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Allen Holub's UML Reference Card

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AllenHolub'sUMLQuickReference
Version2.1.4(2011/09/26) http://www.holub.com/goodies/uml/ 2011,AllenI.Holub.Allrightsreserved. Youmaylinktothispage,butpleasedonot"mirror" it(makealocalcopy).Irevisethisreference periodically,andlocalcopieswillbecomeobsolete. Thisdocumentmaybereproducedanddistributed freely,providedthattheentiredocumentis distributedwithoutmodification(includingthe copyrightnotice,myurl,andthisparagraph). Thisreferencecoversthenotationdescribedinthe OMGUMLversion2.0Superstructuredocument foundathttp://www.omg.org/cgibin/doc? ptc/20030802YoucanalsofindotherUML informationontheOMGUMLsite: http://www.uml.org. Finally,bearinmindthatUMLisjustanotation that'susedinthecontextofagoodOODesign process.There'snotmuchbenefitinusingUML unlessyou'reactuallydoingOO,andmanypeople whothinktheyare,aren't.FindanOODesign readinglistat http://www.holub.com/goodies/books.html.

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UML

UMLUseCase Reference

UMLforJava TrainingbyAllenHolub

Miscellany
Comments.Anykindofinformationthatisn'teasilyrepresentableinUML,including comments,implementationlevelcode,etc.Alsousedforalongconstraint.Thissymbolis usedinalloftheUMLdiagrams.

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OrganizationalDiagrams
Packages Grouptogetherfunctionallysimilarclasses. SameasC++namespace. identifiesderivation.Classes/interfacesin"base"packageare extended/implementedin"derived"package,etc.Derivedclasses neednotbeinthesamepackageasbaseclass,however. representsadependency,typicallystereotyped(import, access,etc.). Packagenameispartoftheclassname.(e.g.giventheclassfredin theflintstonepackage,thefullyqualifiedclassnameis flintstone.fred). Generallyneededwhenentirestaticmodelwon'tfitononesheet. Packagescannest.Outermostpackagescalleddomainsifthey containonlysubpackages(noclasses).(Thetoolspackageatleftis anouterpackagethecom.holub packageisadomain.)Nested packagescanalsobeshownusinga treestructureandstaticmodelnested classsymbol(shownatright). Subsystems.Asubsystemisacooperatingsetofruntimeobjectsthatform acohesivegroup.(Packagesaremadeupofclasses,notobjects.Theyare notthesameassubsystems.)Asubsystempresentsastandardsetof interfacestotheoutsideworld,andallaccesstotheobjectsthatcomprise thesubsystemshouldbethroughtheseinterfaces.Ifyouaccessthe subsystemviaasingleobjectwhoseprimaryresponsibilityistoimplement anaccessinterface(s),thatobjectiscalledaport. Packagesarecompiletimethings,subsystemsareruntimethings.Don't confusethemthesimilarnotationisunfortunate.Theclassesthat comprisethesubsystemareoftencontainedinasinglepackage,butneed notbe.(TheclassesthatdefineobjectsintheJDBCsubsystemaredefined inthejava.sqlpackage.I'veshownrelationshipatleft,butthat'snot standardUML.)Subsystemsareidentifiedassuchbya symbol,which canbeplacedinthetaborbodyofthebox. Thediagramatleftshowsboththestandardandballandsocketstyle interfacenotations.UMLalsoletsyouputintotheboxastaticmodel diagramshowingtheclassesthatcomprisethesubsystem.I'vefoundthat levelofdetailtobeunnecessaryinpractice,sohavenotshownit.

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UseCaseDiagram
Specifiesparticipantsinausecaseandtherelationships betweenusecases. Thestickfigurerepresentsaroletakenonbysomeactor (sometimescalledsimply"actor,"butit'sreallyarole). Alineconnectstheactor/roletotheusecaseinwhichit participates.Youmayusecardinality.(ASalesperson placesmanyorders.) Anisspecializationof/generalizesrelationshipbetween actor/roles(denotedby )indicatesadditional responsibilities.(ASupervisorhasalltheresponsibilitiesof aSalesperson,butcanalsoestablishcredit.ASupervisor cancreateanaccount,forexample.) Dottedlinesdenoteusecasedependencies.Common dependenciesare: equivalent Equivalentusecaseshaveidentical activitiesandidenticalflow,butendusers thinkofthemasdifferent.("Deposit"and "Withdrawal"mighthaveidentical activities,thoughtheobjectsinvolved mightbedifferent.) extends Whenextensionextendsbase,allthe activitiesofthebaseusecasearealso performedintheextensionusecase,but theextensionusecaseaddsadditional activitiestoorslightlymodifiesexisting activitiesofthebaseusecase.(To placearecurringorder,youmustperform alltheactivitiesofplacinganorderplus setuptherecurrence.) Ifasetofactivitiesoccurinseveraluse cases,it'sreasonableto"normalize" thesecommonactivitiesoutintoabase usecase,andthenextenditas necessary. HolubExtension:Thisrelationshipis reallyaformofderivation,soIusethe derivationarrow( )insteadofa dashedline.Asinaclassdiagram,the arrowpointsfromtheextensiontothe baseusecase.
includes

Asubcase.Ifcaseincludessubcase, thentheactivitiesofsubcaseare performedoneormoretimesinthecourse ofperformingcase.(An"Authenticate"

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requires follows

resembles

ofperformingcase.(An"Authenticate" subcasemaybeincludedinseverallarger usecases,forexample.)Thesubcaseis usuallyrepresentedintheusingusecase asasingleboxmarkedwiththesubcase nameandthestereotypeusecase. Iffollowerrequiresleader,thenleader mustbecompletedbeforeyoucan executethefollowerusecase.(Youmust createanaccountbeforeyoucanplace anorder.) Twousecasesareverysimilar,butdo havedifferentactivities.

Actors/rolesaremostlyuninterestingtoprogrammers.The dependenciesarevaluableindeterminingwhichusecaseto implementfirst.(Ioftenimplementtheusecasesthathavethe mostincomingarrowsfirst,sinceotherusecasesdependon them.)

ActivityandStateDiagrams
Statediagramssharemanynotationalelementswithactivitydiagrams.Themaindifferenceisthatstatediagrams "decorate"thetransitions(directedlinesbetweenstates)toindicatethemethodcallorconditionthatcausedthe transition. StartingandStopping.Thesolidcircleindicatesthebeginningof thesequenceofactivities. ThecirclewithanXrepresentsanendofa"flow"butnottheend oftheentireusecase.Inotherwords,somesubtaskcompletes, buttheentireusecaseisnotyetcomplete. The"target"indicatesthattheentireusecaseiscomplete.

Subcase(SubActivity).The"rake"symbolindicatesthatthe "activity"iscomplexenoughtomerititsownactivitydiagram.In usecaseanalysis,thisisa"subcase"astandaloneactivitythat occursinmorethanoneusecasebutisnotlargeenoughtobea usecaseinitsownright.

Synchronization(Fork/Join).Usedeitherwhenseveralactivities cangooninparallelorwhentheorderinwhichasetofactivities executeisimmaterial.Theheavybaratthetopisafork.Afterthe fork,allactivitiescan(butarenotrequiredto)gooninparallel. Progresscannotcontinuepastthebaronthebottom(thejoin)until alltheactivitiesthatfeedintothejoincomplete. Youcanlabelthejoinwithaconstraint(e.g.{joinspec=(Aand B)orC})tospecifytheconditionthatallowsprogresstocontinue.

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B)orC})tospecifytheconditionthatallowsprogresstocontinue. Ifthere'snoconstraint,ANDisassumed.

Guards(tests).Thispathisusedonlyifthetextinthebracketsis true.

Decision(Branch/Merge).Adecisionactivity,theguardlabels thedecisionthatwasmade.Thediamondwithoutgoingarrows (thebranch)specifiesanORoperation,withaconditionimposed bytheguard.Thediamondwithincomingarrows(amerge)simply providesanendtotheORoperation.Amergecanoccurwithout anassociatedbranchifthediagramhasmultiplestartstates.

Signals(Events). Generatingsignals:senttooutsideprocess(RequestPayment atleft). Acceptingsignals:receivedfromoutsideprocess(Payment Receivedatleft). Timersignals:receivedwhentimeelapsesorasettimearrives (30days...atleft).

Exceptions.Extraordinaryerrorsthatyoutypicallydon'tdetect withexplicittestsareindicatedwitha"lightningbolt."

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ObjectFlow.Identifiesobjectsthatarecreatedbyactivities(box withoutgoingarrow)orusedbyactivities(boxwithincoming arrow). Intheexampleatleft,Theinvoiceobjectiscreatedduringthe receiveinvoiceactivityandusedbytheprocessinvoiceactivity. Thecheckobjectiscreatedinthecutcheckactivityandisused bythesendpaymentactivity.Inthissecondcase,youcanalso putboxesatbothendsoftheline. Youcanindicateexactlyhowtheobjectisusedwithaconstraint. (e.g.{create},{store},etc.) SwimLanes.Activitiesarearrangedintoverticalorhorizontal zonesdelimitedwithlines.Eachzonerepresentsabroadareaof responsibility,typicallyimplementedbyasetofclassesor objects.Forexample,theswimlanelabeledaccountingcould representobjectsofseveralclasses(Bookkeeper,Clerk, MailRoom,Accountant)workinginconcerttoperformthesingle "cutpaycheck"activity. UML2.x(bottomdiagramatleft)usessolidratherthandashed lines,andpermitsbothhorizontalandvertical(orboth) delimitation.Theupperleftquadrantinthediagramatleft representsaccountingactivitiesthathappeninParis.

ExampleActivityDiagram

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StaticModel(Class)Diagram
DesignPattern(Collaboration) ThedashedcircleisUML,ver.1.5.ThegreyboxisErich Gamma'snotation,aspresentedinJohnVlissides'book PatternHatching(Reading:AddisonWesley,1998).Use oneortheother. Asingleclasscanhavedifferentroleswithrespectto severalpatterns.Inthebottomexample,theclassserves asboththe"ConcreteObserver"inthe"Observer"pattern andalsothe"RealSubject"inthe"Proxy"pattern.The UMLnotationcanidentifyallparticipatingclassesifthey happentobeinphysicalproximity.

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Classes.Standardrepresentationcontainsthreecompartments: 1. Thenamecompartment(required)containstheclass nameandotherdocumentationrelatedinformation:E.g.: Sm_ls btat oecas asrc {ato: uhr Gog Jto ere esn mdfe: oiid 1//99 0629 cekdot y hce_u: } Guillemetsidentifystereotypes.E.g.:utility, abstractinterface. Canuseagraphicinsteadofword.(interface oftenrepresentedassmallcircle) Accessprivileges(seebelow)canprecedename Useitalicsforabstractclassandinterfacenames. 2. Theattributescompartment(optional): DuringAnalysis:identifytheattributes(i.e.defining characteristics)oftheobject. DuringDesign:identifyarelationshiptoastock class: This:

isamorecompact(andlessinformative)versionof this:

Everythingexceptconstantvaluesmustbeprivate. Always.Period. 3. Theoperationscompartment(optional)containsmethod definitions: msaenm(ruet) rtr_ye esg_aeagmns: euntp Resistthetemptationtouseimplementationlanguage syntax.

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Visibility(accessprivileges)indicatedasfollows:1 + public # protected ~ package2 private implementationvisibility(inaccessibletoother objects)2 (+)forcedpublic.Overrideofaninterfacemethodthat shouldbetreatedasprivate,evenifit'sdeclared public.2 UML2.0permitsC++stylegrouping: pbi ulc a) it (: n b) vi (: od piae rvt c) vi (: od Properties(newinUML2.0.): / Derivedattribute.Synthesizedatruntime. Combinewithaccess.(e.g.height,width, /+area) {property} Standardpropertiesare:{readOnly},{union}, {subsetspropertyname}, {redefinespropertyname},{ordered},{bag}, {seq}(or{sequence}),{composite}. example:/+area:integer{readOnly}

a s r c operationsindicatedbyitalics(orunderline). btat
Ifattributesandoperationsarebothomitted(yieldingaboxwitha classnameinit),amorecompletedefinitionisassumedtobeon anothersheet. Introducenonstandardcompartmentssimplybynamingthem,as isshowninthebottomexampleatleft. 1Java,unfortunately,defaultsto"package"accesswhenno modifierispresent.UMLdoesnotsupportthenotionofadefault access.UMLhasnonotionof"implementationvisibility" (accessibleonlywithinanobjectotherobjectsofthesame classcannotaccessit). 2TheseareAllenHolub'spersonalextensions.The~was incorporatedintotheUMLstandardwithversion1.5.Theother's arenotstandardUML. Associations(relationshipsbetweenclasses). Associatedclassesareconnectedbylines. Therelationshipisidentified,ifnecessary,witha<or> toindicatedirection(orusesolidarrowheads).

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Therolethataclassplaysintherelationshipisidentified onthatclass'ssideoftheline. Stereotypes(likefriend)areappropriate. Unidirectionalmessageflowcanbeindicatedbyanarrow (butisimplicitinsituationswherethereisonlyonerole): Cardinality: 1 (usuallyomittedif1:1)

n (unknownatcompiletime,butbound) 0..1(1..21..n) 1..* (1ormore) * (0ormore) Example:

casCmay ls opn {piaePro[ epoe=e Pro[] rvt esn] mlyenw esnn; pbi vi gv_earie ulc od iem__as( Pro epoe) esn mlye {/../ *.* } pbi vi hr_e Pro popc ) ulc od iem( esn rset {/../ *.* } } casPro ls esn { piaeSrn nm; rvt tig ae piaeCmayepoe; rvt opn mlyr piaePro bs; rvt esn os piaeVco fuke=e Vco(; rvt etr lnisnw etr) pbi vi ulc od yur_ie({.} o_efrd).. } (AJavaV c o isavariablelengtharray.Inthiscaseitwill etr holdP r o objects.) esn ImplementationInheritance(Generalize/Specialize) identifiesimplementationinheritance(e t n s x e d inJava) Thebaseclassisaconcreteclass,withdataormethodsdefined init,ascomparedtoaninterface,whichispurelyabstract(in C++,aclassmadeofnothingbutp r v r u l u e i t a methods). Thederivedclassisthebaseclass,butwithadditionalor
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Thederivedclassisthebaseclass,butwithadditionalor modifiedproperties.Thederived(sub)classisaspecializationof thebase(super)class.Variationsinclude:

InterfaceInheritance(Specifies/Refines/Implements). Aninterfaceisacontractthatspecifiesasetofmethodsthat mustbeimplementedbyaderivedclass(inC++,aclass containingnothingbutpurevirtualmethods.JavaandC#support themdirectly).(C.f.abstractclass,whichcancontainmethod andfielddefinitionsinadditiontotheabstractdeclarations.An abstractclassisextended(seeimplementationinheritance). Interfacescontainnoattributes,sothe"attributes"compartment isalwaysempty. Indicateaninterfaceinheritancerelationship(i p e e t in mlmns Java)withadashedline.Thatis,useadashedlinewhenthe baseclassisaninterfaceandthederivedclassisaconcrete classthatimplementsthemethodsdefinedintheinterface. Wheninterfacesextendotherinterfaces,useasolidline. The"ballandsocket"notationatleftisnewinUML2.0.Classes thatconsume(require)aninterfacedisplaya"socket"labeled withtheinterfacename(Aatleft).Classesthatprovide (implement)aninterfacedisplaya"ball"labeledwiththeinterface name(Batleft).Combiningthetwoisacompactwaytosaythat theConsumertalkstotheproviderviathenamedinterface. MyUMLextension:Roundedcornersidentify interfaces.Sinceroundedcornersareoften difficulttodrawbyhand,Isometimesusethe versionatrightforhanddrawndiagrams. StrictUMLusestheinterfacestereotypein thenamecompartmentofastandardclassbox. Asmallcircleinacornerofthecompartment oftenindicatesaninterface,aswell.

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Ifthefullinterfacespecificationisinsomeotherdiagram,Iuse the"ball"notationor Microsoftstyle"pin"notation(atright) isobsoleteasofUML2.0.Don'tuse it. Nesting,InnerClass..Identifiesnesting(containment) relationshipsinalldiagrams.Inaclassdiagram:an"inner"class whosedefinitionisnestedwithinthe"outer"classdefinition. Typicallyputstheinnerclassinthenamespaceoftheouter class,butmayhaveadditionalproperties. .

Dependency.UserusesResource,butResourceisnota memberof(fieldin)theUserclass.IfResourceismodified, somemethodofUsermightneedtobemodified.Resourceis typicallyalocalvariableorargumentofsomemethodinUser. Thelineistypicallystereotyped(e.g.createsmodifies) Aggregation(comprises)relationshiprelationship.1Destroying the"whole"doesnotdestroytheparts. Composition(has)relationship.1Thepartsaredestroyedalong withthe"whole."Doesn'treallyexistinJava.InC++: casCnanr ls otie { Ie ie1 tm tm; / bt o teeae / oh f hs r Ie *tm; / "opsto" tm ie2 / cmoiin pbi: ulc Cnanr){ie2=nwIe;} otie( tm e tm ~otie({dlt ie2 Cnanr) eee tm; } } NavigabilityMessagesflowindirectionofarrow(only).An unmarkedlineis"unspecified"navigability.AnXindicatesnon navigable(Uml2.0). Typically,ifaroleisspecified,thennavigabilityinthedirectionof thatroleisimplicit.Ifanobjectdoesn'thavearoleinsome relationship,thenthere'snowaytosendmessagestoit,sonon navigabilityisimplicit. ConstraintAconstrainedrelationshiprequiressomeruletobe applied.(e.g.{ordered})Oftencombinedwithaggregation, composition,etc. ComplexConstraint Comments

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Inthecaseoftheor,onlyoneoftheindicated relationshipswillexistatanygivenmoment(aC++ uin n o ). Subsetdoestheobvious. InofficialUML,putarbitraryconstraintsthataffectmore thanonerelationshipina"comment"box,asshown.I usuallyleaveoutthebox.

QualifiedAssociation(hashtable,associativearray, "dictionary").Useanexternal(or"foreign")keytoidentifyan objectthatdoesnotcontainthatkey.Eg.:Abankusesa CustomertoidentifyanAccountbecauseaccountsdonot containcustomers.(Anaccountisidentifiedbyanaccount number,notacustomer.) casUe ls sr {/ AHstbei a ascaieary / ahal s n soitv ra, / idxdb sm kyadcnann / nee y oe e n otiig / sm vle i ti cs,cnan / oe au; n hs ae otis / Ie ojcs idxdb UD / tm bet, nee y I. piaeHstbebg=nwHsTbe) rvt ahal a e ahal(; piaevi adUDky Ie vle rvt od d(I e, tm au) { bgpt ky vle) a.u( e, au ; } } AssociationClass Usewhenaclassisrequiredtodefinearelationship. Ifthisclassappearsonlyasanassociationclass(an classtoclassassociationliketheonebetweenPerson andTicketdoesn'texist),objectsoftheassociationclass mustbepassedasargumentstoeverymessage.

ExampleClassDiagram
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Interaction(DynamicModel)Diagrams
"Interaction"diagramsshowthe"dynamicmodel."Theyshowhowobjectsinteractatruntime:how theyactoutausecasebysendingmessagestoeachother. Therearetwosortsofinteractiondiagrams:SequenceDiagramsandCollaboration/Communication Diagrams.Thetwoformspresentidenticalinformationindifferentway.Whichoneyouuseislargely amatteroftaste.Sequencediagramstendtobemorereadable,collaborationdiagramsaremore compact.

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SequenceDiagram
WithoutActivations: ObjectsandMessages Verticallinesrepresentobjects,notclasses. Mayoptionallyadda":class"totheboxifitmakesthe diagrammorereadable. representssynchronousmessage.(messagehandler doesn'treturnuntildone). representsreturn.Labelarrowwiththename[and optional:type]ofthereturnedobject.(Exampleatleft translatesto: rtre_b=eevrmsae(; eundojrcie.esg2)) Sendingobject'sclassmusthave: 1. Aassociationofsomesortwithreceivingobject's class. 2. Thereceiversideclass's"role"mustbethesameas thenameofthereceivingobject. Activiationsareoptional,butmucheasiertoread.Compare:

WithActivations:

to

Returnimpliedbybottomofboxwhenactivationspresent.A isunnecessaryonmethodsthatdon'treturnvalues. Explicitreturns,whenshown,areunambiguousbecausethey emitfromtheactivationforthemessagethatreturnsthe value. Messagesthattakealongtimetoarrive(whensent overanetworkforexample)canbedrawnwitha diagonalline,asisshownatright. Whenactivationsaremissing,returnarrowsareessentialfor disambiguatingcontrolflow.Inabove diagram,it'sunclearwhether m s a e orm s a e returns esg2 esg4 r t r e _ b whenunlabeled eundoj returnsareomitted. Whendrawingbyhand,Iuseasolid lineandputtheactivationboxesat thesideoftheline,asisshownat right. Data"Tadpoles" Data"tadpoles"areoftenmorereadablethanreturnarrowsor messagearguments.Atleft,thee t y l r objectsendsthe nrCek s i p n D c anobjectcalledo d r hpigok r e .Thes i p n D c hpigok returnsthes i p n R c i t h p i g e e p object.

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ObjectCreation Nameboxappearsatpointofcreation. createsformforautomaticcreation.InC++:Anobject(not areferencetoone)isdeclaredasafieldinaclass.The closestJavaequivalentisanobjectcreatedbyinstance variableinitialization: casX ls {piaeCso=nwCs) rvt l e l(; /.. /. } Ifmessageshowninsteadofcreates,thenthemessage handlercreatestheobject.Thinkofn w F e ( as e rd) F e . e ( .Methoddoesnothavetoben w ) rdnw) e(. Conditions,Branches,Loops,Grouping 1. m s a e ( issentonlyiftheconditionspecifiedinthe esg1) guard(inbrackets)istrue. 2. Abranch.Sendersendseitherm s a e ( or esg2) m s a e ( .Guardsshouldbeexclusive.Iuseelse esg3) insteadofaguardwhenappropriate. 3. Iteration.Sendersendsm s a e ( aslongasthe esg4) conditionistrue. 4. "Foreach."Ifthereceiverisacollectionofobjects(indicated bythecardinalityoftheassociatedroleinthestaticmodel), sendthemessagetoallofthem. 5. UML2.0InteractionFrame.Asshown,conditionspecifiesa loop.Canalsouse: lo o p Aloop,executesmultipletimes Optional.An"if"statement. ot p r g o Anamedregion. ein Areferencetoanamedregion(elsewherein rf e diagramoronanotherdiagram):

6. Asshown,anif/elsestructure.Canuse: Executeoneofthealternatives,controlledby at l guards Executeregionsinparallel pr a

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Interactionframescannest:

Alternative(Nonstandard)Branch/LoopNotationUse"pseudo activations"andguardstoindicatecontrolflow. Diagonallineindicatesan"alternative"flow.

Loops,Alternative(MyownextensiontoUML.) Don'tthinkloops,thinkwhattheloopisaccomplishing. Typically,youneedtosendsomesetofmessagestoevery elementinsomecollection.Dothiswithevery. Youcangetmoreelaborate:"everyreceiverwherex y < ". Thediagramatleftcomesfromthismodel:

andmapstothefollowingcode: cassne_ls ls edrcas { rcie_ls rcie[] eevrcas eevrn; pbi d_t) ulc oi( { fr iti=0 i<n +i) o( n ; ; + rcie[]msae) eevri.esg(; } } ActiveObjects Activeobjectsprocessmessagesononeormoreauxiliary backgroundthreads.Theyareareindicatedbyaheavyweightoutline. Themessagessenttoanactiveobjectaretypicallyasynchronous: theyinitiatesomeactivitybutdon'twaitaroundfortheactivityto complete. Thestickarrowheadmeansasynchronousmessagethe callreturnsbeforemessageisfullyprocessed.Areturnvalue fromanasynchronousmessagecanindicatethatwork

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started,butcan'tindicateanysortofcompletionstatus. Theboxonthelifelinemeansactivatedsomeactivityis beingperformedbytheobject,perhapsonabackground thread. Aseparatelifeline[shownatleftwhenthew r ( message ok) activatesthep o e s r r c s o object]impliesaseparatethread forprocessingthemessage. ThelargeXindicatesthatanobjectdeletesitselfwhendone handlingmessage.Anexternalkillisrepresentedas: Atleft,thep o e s x messageactivatesp o e s r rcs() r c s o .The p o e s x messageisasynchronous,sotherequestingmethod rcs() returnsimmediatelyandthep o e s r r c s o objectdoestheworkin thebackground.Whilep o e s x isbeinghandled,the rcs() s n e objectsendsad ( ) edr o x message,whichbringsan anonymousW r e objectintoexistence.(Thed ( methodisa okr o) s a i methodoftheW r e classthatcreatesananonymous ttc okr objecttohandletherequest.)Thisanonymousobjectdoessome work,sendingasynchronousw r ( messagetothe ok) poesr r c s o object.Sincethew r ( handlerissynchronous,it ok) doesn'treturnuntiltheworkiscomplete.Theanonymousworker waitsforw r ( toreturn,thendeletesitself(killingany ok) associatedthreads).Thep o e s r r c s o objectcontinuestoexist, waitingforsomethingelsetodo.

Callbacks,Recursion Atleft,thesendersendsanasynchronousmessagetotheactive objectr c i e forbackgroundprocessing,passingittheobject eevr tonotifywhentheoperationiscomplete(inthiscase,itself).The r c i e callsit'sownm g . . methodtoprocessthe eevr s(.) request,andthatmethodissuesthec l b c ( callwhenit's alak) done.Notethat: Thec l b c ( messageisrunningonther c i e alak) eevr object'smessageprocessingthread. Thec l b c ( methodis,however,amemberofthe alak) s n e object'sclass,sohasaccesstoallthefieldsofthe edr s n e object. edr Sincetheoriginalthread(fromwhichtheoriginal rqet) e u s ( wasissued)isalsorunning,youmust synchronizeaccesstoallfieldssharedbyboth c l b c ( andothermethodsofthes n e object. alak) edr

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MessageArrowheads Symbol Message Description Type Asynchronous Thehandlerreturnsimmediately,buttheactualworkisdoneinthebackground.Thesender canmoveontoothertaskswhileprocessinggoeson. Synchronous Thesenderwaitsuntilthehandlercompletes(blocks).Thisisanormalmethodcallina singlethreadedapplication. Asynchronous Obsolete(UMLversion1.3orearlier.) Balking Thereceivingobjectcanrefusetoacceptthemessagerequest.Thiscouldhappenifan "active"object'smessagequeuefills,forexample.Notpartof"core"UML. Timeout Themessagehandlertypicallyblocks,butwillreturnafterapredeterminedamountoftime, eveniftheworkofthehandlerisnotcomplete.Notpartof"core"UML.

ExampleSequenceDiagram

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Collaboration(Communication)Diagram
Collaboration(renamed"Communication"inUML2)Diagrams areanalternativepresentationofasequencediagram.They tendtobemorecompact,buthardertoread,thanthe equivalentsequencediagrams.Theexampleatleftisidentical inmeaningtotheSequenceDiagramexampleattheendofthe previoussection.(Itrepresentsthesameobjectsandmessage flow.) Theboxesareobjects.Linesconnectingtwoboxesindicates thattheobjectscollaboratewith(sendmessagesto)one another.Useamultiplicityindicatorinthebox(suchas*)to indicatethatallelementsofanaggregationreceiveamessage. Theobjectnametypicallygoesinsidethebox,butcango outsidetheboxwhendifferentcollaboratorsrefertoitby differentnames.E.g.:theJ o p n n atthelowerrightof Cmoet thediagramisreferencedbyE e e t l m n objectsthroughafield calledp o y r x it'sreferencedfromt i g i viaafield hn[] nameda t i u e u . trbt_i Usethefollowingqualifiersonnames:
parametername localname name{new} name{destroyed} name{transient}

Methodparameter. Localvariable. Objectcreatedduringexecution Objectdestroyedduringexecution Objectcreatedduringexecution,used, thendestroyed

Usually,theinstancename(orreferencethroughwhichthe instanceisaccessed)isthesameastheroletheinstance playsinthecollaboration.Whenthenameandrolearen't identical,useinstance/role:Class.E.g.:given t t r t a h r P r o and uo/ece:esn lcue/ece:esn e t r r t a h r P r o ,anobjectofclassPerson, usedintheroleofteacher,iscalledt t r u o insomeportionof thecodeandl c u e elsewhereinthecode. etrr Messagesthatflowfromoneobjecttoanotheraredrawnnext totheline,withanarrowindicatingdirection.Arrowheadtypes havethesamemeaningasinsequencediagrams.The messagesequenceisshownviaanumberingscheme. Message1issentfirst.Messages1.1,1.2,etc.,aresentby whatevermethodhandlesmessage1.Messages1.1.1,1.1.2, etc.,aresetbythemethodthathandlesmessage1.1,andso forth.Messagesequenceinthecurrentexampleis: 1. 1.1 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.2.1 1.1.2.2

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1.1.3 2. 2.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 3. Guardsarespecifiedusingthe"ObjectConstraintLanguage,"a pseudocodethat'spartoftheUMLspecification. Syntactically,it'smorelikePascalandAdathanJavaand C++,butit'sreadableenough.(Theoperatorsthatwilltripyou upareassignment[: ]equality[= = ]andnotequals[< ]).Asin > asequencediagram,anasteriskindicatesiteration.

Nomeclature
Therearethreebroadcategoriesofdiagrams. StructureDiagrams includeclassdiagrams,deploymentdiagrams,etc. BehaviorDiagrams includeactivity,usecase,andstatediagrams. InteractionDiagrams(areasubclassofBehaviorDiagrams) includeSequenceandCollaborationdiagrams. Collaborationdiagramsarecalled"CommunicationDiagrams"inUML2.

What'sMissing
AfewpartsofUMLaren'tshownhere.(Someoftheseareuseful,Ijusthaven'tgottenaroundto addingthemyet.) StateDiagramSymbols.Thereareafewsymbolsusedinstatediagramsthataren'tshown intheearlierActivity/StateDiagramsection. Deploymentdiagrams.Showhowlargemodulesinthesystemhookup.Usefulprimarilyfor marketingpresentations,executivesummaries,andpointyhairedbosses. ParameterizedClasses.C++templates/Javagenerics. NaryAssociations.arebetterdonewithclasses.Don'tusethem. ComponentDiagrams.Theonlydifferencebetweenacomponentandasubsystemissize. Componentdiagramsarealmostidenticaltosubsystemdiagrams. ActivityRealizationDiagram.isanactivitydiagramredrawntolookmorelikea collaborationdiagram. RefertotheUMLSuperstructuredocumentformoredetails.

Footnotes
(1)Compositionvs.Aggregation: Neither"aggregation"nor"composition"reallyhavedirectanalogsinmanylanguages(Java,for example).

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An"aggregate"representsawholethatcomprisesvariouspartsso,aCommitteeisanaggregateof itsMembers.AMeetingisanaggregateofanAgenda,aRoom,andtheAttendees.At implementationtime,thisrelationshipisnotcontainment.(Ameetingdoesnotcontainaroom.) Similarly,thepartsoftheaggregatemightbedoingotherthingselsewhereintheprogram,sothey mightbereferencedbyseveralobjects.Inotherwords,There'snoimplementationleveldifference betweenaggregationandasimple"uses"relationship(an"association"linewithnodiamondsonitat all).Inbothcasesanobjecthasreferencestootherobjects.Thoughthere'snoimplementation difference,it'sdefinitelyworthcapturingtherelationshipintheUML,bothbecauseithelpsyou understandthedomainmodelbetter,andbecausetherearesubtleimplementationissues.Imight allowtightercouplingrelationshipsinanaggregationthanIwouldwithasimple"uses,"forexample. Compositioninvolveseventightercouplingthanaggregation,anddefinitelyinvolvescontainment. Thebasicrequirementisthat,ifaclassofobjects(callita"container")iscomposedofotherobjects (callthemthe"elements"),thentheelementswillcomeintoexistenceandalsobedestroyedasa sideeffectofcreatingordestroyingthecontainer.Itwouldberareforaelementnottobedeclaredas piae r v t .AnexamplemightbeanCustomer'snameandaddress.ACustomerwithoutanameor addressisaworthlessthing.Bythesametoken,whentheCustomerisdestroyed,there'snopointin keepingthenameandaddressaround.(Comparethissituationwithaggregation,wheredestroying theCommitteeshouldnotcausethememberstobedestroyedtheymaybemembersofother Committees). Intermsofimplementation,theelementsinacompositionrelationshiparetypicallycreatedbythe constructororaninitializerinafielddeclaration,butJavadoesn'thaveadestructor,sothere'sno waytoguaranteethattheelementsaredestroyedalongwiththecontainer.InC++,theelement wouldbeanobject(notareferenceorpointer)that'sdeclaredasafieldinanotherobject,socreation anddestructionoftheelementwouldbeautomatic.Javahasnosuchmechanism.It'snonetheless importanttospecifyacontainmentrelationshipintheUML,becausethisrelationshiptellsthe implementation/testingfolksthatyourintentisfortheelementtobecomegarbagecollectible(i.e. thereshouldbenoreferencestoit)whenthecontainerisdestroyed).
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