You can modify an object's properties from its property sheet. To open a state property sheet, double-click its diagram symbol or its Browser entry in the States folder. The following sections detail the property sheet tabs that contain the properties most commonly entered for states.
The General Tab contains the following properties:
|
Property |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Name |
Specifies the name of the item, which should be clear and meaningful, and should convey the item's purpose to non-technical users. |
|
Code |
Specifies the technical name of the object, which is used for generating code or scripts. |
|
Comment |
Descriptive comment for the object. |
|
Stereotype |
Extends the semantics of the object beyond the core UML definition. |
|
Classifier |
Classifier linked to the state. It can be a use case, a class or a component. When a classifier is selected, it is displayed in between brackets after the state name in the Browser. Use the tools to the right of the list to create, browse for, or view the properties of the currently selected object. |
|
Composite status |
If you select the Decomposed state option, the state becomes a decomposed state. If you select the Atomic state option, the state becomes an atomic state, and all its child objects are deleted |
You can specify a set of internal actions on an atomic or decomposed state on the Actions tab. These represent actions performed within the scope of the state when some events occur. You can create and define the properties of the action from the Actions tab, or double-click the arrow at the beginning of a line to display the action property sheet.
You can open the Actions tab by right clicking the state symbol in the diagram, and selecting Actions from the contextual menu.
For more information on actions, see Actions (OOM).
The Deferred Events tab contains an Add Objects tool that allows you to add already existing events but not to create new events. This list is similar to the list of Business Rules that only reuse elements and does not create them.
The difference between an event and a deferred event is that an event is always instantaneous and dynamically handled by a state, whereas a deferred event is an event that occurs during a particular state in the object life cycle but it is not directly used up by the state.
A deferred event occurs in a specific state, is then handled in a queue, and is triggered by another state of the same classifier later.
The Sub-States tab is displayed when the current state is decomposed in order to display a list of child states. You can use the Add a row and Delete tools to modify the list of child states. The Sub-States tab disappears if you change the current state to atomic because this action deletes the children of the state.