Rational Rhapsody Tip #51 - SysML vs UML: The RepresentParts property (Intermediate)

Despite being a software engineer adept at model-driven software development with Rhapsody (I maintained the C++ training for 4 years), in recent years I’ve been doing a lot with SysML and sometimes I get so used to the fact that a composition creates a part. I forget that this wasn’t always the case. In this video I explain the property that controls this. The property is called ObjectModelGe::Composition::RepresentParts. The video is also a reflection, in a way, of one of the differences systems modeling in the SysML and software modeling in the UML. SysML puts a strong emphasis on the hierarchical decomposition of systems using composition relations, whereas software modelers often use associations. The RepresentParts property switches Rhapsody behavior on BDDs so that composition relations = parts. This brings the bdd and ibd diagrams closer together, allowing bdds to be used to draw hierarchies of Blocks and Parts (which is why I often say that they dance in pairs). This short tips and tricks video illustrates the difference!