Interaction overview diagram

Last updated April 09, 2019

Interaction Overview Diagram is one of the fourteen types of diagrams of the Unified Modeling Language (UML), which can picture a control flow with nodes that can contain interaction diagrams.^[1]

A diagram is a symbolic representation of information according to visualization technique. Diagrams have been used since ancient times, but became more prevalent during the Enlightenment. Sometimes, the technique uses a three-dimensional visualization which is then projected onto a two-dimensional surface. The word graph is sometimes used as a synonym for diagram.

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a general-purpose, developmental, modeling language in the field of software engineering that is intended to provide a standard way to visualize the design of a system.

The interaction overview diagram is similar to the activity diagram, in that both visualize a sequence of activities. The difference is that, for an interaction overview, each individual activity is pictured as a frame which can contain a nested interaction diagram. This makes the interaction overview diagram useful to "deconstruct a complex scenario that would otherwise require multiple if-then-else paths to be illustrated as a single sequence diagram".^[2]

Activity diagrams are graphical representations of workflows of stepwise activities and actions with support for choice, iteration and concurrency. In the Unified Modeling Language, activity diagrams are intended to model both computational and organizational processes, as well as the data flows intersecting with the related activities. Although activity diagrams primarily show the overall flow of control, they can also include elements showing the flow of data between activities through one or more data stores.

The other notation elements for interaction overview diagrams are the same as for activity diagrams. These include initial, final, decision, merge, fork and join nodes. The two new elements in the interaction overview diagrams are the "interaction occurrences" and "interaction elements."^[3]

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A sequence diagram shows object interactions arranged in time sequence. It depicts the objects and classes involved in the scenario and the sequence of messages exchanged between the objects needed to carry out the functionality of the scenario. Sequence diagrams are typically associated with use case realizations in the Logical View of the system under development. Sequence diagrams are sometimes called event diagrams or event scenarios.

In software engineering, a class diagram in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a type of static structure diagram that describes the structure of a system by showing the system's classes, their attributes, operations, and the relationships among objects.

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a business process model.

A deployment diagram in the Unified Modeling Language models the physical deployment of artifacts on nodes. To describe a web site, for example, a deployment diagram would show what hardware components ("nodes") exist, what software components ("artifacts") run on each node, and how the different pieces are connected.

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This glossary of Unified Modeling Language terms covers all versions of UML. Individual entries will point out any distinctions that exist between versions.

UMLet is an open-source Java-based UML tool designed for teaching the Unified Modeling Language and for quickly creating UML diagrams. It is a drawing tool rather than a modelling tool as there is no underlying dictionary or directory of reusable design objects. UMLet is distributed under the GNU General Public License.

Executable UML is both a software development method and a highly abstract software language. It was described for the first time in 2002 in the book "Executable UML: A Foundation for Model-Driven Architecture". The language "combines a subset of the UML graphical notation with executable semantics and timing rules." The Executable UML method is the successor to the Shlaer–Mellor method.

The Systems Modeling Language (SysML) is a general-purpose modeling language for systems engineering applications. It supports the specification, analysis, design, verification and validation of a broad range of systems and systems-of-systems.

Object-oriented design is the process of planning a system of interacting objects for the purpose of solving a software problem. It is one approach to software design.

Composite structure diagram in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a type of static structure diagram, that shows the internal structure of a class and the collaborations that this structure makes possible.

Visual Paradigm (VP-UML) is a UML CASE Tool supporting UML 2, SysML and Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) from the Object Management Group (OMG). In addition to modeling support, it provides report generation and code engineering capabilities including code generation. It can reverse engineer diagrams from code, and provide round-trip engineering for various programming languages.

4+1 is a view model designed by Philippe Kruchten for "describing the architecture of software-intensive systems, based on the use of multiple, concurrent views". The views are used to describe the system from the viewpoint of different stakeholders, such as end-users, developers, system engineer, and project managers. The four views of the model are logical, development, process and physical view. In addition selected use cases or scenarios are used to illustrate the architecture serving as the 'plus one' view. Hence the model contains 4+1 views:

A function model or functional model in systems engineering and software engineering is a structured representation of the functions within the modeled system or subject area.

UML is a modeling language used by software developers. UML can be used to develop diagrams and provide users with ready-to-use, expressive modeling examples. Some UML tools generate program language code from UML. UML can be used for modeling a system independent of a platform language. UML is a graphical language for visualizing, specifying, constructing, and documenting information about software-intensive systems. UML gives a standard way to write a system model, covering conceptual ideas. With an understanding of modeling, the use and application of UML can make the software development process more efficient.

References

↑ Types of modeling diagrams. Retrieved 12 Sept 2008.
↑ UModel Interaction Overview Diagrams. Retrieved 12 Sept 2008.
↑ Sparx Systems - UML 2 Tutorial - Interaction Overview Diagram. Retrieved 12 Sept 2008.

External links

UML 2 Interaction Overview Diagrams at agilemodeling.com
UModel Interaction Overview Diagrams

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[1] Types of modeling diagrams. Retrieved 12 Sept 2008.

[2] UModel Interaction Overview Diagrams. Retrieved 12 Sept 2008.

[3] Sparx Systems - UML 2 Tutorial - Interaction Overview Diagram. Retrieved 12 Sept 2008.