Is there anything like Visio stencils in Rhapsody? - uml

In Visio, we can define custom stencils. In Rhapsody, can i define stencils like Visio? If yes, how?

Rhapsody lets you associate an image file with a model element. This image can then be used to represent the element in diagrams in place of the standard graphic representation.
Would this feature help you ?
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSB2MU_9.0.1/com.ibm.rhp.uml.diagrams.doc/topics/rhp_t_dm_associating_image_fl_mod_ele.html

Sorry there is not. Since Rhapsody is a UML Tool the concept "Stencils" in Visio is not really relevant.
Walter

Related

UML drawing tools based on the script

Can you suggest some UML diagram drawing tool based on the script similar to
http://www.websequencediagrams.com/ which help in drawing sequence diagram only.
A full list of this kind of textual UML tools can be found here: http://modeling-languages.com/blog/content/uml-tools-textual-notations-define-uml-models
My best two recommendations right now would be: yUML and PlantUML
If you need something more complex and integrated with Eclipse try TextUML
Have a look at Umlet: http://www.umlet.com/, select a "Sequence - all in one" diagram. It's a very basic and simple tool, but it works just great.

How to design a UML diagram with a scripting language?

I'm designing a software component which will get instructions from other components on how the UML diagram should look like, and then will produce this UML diagram in different presentation ways (in SVG, GIF, etc.), for example (in Java):
DiagramDesigner designer = new DiagramDesigner();
designer.setStyle('Use Cases')
designer.addActor('User');
designer.addUseCase('Print Document');
// etc.
String svg = designer.getSvg();
I don't want to re-invent the wheel and want to use some industry-standard language/interface for interconnection between my DiagramDesigner and other components. I'm looking for an interface similar to DOM, but for UML, not for XML.
Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.
ps. Besides the example above I would like to make my diagrams inter-operable and transferrable between servers, e.g.:
// first server
String script = designer.getScript();
// second server
DiagramDesigner desiger2 = DiagramDesigner.import(script);
So if I understand you right, you are looking for a way to work with UML on the metamodel level. You should look at the MOF standard and its implementation the EMF (Eclipse Modeling Framework), which is used by almost all Eclipse based UML tools and this framework is used by many other modeling projects, it even somewhat influenced the standardization of MOF (resulting in SMOF and EMOF split) and therefore I would declare it industry standard.
Probably only loosely related but anyhow: PlantUML. It is open source, built in Java and likely contains already parts of what you want to do.
You can inspire from these scripts to generate any output you want:
http://askuml.com/
Currently examples are given in yUML because they're nice but could be anything.
At least for the syntax part, you could get some inspiration from the large set of textual UML tools (theses tools allow designers to textually specify the model and then they automatically show the model graphically using the standard UML notation).
At least of such tools here: http://modeling-languages.com/content/uml-tools#textual

Editors to draw diagrams in Unified Modeling Language?

I was wondering how you draw diagrams in Unified Modeling Language for your project design? By hand on paper or some editors on computer? It will be great if there are some convenient editors or other gadgets for help. I am programming under Windows and Ubuntu.
Thanks and regards!
I used Sparx Enterprise Architect.
I reverse the java project and then just drag and drop from the Package Explorer to the diagram. When I have finished to present the existing classes I then add UML classes in the diagram. No code generation or model driven, just UML graphical representation mixing existing classes and abstract classes. I give my diagrams to the team and let them integrate it.
I am very lazy when modeling :-)
(source: forum-omondo.com)
I can see my classes and navigate from one package to another showing associations, inheritances and dependencies dynamically. No need to create a diagram per view, I prefer to use the show hide links and directly navigate in the java code and model from the same diagram it is easier and a lot more powerful because interactive.
(source: forum-omondo.com)
(source: forum-omondo.com)
Just using the class contextual menu I can navigate. Really cool
(source: forum-omondo.com)
I used Poseidon for UML for quite a while.. not that bad, it's just a little bit slow since it's written in Java.
If I remember correctly it also has a community license that can be obtained for free..
I would vote for StarUML
maybe its not brand new, but it does the job!
It works under Windows.
read more about StarUML
I use Dia for my diagramming needs. It's open source and cross platform so you can switch between OS's without worrying about which format your diagrams were in. It exports to several different image types and has a Portable version (for Windows) as well.

Diagramming tool to depict objects

I wanted to know what tools (preferably free) can be used to layout a collection of objects and their relationship - simple relationship like members referring each other, inheritance, attributes et.al. I would prefer a tool with which I can create and update the diagram as quickly as possible.
I'm not familiar with UML, but it's probably what I'm asking about.
Mock4U
alt text http://typo3.webetiser.com/fileadmin/sites/RainerEschen/downloads/mock4u/class-diagram.png
Take a look at this page on AlternativeTo, there's a lot of different options listed. Among them:
Microsoft Visio
Inkscape
Dia
OmniGraffle
OpenOffice Draw
Creately
etc.
Umlet
http://www.umlet.com/
You also have StarUML, wich is open source and similar to Rational Rose, only a bit simpler.
ArgoUML is a good free tool.
I really like Dia. It even has a Portable edition!
It's small, fast, cross OS, simple to use, and has a lot of built in elements (specially for UML modelling).
The only problem I can foresee for you is that it follows The GIMP's GUI design (separated window for the toolbox). I happen to like it, but many people hate it.
Keep in mind that this screenshots are quite old:
(source: gnome.org) !
It also can be scripted with Python.

What is the best way to use UML 2.0 in Visio 2003?

Visio 2003 uses UML 1.4, which means that some stereotypes from UML 2.0 simply don't exist, and they need to be modeled by freehand drawing (I may as well be using Photoshop). Does anyone know of an update from Microsoft or an addon to include UML 2.0 (complete - not just class diagrams) in Visio 2003?
I found this package: http://www.sdl.sandrila.co.uk/ but judging by their "example" screenshots, I'm going to stay away. If they don't know how to use UML, I'd be surprised if they could implement it correctly ;)
This set of Visio stencils and templates for UML 2.0 is excellent:
http://softwarestencils.com/uml/index.html
In case it wasn't clear, Microsoft will never update Visio support of UML. For some time, they have not considered Visio to be a Software Engineering tool.
I don't blame them. It didn't even do a good job with the parts of UML it "supported".
I'm using the UML 2.0 symbols from Pavel Hruby. Maybe you'll find them useful as well.
The nice thing about Visio is that it is just a drawing program and not a modeling environment. So just make up your own lines. Visio can draw just about any line time you can think of. But the real answer is the one already checked. Now that Microsoft "supports" UML maybe they will provide better tooling.
Those screenshots are only example diagrams, Sandrila SDL doesn't enforce that level of rigour to the diagrams.
I found this package: http://www.sdl.sandrila.co.uk/ but judging by their "example" screenshots, I'm going to stay away. If they don't know how to use UML, I'd be surprised if they could implement it correctly ;)
That seems a bit harsh - of the handful of screen-shots which are UML2 (as opposed to being examples of the other notations the tool supports, such as SDL, MCL and TTCN), which do you think are incorrect? It's quite ugly as diagrams go, and uses aliased fonts and lines, but that's a Visio feature rather than anything to do with the template.
In terms of what you can do with the UML, you are much better off using a real UML2 tool than Visio. Enterprise Architect is a cheap one which does have a real UML model behind it. (It would be nice to be able to say that the more expensive ones have fewer UI bugs and gotchas, but that isn't really the case, and most lag far behind the simpler graphical tools like OmniGraffle or Visio in polish and usability)

Resources