Re: [ubl-lcsc] Modeling Core Component Types

["Anthony B. Coates" <abcoates@londonmarketsystems.com>]

On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 13:13:39 EST, <Burnsmarty@aol.com> wrote:

> I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but MagicDraw
> (www.magicdraw.com) supports UML 1.4 which in turn supports constraints 
> attached to
> classifiers associations and interfaces. The constraints themselves can 
> be "textual"
> or in OCL (Object Constrain Language, a standard syntax).

Wrong kind of constraint, that is, it's a constraint at the wrong level.  
UML constraints are constraints on the objects/classes being described, 
not constraints on the usage of UML itself.  The kind of constraints I am 
talking about are equivalent to usage constraints for UML (i.e. which 
features you must or must not use, what conventions you must or must not 
use, etc.).

> I find that UML is good for describing gross structure, but when you get 
> to a
> high amount of detail, the diagrams become unwieldy and large, and 
> therefore
> not very useful.

Good UML tools let you split the model up between diagrams, which help 
avoid that.  That said, I do find that putting the same information into 
an equivalent XML document can produce something that is easier to scan by 
eye, especially if you use a colour-coded XML editor (like TurboXML).  
Actually, the other issue with UML is accessibility - so few people have 
the right UML software.  ArgoUML isn't ready for prime-time yet (not in my 
opinion), but even if it or another free tool was, many people still 
couldn't get it installed on their work PC.  XML is better from that point 
of view, particular now that MS Office will edit it reasonably (at least 
for users of pro/enterprise versions).

	Cheers,
		Tony.
-- 
Anthony B. Coates
London Market Systems Limited
33 Throgmorton Street, London, EC2N 2BR
http://www.londonmarketsystems.com/
mailto:abcoates@londonmarketsystems.com
Mobile/Cell: +44 (79) 0543 9026
[MDDL Editor (Market Data Definition Language), http://www.mddl.org/]
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http://www.fpml.org/]
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