Introduction to Unified Modeling

Language (UML)

By Rick Mercer with help from

The Unified Modeling Language User Guide, Grady
Booch, James Rumbaugh, Ivar Jacobsen , Addison Wesley,
1999, ISBN 0-201-57168-4
The Unified Modeling Language (UML)

UML or Unified Modeling Language comes

from Rumbaugh, Booch, and Jacobson (the
three amigos) who combined efforts to
standardize on one modeling language
This is primarily a graphical communication
mechanism for developers and customers
We will learn some, but not all, of the UML
 it is very complex, few understand all of it

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UML

The main purpose of UML is to

 support communication about the analysis and
design of the system being developed
 support the movement from the problem domain in
the "world" to the solution domain in the machine
 Two views of the same system
• one view has diagrams
• source code is another view
Sometimes it's nice to look at the overview
• Reverse engineer your code with a UML tool to see
how your code looks in UML
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UML is a Modeling Language
 UML
 graphical notation to describe software design
 has rules on how to draw models of
classes
associations between classes
message sends between objects
 has become the de facto industry standard
Not official, but everyone uses it
 like a blueprint to show what is going on during
analysis, design and implementation
Some Projects require UML documentation
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UML Defined by the Authors
The Unified Modeling Language User Guide,
Booch, Rumbaugh, Jacobson states:
The UML is a language for
 visualizing
 specifying
 constructing
 documenting
the artifacts of a software intensive system

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First up: Class Diagrams

A class diagram
 expresses class definitions to be implemented
 lists name, attributes, and methods for each class
 shows relationships between classes
UML allows different levels of detail on both
the attributes and the methods of one class
 could be just the the class name in a rectangle
 or like the general form shown on the next slide

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 Software Specification (Class Name)

attribute
attribute : type
attribute : type = initial value
classAttribute
derivedAttribute
...

method1()
method2(parameter : Type) : return type
abstractMethod()
+publicMethod()
-privateMethod()
#protectedMethod()
classMethod()
...
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 AccountCollection

- allAccounts : HashMap

+AccountCollection ()
+getAccountWithID (ID: String) : Account
+add(accountToAdd: Account) : boolean
+iterator() : Iterator

Note: iterator is needed by the

bank manager

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Sterotypes

Stereotype is a UML element that allows

designers to extend the UML vocabulary
 Often used to distinguish an abstract class name
from an interface, both of which are written in
italic
<<interface>>
Iterator
+hasNext(): boolean
+next(): Object
+remove(): void

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Different levels of detail

Tips for modeling

 Express as much or as little detail as needed
 Often, a rectangle with a name is enough
perhaps a method or an attribute clarifies
 Simple is good
 Sketches on paper or white board are effective

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Relationships

Three Relationships in UML

1) Dependency
2) Association
3) Generalization

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1) Dependency: A Uses Relationship

Dependencies
 occurs when one object depends on another
 if you change one object's interface, you need to
change the dependent object
 arrows point from dependent to needed objects
CardReader
Jukebox
CDCollection

SongSelector
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2)Association: Structural Relationship

Association
 a relationship between classes indicates some
meaningful or interesting connection
 Associations can be labeled getAccountWithID for example
 BTW: The box with association is an official UML comment, must have that fold 

association

getAccountWithID
Jukebox JukeboxAccountCollection
1 1

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Associations

Associations imply
 our knowledge that a relationship must be
preserved for some time (0.01 ms to forever)
Between what objects do we need to remember a
relationship?
• Does a Transaction need to remember Account?
• Would AccountCollection need to remember
Accounts?
Stores
AccountCollection Account
1 0..*

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Notation and Multiplicity Adornments
UML Association:
 a line between two concepts and a name
 they are bi-directional * T
zero or more;
"many"
 can have a multiplicity
 exist in class diagrams 1..*
T one or more

1..52
T one to fifty two

5
Multiplicity T exactly five

adornments
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Association
Names • Read these Type-VerbPhrase-Type
• POST is a Point of Sale Terminal)
Store • Not shown here: Attributes and Methods
1
• This just shows associations between objects
Contains

1.. *
POST Captures Sale Paid-by Payment
1 1.. * 1 1

Airline

1
Employs

1.. *
Assigned-to  Assigned-to
Person Flight Plane
1 * * 1
1 *

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Supervises
Aggregation: A Special Association

Aggregation: whole/part relationships

 An association that models HAS-A relationships
 The objects can exist independently of each other
 No one object is more important than the other
 Place an open diamond on the whole
 School contains a collection of Student objects
School Student
1..* *

 In Java, this is the same as an association, an

instance variable, no special syntax 6-17
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Composition: A Special Association
Composition: Stronger relationship
 One can not exist without the other
 If the school folds, students live on
but the departments go away with the school
 If a department closes, the school can go on AIC* e.g.
School Department
1 1..*
1..*

*
Student
 Model aggregation or composition? When in doubt, use
association (just a simple line) don't sweat the diff in 335
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Active Learning

In teams of two or three, using examples in

these slides and the names of the objects we
discovered in the Five Card Draw, complete a
class diagram that shows a design of a
software system to model the game as it would
exist on a gambling website.

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Assignment #5, due 3-Sep 4:45 pm
Draw rectangles for classes
Include the class name
 In at least five classes, write one
Draw associations between objects
 missing diamonds and arrows are okay
one solid line will suffice
 an association implies there will be some
relationship between the objects as some point
There is a separate handout for this
 You must be in class to get credit
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Sequence Diagrams
 Interaction diagrams describe how groups of objects
collaborate in some behavior
 The UML defines several forms of interaction
diagram, the most common is the sequence diagram
 A class diagram shows a fixed view of a system
 A sequence diagram represents a dynamic view of a
system by capturing message sends over time
 Can document a scenario such as
Dealer deals cards to all players
Withdraw Money when there is enough balance
Withdraw Money when there is not enough balance
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Sequence Diagrams

Not good at showing details of algorithms

such as loops and conditional
Good at showing the calls between
participants
Gives a good picture about which participants
are doing which processing

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More Distributed Control Shown here

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Syntax
Objects are lined up on top in rectangles
Object names :CardReader
Dashed lines represent lifetime of objects
Rectangles are activation lines
 When the object is "alive"
 Activation bar of the receivers of the message is
smaller than the sender's activation bar
Not much detail written

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Another Example
http://www.ifi.uio.no/in219/verktoy/doc/html/doc/user/mg/dgmsuml6.html

Scenario: The user tries to use an ATM, but the account is not known
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 http://www.visual-paradigm.com/
VPGallery/diagrams/Sequence.html

Scenario: The user

successfully withdraws
money from an ATM

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