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| Below are answers to the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Altova UModel® 2010, the starting point for successful software development.
- What is UModel® 2010 and what does it do?
Altova UModel® 2010 is an affordable UML modeling application with a rich visual interface and superior usability features to help software developers to visually design a software application or analyze the design of an existing application.
UModel® 2010 helps software developers work more effectively with other project stakeholders who are not programmers to clearly define project requirements early in the development process.
UModel® 2010 also encourages your development team to thoroughly plan the application logic before coding begins, similar to drawing up architectural blueprints before starting construction of a building.
By representing software in a graphical format, UModel® 2010 improves communication between programmers assigned to individual pieces of a large project.
UModel® 2010 also includes advanced features such as code generation, reverse engineering, round-trip engineering, and XMI support that help improve productivity and accelerate software development and are typically only found in much more expensive UML tools.
Back to Top - Which diagrams does UModel® 2010 support?
UModel® 2010 supports all 14 UML 2.2 diagram types, and includes a special UML-style diagram for XML Schema.
Specifically, UModel® 2010 supports:
- Use case diagrams
- Activity diagrams
- Class diagrams
- Communication diagrams
- Component diagrams
- Composite structure diagrams
- Deployment diagrams
- Interaction overview diagrams
- Object diagrams
- Package diagrams
- Sequence diagrams
- State machine diagrams
- Timing diagrams
- Profile diagrams
- XSD diagrams
- Business process (BPMN) diagrams
UModel® 2010 also supports all 9 SysML 1.1 diagrams for modeling embedded systems:
- SysML activity diagrams
- SysML block definition diagrams
- SysML internal block diagrams
- SysML package diagrams
- SysML parametric diagrams
- SysML requirements diagrams
- SysML sequence diagrams
- SysML state machine overview diagrams
- SysML use case diagrams
Back to Top - Who is UModel® 2010 used by?
UModel® 2010 is used by software developers and system architects, typically those with a code-writing background, who want to bring the benefits of UML modeling and code generation into the software development process.
In addition, UModel® 2010 can be used by non-programmers who have an interest in a software development project. UModel® 2010 use case diagrams can be reviewed by a project manager or even presented to customers to verify that a project design adequately addresses the problem requirements.
Business analysts use UModel® 2010 to graphically illustrate business rules for both a non-technical audience and for developers who implement business systems software.
UModel® 2010 diagrams can also be used by quality assurance teams as a guide to the design of validation tests for the project.
Back to Top - What are the benefits of using UModel® 2010?
UModel® 2010 encourages rigorous analysis of the problem at hand before coding begins. This in turn can reduce errors and omissions that are difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to resolve when they are discovered later.
During actual code development, UModel® 2010 reinforces use of widely-supported object-oriented programming practices. UModel® 2010 diagrams also become an important part of the project documentation.
UModel® 2010 saves time by generating Java, C#, or Visual Basic .NET code automatically, saving programmers from this tedious and error-prone process not only during the original implementation, but for each subsequent rework and revision cycle.
The graphical nature of UModel® 2010 lets developers quickly understand portions of the project they do not personally work on. This improved clarity also promotes reusability of components in future projects.
All these benefits contribute to faster software development with fewer errors and defects.
Back to Top - Why is UModel® 2010 support for UML 2.2 so important?
UML 2.2 is the latest specification for the Unified Modeling Language (UML) released by the Object Management Group (OMG). UML 2.2 introduces a new profile diagram and refinements to compliance requirements to enhance model exchange between UML tools.
UModel® 2010 can export projects in the latest XMI format and can import XMI files created by other UML tools. UModel also supports XMI for the previous UML 2.0 and 2.1 standards.
UML 2.2 includes features and enhancements that are a direct response to limitations of previous specifications that often forced developers of earlier UML tools to create non-standard diagrams and workarounds.
Since it started with the original UML 2.0 specification, UModel® 2010 is not burdened with unnecessary toolbars or menu options to support obsolete UML syntax elements.
Back to Top - What advanced UML modeling features are supported in UModel® 2010?
UModel® 2010 supports code generation, reverse engineering, and round-trip engineering.
UModel® 2010 can generate Java, C#, or Visual Basic .NET code based on the class diagrams created during the analysis and design phase, freeing programmers from the mundane task of writing low level infrastructure code so they can concentrate on the business logic and overall architecture of the project.
Reverse engineering allows software developers to apply UModel® 2010 to automatically create UML models from the Java, C#, or Visual Basic .NET source code and binary files for existing applications. This makes the appliation easier to analyze and enhance, and can accelerate the addition of new features or the re-use of existing components in a new project.
UModel® 2010 round trip engineering frees programmers to work in the most efficient method. As a project evolves, developers may want to modify and add to the original base of code generated by UModel® 2010, working directly in the application source code files. The Altova UModel® 2010 round-trip engineering feature reads the modified code and automatically updates the UML diagrams to keep the models accurate and relevant.
Back to Top - What versions of application source code does UModel® 2010 support?
UModel® 2010 supports Java 1.4, Java 5.0, Java 6.0, C# 1.2 , C# 2.0, C# 3.0, Visual Basic .NET 7.1, Visual Basic .NET 8.0, and Visual Basic .NET 9.0 for code generation, reverse engineering existing application source code, and round-trip engineering of UML models.
UModel® 2010 fully supports new features introduced in Java 5.0, including generics (templates) and enumerations. UModel® 2010 also supports C# and Visual Basic .NET generics, with their strong type checking and instantiation at runtime.
UModel® 2010 also provides compatibility with new language constructs introduced in C# 3.0 and VB9.0 that directly support XML.
Back to Top - Does UModel® 2010 support interoperability with other UML tools?
Yes, Altova UModel® 2010 can import and export UML models in the latest industry standard XMI 2.1.1 format. This means you can inexpensively expand the use of UML in your development team by adding UModel alongside – or even to replace – expensive, legacy UML tools, and you can import existing UML works in progress that are stored in XMI files.
UModel® 2010 also supports the earlier XMI 2.0 and XMI 2.1 standards for both import and export of UML models.
UModel® 2010 gives you affordable access to all the high end features, including code generation in Java, C#, and Visual Basic .NET, reverse engineering of existing Java, C#, and Visual Basic .NET applications, round-trip engineering, and XMI import and export.
Back to Top - How does UModel® 2010 work with other Altova products?
UModel® 2010 can model XML Schema as part of a UML project. During code generation for projects containing schema diagrams, UModel® 2010 writes XSD files compatible with XMLSpy® 2010.
UModel® 2010 can import XSD files created or edited by Altova XMLSpy® 2010, and XMLSpy® 2010 can export XML Schema as a UModel® 2010 project file.
Additionally, XMLSpy® 2010 Enterprise Edition can generate Java, C#, or Visual Basic .NET source code for object-oriented classes based on XML Schema. The reverse engineering feature of UModel® 2010 can import the source code files created by XMLSpy® 2010 to create UML diagrams for further development, for documentation, or for reuse.
You can also use XMLSpy to open and examine XMI 2.1 files exported by UModel® 2010 or other UML tools, since XMI is an XML-based format.
Altova MapForce® 2010 Enterprise Edition has the ability to generate Java, C#, or Visual Basic .NET source code for sophisticated data integration and Web services applications. UModel® 2010 can reverse engineer the MapForce® 2010 generated source files to graphically document the application or to enhance it with additional features.
UModel® 2010 project files are compatible with the quick comparison feature when comparing directories using Altova DiffDog® 2010.
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