Creating a Diagram Icon

Diagram icons are symbols or elements that can be placed on a diagram from the browser, toolbar, or menu. Diagram icons have to be created in Windows Metafile (.wmf) or Enhanced Metafile (.emf) format. You can download drawing packages that support these formats at various shareware sites on the Internet. Enhanced Metafiles are recommended. Diagram toolbox and list view icons must be created in bitmap (.bmp) format.

Note: If you create an icon (for example, a diagram icon), you will most likely want to create the other three corresponding icons: a list view icon, a small toolbar icon, and a large toolbar icon.

To create a diagram icon:

1 Using a vector-based (as opposed to bitmap) drawing application, draw your icon in the size you want it to appear in Rational Rose. It is not recommended that you use a drawing application that forces the icon to fit a certain area.

2 Make sure that the scaling factor is set to 100% when deciding on the size of the icon. Use colors if you like. If you want the name of the model element to appear within the stereotype icon, leave some blank space for it.

3 Select the icon and export it in either the Windows Metafile (.wmf) format or the Enhanced Metafile (.emf) format. If you use CorelDraw, make sure the Include header check box is selected if you save your selection as a Windows Metafile.