What is Generalisation in Use Case Diagram

In the previous segment, you learned about the Include and Extend relationship, which connect different use cases. In the next video, you will learn about one more relationship that can exist between different use cases.

Video Transcript

Generalization. Generalization is a way of representing one use case which could be little more generic, and there could be other use cases which are similar to the one which is more generic but can have some specializations. For example, in our inventory management system, you can generate a report which could be in some default format, or additionally, for a specific use case, you can generate in a specific format. Let's say I generate this report in a default way which could be in a doc format. I could extend it to generate it in a PDF format or an Excel or a TXT format that is generalization a representation in which you know that there is a default behavior of a use case. If you want, you can customize it. Generalization can also be used to represent a parent and child relationship between use cases wherein common features or functionalities can be put inside a parent use case. Very specific use cases or behaviors can be implemented as part of the child use case. Majority of the use cases which are common can be reused from the parent use case. Such cases are represented using generalization wherein there is an arrow that is pointed from the child to the parent.

Video Recap

• Generalization is a way of representing a generic use case that can have specializations.

• It allows customization of default behaviors in a use case.

• It can represent a parent-child relationship between use cases where common features are in the parent and specific features are in the child.

• Generalization is shown with an arrow from the child to the parent in a use case diagram.

• The concept of generalization can be applied to various management systems including inventory management, warehouse management, hospital management, and stock management systems.

In the previous video, you learnt about generalisation, using which you can put the common behaviour of different use cases into one use case called the parent use case. Other use cases that modify the behaviour from the parent use case are called children use cases.