nus-pe-script
commented
2 months ago Team's Response
We believe this is definitely a valid error . However, this should not hinder the understanding of the sequence diagram, let alone the whole archive component or entire DG itself.
The purpose of this diagram is to show the flow of the function calls and we believe this flow is reflected clearly, despite the inaccurate activation bars. In the DG above the diagram, it is mentioned the diagram shows the sequence of function calls when archive command is activated by the user, hence it should be pretty obvious from the diagram starting from when the user inputs "archive".
Hence, we propose a severity of low instead as it does not seem significant and this bug is unlikely to affect comprehension of the ArchiveCommands component at all, let alone the usage of the whole DG.
Items for the Tester to Verify
:question: Issue severity
Team chose [severity.Low]
Originally [severity.Medium]
- [x] I disagree
Reason for disagreement: I disagree that this is of low severity.
The developers describe the issue as a minor cosmetic flaw that "does not hinder the understanding of the sequence diagram, let alone the whole archive component or entire DG itself".
However, the incorrect depiction of the activation bars already misrepresent the lifeline or the period where the method is active in the sequence which would lead to misunderstandings about the timing and duration of the interactions, especially since these diagrams are meant to be instructive and not illustrative. Readers can very easily misinterprete the diagram such as interpreting 'archiveStudent' to end before the 'NAME' input is given by the user, or interpreting 'archiveStudent' to take in the 'NAME' input. This is one possibility of misinterpretation.
This is in addition to the fact that interactions in the current sequence diagram is already very confusing (eg. the sudden mention of archiveList and masterList).
Overall, the activation bar inaccuracy exacerbates, if not causes, a severe misunderstanding of the sequence diagram. Hence I believe the severity should still be medium.
As can be seen from the image, the activation bars are cut off at the top and bottom. In fact this is prevalent across several other DGs. This is a signficant bug as it will prevent readers from understanding when method is called.
Hence, I am assigning this a severity of medium.