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Enhanced Usability of Sequence DiagramsSequence diagrams (SD) are one of the most popular diagrams in UML. It is a very useful ‘story-teller’ to end-users and business analysts as they can easily visualize interactions between different parties. From an IT professional’s point of view SD is also the best tool to show interactions in sub-systems and at class level. Sequence diagrams are a very effective communication tool with very little effort needed to learn to draw or understand them. In this release the usability of SD has been greatly improved, with new features such as:
Creating Combined Fragment by Group ResourceIn the sequence diagram, select the portion that you want the combined fragment to cover.
Move the cursor over any Messages within the selection. This will show the group resource for creating a combined fragment.
Press on the down arrow of the group resource, and select the kind of combined fragment to be created.
This creates the combined fragment that covers the selected portion.
Moreover, you can double-click on a combined fragment to specify its guard.
The completed fragment.
Indicating moved message/ LifeLine in the Combined FragmentWhenever a message or a lifeline is being moved out of or moved into a combined fragment, it will flash itself for indication. Let’s consider the example below.
Select the third forward message and move it into the second interaction operand of the alternative combined fragment. The message flashes.
The same thing happens with lifelines as well. By extending the alternative combined fragment to cover the Trash Box lifeline, the lifeline will flash.
This also applies to removing a message or lifeline out of a combined fragment.
Swapping MessagesYou can swap a current message with the one above or below it simply by using the pop-up menu or a keyboard shortcut. With this feature, the time required to rearrange messages can be reduced, while accuracy can also be increased. Select a message to be swapped.
Right click on it and choose either to swap with the message above or below.
The messages are swapped.
It is also possible to swap messages by pressing Ctrl-Up (to swap with the message above) or Ctrl-Down. 'All above' or 'All below' MessagesTo move all the messages above or below a certain message, first select a message.
Right click on it and choose either ‘All messages above’ or ‘All messages below’.
By clicking and drag the message you can move all the selected messages as one.
Creating Notes from Message and ActivationMove the cursor to a message or an activation that you want to annotate. This shows the resource icon for creating a note.
Click on it and drag to the position you want the note.
Enter the contents of the note and click on the diagram to finish.
Notes can also be added to activations by using the Resource-centric Interface.
Merging activationsTo merge multiple activations together first make sure they are under the same lifeline and then select them.
Move the cursor over any Activations within the selection. This will show the group resource for merging activations.
Click on the icon to merge the activations. The activations are now merged.
Creating 'Found/Lost' MessagesMove the cursor over the lifeline or an activation to show the resource icons. Select the resource icon for creating a Found/Lost message.
Click on it and drag to adjust its position. Release the mouse button to confirm, and enter any details.
The finished diagram.
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