Diagram Descriptions in ArgoUML

Discussion:

Mark Fortner

2011-08-04 18:20:45 UTC

I'd like to be able to create diagram descriptions in ArgoUML. This comes
up a lot when I'm generating documentation and I wish I could describe some
of the salient points about a diagram. Trying to put this in a couple of
paragraphs comment doesn't really work for me. I've tried using a
stereotype but I can't really apply a stereotype to a diagram, nor can I
simply add a tagged value to the diagram. So before, I file an enhancement
request this, I would like to know if the UML standard supports this kind of
usecase? Or if there's some other way of approaching this problem in
ArgoUML?

Regards,

Mark

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Laurent BRAUD

2011-08-05 17:27:41 UTC

Permalink

Hi,
When I do some test with ArgoPrint in July, I have the same need.

As it doesn't seems possible with ArgoUML, I wonder if we can do something like:
Add comments on diagram. If it's relies to an UMLElement, documentation for UML Element, otherwise for the diagram.
It's when I asked if possible to have 2 Diagram for one statemachine, and I add that sometimes I could want one with comments and one without. I suggest I will try to do this in argoprint. I have done a getDiagramAsSVG_WithoutComment in DiagramUtil (I can give you if wanted), but I haven't done get Comment for a diagram or a UMLElement.

I don't think you like this, since you write :"Trying to put this in a couple of
paragraphs comment doesn't really work for me".

You said about "a couple" and
"describe"=> Why comments aren't enought.

However I agree with you : I think it should be nice to add some comments with a property.

Moreover I think (But it's only my point of view) that someone comments should be "standard", such it exist "cartouche" in "dessin technique" (Sorry, don't know english word): http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dessin_technique#Cartouche

When print a UML diagram, I would like a "cartouche" with the UMLVersion(instead of "mode de projection") because <> between UML1.x , the create/modify date, The version of document...

What's your opinion ?

I have sometime now (and I'm curious to find) I find something in UML (I will have a look in UML Diagram Interchange)

Regards,
Laurent.

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Bob Tarling

2011-08-05 17:37:41 UTC

Permalink

Certainly in UML1.4 there is nothing as diagrams are not actually part
of the specification.

For UML2 we'd have to dig around the specs a bit more but even then we
will be a long way from diagram interchange formats when we have our
first UML2 release.

Anything we do in ArgoUML will be argouml specific I think and stored
in the PGML file rather than any xmi file.

Regards

Bob

Post by Laurent BRAUD
Hi,
When I do some test with ArgoPrint in July, I have the same need.
Add comments on diagram. If it's relies to an UMLElement, documentation for UML Element, otherwise for the diagram.
It's when I asked if possible to have 2 Diagram for one statemachine, and I add that sometimes I could want one with comments and one without. I suggest I will try to do this in argoprint. I have done a getDiagramAsSVG_WithoutComment in DiagramUtil (I can give you if wanted), but I haven't done get Comment for a diagram or a UMLElement.
I don't think you like this, since you write :"Trying to put this in a couple of
paragraphs comment doesn't really work for me".
You said about "a couple" and
"describe"=> Why comments aren't enought.
However I agree with you : I think it should be nice to add some comments with a property.
Moreover I think (But it's only my point of view) that someone comments should be "standard", such it exist "cartouche" in "dessin technique" (Sorry, don't know english word): http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dessin_technique#Cartouche
When print a UML diagram, I would like a "cartouche" with the UMLVersion(instead of "mode de projection") because <> between UML1.x , the create/modify date, The version of document...
What's your opinion ?
I have sometime now (and I'm curious to find) I find something in UML (I will have a look in UML Diagram Interchange)
Regards,
Laurent.
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Mark Fortner

2011-08-05 17:56:25 UTC

Permalink

Laurent: I like the idea of the "cartouche". I like the name too. It makes
me think of Egyptian hieroglyphics. ;-) I also like the idea of being able
to turn it on and turn it off. So if you were only producing diagrams, you
might turn it on; if you were producing documentation you could turn it off.
The wikipedia link you sent was pretty informative. Apparently it's a
common practice when storing drawings. When the drawing is folded for
storage, you can always see the cartouche, making it easy to search through
a stack of drawings.

The problem with comments is they are good for short notes of a few words,
but not good for a couple of paragraphs. It takes up too much space on the
diagram. For the same reason, I think the cartouche is excellent for small
pieces of text, but probably ill-suited for a paragraph or more of text.

Bob: I guess the other approach to storing the diagram descriptions would be
to put them in the .argo file. There's already project metadata in there,
we could simply add it to the body of the "member" tag.

Mark

Post by Bob Tarling
Certainly in UML1.4 there is nothing as diagrams are not actually part
of the specification.
For UML2 we'd have to dig around the specs a bit more but even then we
will be a long way from diagram interchange formats when we have our
first UML2 release.
Anything we do in ArgoUML will be argouml specific I think and stored
in the PGML file rather than any xmi file.
Regards
Bob

Post by Laurent BRAUD
Hi,
When I do some test with ArgoPrint in July, I have the same need.
As it doesn't seems possible with ArgoUML, I wonder if we can do
Add comments on diagram. If it's relies to an UMLElement, documentation

for UML Element, otherwise for the diagram.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
It's when I asked if possible to have 2 Diagram for one statemachine, and

I add that sometimes I could want one with comments and one without. I
suggest I will try to do this in argoprint. I have done a
getDiagramAsSVG_WithoutComment in DiagramUtil (I can give you if wanted),
but I haven't done get Comment for a diagram or a UMLElement.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
I don't think you like this, since you write :"Trying to put this in a

couple of

Post by Laurent BRAUD
paragraphs comment doesn't really work for me".
You said about "a couple" and
"describe"=> Why comments aren't enought.
However I agree with you : I think it should be nice to add some comments

with a property.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
Moreover I think (But it's only my point of view) that someone comments

should be "standard", such it exist "cartouche" in "dessin technique"
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dessin_technique#Cartouche

Post by Laurent BRAUD
When print a UML diagram, I would like a "cartouche" with the

UMLVersion(instead of "mode de projection") because <> between UML1.x , the
create/modify date, The version of document...

Post by Laurent BRAUD
What's your opinion ?
I have sometime now (and I'm curious to find) I find something in UML (I

will have a look in UML Diagram Interchange)

Post by Laurent BRAUD
Regards,
Laurent.
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Post by Laurent BRAUD
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Laurent BRAUD

2011-08-05 18:21:37 UTC

Permalink

Hi,
Bob you are true, if we do this, we need to do it first with PGML rather than XMI.

But, if some "standard" tag documentation exists (shortDescription, author, date, ...), use the same and show them to user even if we store not in "standard".
And When we will start UML DI, even if there is a long time, it will be easier.

However, I haven't find a such "standard" tag .
So which one can we add to have usefull tool. Of course, user can uses others.

What I found:
a) http://www.omg.org/spec/UMLDI/1.0/PDF/

There is a class Diagram and a XSD for diagram

In "8.5 Properties": Non-standard properties could be added but are not part of any standardization. Properties provide an extension
mechanism for adding non-standardized elements to the diagram interchange metamodel.

=> If I have well understand, we can add all properties we want. But there aren't standard. Could be a choice.

b)I try TopCased:
<diagrams xmi:id="_2PG_gK1HEeC3fKGlWAkmOg" position="0,0" size="100,100" name="StateMachine" viewport="0,0">
<eAnnotations xmi:id="_ssPV4L-BEeCUNbPIxj8eBQ" source="http://www.topcased.org/documentation">
<details xmi:id="_ssUOYL-BEeCUNbPIxj8eBQ" key="documentation" value="HERE DIAGRAM COMMENT"/>
</eAnnotations>
<property xmi:id="_2PahgK1HEeC3fKGlWAkmOg" key="pageFormatName" value="A4"/>
...
=> I don't see yet where "eAnnotations" is defined in UML-DI (in XSD).

Mark, you ask for paragraph (and I agree): If we find something (in norm), it must be an XML element, not an attribute. So what I found isn't enought. I keep your idea in my mind.

I don't know if what you asked Bob is possible.

Regards,

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Bob Tarling

2011-08-05 18:50:12 UTC

Permalink

Hi Laurant/Mark

To be honest I really don't have time to dig into the diagram
interchange stuff for UML2 together with all the other stuff that we
need to complete for UML2 diagram presentation and modelling. That
will have to follow later. There is some doubt as to whether this
format will survive anyway so maybe we save ourselves some effort.

For pgml vs .argo I would say to save in the pgml as this is diagram
level data rather than project level.

Bob

Post by Laurent BRAUD
Hi,
Bob you are true, if we do this, we need to do it first with PGML rather than XMI.
But, if some "standard" tag documentation exists (shortDescription, author, date, ...), use the same and show them to user even if we store not in "standard".
And When we will start UML DI, even if there is a long time, it will be easier.
However, I haven't find a such "standard" tag .
So which one can we add to have usefull tool. Of course, user can uses others.
a) http://www.omg.org/spec/UMLDI/1.0/PDF/
There is a class Diagram and a XSD for diagram
In "8.5 Properties": Non-standard properties could be added but are not part of any standardization. Properties provide an extension
mechanism for adding non-standardized elements to the diagram interchange metamodel.
=> If I have well understand, we can add all properties we want. But there aren't standard. Could be a choice.
<diagrams xmi:id="_2PG_gK1HEeC3fKGlWAkmOg" position="0,0" size="100,100" name="StateMachine" viewport="0,0">
<eAnnotations xmi:id="_ssPV4L-BEeCUNbPIxj8eBQ" source="http://www.topcased.org/documentation">
<details xmi:id="_ssUOYL-BEeCUNbPIxj8eBQ" key="documentation" value="HERE DIAGRAM COMMENT"/>
</eAnnotations>
<property xmi:id="_2PahgK1HEeC3fKGlWAkmOg" key="pageFormatName" value="A4"/>
...
=> I don't see yet where "eAnnotations" is defined in UML-DI (in XSD).
Mark, you ask for paragraph (and I agree): If we find something (in norm), it must be an XML element, not an attribute. So what I found isn't enought. I keep your idea in my mind.
I don't know if what you asked Bob is possible.
Regards,
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Mark Fortner

2011-08-31 19:53:47 UTC

Permalink

There's a potential workaround for this that I've been experimenting with.
I added a comment to the diagram, and in the Properties panel, entered the
Body of the comment. This doesn't appear in the diagram, but can be
extracted by ArgoPrint for documentation. I was looking for some way to
distinguish these types of diagram descriptions from ordinary comments, and
the only way I found to do this is to create a "Diagram Description"
stereotype. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to turn off
stereotype visualization for model elements. Which means that my small,
discrete little hack, looks big and ugly on the diagram.

Is there some other workaround for this that I'm not aware of?

Mark

Post by Bob Tarling
Hi Laurant/Mark
To be honest I really don't have time to dig into the diagram
interchange stuff for UML2 together with all the other stuff that we
need to complete for UML2 diagram presentation and modelling. That
will have to follow later. There is some doubt as to whether this
format will survive anyway so maybe we save ourselves some effort.
For pgml vs .argo I would say to save in the pgml as this is diagram
level data rather than project level.
Bob

Post by Laurent BRAUD
Hi,
Bob you are true, if we do this, we need to do it first with PGML rather

than XMI.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
But, if some "standard" tag documentation exists (shortDescription,

author, date, ...), use the same and show them to user even if we store not
in "standard".

Post by Laurent BRAUD
And When we will start UML DI, even if there is a long time, it will be

easier.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
However, I haven't find a such "standard" tag .
So which one can we add to have usefull tool. Of course, user can uses

others.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
a) http://www.omg.org/spec/UMLDI/1.0/PDF/
There is a class Diagram and a XSD for diagram
In "8.5 Properties": Non-standard properties could be added but are not

part of any standardization. Properties provide an extension

Post by Laurent BRAUD
mechanism for adding non-standardized elements to the diagram interchange

metamodel.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
=> If I have well understand, we can add all properties we want. But

there aren't standard. Could be a choice.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
<diagrams xmi:id="_2PG_gK1HEeC3fKGlWAkmOg" position="0,0" size="100,100"

name="StateMachine" viewport="0,0">

Post by Laurent BRAUD
<eAnnotations xmi:id="_ssPV4L-BEeCUNbPIxj8eBQ" source="

http://www.topcased.org/documentation">

Post by Laurent BRAUD
<details xmi:id="_ssUOYL-BEeCUNbPIxj8eBQ" key="documentation"

value="HERE DIAGRAM COMMENT"/>

Post by Laurent BRAUD
</eAnnotations>
<property xmi:id="_2PahgK1HEeC3fKGlWAkmOg" key="pageFormatName"

value="A4"/>

Post by Laurent BRAUD
...
=> I don't see yet where "eAnnotations" is defined in UML-DI (in XSD).
Mark, you ask for paragraph (and I agree): If we find something (in

norm), it must be an XML element, not an attribute. So what I found isn't
enought. I keep your idea in my mind.

Post by Laurent BRAUD
I don't know if what you asked Bob is possible.
Regards,
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Post by Laurent BRAUD
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Bob Tarling

2011-08-31 22:32:10 UTC

Permalink

There is no feature to hide stereotypes.

Have you created an issue to add a diagram description to the PGML via
the diagram property panel?

Bob

Post by Mark Fortner
There's a potential workaround for this that I've been experimenting with.
I added a comment to the diagram, and in the Properties panel, entered the
Body of the comment. This doesn't appear in the diagram, but can be
extracted by ArgoPrint for documentation. I was looking for some way to
distinguish these types of diagram descriptions from ordinary comments, and
the only way I found to do this is to create a "Diagram Description"
stereotype. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to turn off
stereotype visualization for model elements. Which means that my small,
discrete little hack, looks big and ugly on the diagram.
Is there some other workaround for this that I'm not aware of?
Mark

Post by Laurent BRAUD
Hi,
Bob you are true, if we do this, we need to do it first with PGML rather than XMI.
But, if some "standard" tag documentation exists (shortDescription,
author, date, ...), use the same and show them to user even if we store not
in "standard".
And When we will start UML DI, even if there is a long time, it will be easier.
However, I haven't find a such "standard" tag .
So which one can we add to have usefull tool. Of course, user can uses others.
a) http://www.omg.org/spec/UMLDI/1.0/PDF/
There is a class Diagram and a XSD for diagram
In "8.5 Properties": Non-standard properties could be added but are not
part of any standardization. Properties provide an extension
mechanism for adding non-standardized elements to the diagram interchange metamodel.
=> If I have well understand, we can add all properties we want. But
there aren't standard. Could be a choice.
<diagrams xmi:id="_2PG_gK1HEeC3fKGlWAkmOg" position="0,0"
size="100,100" name="StateMachine" viewport="0,0">
<eAnnotations xmi:id="_ssPV4L-BEeCUNbPIxj8eBQ"
source="http://www.topcased.org/documentation">
<details xmi:id="_ssUOYL-BEeCUNbPIxj8eBQ" key="documentation"
value="HERE DIAGRAM COMMENT"/>
</eAnnotations>
<property xmi:id="_2PahgK1HEeC3fKGlWAkmOg" key="pageFormatName"
value="A4"/>
...
=> I don't see yet where "eAnnotations" is defined in UML-DI (in XSD).
Mark, you ask for paragraph (and I agree): If we find something (in
norm), it must be an XML element, not an attribute. So what I found isn't
enought. I keep your idea in my mind.
I don't know if what you asked Bob is possible.
Regards,
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http://argouml.tigris.org/ds/viewMessage.do?dsForumId=449&dsMessageId=2809768

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Mark Fortner

2011-08-31 23:21:57 UTC

Permalink

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the info. I've created an issue for diagram descriptions:
http://argouml.tigris.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=6360

I looked into GEF and it seems that Diagrams have comments which could be
used, but there's no support in ArgoDiagram for it.

Regards,

Mark

Post by Bob Tarling
There is no feature to hide stereotypes.
Have you created an issue to add a diagram description to the PGML via
the diagram property panel?
Bob

Post by Mark Fortner
There's a potential workaround for this that I've been experimenting

with.

Post by Mark Fortner
I added a comment to the diagram, and in the Properties panel, entered

the

Post by Mark Fortner
Body of the comment. This doesn't appear in the diagram, but can be
extracted by ArgoPrint for documentation. I was looking for some way to
distinguish these types of diagram descriptions from ordinary comments,

and

Post by Mark Fortner
the only way I found to do this is to create a "Diagram Description"
stereotype. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to turn off
stereotype visualization for model elements. Which means that my small,
discrete little hack, looks big and ugly on the diagram.
Is there some other workaround for this that I'm not aware of?
Mark

Post by Laurent BRAUD
Hi,
Bob you are true, if we do this, we need to do it first with PGML

rather