IS223D: OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN

Information Systems
Department Lecture 4: Class Diagrams
 Objectives
2

 To explain what is class diagram and its essential

elements.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 Introduction
3

 Classes and objects describe the elements in the

system, while the relationships reveal communication
and interaction.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 What is Class Diagram
4

 A class diagram describes the static view (structure)

of a system.
 A class diagram shows only classes, not objects.
 It shows the system's:
 classes

 attributes

 operations

 relationships among the classes.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 Element of Class Diagram
5

1. Class

5. Constraint
Rules & 2. Attribute
Note

4. 3.
Relationship Operation

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 1. Class
6

 A class is a description of a set of

objects that share the same attributes, Name
operations, relationships, and
semantics.
attributes
 Classes are templates for creating
instances or objects.
 A class is drawn with a rectangle, operations
usually, divided into three
compartments:
 Name
 Attributes
 Operations

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 1. Class (cont.)
7

 The top compartment of the class

Name
rectangle contains the name of
the class.
attributes
 It is capitalized and centered in
boldface.
operations
 The name should be derived from
the problem domain and should
be as unambiguous as possible.
 Therefore, it should be a noun, for
example, Invoice or Debt.
13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department
 2. Attribute
8

 An attribute is a named property Person

of a class that describes the
characteristics of the object being name
modeled. address
birthdate
 In the class diagram, attributes ssn
appear in the second compartment
just below the name-compartment.
 Attribute names typically begin
with a lowercase letter.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 2. Attribute (cont.)
9

 UML has formal syntax for the description

of an attribute:

visibility / name : type [multiplicity] = default-value {

propertystring}

 You must have a name, but all other parts

are optional.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 2. Attribute (cont.)
10

 The attributes can have different visibility.

 Visibility describes whether the attribute can Person
be referenced from classes other than the one
in which they are defined.
 + public: it can be used and viewed outside
that class. + name
 - private: it cannot be accessed from other # address
classes. # birthdate
 # protected: it is private to the class, but visible - ssn
to any subclasses through generalization and
specialization.
 If no sign is displayed, this means that the
visibility is undefined (there is no default
visibility).

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 2. Attribute (cont.)
11

 A “/” indicates that the

Person
attribute is derived. For
example, the age of a person + name
might be derived as the current # address
# birthdate
date minus the birthdate. / age
- ssn

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 2. Attribute (cont.)
12

 An attribute has a type, Person

which tells you what kind of
attribute it is.
+ name : String
 Typical attribute types are # address : String
integer, Boolean, string, date, # birthdate : Date
real, floating point, and - ssn : Integer
enumeration, which are
called data types.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 2. Attribute (cont.)
13

 Multiplicity shows the number of

instances of the attribute in square Person
brackets.
 Eg: + name : String
 [0..1] – this attribute can have a # address : String [*]
value of null
# birthdate : Date
 [1..*] – this attribute's value is a
- ssn : Integer
collection that contains at least one
value
 [*] – this attribute's value is a
collection of values
 It is omitted if the multiplicity is 1.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 2. Attribute (cont.)
14

 An attribute also can have a Person

default value.
 Eg: The default value of date + name : String
is Current date. # address : String [*]
# birthdate : Date
+date : Date = Current date
- ssn : Integer

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 2. Attribute (cont.)
15

 A property-string can be
Person
used to further describe an
attribute.
 A property-string is written + name : String
# address : String [*]
within curly braces; it is a # birthdate : Date
comma-separated list of +date : Date = Current date
- ssn : Integer {readOnly}
property values that apply to
the attribute.
 Eg: {readOnly}, {ordered},
and {sequence}

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 3. Operation
16

 Operation describe the class Person

behavior and appear in the third
compartment. name : String
address : String
 Operations are normally called birthdate : Date
functions, but they are inside a ssn : int
class and can be applied only to
eat()
objects of that class. sleep()
work()
play()

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 3. Operation
17

 The formal syntax for an operation is:

visibility name ( parameter-list ) : return-type-expression { propertystring}

Person

+name : String
address : String
birthdate : Date
ssn : int
+eat(name:String):String{readOnly}
sleep()
work()
play()
13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department
 4. Relationship
18

 Association
 Generalization
 Dependency

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association
19

 If two classes in a model need to communicate with

each other, there must be link between them.
 An association denotes that link.
 Eg: Student learns from instructor.

Student Instructor

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association (cont.)
20

 We can indicate the multiplicity of an

association by adding multiplicity adornments to
the line denoting the association.
 Eg: A student learns from one or more

Instructors

Student Instructor
1..*

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association (cont.)
21

 Eg: Every instructor teaches one or more Students

Student Instructor
1..*

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association (cont.)
22

 Multiplicity
 the number of objects that participate in the association.
Multiplicity Indicators
Exactly one 1
Zero or more (unlimited) * (0..*)
One or more 1..*
Zero or one (optional association) 0..1
Specified range 2..4

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association (cont.)
23

 We can also name the association.

learn from
Student Instructor
teach

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association (cont.)
24

 We can also indicate the behavior of an object

in an association (i.e., the role of an object)
using rolenames attached to the end of the
association path.

* drive *
Car company car driver Person

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association (cont.)
25

 We can constrain the association relationship by defining the

navigability of the association.
 Eg: A navigable association says that a person can own many
cars, but it does not say anything about how many people can
own a car.
 The direction of the association indicates that the car has no
knowledge of the person.

owns *
Person Car

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association (cont.)
26

 A class can have a self association.

prerequisite

Course

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.1 Association (cont.)
27

 We can model objects that contain other objects by way of

special associations called aggregations and compositions.
 An aggregation specifies a whole-part relationship between
an aggregate (a whole) and a component part, where the
part can exist independently from the aggregate.
Aggregations are denoted by a hollow-diamond adornment
on the association.

Engine
Car
Door
13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department
 4.1 Association (cont.)
28

 A composition indicates a strong ownership and coincident

lifetime of parts by the whole (i.e., they live and die as a
whole). Compositions are denoted by a filled-diamond
adornment on the association.

Scrollbar
1 1

Window Titlebar
1 1

Menu
1 1 .. *

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.2 Generalization
29

 A generalization connects a subclass to its superclass.

 It denotes an inheritance of attributes and behavior
from the superclass to the subclass and indicates a
specialization in the subclass of the more general
superclass.
Shape

Square

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.2 Generalization (cont.)
30

 A sub-class inherits from its super-class

 Attributes
 Operations
 Relationships

 A sub-class may
 Add attributes and operations
 Add relationships
 Refine (override) inherited operations

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 4.3 Dependency
31

 A dependency indicates a semantic relationship between two or

more elements.
 The dependency from CourseSchedule to Course exists because
Course is used in both the add and remove operations of
CourseSchedule.

CourseSchedule
Course
add(c : Course)
remove(c : Course)

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 5. Constraint Rules and Notes
32

 Constraints and notes annotate among other things

associations, attributes, operations and classes.
 Constraints are semantic restrictions noted as Boolean
expressions.
 UML offers many pre-defined constraints.

Customer
1 * may be
Order
canceled
id: long { value > 0 }

Constraint Note

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 Example
33

Draw a class diagram that fulfills the following statements:

 An insurance company has insurance contracts (zero or
more), which refer to one or more customers.
 A customer has insurance contracts (zero or more), which
refer to one insurance company.
 An insurance contract is between an insurance company
and one or more customers. The insurance contract
refers to both a customer (or customers) and an
insurance company.
 The insurance contract is expressed in an (zero or one)
insurance policy (a written contract of insurance).
 The insurance policy expresses an insurance contract.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 Solution
34

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 Class Activity: University Courses
35

Draw a class diagram based on the following

requirements:
 All instructors consist of professor, associate professor,
and assistant professor.
 Departments offer many courses, but a course is
offered by one or more department.
 Courses are taught by instructors, who may teach up to
three courses.
 Instructors are assigned to one department.

 One instructor may chair a department.

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 Class Activity: University Courses
36

 Extend the class diagram to include the following

attributes:
a department includes the department ID (private),
department name (public), and description about the
department (public)
 an instructor includes the instructor ID (private),
instructor name (public) and department
 a course includes the course ID (private), course name
(public), course description (public), and prerequisite
course (protected)
13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department
 Class Activity: University Courses
37

 Extend the class diagram to include the following

operations:
 Instructors can
 Selectcourse
 Prepare course plan

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department

 References
38

 “UML 2 Toolkit”, Hans-Erik Eriksson , Magnus Penker,

Brian Lyons, and David Fado, Chapter 4

13-Feb-16 Information Systems Department