Using comments and responses to discuss model elements

To discuss model elements that are in a review, you use comments and responses that can contain questions, suggestions, and attachments in the form of files and URLs. You can also use comments and responses to indicate errors or omissions.

Comments are indicated in one of two ways in the Draft Artifacts page.
  • In the Publisher Navigator, an element with a comment that is associated with it is indicated with a comment icon (The comment icon.).
  • In the Process Viewer, a process or an element that has a comment is marked with a comment indicator ( The comment indicator. ).
Responses are indicated in one of two ways in the Comments widget.
  • If the comments list is sorted as descending from the Modified column (default), then responses are displayed with the subject title of the original comment showing the prefix "Re:". Nested responses (a reply to a reply) are indicated by additional prefixes (ex: "Re: Re: Re:").
  • If the comment list is sorted by Subject, then responses are nested below a plus (+) sign in the navigation.

To work with comments and responses, proceed as follows:

To view a comment as indicated in the Publisher Navigator view:
  1. Expand the folder with the comments icon ( The comment icon. ) until the name of the element with the associated comment is exposed, and click it.
  2. In the Process Viewer, locate the comment indicator ( The comment indicator. ) in the diagram, and click it. A small window appears that shows a list of the subject lines for each of the comments associated with the element.
  3. Click on any of these subject lines to launch the View comment view that displays the complete text of the comment.

To view a comment in the Comments widget, click the subject line title. The View comment view launches that displays the complete text of the comment.

To view an attachment, proceed as appropriate:
  • To follow an attached link, click on the URL provided. The Web page will appear in a separate browser tab.
  • To download an attached file, click the name of the file, and use the File Download window to save the file to your system.

If you are the author of this comment, then you can make changes to it by clicking Edit.

To add a response to this comment, click Reply. This will launch the Add comment view. Fill out the fields in this view as described in Adding comments using the Comments widget.


By default, the Comments widget displays only the comments and responses associated with the selected element. You can expand the scope of the what comments the comment widget displays.