VisioUML2.2Tips

8/9/2019 VisioUML2.2Tips

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TipsforusingaVisiotemplateforUML2.2,availableathttp://softwarestencils.com Page1

TipsforUsingaVisioTemplateforUML2.2

ThisdocumentcontainstipsandsuggestionsforcreatingUML2.2diagramsusingthestencilsandtemplatesavailableat

http://softwarestencils.com.ItispossibletodrawallUMLsymbolsanddiagramsspecifiedintheOMGdocument

formal/20090202,OMGUnifiedModelingLanguage(OMGUML),Superstructure,version2.2,availableat

http://www.omg.org/spec/UML/2.2/.

Thispdffileisforreferenceonly.Thelatestversionofthisdocumentisathttp://softwarestencils.com.

Macros

Thestencilsandtemplatedonotcontainmacros.IfVisioasksyouwhetheryouwanttoenableordisablemacros,disable

them.

ImportantTips

ThesetipsareusefulespeciallyforthosewhoarenewtoVisio.Pleasereadthisdocumentbeforeaskingmequestions.

However,Iamalwaysinterestedinyourfeedback,suggestionsandcomments.Ifyouhaveadditionaltipsthatcouldbe

includedinthisdocumentpleasecontactme,PavelHruby,[email protected].

Startbyopeningthetemplate"UML2.2Template".Thetemplatedefines

allrequiredVisiosettings,andopensautomaticallytwostencils:"UML2.2

Symbols",and"UMLIconsandStereotypes".

Thetemplateandthestencilsaredesignedtoworktogether.When

startingcreatinganewdiagramusing"New/GettingStarted",lookfor

thistemplateicon.

Ifforsomereason,youopenfirstanothertemplate(suchasablank

template,ortheUMLModelDiagramtemplatebuiltinVisio)andthen

opentheUML2.2stencilsfromthisothertemplate,youneedtochange

somesettings.

ClickTools,Snap&GlueandplacecheckmarksintheGlueandShape

Verticescheckboxes.

WiththesesettingswillVisioautomaticallycreateconnectionpointson

Lifelinesinsequencediagrams,whenyouconnectMessages,Fragments,

orInteractionOccurrencestoLifelines.

InVisio2000andVisio5,moreover,inTools,Options,Advancedtab,place

checkmarksintheEnableMicrosoftBasicforApplications,LoadVisual

BasicforApplicationsfromtext,andenableAutomationEventscheck

boxes.


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Whenyourightclickmostoftheshapes,ausefulmenu

appears.

Youcanopenadditionalcompartmentsofaclass,object,package,part,

component,node,state,andusecase.Todoso,clickthecontrolonthe

bottomlineoftheshapeanddragitup.

Youcanedittextintheadditionalcompartments.Toinsert

newtext,selecttheshapeandclickonceontheadditional

compartment.ItturnsgrayinVisio4.15.0andinVisio

2000

2002

it

changes

its

corners

to

a

light

green

symbol

that

lookslike(x).Then,typeinthetext.

Toeditexistingtext,selecttheadditionalcompartmentand

pressF2,orselectTextTool(clickiconAonthemenu

bar),orrightclicktheselectedcompartmentandselectEdit

Textfromthemenu.EditTextmenuisavailableonlyin

Visio2000andVisio2002.

Toaddassociationrolesandcardinalities (multiplicities)toassociations,

selecttheshapeandclickonceontheyellowcontrol(greeninVisio2000).

Itselectstheunderlyingtextbox,whichturnsgreen.Then,typetextin.To

editexisting

text,

click

once

on

the

yellow

control,

and

press

F2,

or

select

TextToolfromthemenu.

TextoftheLabelshapecanbemovedtotherightorleftsideoftheyellow

control(greeninVisio2000).SelecttheLabelshape,andClickAlignRight

buttononFormattingToolbartomovetexttotheleftsideofthecontrol.

AlignLeftmovestextright,andAligncentermovesthecontroltothe

middleofthetext.


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Inthebottomleftcornerofmosttwodimensionalshapesthereisapool

ofconnectionpointsthatyoucanmovearoundusingcontrols.For

example,youcanmovethemneartoclassoperationsorattributes,and

thenconnectRelationshipsorNotestothem.

Thereis

an

alternative

way

of

adding

connection

points

to

ashape

side.

IfyourightclicktheshapeRegion/Partition,youcanturnitintoa

ConnectionPointsLine,whichisaninvisiblelinecontaining80

connectionpoints.

YoucangluetheRegion/Partitiontoanothershapeandinthisway

increasethenumberofconnectionpointsonitssides.

TheStateLifelineinTimingDiagramcanbemodifiedbymovingthe

controlsattherightside.

InVisio2003andearlierversions,youcaneasilychangeaclasstoan

object,andviceversa,bychangingitstextstylefrom"UMClassifier"to

"UMInstance".Inthisway,youcaneasilycreateacommunicationdiagram

from

a

class

diagram

by

copying

and

pasting

the

class

diagram

and

then

selectingalltheclassesandchangingtheirtextstyle.

InVisio2007,Microsofthasdisablesstyles,unlessyourunadeveloper

mode.Howtoenabledevelopermode,pleasereadahelpiteminVisio

2007Whathappenedtostyles?


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ThestencilcontainsbothUML2.2 shapesandnonnormativeshapes,

which

are

the

shapes

not

defined

in

the

standard,

but

used

in

some

UML

booksandpapers.

Thenonnormativeshapeoptionsarealwaysatthebottomoftheright

clickmenus;thenonnormativestereotypesandiconsareplacedafterthe

iconNonnormativeUML.

UnlessyouhaveaverygoodknowledgeofUML,dontusethenon

normativeshapes.Rather,trytofindthecorrectUMLwaytoexpressyour

softwaredesign.

Stereotypes

arein

the

stencil

for

Visio

2000

and

earlier

versions

availablefromtherightclickmenu.

InVisio2002andlaterversions,Microsoftforsecurityreasonsremoved

thefunctionalitythatmadethispossible,therefore, pleaseinsert

stereotypesastext.

YoucansettheautocorrectoptionsofMicrosoftOfficetoreplaceby,tomakeiteasier.Todoso,pleaseselectVisiomenuitem

Tools/AutoCorrectOptions.Thecharactersandareaccessiblefrom

CharacterMap

in

Windows.

Character

Map

can

usually

be

opened

by

selecting AllPrograms/Accessories/SystemTools/CharacterMap.


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InformationforAdvancedUsers

Thestencilandtemplatecontainthefollowingstyles:o UMNormal:basedonstyleNormal,withArial8pt.regularfont,andLineweight1o UMConnector(textstyle):basedonUMNormal,buttextisalignedlefto UMClassifier(textstyle):basedonUMNormal,buttextisbold,notextbackgroundo UMInstance(textstyle):basedonUMNormal,buttextisunderlined,notextbackground

Thecontrolsusedfortextpositioningensurethataconstantdistanceiskeptbetweenthetextandtheclosestlineend,orthetextandtheclosestsideorsidesofatwodimensionalshape.Likewise,ifthetextispositionedinthemiddleof

theshape,itwillremaininthemiddleregardlessofhowyouchangetheshapesize.

ForVisio5.0andVisio4.1:VisioautomaticallycreatesnewconnectionpointsonObjectlifelinesandActivationswhenyouconnectmessagestothem.(Ifitdoesnt,clickTools,Snap&GlueandplacecheckmarksintheGlueandShape

Verticescheck

boxes.)

If

you

later

disconnect

the

object

lifeline

and

the

message,

Visio

5.0

and

earlier

versions

do

not

removetheconnectionpointsautomatically.Ifyoudontwanttoseetheextraconnectionpoints,youcanclickView

anddeselectConnectionPoints.Alternatively,youcandeletethemmanuallybyselectingConnectionPointTool.You

canthenselecttheextraconnectionpoint,whichturnsmagenta,andpresstheDeletekey.Visio2000removesthe

connectionpointsautomatically.

ForVisio5.0:TheroutableconnectorintheVisio5.0stencilsometimeschangesitspathunexpectedly,forexample,whenoneendoftheconnectorisinsideandtheotherendisoutsideasymbol,suchaspackageandclass.Visiofixed

thisprobleminVisio2000andlaterversionsbutnotinVisio5.0.Therefore,ifyouuseVisio5.0,andtheroutable

connectorwouldntbehaveasyouexpect,Irecommendthatyouusetheangledorstraightconnectors

Detailsabout

the

Stencil

Design

Somerelatedshapeshavethesamedesignanddifferonlyintheirinitialstates.Thismeansthatifyouredesignone,youmustredesignall.Thefollowingshapesarehavethesameorsimilardesign:

o StraightRelationshipandRoutableRelationshiparethesameshapeo Package,Class,Object,andPartarethesameshapeo Activity/EventandObject/Signalarethesameshapeo Region/PartitionandFork/JoinNodearethesameshapeo PseudostateandFlow/Activity/Initial/Finalarealmostthesame;theydifferonlyintherightclickmenus.o FrameandInteractionOccurrencearealmostthesame;doubleclickonFrameeditsthetextofthepentagon

inupperleftcorner,anddoubleclickonInteractionOccurrenceeditsthetextoftheshapebody.From

developerperspective,FramehasdisabledEditGroupText,andControl3isinvisible.

Althoughthestencilisdesignedtoallowmaximaldrawingfreedom,thereisasmallrestrictiononformattingthetextintheadditionalcompartmentsofPackage,Class,Object,Part,State,Node,ComponentandUseCase.Ifyou

formatthetextintheadditionalcompartmentsusinghorizontalalignment=centerandverticalalignment=middle,

thefirstcharactercannotbeunderlinedortypedinboldface.(Itcan,however,beboldandunderlined).Ifyouchoose

oneofthesetwoformatsforthefirstcharacter,theformatautomaticallyswitchestothedefaultformatforthis

compartment,whichishorizontalalignment=left,verticalalignment=top,andregularfont.Thesetwoformatsare

rarelyused.Youmightcomeacrossthissituationpracticallyonlyifyouapplyyourowntextstylestotheshape.

Documents

VisioUML2.2Tips