PowerDesigner UML Modeling Introduction
David Dichmann, PowerDesigner Product Manager, Sybase, Inc.
Because of the introduction of UML, PowerDesigner 8.0 supports the use of example, sequence diagrams, and design (OOAD). In the upcoming version 9.0, PowerDesigner enhances support for UML, providing an activity chart and component chart, improves the analysis method and enhances integration with the development process.
PowerDesigner can help you build traditional business and e-commerce systems that adapt to modern IT development, using Java-oriented language-oriented language and XML and other new technologies to merge our database technology in a physical or virtual way. Our goal is based on your needs, providing access to information, controlling the ability of the business, and gives the company to the competitive advantage in today's first, based on your computer and the latest technology.
Our analytical methods and design technologies will be a variety of diverse, modeling from business processes, to UML object-oriented analysis, and traditional relationship modeling. This article will help you understand the powerful technology of UML, which helps your business creates an efficient traditional business and e-commerce system.
Object-oriented analysis
Before you are ready to make system and software investment, you must first understand the actual needs of the company, clear how the deployed technology will help your company get more success.
You can use UML to analyze the case, sequence diagram, and activity graph. These charts will help you plan the scope, dynamic performance, and expressions of your system. You don't have to consider implementing details, you want to get the system performance that is expressed in accordance with your needs.
Model (The Use Case Diagram)
UML uses an example to provide a system environment modeling mode. It can help you determine the external and internal elements of the system / application and system range. As a graphic modeling mode, it will also be helpful when you need to talk to the collectible system requirements. For the development team of the finished product, it is more important to play. There is also a great help for users of the owner of the company, or the first contact with the software product. The use of an example can be visualized, and the expression system meets how the collected business rules, as well as information such as specific user needs.
In the later stage of the project, UML can be used. You can assist the test items by using the needs defined in the example map. Not only can you verify that the system performance has no error (no crash or obvious non-logic response), you can also verify that the system is run as required, and executes the specified command. In this way, you can test whether the system is fully satisfied, and it is convinced that the finished product can be put into production - that is, it fully meets the user's needs.
Only by ensuring that reasonable, practical needs can ensure that the IT project is more successful.
Figure 1 - Illustration of the company's customer orders
Sequence diagram (The Sequence Diagram)
You can use the UML sequence diagram to refine the needs and link the design elements. The sequence diagram allows interaction documents between high-level and low-level objects. This interaction is displayed between the role (same as the role in the case) and the class instance (the technical object and details object running in computer memory).
By the sequence diagram, you can describe system behavior that changes over time in accordance with the exact order of events (messages) in a system-specific solution. Use a sequence diagram to use case analysis and guide the design: You can decide to be responsible for the type of system objects responsible for the management task defined by the example map, and decide which object will manage "sessions" or communication inside and outside the system. Since the message has been extracted from the sequence diagram, you can describe some of the key operations (Methods) required to describe classes and interfaces (our finals to compile and deploy code elements).
Figure 2 - Sequence diagram of the loan app
Activity Diagram
UML activity diagrams are designed to help you understand the dynamic changes of objects in your system. Used to describe how a particular class or a set of classes work together. Unlike the sequence diagram, the activity diagram is not a series of time-related communication, but from a task to another to control the transfer, specify who (which object) is responsible for the task of occurrence. The UML activity diagram is also a technical view of a business process. The business workflow can be analyzed or the activity map can be obtained after "business process modeling".
The active map can also help construct a detailed dynamic view of the element in the system (how to interoperate each other).
Figure 3 - Events - Handling Order
Push design
By analyzing models that can capture system intentions and expected behaviors other than implementation details, there is no relationship with the language, deployed application servers or architectures used. However, after the design phase begins, everything has changed. You must enter the details of the production environment and build software to a specific architecture. The design is the implementation of the system.
If the design is obtained by analysis, you can more convince the correctness of the system behavior written, confirm that the results developed will be a system built on demand. You will get a high degree of success - allowing users to get the required systems. You can also directly use the information obtained without regenerating during the design, thereby reducing development time, because you don't have to "re-copy" any work, therefore reduces people.
Through analysis, what can we get? By using an example map, you can find objects and promote the creation of classes and interfaces. One or more classes and interfaces can implement a role where you can create classes and interfaces directly in the role definition. You can also link roles to existing classes and interfaces, showing how to use a code to meet multiple elements of the analysis.
The method can be found through the sequence diagram and the creation of class operations can be found. If you need to send messages to class, you can call the method of this class. The message in the sequence diagram can be used to automatically create an operation or link to an existing operation. You can use a link to track the functionality, including which as an input content and which must be returned, and so on.
Design content included
You already know what you want to build, now you need to express how to build it. You need to determine where the business logic is located: can be placed in components of the application server EJB, or it can be placed in languages such as VB or PowerBuilder, as part or components of the client application, or as triggers and The process is built into the relational database. You need to make some choices based on demand, including scalability, security, performance, and accessibility.
The UML class diagram and component graph will be used to define a detailed technical system static structure.
THE CLASD DIAGRAM
UML class diagrams, business logic, and all support structures are used to define all of the code structures. Since the class diagram is used to simulate the actual code maintained in the development, it is clear that it is a general representation of object languages such as Java or PowerBuilder. You can also use the UML class diagram to summarize complex structures in XML, making it easier to develop and understand.
You can generate a code from the UML class diagram. You can also edit this code during the development process to improve, test and deploy the final running application. Because PowerDesigner has 1: 1 mapping between the object language and the UML class, you can also implement reverse engineering code, read the source file and create a new class diagram. You can understand existing systems and simplify integration and maintenance work more deeply.
Figure 4 - Class diagram of the order input system
Component diagram (The Component Diagram)
The UML component diagram will be used to describe the definition and correlation of advanced objects in a larger black box view. It is still a design model and is a direct summary of the code. For example, an EJB component identifies a series of classes and interfaces necessary to implement the implementation, and will generate the required code to promote the development of the final bean.
Figure 5 - Component diagram of the order input system
Component diagrams are more easily understood and managed than the code layer view of the component architecture. You can also implement code sharing and repetitive use by writing a document of the component interface, and the user can use these code in other items and systems without the need for (or rarely) to understand the implementation details of the component. Figure 6 - EJB model of customer entity bean:
Cycling overlay
The world is not a constant, and your IT project is also the case. In your understanding, you will have new changes after designing the needs, and the system is constructed, there must be new changes, if you want to update the definition, or there is some need to correct errors in the existing case map. The code is edited in the IDE and text editor and the database is optimized by DBA. All details that need to be changed must be managed and mastered to ensure that the builds built can be consistent with business needs.
One program of round-trip project is that when the code is changed during the development process, it needs to be reflected in the class diagram. The specific details are as follows:
Create a class diagram and add a business logic element to the model
Generate application code for file system
Edit the code in the IDE or text editor
Editing design, ignore changes happening in the generated code
Implementing the content of the editorial content until it is consistent with the existing class diagram
Synchronize the work completed during the design process with the content edited during development (merge)
Generate a new code, the code is the sum of the design code and developers to change the code
When modifications for class diagrams to reflect new design content, you should use synchronous / merge techniques to prevent loss of development personnel from being lost, while allowing designers to accept or refuse changes during the development process. This way, PowerDesigner makes it fully controls the architecture, which is the key to the winning power.
PowerDesigner's function is not limited to it! Now the design model has been updated, you can connect these changes to the analysis. It is possible that you have discovered new needs in your analysis, you can reflect this change to your design and write code. Using PowerDesigner's leading Compare / Merge technology (discussed in September Blueprint), you can get true round-trip synchronization in all models and phases of the development cycle.
in conclusion
All modern IT projects must be implemented at faster speed, higher reliability, and can effectively promote enterprise development. You can control the architecture and in-depth understanding of the software by using new UML technology using new UML technologies in the OOAD section.
PowerDesigner uses the ability of comparison / merge technology, as well as integrated UML modeling techniques to make you respond quickly. Whenever change occurs, it will be quickly merged to any layer, including analysis, design, and running. The system model and the system are often mirror-comparison and backups to achieve accurate and predictable development results. These advantages will be converted to faster development speeds, as well as rapid responses to business processes, market conditions and technological innovation. Give the IT department unique ability to keep your company's competitive advantage!
