Thank you for your contribution to the thread!
On Saturday, August 2, 2003, at 05:04 AM, Wolfgang M. Bereuter wrote:
Maybe I can help if you you tell me whats UML?
UML stands for "Unified Modelling Language".
It is a standard that describes 9 types of diagrams that a variety of professionals can use to specify, model and manage project development. It is made for and particularly suited to development of large-scale software projects using object-oriented languages.
The UML diagrams give developers a STANDARDISED way to think through and describe the various stages and tasks involved in software development. For instance, the first type of diagram that we generally use is called a "Use Case" diagram, which can be used to help analysts think through and document the requirements of the project. Once you start on the design stage, it is very likely you will be using "Class Diagrams" - which describe all the classes in your project, their attributes (properties) and their operations(functions and handlers). There are also "Activity Diagrams" - which help you think through the tasks required to complete a certain action; "Sequence Diagrams" - which help you determine the sequence of events that tasks have to be completed in; "Collaboration Diagrams" - which document the messaging and information sharing between your classes, and a few others.
The beauty of UML is that it is a formal, STANDARDISED "language". Most kids doing computing at University these days learn it during their first year of course - at least here, in Australia.
I started using it just recently, but have found that, indeed, it does help in the management of larger projects, and it does make the documentation easier to write.
There are several (too many, actually) resources on the internet about UML. I recommend a book called "UML: A Beginner's Guide", by Jason T. Roff, published by McGraw Hill. It steps you through each diagram, slowly introducing each new piece of notation, and putting it into context. Very easy to follow, and a good reference for later use.
What kind of lines do you need?
I have found the lines in OmniGraffle to be a bit limiting in 2 areas.
1) Even though you can place labels at the end of the lines, the label positions are calculated as "percentages of the total length of the line". While that's fine if you want your label to be centered, or lightly off-center, that is very cumbersome if you want the lines to remain a certain position from the endpoints. Consider, for instance, diagrams that show 'multiplicity' information, such as Entity-Relationship Diagrams. The labels at the end of the lines show how many of one class/object/record are used by 1 of the object at the other end. When diagrams start to get complex, it is very easy to get over 50 of these lines (each one with 2 labels or more). If you move the objects around in your graph, the lines resize, and your labels go out of place - and then you're in for a good 30-45mins of label repositioning...
2) In UML, in Class diagrams, a class is represented by a rectangle, horizontally divided in 3 sections. The top section has the class' name, the middle section shows the class' properties, and the bottom section lists the class' functions and handlers. Because a function in one class might refer to functions and properties in another class, you use lines to indicate these connections. These lines, however, must go from the precise line of text that contains the function, to the precise line of text that contains the function/property in the other classes. In OmniGraffle, while you can specify a line going from one OBJECT to another, you cannot specify a line going from a LINE OF TEXT within that object, to another.
It is also possible to specify custom 'magnets' in OmniGraffle, so you can control where the line is starting from/going to in objects. However, these are not associated with the lines of text, either, and therefore don't automatically move or delete if you alter a line of text here and there. And, as you can imagine, if your diagram contains a few dozen classes (quite easy, even for smallish projects), then updating the lines becomes an absolute nightmare.
I v worked more than ten years with Inspiration and now also with Omnigraffle but Im not so familar with it like with Inspiration dooing Diagramms. for me it seems not a problem to connect lines...
Thank you for the tip!
I've just downloaded the Demo version of Inspiration, and will give it a try!
Many thanks,
-- Igor de Oliveira Couto ---------------------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------
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