UML Components Lab: Practice and Assignments

Resources

• OMG's Official UML Site
• UML Component Diagrams Examples
• UML Component Diagrams (elements of component diagram explained)
• UML Component Diagram Reference (containing references to the MS Visio tool, but also good explanation of concepts)
• IBM: UML basics: The component diagram
• UML 2 Component Diagrams: An Agile Introduction

UML modeling tools that support UML 2.0 Component Diagrams

• Recommended for lab: Visual Paradigm Community Edition (free). Component diagrams in Visual Paradigm: user guide. Component diagram with Visual Paradigm tutorial. Complete Visual Paradigm user guide: pdf
• StarUML (free StarUML1 version, free StarUML2 Beta version). Component diagrams in StarUML: user guide
• UMLet (free simple UML drawing tool, includes component diagrams ). Component diagram in UMLet: example
• MS Visio (trial version). Component diagrams in Visual Studio: MSDN doc
• IBM Rational Software Architect (trial)
• Sparx Enterprise Architect (trial) . Component diagrams in EA: user guide

Lab Assignments

Assignment UML_A

Goal: Drawing UML Component Diagrams

Credits: by doing correctly and in time this assignment you can obtain a maximum of 1 lab points)

Deadline: Week 4

Requirements: Represent the strucure of a software system by using UML 2.x Component Diagrams. Use a medium-sized system (it can by i.e. your own bachelor project or any other open source system). The recommended UML tool is Visual Paradigm Community Edition, but you can use other tools as long as they support component diagrams. In your assignment, you have to use in your diagram all the important elements of UML 2.x component diagrams: provided interfaces, required interfaces, ports, internal structure, connectors. No credit will be given for doing other types of diagrams (class diagrams, package diagrams, etc) instead of component diagram.

Assignment UML_B

Goal: Comparing the capabilities of different UML tools for components

Credits: by doing correctly and in time this assignment you can obtain a maximum of 1 lab points)

Deadline: Week 5

Requirements: Represent the strucure of a software system by using UML 2.x Component Diagrams. Use a medium-sized system (it can by i.e. your own bachelor project or any other open source system). Use at least 3 different UML tools of your choice (one of the tools can be the tool used for assignment UML_A). Compare the tools from the point of view of their capabilities of supporting the standard UML 2.x elements for component diagrams. The comparison can be in form of a table having the standard UML component diagram elements on the rows and the tools on the columns. Every entry in this table can have one of the values: not supported, fully supported (according to the standard), or supported in a custom way. If a certain element is supported by a tool X in a custom way, this has to be explained/commented (example: tool X supports provided/required interfaces, but using only stereotype notation, not as lollipop and socket; Tool Y does not provide delegation connectors, but they can be replaced with dependency relationships in diagrams; etc ...)