Introduction to UML

Majid Ali Khan

Spring 2005

Acknowledgements

Slides material are taken from different

sources including:

Prashanth Aedunuthula UML presentation, Fall

2004
Lecture slides from Software Engineering
course at UC Berkeley (Professor Necula Fall
2004)
Lecture slides from a course on web at:

www.sts.tu-harburg.de/ teaching/ws98.99/OOA+D/3-0-UML.pdf

Overview

What is Modeling?
What is UML?
A brief history of UML
Understanding the basics of UML
UML diagrams
UML Modeling tools

Modeling

Describing a system at a high level of

abstraction

A model of the system

Used for requirements and specifications

Is it necessary to model software

systems?

Object Oriented Modeling

What is UML?

UML stands for Unified Modeling Language

It is a industry-standard graphical language for

specifying, visualizing, constructing, and
documenting the artifacts of software systems

The UML uses mostly graphical notations to

express the OO analysis and design of software
projects.

Simplifies the complex process of software

design

Why UML for Modeling

Use graphical notation to communicate more

clearly than natural language (imprecise) and
code(too detailed).
Help acquire an overall view of a system.
UML is not dependent on any one language or
technology.
UML moves us from fragmentation to
standardization.

History of UML

Types of UML Diagrams

Use Case Diagram

Class Diagram

Sequence Diagram

Collaboration Diagram

State Diagram

This is only a subset of diagrams but are most

widely used

Use Case Diagram

Used for describing a set of user

scenarios
Mainly used for capturing user
requirements
Work like a contract between end user
and software developers

Use Case Diagram (core components)

Actors: A role that a user plays with respect to the system,including

human users and other systems. e.g.,inanimate physical objects (e.g. robot);
an external system that needs some information from the current system.

Use case: A set of scenarios that describing an interaction between a user

and a system, including alternatives.

System boundary: rectangle diagram representing the boundary between

the actors and the system.

Use Case Diagram(core relationship)

Association: communication between an actor and

a use case; Represented by a solid line.

Generalization: relationship between one general

use case and a special use case (used for defining
special alternatives)
Represented by a line with a triangular arrow head
toward the parent use case.

Use Case Diagram(core relationship)

Include: a dotted line labeled <<include>> beginning at base

use case and ending with an arrows pointing to the include use
case. The include relationship occurs when a chunk of
behavior is similar across more than one use case. Use
include in stead of copying the description of that behavior.
<<include>>

Extend: a dotted line labeled <<extend>> with an arrow

toward the base case. The extending use case may add behavior to
the base use case. The base class declares extension points.
<<extend>>

Use Case Diagrams

Boundary

Use Case

Actor
Library System

Borrow

Employee

Client

Order Title

Fine Remittance

Supervisor

A generalized description of how a system will be used.

Provides an overview of the intended functionality of the system

Use Case Diagrams(cont.)

(TogetherSoft, Inc)

Use Case Diagrams(cont.)

Pay Bill is a parent use case and Bill Insurance is the
child use case. (generalization)
Both Make Appointment and Request Medication
include Check Patient Record as a subtask.(include)
The extension point is written inside the base case
Pay bill; the extending class Defer payment adds the
behavior of this extension point. (extend)

Class diagram

Used for describing structure and behavior

in the use cases
Provide a conceptual model of the system
in terms of entities and their relationships
Used for requirement capture, end-user
interaction
Detailed class diagrams are used for
developers

Class representation

Each class is represented by a rectangle subdivided into three

compartments

Modifiers are used to indicate visibility of attributes and operations.

Name
Attributes
Operations
+ is used to denote Public visibility (everyone)
# is used to denote Protected visibility (friends and derived)
- is used to denote Private visibility (no one)

By default, attributes are hidden and operations are visible.

An example of Class

Account_Name
- Customer_Name
- Balance
+addFunds( )
+withDraw( )
+transfer( )

Name
Attributes

Operations

OO Relationships

There are two kinds of Relationships

Generalization (parent-child relationship)

Association (student enrolls in course)

Associations can be further classified as

Aggregation
Composition

OO Relationships: Generalization
Supertype

Example:

Customer

Regular
Customer

Subtype1

Loyalty
Customer

Subtype2
or:

Customer

- Generalization expresses a
parent/child relationship among related
classes.
- Used for abstracting details in several
layers

Regular
Customer

Loyalty
Customer

OO Relationships: Association

Represent relationship between instances

of classes

Student enrolls in a course

Courses have students
Courses have exams
Etc.

Association has two ends

Role names (e.g. enrolls)

Multiplicity (e.g. One course can have many students)
Navigability (unidirectional, bidirectional)

Association: Multiplicity and Roles

student
1

University

Person
0..1
employer

*
teacher
Role

Multiplicity
Symbol

Meaning

One and only one

0..1

Zero or one

M..N

From M to N (natural language)

From zero to any positive integer

0..*

From zero to any positive integer

1..*

From one to any positive integer

Role
A given university groups many people;
some act as students, others as teachers.
A given student belongs to a single
university; a given teacher may or may not
be working for the university at a particular
time.

Class Diagram
Name

Order

Attributes

Operations

-dateReceived
-isPrepaid
-number :String
-price : Money

*
Association

-name
-address
+creditRating() : String()

{if Order.customer.creditRating is
"poor", then Order.isPrepaid must
be true }

(inside braces{}}

Generalization

Corporate Customer

Personal Customer

-contactName
-creditRating
-creditLimit

-creditCard#

Constraint
Multiplicity:
Many value

Customer

+dispatch()
+close()

class

Multiplicity: mandatory

+remind()
+billForMonth(Integer)

0..1

Multiplicity:
optional

*
Employee

*
OrderLine
-quantity: Integer
-price: Money
-isSatisfied: Boolean

[from UML Distilled

Product

Third Edition]

Association: Model to Implementation

Student

*
has

Class Student {
Course enrolls[4];
}
Class Course {
Student have[];
}

4
enrolls

Course

OO Relationships: Composition
Composition: expresses a relationship among instances
of related classes. It is a specific kind of Whole-Part
relationship.

Whole Class
Class W

It expresses a relationship where an instance of the

Whole-class has the responsibility to create and initialize
instances of each Part-class.
Class P1

Class P2

Part Classes

Composition should also be used to express relationship where

instances of the Whole-class have exclusive access to and
control of instances of the Part-classes.

Example
Automobile

Engine

It may also be used to express a relationship where instances

of the Part-classes have privileged access or visibility to
certain attributes and/or behaviors defined by the
Whole-class.

Composition should be used to express a relationship where

the behavior of Part instances is undefined without being
related to an instance of the Whole. And, conversely, the
behavior of the Whole is ill-defined or incomplete if one or
more of the Part instances are undefined.

Transmission

[From Dr.David A. Workman]

OO Relationships: Aggregation
Container Class
Aggregation: expresses a relationship among instances
of related classes. It is a specific kind of ContainerContainee
relationship.

Class C
AGGREGATION

Class E2

Class E1

Containee Classes

Example

Apples

Bag

It expresses a relationship where an instance of the

Container-class has the responsibility to hold and maintain
instances of each Containee-class that have been created
outside the auspices of the Container-class.
Aggregation should be used to express a more informal
relationship than composition expresses. That is, it is an
appropriate relationship where the Container and its
Containees can be manipulated independently.
Aggregation is appropriate when Container and
Containees have no special access privileges to each other.

Milk

[From Dr.David A. Workman]

Aggregation vs. Composition

Composition is really a strong form of aggregation
components have only one owner
components cannot exist independent of their owner
components live or die with their owner
e.g. Each car has an engine that can not be shared with
other cars.
Aggregations may form "part of" the aggregate, but may not
be essential to it. They may also exist independent of the
aggregate.
e.g. Apples may exist independent of the bag.

Good Practice: CRC Card

(Class Responsibility Collaborator)
Benefits: It is easy to describe how classes work by moving cards
around; allows to quickly consider alternatives.

Class
Reservations

Responsibility
Keep list of reserved titles
Handle reservation

Collaborators

Catalog

User session

Sequence Diagram(make a phone call)

Caller

Phone

Recipient

Picks up
Dial tone

Dial
Ring notification

Ring

Picks up
Hello

Sequence Diagram:Object interaction

A

Self-Call: A message that an

Object sends to itself.

B
Synchronous

Asynchronous

Condition: indicates when a

message is sent. The message is
sent only if the condition is true.

Transmission
delayed
[condition] remove()

Condition
*[for each] remove()

Iteration
Self-Call

Sequence Diagrams Object Life Spans

Creation
A
Create message
Object life starts at that point
Activation
Symbolized by rectangular stripes
Place on the lifeline where object
is activated.
Rectangle also denotes when
object is deactivated.
Activation bar
Deletion
Placing an X on lifeline
Objects life ends at that point Lifeline

Create

Return

X
Deletion

Sequence Diagram
User

Message

Catalog

Reservations

1: look up ()
2: title data ()
3: [not available] reserve title ()

4 : title returned ()
5: hold title ()
5 : title available ()
6 : borrow title ()

6 : remove reservation ()

Sequence diagrams demonstrate the behavior of objects in a use case

by describing the objects and the messages they pass.
The horizontal dimension shows the objects participating in the interaction.
The vertical arrangement of messages indicates their order.
The labels may contain the seq. # to indicate concurrency.

Interaction Diagrams: Collaboration diagrams

start
6: remove reservation
3 : [not available] reserve title

User

Reservations
5: title available

6 : borrow title
2: title data

1: look up

4 : title returned
Catalog
5 : hold title

Shows the relationship between objects and the order of messages passed between them.
between them.
The objects are listed as rectangles and arrows indicate the messages being passed
The numbers next to the messages are called sequence numbers. They show the sequence
of the messages as they are passed between the objects.
convey the same information as sequence diagrams, but focus on object roles instead of the
time sequence.

State Diagrams
(Billing Example)
State Diagrams show the sequences of states an object goes
through during its life cycle in response to stimuli, together
with its responses and actions; an abstraction of all possible
behaviors.

End

Start
Unpaid
Invoice created

Paid
paying

Invoice destroying

State Diagrams
(Traffic light example)
Traffic Light

State
Transition

Red
Yellow
Green

Event

Start

UML Modeling Tools

Rational Rose (www.rational.com) by IBM

TogetherSoft Control Center, Borland

(http://www.borland.com/together/index.html)

ArgoUML (free software) (http://argouml.tigris.org/ )

OpenSource; written in java

Others (http://www.objectsbydesign.com/tools/umltools_byCompany.html )

Reference
1. UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language
Martin Fowler, Kendall Scott

2. IBM Rational
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/rational/uml/

3. Practical UML --- A Hands-On Introduction for Developers

http://www.togethersoft.com/services/practical_guides/umlonlinecourse/

4. Software Engineering Principles and Practice. Second Edition;

Hans van Vliet.

5. http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs169/