Glossary

Actor

An Actor is a person or system which interacts with a system in an → Use Case.

Attribute

An Attribute is an UML element which describes an aspect of a Class.

Architecture

A logical structure which describes a system such that from requirements over design to deployment each aspect is covered. Each reader (system users, software engineers, requirements mangers, etc.) of an architecture shall be able to easily extract the part that is relevant for him.

Business Object

An → Object that is specifically targeted to some sort of business. A good example is a Customer Business Object.

Class

A Class is an UML that represents an abstraction of real-world things that are related to each other. A Class is build from a classification process. A Class usually has different → Attributes and → Operations.

Connector

A visible → Relation between two elements.

Diagram

A visual presentation of part of an UML model. It helps the model reader to understand a certain aspect of the model.

Diagram Toolbox

A context menu for an UML diagram. It contains a relevant subset of UML elements for the individual diagram.

EA

Acronym of → Enterprise Architect.

EAUI

Acronym of → Enterprise Architect Unique Interface. A long time ago the Unique Interface was coined by forum member Paolo. I just build the acronym.

Enterprise Architect

Acronym EA. A tool that supports modeling of UML. Developed by Sparx Systems, Australia.

Folder

Is another word for → Package.

FQN

Acronym for Fully Qualified Name. In this book it refers to the notation <profileID>::<name>.

GUID

Acronym for Global Unique IDentifier. A string with hex-chars and dashes which is created in a way such that it is very, very unlikely (but not impossible) to see the same GUID for different elements.

Instance

Is another word for → Object.

MDA

Acronym for Model Driven Architecture. See http://www.omg.org/mda/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model-driven_architecture.

MDG

Acronym for Model Driven Generation. A container format to bundle profiles that can be enabled in EA dynamically.

Method

A piece of code performing some action. In a → Class the Method usually performs the operation on → Attributes of the Class. A Method can have parameters and a return value.

Object

An Object is a placeholder for a real-world thing. Objects are instantiated from → Classes. Vice versa a Class is an abstraction of Objects.

Object Oriented

A paradigm that sees the world as → Objects abstracted by → Classes with → Attributes and → Methods communicating via → Messages.

OO

→ Object oriented.

Operation

A synonym for → Method.

Profile

An arbitrary element set based on UML elements. In this book we use the single term profile as element set. Additionally the term will be prefixed with diagram or toolbox for those special subsets.

Package

A Package is an element to structure UML models.

Project Browser

An EA window which shows the elements of a repository in a tree structure.

Quick Linker

A tool to connect elements in → EA. Selected elements show a little arrow top right which can be dragged to another element or onto a blank space of a → Diagram in order to create a new element along with a → Connector.

Relation

An UML concept to tie two elements together. This is expressed through specific → Connectors.

RM

Acronym for Requirements Management.

Stereotype

A grouping characteristic which in → UML is shown as a string enclosed in guillemets (e.g. ≪device≫).

Tagged Value

A means to augment UML elements with extra information. Tagged values come in key/value pairs. In → EA the value can be a string, a drop down value or a references to another element.

Toolbox

An icon/name tuple used in menus. Toolboxes can be related to diagrams.

Use Case

A Use Case is a sequence of Actions triggered by an Actor and return some measurable value to that Actor.

View

A View in EA is a special form of a → Package.

UML

An acronym for Unified Modeling Language. UML is a language standard published by the Object Modeling Group (OMG). See http://www.omg.org

XMI

Acronym for XML Metadata Interchange. Allows to store UML models in XML format for data interchange. Like UML it is a standard published by the Object Modeling Group (OMG). See http://www.omg.org

XML

Acronym for eXtensible Markup Language. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification.

YAEAB

Acronym for Yet Another EA Bug. One tends to get sarcastic after many years living with the same set of bugs not being fixed.