UML visualization and editing for J2EE - release notes

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Known problems
2.1 Known problems and workarounds

1.0 Introduction

With this feature, you can create Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams containing views of Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) and Java classes and interfaces. These class diagrams can be used to facilitate the understanding of J2EE applications and to assist with communicating important aspects of a J2EE application.
Diagrams are created as resources within a project. Each diagram is saved in a project as a file with the .dnx file extension. Diagrams are opened in the Class Diagram Editor window for editing the content and presentation of a diagram. New project elements, such as EJB components, can be created from a diagram using the Class Diagram Editor tool palette. Existing elements can be visualized using UML notation by dragging and dropping them from a view (for example, the J2EE Hierarchy or Package Explorer) onto the Class Diagram Editor window. When you have finished editing the diagram, you can save your work.

To create a new UML class diagram:

On the main menu, click File > New > Class Diagram. The New Class Diagram dialog box opens.

In the Enter or select the folder field, type a folder name.

In the File name field, type a file name for the new diagram.

Click Finish.

A new UML class diagram is created and opens in the Class Diagram Editor window.

2.0 Known problems

2.1 Known problems and workarounds

The following is a list of known problems and workarounds for this version of the feature:

The current solution of providing a content merge viewer does not work for the "Compare With Each Other" use case when the selected files in the view part contain non-diagram ASCII files along with the diagram files (*.dnx). In this case, the compare/merge infrastructure within Eclipse determines the content merge viewer by inspecting the content of the files. Inspection of the content of the diagram file reveals that the file type is ASCII and therefore Eclipse creates a default text merge viewer. Though the default viewer allows you to edit the files and merge the individual differences, doing so could potentially corrupt the diagram file. Therefore, you should not edit any diagram files in the default viewer.

(In Linux environments only) The first time when a shape in a UML class diagram is selected and the Properties View is not displayed, an exception will be logged and an accompanying error message will be displayed. Furthermore, when the Properties View is displayed, it will not be populated. The workaround is to ensure that when the Properties View is displayed/visible, deselect the shape and then re-select it. This will properly initialize and populate the view, and the problem will not occur again during the session.

When configuring the ClearCase Xtools Type Manager for Windows environments, if you change the order of the procedures as described in the online help (that is, set up the VOBs before configuring the workstation), the MAGIC_PATH will not be set. Therefore, the diagram files (*.dnx) will be of type text_file. As a workaround, you have to reboot your computer after setting up the workstation, and newly created diagram files under the ClearCase VOB will be of type xtools. For previously created diagram files, you have to change the file type to xtools (*.dnx) by running the command to the .dnx file location: cleartool chtype -f xtools <element>.

If you open a CVS repository view, expand to the head branch or any other branch, and then double-click a diagram (.dnx) file, the diagram is not opened, an error message is displayed, and an exception is logged. To view such a diagram, you must bring it into your workspace. However, if you already have another version of that diagram file in your workspace, then be careful so that you don't overwrite it. You can create a dummy project to hold the diagram file from the repository view. Due to a limitation, you currently cannot have two versions of a diagram open (displayed) at the same time even if they reside in different projects. Therefore, if you have other versions of the diagram file in your workspace, ensure that they are closed before you can open the diagram file that is just retrieved from the CVS repository view.

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