Ports are the only interfaces of actors. A port has always a protocol assigned. Service Access Points (SAP) and Service Provision Points (SPP) are specialized ports that are used to define layering.
Ports decouple interface definition (Protocols) from interface usage
Ports decouple the logical interface from the transport
These symbols can only appear on the border of an actor class symbol.
Ports that define an external interface of the ActorClass, are defined in the Interface. Ports that define an internal interface are defined in the Structure (e.g. internal ports).
External End Ports are defined in the Interface and the Structure
Internal End Ports are only defined in the Structure
Relay Ports are only defined in the Interface
End Ports are always connected to the internal behavior of the ActorClass
Replicated Ports can be defined with a fixed replication factor ( e.g. Port port18 [ 5 ]: ProtocolClass1 ) or a variable replication factor (e.g. Port port18[ * ]: ProtocolClass1 )
Element | Graphical Notation | Textual Notation |
Class End Port |
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External Class End Port:
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Conjugated Class End Port |
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External Conjugated Class End Port:
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Class Relay Port |
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Conjugated Class Relay Port |
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Replicated Class End Port |
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External Replicated Class End Port:
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Conjugated Replicated Class End Port |
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External Conjugated Replicated Class End Port:
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Replicated Class Relay Port |
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Conjugated Replicated Class Relay Port |
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These symbols can only appear on the border of an ActorReference symbol. Since the type of port is defined in the ActorClass, no textual notation for the Reference Ports exists.
Element | Graphical Notation | Textual Notation |
Reference Port |
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implicit |
Conjugated Reference Port |
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implicit |
Replicated Reference Port |
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implicit |
Conjugated Replicated Reference Port |
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implicit |