Chapter 2 Getting Started with an Object-Oriented Model

What is an OOM?

An Object-Oriented Model (OOM) is a graphical analysis of a system using the symbols and language notations of the Unified Modeling Language (UML). UML is the standard language for object-oriented modeling. It was originally devised by Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, and Ivar Jacobson, and is now controlled by the OMG (Object Management Group).

UML has a well-defined syntax and semantics that is clear and easy to use in object modeling. The terminology used in the OOM interface is consistent with UML, and PowerDesigner supports the following UML diagrams:

Diagram Group	Icon	Diagram
Use Case Diagrams		Use case diagram
Structural Diagrams		Class diagram
		Composite structure diagram
		Object diagram
Dynamic Diagrams		Collaboration diagram
		Sequence diagram
		Statechart diagram
		Activity diagram
Implementation Diagrams		Component diagram
		Deployment diagram

For detailed information on these diagrams, see:

The "Building Structural Diagrams" chapter
The "Building Use Case Diagrams" chapter
The "Building Dynamic Diagrams" chapter
The "Building Implementation Diagrams" chapter

In the picture below, you can see how the various UML diagrams can interact within your model:

PowerDesigner

The PowerDesigner Object-Oriented Model is a powerful design tool for graphical object-oriented design implementation.

With this product, you can:

Build an Object-Oriented Model (OOM) using the standard UML diagrams
Generate and reverse engineer Java, C#, VB.NET, and PowerBuilder files
Generate code for C++, Visual Basic, IDL-CORBA, etc.
Generate EJB, servlets, and JSP components
Generate Conceptual Data Models (CDMs), Physical Data Models (PDMs), XML Models (XSMs), and other Object-Oriented Models (OOMs) from your OOM
Generate an OOM from a CDM, PDM, XML, or other OOM
Import a Rose model
Import/export XMI
Customize the OOM to suit physical and performance considerations
Customize and print model reports

For more information about object modeling, a bibliography is proposed in the About this book section of this manual.