Populating sequence diagrams

You can create sequence diagrams and populate them with elements to understand and develop behaviors and interactions between objects in systems. You can add lifelines to represent objects or actors, messages to represent communication between the objects, and combined fragments to represent the control structures.

Creating lifelines in UML diagrams
In UML diagrams, such as sequence and communication diagrams, you can create lifelines to represent objects in a system.
Creating messages in UML diagrams
In sequence diagrams, you can add create, destroy, synchronous and asynchronous messages to lifelines to represent communication between objects. You can also specify the signatures of messages.
Creating combined fragments in sequence diagrams
In sequence diagrams, you can create combined fragments to visually represent control structures, such as a for-loop or if-else statements, in interactions. Combined fragments can contain interaction operands, guard conditions and other combined fragments. Combined fragments contain procedural logic that control the messages inside the combined fragment.
Managing interaction operands in sequence diagrams
In sequence diagrams, an interaction operand is a container that groups interaction fragments, such as messages, that runs if the guard condition is true. An interaction operand is created automatically when you create a combined fragment. You can add new interaction operands to combined fragments that allow multiple operands, such as alternative, parallel, strict, or weak combined fragments. You can also remove and reposition interaction operands in a combined fragment to reflect changes in your system.
Adding guard conditions to sequence diagrams
In sequence diagrams, a guard condition contains an interaction constraint. An interaction constraint is a condition or restriction. A guard condition is created automatically when you create a combined fragment. You can also manually add a guard condition to an interaction operand that does not have an existing guard condition.
Creating interaction uses in sequence diagrams
In sequence diagrams, you can create an interaction use by specifying a new unspecified occurrence or by creating a new interaction.
Binding operations and parameters to variables in sequence diagrams
You can bind operations and parameters to variables to reuse an operation or parameter or to change operation and parameter names withoutchanging each instance of the parameter or operation.
Adding state invariants to sequence diagrams
State invariants are runtime constraints, such as values of variables, attributes, and states, that are placed on the objects or capsules of an interaction. You can add state invariants to sequence diagrams to specify values or states.
Creating gates in sequence diagrams
You can add formal and actual gates to sequence diagrams. Gates are messages that have parameters that pass information. Formal gates can end or start from the diagram edge and extend to a lifeline. An actual gate can start or end from an interaction use.
Creating interaction uses from existing elements
You can create an interaction use from existing elements to simplify and improve the readability of a sequence diagram.

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