UML Designer User's Guide

Adding a Concept element

In the Adding a new book use case, several phrases appear to be important concepts that should be documented. For example, Dewey number is domain-specific terminology that should be defined for the benefit of non-librarians. A description can also help us understand how we need to represent it in the system.

The Dewey number is an attribute of a catalog entry, so it's probably not a thing in its own right; therefore, we'll use a Concept element to define it. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Select Use Cases in the middle pane of the Relationships Browser.
  2. Select Adding a new book in the list of use cases.
  3. Select the phrase Dewey number in the hypertext pane.
  4. Create a hypertext reference link from the phrase to a new Concept element. (Use the same process you used to create the links above, but select Concept as the kind of object to link to.)
  5. In the text pane for the new Dewey number concept element, type a description of a Dewey number:

    A Dewey number is a numerical classification identifying a book's subject matter.

Another phrase that looks like a good candidate for a Concept element is serial number. Like the Dewey number, the serial number is an attribute of a catalog entry, so it is probably not a thing; however, it's an important concept that probably should be recorded. But suppose that, in trying to define serial number, we find that our use case does not reflect correct terminology?


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