Object state property sheet General tab

Chapter 5 Building Dynamic Diagrams

Object state property sheet General tab

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.
Object	Specifies the object (instance of a class) related to the object state. If you use the Object list and its corresponding buttons in the property sheet of an object state, you can do the following: Link an object state to an object (instance of a class) by choosing the object name from the Object list Create a new object by clicking the Create tool beside the Object list Select any objects created in the current model or other models by clicking the Select Object button beside the Object list. This opens a selection window. You can then select any objects from all open models in the workspace

Syntax of object state names

When you select an object from the property sheet of an object state, the name of the object state shows respectively:

The object
The class, containing the object
The state of the object

Example

An object state linked to an object named Book, associated with a class named Catalog is in a state [purchased]. The name displayed in the symbol of the object state will be:

Drag and drop an object or a class

You can drag an object or a class from the Browser and drop them into an activity diagram. This will automatically create an object state showing the object or the class name.

It may not be possible to move the object directly in the diagram, if this one is a decomposed activity for example. In this case, you can use the Copy and Paste as Shortcut features to move your object.

For more information on object states, see sections Linking an object to an object state and Linking a class to an object state, in chapter Working with Object-Oriented Models.