Issue 18506: Notation for Variables and Variable Actions is very vague and incomplete (uml25-ftf) Source: Commissariat a l Energie Atomique-CEA (Dr. Sebastien Gerard, sebastien.gerard(at)cea.fr) Nature: Uncategorized Issue Severity: Summary: I think the notation for variables is supposed to be covered by the notation for variable actions – see figure 16.38, which describes a presentation option, but there is actually no specification for the canonical notation that it is an option for – nor was there in 2.4. We need a new issue: “Notation for Variables and Variable Actions is very vague and incomplete Resolution: Revised Text: Actions taken: February 27, 2013: received issue Discussion: I think the notation for variables is supposed to be covered by the notation for variable actions – see figure 16.38, which describes a presentation option, but there is actually no specification for the canonical notation that it is an option for – nor was there in 2.4. We need a new issue: “Notation for Variables and Variable Actions is very vague and incomplete”, with this email as its summary. -- Steve From: GERARD Sebastien 166342 [mailto:Sebastien.GERARD@cea.fr] Sent: 27 February 2013 12:47 To: uml25-ftf@omg.org Subject: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Hi, Except if I missed it, I did not find any notional mean to denote a variable within an activity diagram. Is it correct? In that case, how to declare a variable? Thanks, Cheers… Séb.. End of Annotations:===== From: GERARD Sebastien 166342 To: Steve Cook , "uml25-ftf@omg.org" , "issues@omg.org" Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Index: Ac4U6HKMD8Q0SuTJR1yiY5DCTo5S1wACnwtAAA30FmA= Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:41:45 +0000 Accept-Language: fr-FR, en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: yes X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: x-originating-ip: [132.166.88.105] x-tm-as-product-ver: SMEX-10.2.0.1135-6.800.1017-19672.003 x-tm-as-result: No--59.133300-0.000000-31 x-tm-as-user-approved-sender: Yes x-tm-as-user-blocked-sender: No X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org Example shown in figure 16.38 is not an example of variable declaration but about the action to write a value on variable. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SĂ©stien GĂ©rd +33 (0)1 69 08 58 24 / +33(0)6 88 20 00 47 CEA Saclay Nano-INNOV Institut CARNOT CEA LIST DILS/Laboratoire d.IngĂ©erie dirigĂ©par les modès pour les Systès EmbarquĂ©(LISE), Point Courrier n°174 91 191 Gif sur Yvette CEDEX www.eclipse.org/papyrus De : Steve Cook [mailto:Steve.Cook@microsoft.com] EnvoyĂ© mercredi 27 fĂ©ier 2013 15:14 Ă€: GERARD Sebastien 166342; uml25-ftf@omg.org; issues@omg.org Objet : RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams I think the notation for variables is supposed to be covered by the notation for variable actions . see figure 16.38, which describes a presentation option, but there is actually no specification for the canonical notation that it is an option for . nor was there in 2.4. We need a new issue: .Notation for Variables and Variable Actions is very vague and incomplete., with this email as its summary. -- Steve From: GERARD Sebastien 166342 [mailto:Sebastien.GERARD@cea.fr] Sent: 27 February 2013 12:47 To: uml25-ftf@omg.org Subject: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Hi, Except if I missed it, I did not find any notional mean to denote a variable within an activity diagram. Is it correct? In that case, how to declare a variable? Thanks, Cheers. SĂ©. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SĂ©stien GĂ©rd +33 (0)1 69 08 58 24 / +33(0)6 88 20 00 47 CEA Saclay Nano-INNOV Institut CARNOT CEA LIST DILS/Laboratoire d.IngĂ©erie dirigĂ©par les modès pour les Systès EmbarquĂ©(LISE), Point Courrier n°174 91 191 Gif sur Yvette CEDEX www.eclipse.org/papyrus m: Steve Cook To: GERARD Sebastien 166342 , "uml25-ftf@omg.org" , "issues@omg.org" Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Index: Ac4U6HKMD8Q0SuTJR1yiY5DCTo5S1wACnwtA Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:14:16 +0000 Accept-Language: en-GB, en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: yes X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: x-originating-ip: [10.166.18.104] X-Forefront-Antispam-Report: CIP:131.107.125.37;CTRY:US;IPV:CAL;IPV:NLI;EFV:NLI;SFV:NSPM;SFS:(31014001)(189002)(199002)(164054002)(46102001)(76482001)(512934001)(20776003)(31966008)(56776001)(79102001)(15202345001)(54356001)(59766001)(50986001)(49866001)(47736001)(55846006)(47976001)(33656001)(66926002)(74502001)(44976002)(74662001)(47446002)(54316002)(4396001)(16236675001)(77982001)(65816001)(5343635001)(51856001)(67866001)(5343655001)(63696002)(56816002)(16406001)(53806001)(80022001);DIR:OUT;SFP:;SCL:1;SRVR:BL2FFO11HUB036;H:TK5EX14HUBC102.redmond.corp.microsoft.com;RD:InfoDomainNonexistent;MX:1;A:1;LANG:en; X-OriginatorOrg: microsoft.onmicrosoft.com X-Forefront-PRVS: 0770F75EA9 X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org I think the notation for variables is supposed to be covered by the notation for variable actions . see figure 16.38, which describes a presentation option, but there is actually no specification for the canonical notation that it is an option for . nor was there in 2.4. We need a new issue: .Notation for Variables and Variable Actions is very vague and incomplete., with this email as its summary. -- Steve From: GERARD Sebastien 166342 [mailto:Sebastien.GERARD@cea.fr] Sent: 27 February 2013 12:47 To: uml25-ftf@omg.org Subject: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Hi, Except if I missed it, I did not find any notional mean to denote a variable within an activity diagram. Is it correct? In that case, how to declare a variable? Thanks, Cheers. SĂ©. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SĂ©stien GĂ©rd +33 (0)1 69 08 58 24 / +33(0)6 88 20 00 47 CEA Saclay Nano-INNOV Institut CARNOT CEA LIST DILS/Laboratoire d.IngĂ©erie dirigĂ©par les modès pour les Systès EmbarquĂ©(LISE), Point Courrier n°174 91 191 Gif sur Yvette CEDEX www.eclipse.org/papyrus From: "Bock, Conrad" To: "uml25-ftf@omg.org" , "issues@omg.org" Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:26:10 -0500 Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Index: Ac4U6HKMD8Q0SuTJR1yiY5DCTo5S1wADOWdg Accept-Language: en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: acceptlanguage: en-US X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org Sebastian, > Except if I missed it, I did not find any notional mean to denote a variable > within an activity diagram. Is it correct? In that case, how to declare a > variable? Variables were expected to be used in textual concrete syntaxes (maybe Alf has a notation for them), so graphical notation wasn't defined in UML. Could be added, but it would be a notational enhancement. Ideally, in some future UML, variables would be properties of activities and shown with the existing property notation. Steve, > Notation for Variables and Variable Actions is very vague and > incomplete" See above. The lack of specification of variable notation was intentional (not that it can't be added, but it would be an enhancement). It would be under the general category of graphical notations for the portions of activities that were intended for textual concrete notations, like conditionals, loops, etc. Conrad From: Steve Cook To: "Bock, Conrad" , "uml25-ftf@omg.org" , "issues@omg.org" Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Index: Ac4U6HKMD8Q0SuTJR1yiY5DCTo5S1wADOWdgAACTRfA= Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:39:19 +0000 Accept-Language: en-GB, en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: x-originating-ip: [10.166.18.104] X-Forefront-Antispam-Report: CIP:131.107.125.37;CTRY:US;IPV:CAL;IPV:NLI;EFV:NLI;SFV:NSPM;SFS:(199002)(189002)(13464002)(74502001)(65816001)(74662001)(31966008)(80022001)(50986001)(55846006)(46102001)(50466001)(47446002)(63696002)(47736001)(23726001)(47976001)(4396001)(54316002)(79102001)(16406001)(53806001)(33656001)(20776003)(76482001)(16796002)(56776001)(47776003)(51856001)(46406002)(77982001)(5343655001)(54356001)(44976002)(59766001)(56816002)(49866001);DIR:OUT;SFP:;SCL:1;SRVR:BY2FFO11HUB023;H:TK5EX14HUBC104.redmond.corp.microsoft.com;RD:InfoDomainNonexistent;A:1;MX:1;LANG:en; X-OriginatorOrg: microsoft.onmicrosoft.com X-Forefront-PRVS: 0770F75EA9 X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by amethyst.omg.org id r1REk63H014971 But Conrad, I am afraid that figure 12.62 in UML 2.4 already let the cat out of the bag. We must either remove this notation from 2.5, or explain it better. -----Original Message----- From: Bock, Conrad [mailto:conrad.bock@nist.gov] Sent: 27 February 2013 14:26 To: uml25-ftf@omg.org; issues@omg.org Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Sebastian, > Except if I missed it, I did not find any notional mean to denote a variable > within an activity diagram. Is it correct? In that case, how to declare a > variable? Variables were expected to be used in textual concrete syntaxes (maybe Alf has a notation for them), so graphical notation wasn't defined in UML. Could be added, but it would be a notational enhancement. Ideally, in some future UML, variables would be properties of activities and shown with the existing property notation. Steve, > Notation for Variables and Variable Actions is very vague and > incomplete" See above. The lack of specification of variable notation was intentional (not that it can't be added, but it would be an enhancement). It would be under the general category of graphical notations for the portions of activities that were intended for textual concrete notations, like conditionals, loops, etc. Conrad From: "Bock, Conrad" To: "uml25-ftf@omg.org" Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:16:53 -0500 Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Index: Ac4U6HKMD8Q0SuTJR1yiY5DCTo5S1wADOWdgAACTRfAAAHpD4A== Accept-Language: en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: acceptlanguage: en-US X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org Steve, > But Conrad, I am afraid that figure 12.62 in UML 2.4 already let the cat out > of the bag. We must either remove this notation from 2.5, or explain it > better. Agreed it should be explained clearly if it isn't already, but the variable itself appears only textually, so I don't think it lets the graphical variable notation out of the bag. Maybe there could be additional textual annotations for variables on activities, similar to parameters, see 2.5's Figure 15.2 (Activity notation). BTW, I think the notation 2.4's Figure 12.62 (2.5's Figure 16.38) is explained clearly, because it's just a notational shorthand for an equalivant model that's shown in the same figure, and the DI is covered in 2.5's Clause B.4.3 (Activity Diagram Labels), search on "variable" in that section. Conrad From: "Bock, Conrad" To: "uml25-ftf@omg.org" Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:20:22 -0500 Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams, related shorthands missing? Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams, related shorthands missing? Thread-Index: Ac4U/e16YEr5tQE6R3qQEY1ZJl/N5Q== Accept-Language: en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: acceptlanguage: en-US X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org P.S. In 2.5 I can't find the related notational shorthands for ActionInputPin that were in 2.4's Clause 12.3.3 ActionInputPin (as specialized), in the notation section: An action input pin with a ReadVariableAction as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the variable name written beside it. An action input pin with a ReadSelfObject as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the word "self" written beside it. An action input pin with a ValueSpecification as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the value specification written beside it. They must be somewhere in 2.5, because they're covered by UML DI in 2.5's Clause B.4.3 (Activity Diagram Labels), search on "ActionInputPin" in that section, but I can't find them. They didn't have figures in 2.4, so might have been overlooked, not sure. Conrad From: Steve Cook To: "Bock, Conrad" , "uml25-ftf@omg.org" Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Index: Ac4U6HKMD8Q0SuTJR1yiY5DCTo5S1wADOWdgAACTRfAAAHpD4AACesDg Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:08:58 +0000 Accept-Language: en-GB, en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: x-originating-ip: [10.166.18.104] X-Forefront-Antispam-Report: CIP:131.107.125.37;CTRY:US;IPV:CAL;IPV:NLI;EFV:NLI;SFV:NSPM;SFS:(13464002)(199002)(189002)(31966008)(47736001)(46406002)(20776003)(46102001)(77982001)(54356001)(56816002)(47976001)(49866001)(50986001)(50466001)(47776003)(47446002)(74662001)(55846006)(33656001)(23726001)(44976002)(74502001)(4396001)(76482001)(59766001)(79102001)(56776001)(54316002)(51856001)(5343655001)(63696002)(16406001)(53806001)(80022001)(65816001);DIR:OUT;SFP:;SCL:1;SRVR:BY2FFO11HUB034;H:TK5EX14MLTC103.redmond.corp.microsoft.com;RD:InfoDomainNonexistent;A:1;MX:1;LANG:en; X-OriginatorOrg: microsoft.onmicrosoft.com X-Forefront-PRVS: 0770F75EA9 X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by amethyst.omg.org id r1RG9u5d023545 >because it's just a notational shorthand for an equalivant model that's shown in the same figure But that notation is not actually specified - it is just a picture showing a label "Add to VariableName" in a box. I would naturally expect to be able to write "Read from VariableName", "Remove from VariableName", and "Clear VariableName" in similar boxes, and have similar shorthands. But clause 16 is silent about these matters. But interestingly in B.4.3: ActionInputPins with fromActions that are ReadVariableActions may be shown in a shorthand notation that i only the ActionInputPin and nearby the name of the variable of the ReadVariableAction interchanged as a UMLNameLabel with the variable as modelElement. I don't see anything corresponding to this in the notation parts of the spec. (Note the typo - that needs to be an issue against Annex B). -- Steve -----Original Message----- From: Bock, Conrad [mailto:conrad.bock@nist.gov] Sent: 27 February 2013 15:17 To: uml25-ftf@omg.org Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Steve, > But Conrad, I am afraid that figure 12.62 in UML 2.4 already let the cat out > of the bag. We must either remove this notation from 2.5, or explain it > better. Agreed it should be explained clearly if it isn't already, but the variable itself appears only textually, so I don't think it lets the graphical variable notation out of the bag. Maybe there could be additional textual annotations for variables on activities, similar to parameters, see 2.5's Figure 15.2 (Activity notation). BTW, I think the notation 2.4's Figure 12.62 (2.5's Figure 16.38) is explained clearly, because it's just a notational shorthand for an equalivant model that's shown in the same figure, and the DI is covered in 2.5's Clause B.4.3 (Activity Diagram Labels), search on "variable" in that section. Conrad From: Steve Cook To: "Bock, Conrad" , "uml25-ftf@omg.org" Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams, related shorthands missing? Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams, related shorthands missing? Thread-Index: Ac4U/e16YEr5tQE6R3qQEY1ZJl/N5QAB0oZg Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:15:41 +0000 Accept-Language: en-GB, en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: x-originating-ip: [10.166.18.104] X-Forefront-Antispam-Report: CIP:131.107.125.37;CTRY:US;IPV:CAL;IPV:NLI;EFV:NLI;SFV:NSPM;SFS:(189002)(51444002)(13464002)(199002)(53806001)(47736001)(47976001)(5343655001)(79102001)(55846006)(23726001)(16406001)(47776003)(56776001)(50466001)(54316002)(56816002)(51856001)(20776003)(31966008)(63696002)(54356001)(4396001)(65816001)(44976002)(46102001)(50986001)(59766001)(33656001)(46406002)(47446002)(80022001)(74502001)(49866001)(77982001)(74662001)(76482001);DIR:OUT;SFP:;SCL:1;SRVR:BL2FFO11HUB010;H:TK5EX14MLTC104.redmond.corp.microsoft.com;RD:InfoDomainNonexistent;MX:1;A:1;LANG:en; X-OriginatorOrg: microsoft.onmicrosoft.com X-Forefront-PRVS: 0770F75EA9 X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by amethyst.omg.org id r1RGGYPF024042 I think that paragraph should have been moved into 16.9.4 and was probably overlooked during the process when I moved all the notation text across. -----Original Message----- From: Bock, Conrad [mailto:conrad.bock@nist.gov] Sent: 27 February 2013 15:20 To: uml25-ftf@omg.org Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams, related shorthands missing? P.S. In 2.5 I can't find the related notational shorthands for ActionInputPin that were in 2.4's Clause 12.3.3 ActionInputPin (as specialized), in the notation section: An action input pin with a ReadVariableAction as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the variable name written beside it. An action input pin with a ReadSelfObject as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the word "self" written beside it. An action input pin with a ValueSpecification as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the value specification written beside it. They must be somewhere in 2.5, because they're covered by UML DI in 2.5's Clause B.4.3 (Activity Diagram Labels), search on "ActionInputPin" in that section, but I can't find them. They didn't have figures in 2.4, so might have been overlooked, not sure. Conrad From: "Bock, Conrad" To: "uml25-ftf@omg.org" Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:11:36 -0500 Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams Thread-Index: Ac4U6HKMD8Q0SuTJR1yiY5DCTo5S1wADOWdgAACTRfAAAHpD4AACesDgAAIw6kA= Accept-Language: en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: acceptlanguage: en-US X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org Steve, > >because it's just a notational shorthand for an equalivant model that's > shown in the same figure > But that notation is not actually specified - it is just a picture > showing a label "Add to VariableName" in a box. The text above the figure (and in Annex B, see previous email) explains that the relevant part of the figure is the appearance of the variable name as standalone text next to the pin. The name of the action is not relevant to the mapping (that could be clarified in the text). > I would naturally expect to be able to write "Read from > VariableName", This is in the ActionInputPin notation that wasn't migrated from 2.4.1, but appears in Annex B. > "Remove from VariableName", This shorthand was intentionally omitted because there are too many options to set in removing variable values, see RemoveVariableValueAction. > and "Clear VariableName" in similar boxes, and have similar > shorthands. This doesn't need a shorthand, because there is no runtime value needed. The variable name is specified statically, and it has no output values. > But clause 16 is silent about these matters. See above. In any case, silence on other topics doesn't mean Figure 16.38 (Presentation option for AddVariableValueAction) is unclear. Conrad From: "Bock, Conrad" To: "uml25-ftf@omg.org" Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:14:49 -0500 Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams, related shorthands missing? Thread-Topic: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams, related shorthands missing? Thread-Index: Ac4U/e16YEr5tQE6R3qQEY1ZJl/N5QAB0oZgAAIoFpA= Accept-Language: en-US X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: acceptlanguage: en-US X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at omg.org Steve, > I think that paragraph should have been moved into 16.9.4 and was probably > overlooked during the process when I moved all the notation text across. I'll file an issue. Conrad -----Original Message----- From: Bock, Conrad [mailto:conrad.bock@nist.gov] Sent: 27 February 2013 15:20 To: uml25-ftf@omg.org Subject: RE: Notation for Variables within Activity diagrams, related shorthands missing? P.S. In 2.5 I can't find the related notational shorthands for ActionInputPin that were in 2.4's Clause 12.3.3 ActionInputPin (as specialized), in the notation section: An action input pin with a ReadVariableAction as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the variable name written beside it. An action input pin with a ReadSelfObject as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the word "self" written beside it. An action input pin with a ValueSpecification as a fromAction is notated as an input pin with the value specification written beside it. They must be somewhere in 2.5, because they're covered by UML DI in 2.5's Clause B.4.3 (Activity Diagram Labels), search on "ActionInputPin" in that section, but I can't find them. They didn't have figures in 2.4, so might have been overlooked, not sure.