Class Diagram Objects

PowerDesigner supports all the objects necessary to build class diagrams.

Object

Tool

Symbol

Description

Class



Set of objects sharing the same attributes, operations, methods, and relationships. See Classes (OOM).

Interface



Descriptor for the externally visible operations of a class, object, or other entity without specification of internal structure. See Interfaces (OOM).

Port



Interaction point between a classifier and its environment. See Ports (OOM).

Generalization



Link between classes showing that the sub-class shares the structure or behavior defined in one or more superclasses. See Generalizations (OOM).

Require Link



Connects a class, component, or port to an interface. See Require Links (OOM).

Association



Structural relationship between objects of different classes. See Associations (OOM).

Aggregation



A form of association that specifies a part-whole relationship between a class and an aggregate class (example: a car has an engine and wheels). See Associations (OOM).

Composition



A form of aggregation but with strong ownership and coincident lifetime of parts by the whole; the parts live and die with the whole (example: an invoice and its invoice line). See Associations (OOM).

Dependency



Relationship between two modeling elements, in which a change to one element will affect the other element. See Dependencies (OOM).

Realization



Semantic relationship between classifiers, in which one classifier specifies a contract that another classifier guarantees to carry out. See Realizations (OOM).

Inner link



Exists when a class is declared within another class or interface. See Composite and inner classifiers.

Attribute

N/A

N/A

Named property of a class. See Associations (OOM).

Operation

N/A

N/A

Service that can be requested from a class. See Operations (OOM).