B-liner Diagrams are Easy to Read
B-liner diagrams are easy to read. Anyone can understand them.
What's more, they are easy to read AND they can handle describing the most
complex objects and processes. This page will show how B-liner
can describe things from a very simple breakdown to the most complex logic
design. And the best thing is that you can use B-liner at any
level - without ever having to worry about the more advanced features unless
you want to.
Introduction to B-liner's Diagrams
A B-liner diagram is a tool for displaying complex information in a simple,
hierarchically structured way. Hierarchies, well known for their descriptive
power, allow you to display arbitrary levels of detail without overwhelming
the reader's cognitive capacity for complexity. With B-liner diagrams,
you exploit this power by describing things one level at a time, making
both the details and their structural context visible at a glance.
For example, below is a simple B-liner diagram outlining the initial
design of this web site. (You read the diagram left to right, then
top to bottom).
As you can see from the above diagram, a bracket is used to enclose
each level of hierarchy. In the diagram, a bracket is used to reveal what
something "consists of" at the next level of detail. As a diagram
expands to the right, the description gets more and more detailed. This
style of incrementally decomposing a description (a.k.a. top-down description)
is the key to the power of B-liner diagrams. You are able to display complex
information which, level by level, is easy to understand.
Bear in mind that this "top down" hierarchical style of description
is nothing new. It's very likely that you're already quite familiar with
the concept. It's also likely that you're aware that the same features
of a hierarchy which make them such powerful tools also make them awkward
to create and manipulate. Until now! B-liner makes creating, manipulating,
editing, and formatting hierarchical diagrams easy and enjoyable.
A hierarchical structure is the framework of all of B-liner's diagrams,
but your diagrams don't have to stop there. For example, B-liner lets you
add a few extra simple constructs to your diagrams which allow you to create
a style of diagram called a Warnier/Orr diagram, which you can use to elegantly
and precisely describe complex processes (e.g. programs, business processes,
etc.). Some more uses of B-liner's diagrams are described in a later section
of this page.
Interpreting B-liner's diagrams
You can use B-liner diagrams to create several different styles of diagrams,
all based around a hierarchical structure. Each diagram style is interpreted
in its own way. For example, a insect taxonomy is interpreted differently
than a document outline (even though both diagrams have a hierarchical
structure). In this section you will be introduced to one of the most useful
styles of hierarchical diagram: the Warnier/Orr diagram.
A Warnier/Orr diagram is a style of diagram which is extremely useful
for describing complex processes (e.g. computer programs, business processes,
instructions) and objects (e.g. data structures, documents, parts explosions).
Warnier/Orr diagrams are elegant, easy to understand and easy to create.
When you interpret one of B-liner's diagrams as a Warnier/Orr diagram,
you give a simple, yet formal meaning to the elements of the diagram.
The following is a quick description of the main elements of a Warnier/Orr
diagram. For more detail see our Warnier/Orr
Diagram Reference Sheet.
| Bracket: |
A bracket encloses a level of decomposition in a diagram. It reveals
what something "consists of" at the next level of detail. |
| Sequence: |
The sequence of events is defined by the top-to-bottom order in a diagram.
That is, an event occurs after everything above it in a diagram, but before
anything below it. |
| OR: |
You represent choice in a diagram by placing an "OR" operator between
the items of a choice. The "OR" operator looks either like 
or  . |
| AND: |
You represent concurrency in a diagram by placing an "AND" operator
between the concurrent actions. The "AND" operator looks either like 
or  . |
| Repetition: |
To show that an action repeats (loops), you simply put the number of
repetitions of the action in parentheses below the action. |
The diagram below illustrates the use of these constructs to describe a
simple process.
You could read the above diagram like this:
"Welcoming a guest to your home (from 1 to many times) consists of
greeting
the guest and taking the guest's coat at the same time, then
showing the guest in. Greeting a guest consists of saying "Good
morning" if it's morning, or saying "Good afternoon" if it's afternoon,
or saying "Good evening" if it's evening. Taking the guest's coat
consists of helping the guest remove their coat,
then hanging
the coat up."
As you can see, the diagram is much easier to understand than the description.
There are many good books that go into detail on the interpretation
and use of Warnier/Orr diagrams, mostly in the field of software design
and analysis.
There is also a tutorial in B-liner's on-line help on interpreting Warnier/Orr
diagrams.
What's the difference between a Warnier/Orr diagram
and a flowchart?
Flowcharts have been around since the early days of programming. They provide
a simple graphical description of processes. Flowcharts work great for
building small programs. However, you soon discover that as your program
grows in size and complexity flowcharts do little to help manage that complexity.
Advances in programming languages have helped manage complexity using hierarchically
structured blocks.
Warnier/Orr diagrams have a top-down block structure identical to today's
programming languages. This one-to-one relationship between a Warnier/Orr
diagram and the programming language allows you to move seamlessly from
requirements, to design, to code.
What are B-liner's diagrams good for?
Because of the ubiquitous nature of hierarchies, B-liner diagrams are very
much a general purpose tool. B-liner's diagrams can be used for anything
from formal specifications to informal "to-do" lists. Anytime complex processes
or objects need to be described, designed, or communicated, B-liner diagrams
are an ideal tool. More specifically, they can help you...
Project Planning
Requirements specifications
Project specifications
Work breakdown
Resource breakdown
Simple scheduling
|
Analysis
Task analysis
Business process analysis
Needs / Requirements analysis
Specifications
Decision trees
Risk Analysis
|
Technical Design
Requirements
Specifications
System design
Process design
Algorithm design
Database design
Warnier/Orr diagrams
|
Direct Mail Planning
& Analysis
Direct mail planning
Demographic segmentation
Response rate analysis
Breakeven analysis
Lift analysis
Control analysis
|
Using diagrams to help you think
B-liner's hierarchical diagrams can be helpful in the early stages of formulating
and solving problems. By keeping your ideas structured and in front of
you, you are able to gain a clearer visualization of your problem. Especially
when dealing with complex problems, using B-liner diagrams will help to
maintain "cognitive control" over the otherwise overwhelming details.
More example diagrams
For a variety of detailed B-liner sample diagrams, including project
planning, business analysis, technical design, and others, see Sample
Diagrams.
To try B-liner for yourself, free for 30 days, download
our full functioning trial version.
