1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
|
/****************************************************************************
**
** Copyright (C) 2015 The Qt Company Ltd.
** Contact: http://www.qt.io/licensing
**
** This file is part of Qt Creator
**
**
** GNU Free Documentation License
**
** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Free
** Documentation License version 1.3 as published by the Free Software
** Foundation and appearing in the file included in the packaging of this
** file.
**
**
****************************************************************************/
// **********************************************************************
// NOTE: the sections are not ordered by their logical order to avoid
// reshuffling the file each time the index order changes (i.e., often).
// Run the fixnavi.pl script to adjust the links to the index order.
// **********************************************************************
/*!
\contentspage {Qt Creator Manual}
\previouspage creator-coding.html
\page creator-modeling.html
\nextpage creator-editor-functions.html
\title Modeling
You can use the experimental model editor to create Universal Modeling
Language (UML) style models with structured diagrams. However, the editor
uses a variant of UML and only a subset of properties are provided for
specifying the appearance of model elements.
You can create the following types of diagrams:
\list
\li Package
\li Class
\li Component
\li Use case
\li Activity
\endlist
You can add elements to the diagrams and specify properties for them. You
can either use standard model elements or add your own elements with custom
icons.
\image qtcreator-modeleditor.png
You can add model elements to diagrams in the following ways:
\list
\li Drag and drop model elements from the element tool bar (1) to the
editor (2).
\li Select tool bar buttons (3) to add elements to the element tree (4).
\li Drag elements from the element tree to the editor to add them and
all their relations to the diagram.
\li Drag and drop source files from \uicontrol Projects to the editor
to add C++ classes or components to a class or component diagram.
\endlist
You can group elements by surrounding them with a boundary. When you move
the boundary, all elements within it are moved together. Similarly, classes
that you lay on packages are moved with the packages. You can move
individual elements and modify their properties (5) by selecting them. You
can also use \e multiselection to group elements temporarily.
Drag the mouse over elements to select them and apply actions such as
changing their \e stereotype or color. A stereotype is a classifier for
elements, such as \e entity, \e control, \e interface, or \e boundary. An
entity is usually a class that is used to store data. For some stereotypes,
a custom icon is defined. You can assign several comma-separated stereotypes
to one element.
To print diagrams, press \key Ctrl+C when no elements are selected in
the editor to copy all elements to the clipboard by using 300 dpi. Then
paste the diagram to an application that can print images.
\section1 Creating Models
To create models:
\list 1
\li Select \uicontrol Help > \uicontrol {About Plugins} >
\uicontrol Modeling > \uicontrol ModelEditor and restart \QC to
enable the plugin.
\li Select \uicontrol File > \uicontrol {New File or Project} >
\uicontrol Modeling > \uicontrol Model > \uicontrol Choose to
create a model.
\li Drag and drop model elements to the editor and select them to
specify properties for them:
\list 1
\li In the \uicontrol Stereotypes field, enter the stereotype to
apply to the model element or select a predefined stereotype
from the list.
\li In the \uicontrol Name field, give a name to the model element.
\li Select the \uicontrol {Auto sized} check box to reset the
element to its default size after you have changed the element
size by dragging its borders.
\li In the \uicontrol Color field, select the color of the model
element.
\li In the \uicontrol Role field, select a \e role to make the model
element color lighter, darker, or softer or to remove color and
draw the element outline.
\li Select the \uicontrol Emphasized check box to draw the model
element with a thicker line.
\li In the \uicontrol {Stereotype display} field, select:
\list
\li \uicontrol Smart to display the stereotype as a
\uicontrol Label, a \uicontrol Decoration, or an
\uicontrol Icon, depending on the properties of the
element. For example, if a class has the stereotype
\uicontrol interface, it is displayed as an icon until
it becomes displayed members, after which it is
displayed as a decoration.
\li \uicontrol None to suppress the displaying of the
stereotype.
\li \uicontrol Label to display the stereotype as a line of
text using the standard form above the element name
even if the stereotype defines a custom icon.
\li \uicontrol Decoration to show the standard form of the
element with the stereotype as a small icon placed top
right if the stereotype defines a custom icon.
\li \uicontrol Icon to display the element using the custom
icon.
\endlist
\endlist
\li To create a relation between two elements, select the arrow icon
next to an element and drag it to the end point of the relation.
\li Select the relation to specify settings for it, according to its
type: inheritance, association, or dependency. You can specify the
following settings for dependency relations, which are available for
all element types:
\list 1
\li In the \uicontrol Stereotypes field, select the
\e stereotype to apply to the relation.
\li In the \uicontrol Name field, give a name to the relation.
\li In the \uicontrol Direction field, you can change the direction
of the connection or make it bidirectional.
\endlist
\li To create \e {sampling points} that divide a relation into two
connected lines, select a relation and press \key Shift+Click.
If possible, the end point of a relation is moved automatically to
draw the line to the next sampling point either vertically or
horizontally. To remove the selected sampling point, press
\key Ctrl+Click.
\li To group elements, drag and drop a \uicontrol Boundary element to
the editor and resize it to enclose the elements in the group.
\endlist
\section1 Creating Package Diagrams
You can add nested package elements to a package diagram. The depth of the
elements in the diagram corresponds to the depth of the structured model.
Elements stacked on other elements of the same type are automatically drawn
in a darker shade of the selected color.
\image qtcreator-modeleditor-packages.png
\section1 Creating Class Diagrams
\image qtcreator-modeleditor-classes.png
To create class diagrams:
\list 1
\li To add C++ classes to class diagrams, drag and drop files from
\uicontrol Projects to the editor, and select
\uicontrol {Add Class}.
\li In addition to the common element properties, you can specify the
following properties:
\list
\li In the \uicontrol Template field, specify the template to
use.
\li In the \uicontrol {Template display} field, select the
display format for the template:
\list
\li \uicontrol Smart displays the template as
\uicontrol Box or \uicontrol {Angle brackets},
depending on the class properties.
\li \uicontrol Box displays the template in a small box
with a dotted border in the top right corner of the
class icon.
\li \uicontrol {Angle brackets} writes the template
in angle brackets behind the class name using the
C++ syntax.
\endlist
\li In the \uicontrol Members field, specify members for the
class. Enter each member on a separate line using a C++
like syntax. For example, the following lines define the
method \c m that is private, virtual, and constant:
\code
private:
virtual int m(string a) const;
\endcode
\li Select \uicontrol {Clean Up} to format the contents of
the \uicontrol Members field depending on their visibility
(private, protected, public) and following the rules set for
whitespace, line breaks, and so on.
\li Select the \uicontrol {Show members} check box to show
the members in the diagram.
\endlist
\endlist
To navigate from a class in a diagram to the source code, double-click the
class in the editor or select \uicontrol {Show Definition} in the context
menu.
\section2 Adding Relations
Elements in class diagrams can have the following types of relations:
inheritance, association, and dependency. The end points of association
relations can have the following properties: role, cardinality, navigable,
and relationship.
To create self-relations, start creating a new association and press
\key Shift to create a new \e {intermediate point} while dragging the
association. Create another intermediate point and drop the association
at the same class.
To add more points, press \key Shift and click a relation. To delete a
point, press \key Ctrl and click a point.
\section1 Creating Component Diagrams
You can add source code components, such as libraries, databases, programs,
and architectural layers to a component diagram. To add components to
component diagrams, drag and drop source code from \uicontrol Projects to
the editor, and select \uicontrol {Add Component}.
To navigate from a component in a diagram to the source code, double-click
the component in the editor or select \uicontrol {Show Definition} in the
context menu.
\section1 Adding Custom Elements
The model editor provides the following built-in element types: package,
component, class, and item. For package, component, and class elements, you
can specify custom icons. The color, size, and form of the icon are
determined by a stereotype. If you attach the stereotype to an element, the
element icon is replaced by the custom icon. For example, you can attach the
entity and interface stereotypes to classes and the database stereotype to
components.
The use case and activity diagrams are examples of using the built-in
\e item element type to add custom elements. The item element has the form
of a simple rectangle. The use case illustrates how to use a custom icon for
an item. The attached stereotype is called \e usecase but it is hidden.
Therefore, if you drag the use case to the diagram, it is shown as a use
case but no stereotype appears to be defined and you can attach an
additional stereotype to the use case.
Color and icons are attached to elements in use case and activity diagrams
by using a simple definition file format. For example, the following code
adds the \c UseCase custom element:
\code
Icon UseCase
Title: "Use-Case"
Elements: item
Stereotype: 'usecase'
Display: icon
Width: 40
Height: 20
BaseColor: #5fb4f0
Begin
Ellipse 20, 10, 20, 10
End
\endcode
For more information about the available options, see \e standard.def
in the \e share/qtcreator/modeleditor directory in the \QC installation
directory.
You can add your own definition file and save it with the file extension
\e .def to add custom colors and icons for stereotypes, elements, or tool
bars.
*/
|
