Editing Dependencies Independently from the Diagram

Use the Dependencies tool window or Dependency Editor to create dependencies between elements instead of creating them graphically in the diagram.

Information About Dependencies

Definition

A dependency is a relationship between two model elements and represents the fact that when a change is made to the independent model, this will affect the dependent model. The dependency refers to the model elements themselves and not to any instances of these elements which may exist.

There is one decisive difference between dependency relationships and associations: instances cannot be created from dependency relationships. If two classes are linked with one association, two instances of these classes are also linked with one instance of the association, i.e. with an object relationship. There are no comparable consequences for dependency relationships as no instances can be created from them.

You can configure dependencies to specify them as abstractions, uses, realizations etc..

Notation

A dependency relationship is shown as a dashed line with an open arrowhead. The arrowhead points to the element required. The type of arrowhead depends on the dependency type.

Editing Dependencies

You can use special editors to easily edit dependencies between elements in your model:

The Dependencies tool window is used to maintain the dependencies of a selected element independently of a diagram.
The Dependency Editor is used for easily editing dependencies between various elements independently of a diagram. Dependency Editor can be used for determining dependent or required elements. You cannot change the viewing direction in the opened Dependency Editor.

You primarily use the Dependencies tool window for the following tasks:

Identifying dependencies or generalization relationships of the selected element
Creating dependencies or generalization relationships of the selected element
Permanently deleting existing dependencies or generalization relationships of the selected element from the model

You can open the Dependency Editor for determining the dependent or required elements and use it for the following tasks:

Quantitative identification of dependencies of a certain dependency type of the elements in the initial set.
Creating dependencies of a certain dependency type between multiple selected elements and a required or dependent element
Permanent deletion of selected dependencies of a certain dependency type from the model

Displaying Dependencies

Dependencies can be displayed in various ways:

Graphic display in the diagram
Dependency Editor
Tool window Dependencies
Tool window Info
Tool window Details (if configured)

Dependencies you create in the Dependencies tool window or in the Dependency Editor are not automatically visible in diagrams which contain related elements. You can show the created dependencies in these diagrams (see "Showing and Hiding Relationships in the Diagram").

This chapter contains the following topics:

Maintaining Dependencies of an Element in the Dependencies Tool Window

Editing Dependencies Between Elements in the Dependency Editor