Altova UModel® 2010 combines a rich visual interface, superior usability features, and high-end code engineering functionality to make software modeling practical for any project. UModel 2010 includes these new productivity-enhancing features:

Support for SysML

UModel 2010 Enterprise Edition supports SysML (Systems Modeling Language). SysML is a graphical language for modeling software that is related to UML, but SysML is optimized for designing software to operate and control embedded systems and other complex devices.

Frequently an embedded system is called a black box. Software to control these complex devices at their most basic levels can be especially difficult to develop, test, and debug because they receive inputs and produce outputs, but the internal operations and states can be opaque. Software modeling through SysML provides a traceable software blueprint that is useful for planning, designing, and testing the system under development and can be an invaluable communication aid among developers and other project stakeholders.

Safety issues are frequently a major concern in embedded systems development. Think of the specialized software required for the automotive and aviation industries, or software to control medical devices as several obvious examples. A SysML software model can be part of the system documentation and can assist in completing certification and compliance requirements.

SysML uses seven diagram types that are part of the UML specification, making it a smaller, more specialized graphical software modeling language that can be easier to learn and apply. Additionally, SysML adds two diagrams that are not part of UML, requirement diagrams and parametric diagrams. Requirement diagrams describe functional, performance, and interface requirements – physical properties not easily described in a traditional UML use case diagram. SysML uses parametric diagrams to precisely define performance and mechanical constraints such as reliability or weight requirements that are not captured in any UML diagram.

The screen shot below shows a SysML requirements diagram in UModel 2010 describing design constraints of a bank ATM.

SysML evolved from a set of early competing variations and was adopted by the OMG (Object Management Group) in 2006. The most recent SysML v 1.1 specification was published by the OMG in December 2008. SysML supports model interchange between tools through the XMI specification, the same mechanism supported by UML.

A SysML structure diagram in UModel 2010 describing the components of a bank ATM.

SysML is a visual modeling language, it is not a specific methodology or tool. In that sense, SysML is both vendor-neutral, like UML, and SysML also does not require any particular development process or style, also like UML.

Altova UModel 2010 supports all SysML v1.1 diagram types and elements with code generation in Java, C#, and Visual Basic.

Enhanced Integrated Scripting Environment

Building on the UModel Application Programmers Interface (API) introduced in version 2009, Altova UModel 2010 adds a scripting environment and form editor similar to the XMLSpy script editor.

This functionality permits users to automate UModel operations from within UModel itself. Users can write and save macros to perform repeating tasks, or use the interactive form editor to specify operations to be performed through the scripting environment.

The Scripting Editor permits interactive drag and drop definition of pop-up forms with code generation or direct editing of the underlying JScript or VBScript code.

The screen shot below shows the UModel 2010 form editor in the UModel Scripting Editor window.

Major features of the Scripting Editor include:

• Access to most of the .NET framework
• Rich form editor controls
• Testing and debugging macros directly in the Scripting Editor
• Execution of macros directly through UModel Tools menu
• Entry helpers and auto-completion within the Scripting Editor

Automatically generate multiple sequence diagrams

UModel 2010 introduces a new option in the Project menu that allows users to efficiently generate multiple sequence diagrams from reverse engineered Java, C#, and Visual Basic application code.

Sequence diagrams are an invaluable aid to developers seeking to debug or reuse an existing application. UModel 2010 now provides a tool that allows users to quickly and easily expose multiple operations in multiple classes for visual analysis. The sequence diagrams drawn from class operations are added to the model tree and can be reviewed immediately in the main UModel diagramming window and the overview window. The sequence diagrams are also saved as a permanent part of the UML model and can be included in project documentation.

Reverse engineered code often includes large numbers of classes containing multiple operations. The UModel sequence diagram generation dialog presents an expandable representation of the Model Tree that permits navigation and selection of the operations from the application’s classes. The dialog box itself can be stretched to facilitate analysis of large, complex applications.

Additional enhancements for diagramming, documentation generation, and code engineering

UModel 2010 provides enhanced control over line styles with line thickness controls that can be applied individually, in a single diagram, or across an entire project. Additionally, hyperlinks may be defined in the documentation window, and elements in the model tree may be referenced by hyperlinks. Comments entered in the documentation window can be displayed and edited directly in the diagram.

HTML documentation generation has been enhanced with support for CSS code that can either be embedded in the HTML or stored externally. The user can also specify a subdirectory where generated documentation image files are saved.

UModel 2010 includes improvements to reverse engineering of existing Java, C#, and Visual Basic code. When reverse engineering code to generate a UML model, namespace or class aliases are automatically resolved. When updating the code from the model after enhancements have been added, the correct alias definitions are again inserted.