UML: Associations without a Class Property? Altova UModel

Question

If one of a class's instance methods instantiates a separate class but doesn't hold a reference to that object as a member variable (class property), should an association be created in UML? I reversed engineered code using Altova Umodel and didn't see any associations in the scenario just mentioned.

Answer 1

If you have an association then you always need a property in the other class. This property could be visible but also hidden at graphical level. I remember that RSA is always hidding this information but if you look in the exported xmi then it is inside. The only way to see them is sometimes to export the model and browse it with a model editor.

I think that Altova UModel is doing the same approach as IBM RSA and has decided to hide this property information which is not really valuable. Having said that some tools such as Omondo have decided not to hide systematically the property association but to add a kind of icon with an arrow in order to make it visible but different from other properties. You also have an graphical option to show or not property association. I think this is the best approach to let the user does what he wants and not to take decision for him.

I am interested if you could export the AltovaUModel to xmi format and have a look with an xml editor if the property is inside. The property name is simply the name of the other class and therefore easy to find.

Could you post the result here ? thx,