Activity diagrams show the workflow of child process elements of a process,
activity, phase, or iteration. You can choose to include diagrams created
externally by another application or you can create activity diagrams internally
by using this diagram editor.
Diagram Editor Tools
The diagram editor palette
contains several tools which can help you create diagrams.
- Note and Note attachment: Use this tool to add Notes to the diagram
and link them to other diagram elements.
- Text: Use this tool to add your own text to the diagram. Once you
add the text to the diagram, you can open the Properties view via the context
menu to set display and font properties.
- Control Flow: Use this tool to draw directional arrows from one
node on your diagram to another.
- Activity Partition: Use this tool to create swim-lanes in your
activity diagrams. After you create a partition you can drag other elements
inside to add them to the Partition. You can alternatively add or remove elements
to a Partition via the Advanced Properties view.
- Decision Node: Use this tool to show the control flow coming out
of a decision.
- Merge Node: Use it to merge two or more distinct flows back to
one common flow again.
- Fork Node: Use this tool to depict the beginning of concurrent
threads of control.
- Join Node: Use this tool to depict the end of concurrent threads
of control. The workflow cannot continue past the Join Node until all of the
flows that it joins together have completed.
- Start Node, End Node: Use these tools to identify the start and
end of the workflow.
- Select: This tool helps you select elements or portions of your
diagram for manipulation using the drawing aids.
- You can also add new process elements to your diagram using: Activity,
Iteration, Phase, Milestone or Task Descriptor.
Drawing Aids
The activity diagram editor provides
several aids to manipulate and improve the appearance of your diagram.
- To move a selected node in one direction, pixel-by-pixel: Select
the node, hold down the control key and press the cursor keys in the direction
you want to move the selected node.
- To move a selected node or nodes in a vertical or horizontal plane,
using the mouse: Select the node or nodes to move, hold down the shift
key and hold down the primary mouse button on the selected node. Drag the
node or nodes with the mouse in the direction you want to move them.
- To align nodes with one another: Select the nodes of interest,
open the context menu and choose Format > Align followed by your choice
of alignment.
- To bend a link line: Select the link. Grab the center dot and
drag it with the mouse to the desired point.
Activity Diagrams in Extended Capability Patterns
You
can reuse an existing capability pattern or parts of a capability pattern,
such as an activity, in another process. When you reuse another pattern by
either copying or extending it, any diagrams you have created are also included
into your process. However when you extend a capability pattern, the diagrams
from the base pattern are not updated when the diagram for the base pattern
is changed. To retrieve updates to a diagram of the base element right-click
in the open diagram of the extending element and select “Refresh from Base
Activity”