Interaction References and Interaction Activities (OOM)

An interaction reference is used to represent one sequence diagram in the body of another. This feature allows you to modularize and reuse commonly-used interactions across a range of sequence diagrams. Interaction activities are similar, but are able to represent a sequence, communication, or interaction overview diagram.

Interaction references and interaction activities can be created in sequence diagrams.

For an interaction activity, right-click the activity and select Composite View > Read-only (Sub-Diagram) to see the referenced diagram displayed in the symbol. Select Adjust to read-only view from the contextual menu to automatically resize the symbol to optimize the display of the referenced diagram.

Example: Interaction Reference in Activity Diagram

In the example below, the user must log in before passing a request to the account page of a website. As the log in process will form a part of many interactions with the site, it has been abstracted to another sequence diagram called "Log In", and is represented here by an interaction reference.

• Creating an Interaction Reference
  You can create an interaction reference from the Toolbox or Browser.
• Creating an Interaction Activity
  You can create an interaction activity from the Toolbox or Browser.
• Interaction Reference and Interaction Activity Properties
  You can modify an object's properties from its property sheet. To open an interaction reference property sheet, double-click its diagram symbol in the top-left corner near the operator tag.
• Manipulating Interaction References
  You can move interaction references, resize them, and generally manipulate them freely. When you cause the symbol to overlap an object lifeline, it attaches to it automatically, and this attachment is represented by a small bump on the top edge of the symbol where it meets the lifeline. If you drag or resize the symbol away from a lifeline, it detaches automatically.