The Unified Method - Key to Class Diagrams
We use "The Unified Method Notation" written by Grady Booch and
Jim Rumbaugh. This notation is a combination of the Booch method and OMT (see
The Rational Software Corporation
for more details). The subset of this notation that we use is described below.
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A rectangle with the name of the class in bold in the centre. Details
of member attributes and functions can be included in separate sections within the
rectangle.
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A hexigon with the name of the class of the object in bold in the centre. Further
details can be added within separate subsections within the hexigon.
-
A solid line connecting two classes. This represents the "has a"
relationship. The direction of the relationship, if not obvious, can
be indicated by an arrow head in the shape of a triangle next to the
line. Numbers at each end of the line indicate limits of the
number of classes involved. Aggregation is indicated by a small
diamond at the end of the line nearest class A. This indicates
that objects of class B cannot exist except as part of an object of
class A.
-
A solid arrow between two classes indicates a "is a" relationship. If the line
points from class B to class A, then B "is a" A, but A is NOT a B.
Any questions and bug reports to
Mark Williams.
This page was last updated on the 25th of May 1999.