Creating elements

Overview

Two different kinds of element can be created in Objecteering:

· structural elements, which shape the model into an organized structure

· terminal elements, which provide additional information and/or services on their parent element

There are four different ways of creating elements in Objecteering:

· in the explorer (for structural elements)

· in the auxiliary window (for terminal elements)

· in the fast link editor (for links)

· in diagrams (for structural and terminal elements)

Creating elements in the explorer

To create a structural element in the explorer, all you have to do is click on the associated icon in the left-hand vertical palette. The icons available in this palette change according to the element selected in the explorer.

Some icons in the palette have a small black arrow in their bottom right-hand corner, indicating that they are grouped icons (icons that group together a number of related icons in a sub-palette). To access this sub-palette, simply click on the grouped icon, hold down the left mouse button and slide the cursor slowly to the right.

The screenshot below shows the creation of a class inside a package.

Creating a class inside a package in the explorer

Steps:

1. In the explorer, select the package inside which you want to create your new class.

2. Click on the "Create a class" icon. Your new class will then appear in the explorer.

Note: To change the default name of an element you have just created, simply select the element and press F2. The element name is then highlighted and you can directly enter a new name.

Creating elements in the auxiliary window

To create a terminal element in the auxiliary window, the procedure is exactly the same as for the creation of structural elements in the explorer.

The screenshot below illustrates the creation of a note on a class.

Creating a note on a class

Steps:

1. In the explorer, select the class on which you want to create a new note.

2. In the "Auxiliary properties" tab of the auxiliary window, click on the "Create a note" icon. The "Note" dialog box then appears.

3. Click on the arrow on the right of the "Type" field and select a type from the dropdown list, and then enter the contents of the note in the "Contents" field.

4. Click on "OK" to confirm. Your new note will then appear in the auxiliary window.

Creating links in the fast link editor

Inheritance links, use links and traceability links can be directly created in the fast link editor, using the drag and drop feature to drag elements from the explorer into the fast link editor. For this, the fast link editor must be in edit mode.

The screenshot below shows the creation of an inheritance link.

Creating an inheritance link

Steps:

1. In the explorer, select the element on which you want to create the inheritance link and activate the edit mode in the fast link editor by clicking on the icon on the bottom right.

2. Click on the "Switch to inheritance view" icon on the bottom left. In this view, any links created will be inheritance links.

3. In the explorer, select the element that is to inherit from the original element, and drag it under the original element in the fast link editor. The new inheritance link then appears.

Note: If you activate the use view or the traceability view, any links created in this way will respectively be use links or traceability links.

Creating elements in diagrams

To create structural model elements and terminal elements in a diagram, the same icons as those present in the explorer and the auxiliary window are used.

Like the explorer, some icons are presented as grouped icons.

For more information on creating elements in diagrams, please see "Creating elements in a diagram".