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Visualize with Rational Application Developer

A tour of Rational Application Developer's visual diagramming tools

Eric Long (elong@us.ibm.com), Software Engineer, IBM

Eric Long is a Software Engineer in the IBM Developer Skills Program. Eric graduated from The University of Texas with a degree in Computer Science. He joined IBM in July of 2004 and currently works in Austin, Texas. As a Software Engineer, he provides technical information to developers on open source and industry trends and technologies through speaking engagements, Web content, and faculty consultations at IBM Academic Initiative member universities. His work also includes technical demos and content available at www.ibm.com/university.

Summary: Rational Application Developer provides visual diagramming tools to help you gain insight and knowledge of existing applications or to more easily create and understand new applications. After completing this tutorial, you will know how to create class, sequence, browse, and topic diagrams.

Date: 07 Feb 2006
Level: Intermediate
PDF: A4 and Letter (828 KB | 29 pages)Get Adobe® Reader®

Activity: 29837 views
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Visualize a method using a sequence diagram

Now that a UML class diagram has been created, you are going to utilize another visualization capability that Rational Application Developer offers: sequence diagrams. A sequence diagram shows the sequence (in time) of messages, which are exchanged among roles that implement the behavior of the system. This section of the tutorial guides you through the process of creating a sequence diagram using Rational Application Developer.

Create a sequence diagram

From the Package Explorer view, expand the Zipcode class.

Figure 18. Expanded Zipcode class
Right-click the isZipcode(String) method and select Visualize > Add to New Diagram File > Static Method Sequence Diagram.

Figure 19. Select sequence diagram
The diagram is automatically created and opened (default name is sequencediagram.tpx).
Explore the sequence diagram.

Figure 20. Sequence diagram
For quick navigation around large diagrams, the Outline view allows you to quickly move the viewable area of the editor (this applies to all diagrams).

Figure 21. Diagram outline view