good idea to include all CRUD operations from the "manage video" use case. Also, this project is my master's thesis, so I don't have any teammate to discuss with. That's why I came to here to discuss with you guys.
    – IT_Layman
    Commented Jun 24, 2016 at 2:53
  • Hey, it is your thesis and only you know the appropriate level of abstraction for your text. There is nothing per se wrong with the one or the other diagram, pick the one which serves you or your thesis best. If the link I gave you above does not satisfy you, you should tell us why.
    – Doc Brown
    Commented Jun 24, 2016 at 5:35
  • The reason can be found in the first answer of the link I gave above: "Since user (or something else) management is a well-understood concept, a "Manage Users" use case is actually pretty self-explanatory and doesn't need detailing into several use cases unless there are specific reasons to do so". Although my case uses the video object rather than the user object in the case of that link, that wouldn't make them much different to each other.
    – IT_Layman
    Commented Jun 24, 2016 at 7:50

1 Answer 1

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I think there is 2 factors that can make you choose between one or the other

  • Is "Manage" a classical CRUD case or is there more ?
  • Is the whole diagram already quite big ?

Now ideally depending on the result of the two questions :

  • If yes for the first -> go for "manage"
  • If no for the 1st and yes for the 2nd, go for "manage" and add another diagram showing the corresponding subcase to "manage".
  • If no for both : show all your operation in that diagram.

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