Thanks Vincent for your precise answer.

Maybe you know another point : returned value.

I thought that returned values were designed by reply messages but topcased 
does not manage return value with reply message.

I thought that in the specification, it was explained that if the message is a 
synchronized call then the reply message is the returned value but maybe I 
misunderstand the specification ( that would not be the first time ...)

The point you explained about sequence diagram (id interaction diagram) 
"disturbs" me since a long time : when you write code the order of calls is an 
important matter, you cannot write method calls randomly, so why UML does not 
take this in account ? Another UML mystery maybe...

Cordialement,

Bernard Granier
CE Plateforme Système
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
01 58 11 32 51

From: [email protected] 
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Topcased user 
list where issues are discussed
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 1:52 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Topcased-users] How is the order of a sequence diagram\'s call 
messages preserved in sysml?

Hello,

According to the UML specification, a Sequence Diagram does not specifies the 
complete message order.
Order of fragments is fully specified only along a single Lifeline, hence, when 
two events on two different lifelines are not connected, you can not know which 
occurs first :

For example, if two messages cross each other on 2 Lifelines like this :
[L1] [L2]
  |       |
  |  X  |
  |       |
You only know that One message is sent from a lifeline before the other is 
received (for both Lifelines).
You have no clue which one is sent first and which one is received first, 
whatever the vertical locations are.

As said in the specification, a Sequence Diagram does not define a single 
trace, but a set of valid traces.
This is the main reason why implementing an efficient and elegant Sequence 
Diagram modeler is so hard.

Yet, you can find some interesting information in the order of "fragments" in 
an Interaction or in an Interaction Operand.
Indeed, this order must be the one of a valid trace (though I can not find back 
where it is written in the spec).
Hence, following the fragments order should give you one of the possible orders.

See "14.3.17 Lifeline" in UML Superstructure specification, at the Semantics 
part.
See "14.3.11 Interaction" in UML Superstructure specification for more 
information on traces
(http://www.omg.org/spec/UML/2.4.1/Superstructure/PDF/)

Of course, what I describe is the global philosophy or Interaction diagrams. 
But there are still some local modifications to this philosophy, like with 
GeneralOrdering elements or in a "strict" Combined Fragment...

Best regards,
Vincent.

Le 24/10/2011 20:57, Topcased user list where issues are discussed a écrit :
Looking at general ordering, it seems that the order of only two message ends 
(event occurrences) are preserved.

I will need a way to reflect the order of all of the messages.

The general ordering idea inspired me to look at combined fragments.  The "seq" 
and "strict" combined fragments specify order visually.  I wondered if the XMI 
code would record the messages and message order for the fragment.  I created a 
seq, and then a strict, fragment that surrounded the messages of a sequence 
diagram.  This plan didn't work though.  The XMI for the combined fragment 
showed the lifelines covered by the fragment, but not the messages.

If anyone has any ideas on how UML/SysML specifies message order in XMI, I 
would appreciate it.  Thanks Bernard for helping me out.

--
Ebonie Williams
Master IT
UNC Charlotte Graduate




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