Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.

Action Notation

Actions of most types are depicted as a round-cornered rectangle containing the Action type and Action name, as follows:

ActionType

Other types have their own specific notation, as described below:

Action Kind

Notation

See also

AcceptEvent

Action-AcceptEvent

 

AcceptEvent Actions

AcceptEventTimer

Action-AcceptEventTimer

 

 

CallBehavior

Action-CallBehaviour

 

 

CallOperation

Action-CallOperation

 

 

SendSignal

Action-SendSignal

 

SendSignal Action & BroadcastSignal Action

AcceptEvent Actions:

For an Accept Event Action element, the Properties dialog contains a Triggers tab on which you define one or more triggers to denote the type of events accepted by the Action, as defined in the following table:

Field

Usage

See also

Name

Specify the name of the trigger.

 

 

Type

Specify the type of trigger: Call, Change, Signal or Time:

•Call - specifies that the event is a CallEvent, which sends a message to the associated object by invoking an operation
•Change - specifies that the event is a ChangeEvent, which indicates that the transition is the result of a change in value of an attribute
•Signal - specifies that the event is a SignalEvent, which corresponds to the receipt of an asynchronous signal instance
•Time - corresponds to a TimeEvent; which specifies a moment in time

 

Code generation for State Machines currently supports Change and Time trigger events only, and expects a specification value.

 

 

Specification

Specify the event instigating the Transition.

 

 

SendSignal Action & BroadcastSignal Action:

For a SendSignal or BroadcastSignal Action element, you can model the signal to be sent and the associated arguments to be conveyed, using the Signal tab of the element Properties dialog.

To model the signal to be sent and the associated arguments to be conveyed

Step

Action

1

In the Signal field, click on the (  ...  ) button and select the required signal from the Select Signal dialog.

 

2

In the Attribute field, click on the drop-down arrow and select the attribute (as previously created in the Signal element) with which the arguments are to be associated.

 

3

In the Value field, type the appropriate value for the attribute.

 

4

Identify the arguments (as ActionPins) for the Signal; click on the Add button under the Arguments panel, and select the appropriate Pins from the Select Pin dialog.

To assign more than one Pin, press ( Ctrl )  whilst you select each Pin.

 

5

Click on the Save button.

 

Structural Feature Actions:

Enterprise Architect supports the following types of Structural Feature Actions:

•AddStructuralFeatureValue
•ClearStructuralFeature
•ReadStructuralFeature
•RemoveStructuralFeatureValue
•WriteStructuralFeature

 

These actions can take Ports, Parts or Attributes as the target structural feature.

To set the appropriate target structure feature

Step

Action

1

Right-click on the Action element in the diagram, and select the Advanced | Set Structural Feature context menu option.

The Set Structural Feature dialog displays.

 

2

To locate the structural feature, click on the Add button.

The Select Property dialog displays (a variant of the Select <Item> dialog).

 

3

Browse or search for the appropriate structural feature, and double-click on it.

The feature name and location displays in the structuralFeature field of the Set Structural Feature dialog.

 

4

Click on the OK button to save the setting.