UML 2.0 in a Nutshell

Advanced Activity Modeling

UML 2.0 introduces several powerful modeling notations for activity diagrams that allow you to capture complicated behaviors. Much of this new notation is clearly targeted at moving closer to executable models, with things such as executable regions and exception handling. While not all the notations described in this section are used in every model, these constructs are invaluable when applied correctly.

Activity Partitions

There are times when it is helpful to indicate who (or what) is responsible for a set of actions in an activity diagram. For example, if you are modeling a business process, you can divide an activity diagram by the office or employee responsible for a set of actions. If you are modeling an application, you may want to split an activity diagram based on which tier handles which action. You split an activity diagram using an activity partition. Show an activity partition with two parallel lines, either horizontal or vertical, called swimlanes , with the name of the partition in a box at one end. Place all nodes that execute within the partition between the two lines. Figure 9-25 shows an activity diagram partitioned by business unit.

There are times when trying to draw a straight line through your activity diagram may not be possible. You can show that a node is part of a partition by writing the partition name in parentheses above the name of the node. If the activities within

Figure 9-25. Activity diagram divided into partitions ...