Introduction to using Magicdraw version 11.5
Written by: Robin Beaumont e-mail: [email protected]
Date last updated: Thursday, 03 August 2006
Version:
draft 1
Contents
1
Required Resources ....................................................................................................................................... 1
2
Revision ........................................................................................................................................................... 1
3
Our problem .................................................................................................................................................... 2
4
Setting your perspective you will use in MagicDraw .................................................................................. 3
5
Creating a new project ................................................................................................................................... 4
6
Creating a new Diagram ................................................................................................................................. 5
7
The project window and diagram toolbar - moving around and Zooming ............................................... 7
8
Removing the grid on the drawing canvas .................................................................................................. 8
9
Creating a Actor .............................................................................................................................................. 8
10
Creating individual use cases and associations ..................................................................................... 9
11
Tidying the lines ........................................................................................................................................ 10
12
Adding notes ............................................................................................................................................. 10
13
Saving your project and diagram ............................................................................................................ 11
14
Displaying diagram information .............................................................................................................. 11
15
Include, Extend and Inheritance .............................................................................................................. 12
16
Finding out properties .............................................................................................................................. 12
17
Learning more about Use Case diagrams .............................................................................................. 13
18
A common interface .................................................................................................................................. 13
1 Required Resources
You need the following resources to work through this document:

The
from
“Scenarios
for
practicing
modelling
techniques”
http://www.robin-beaumont.co.uk/virtualclassroom/contents.htm
and
handout
follow
the
available
links

You have installed a copy of magicdraw on your PC. A version of MagicDraw downloadable from
http://www.magicdraw.com/. If you are reading this document as part of a course you are undertaking with
the Royal college of Surgeons (Edin) you are registered as part of the academic programme for Magicdraw
which means you are entitled to use the full personal edition of MagicDraw, to enable you to do this you
need to contact your course administrator who has the codes to unlock the personal edition of MagicDraw.
The purpose of this tutorial is to provide you with the skills to draw Use Case diagrams in Magicdraw version
11.5. Other document explains what Use case diagrams are and where they fit into the modelling process.
2 Revision
You should possess knowledge of what Use case diagrams are before working through this practical handout.

An excellent introduction can be found at:
http://www.developer.com/design/article.php/10925_2109801_1

Also a good book chapter on Use Cases can be found at; http://www.visualparadigm.com/special/requestootsamplechapters.jsp
Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
3 Our problem
In this handout we are going to produce a UML Use Case diagram from a narrative scenario.
To find out about the scenario open the document ''Scenarios for practicing modelling techniques” from
http://www.robin-beaumont.co.uk/virtualclassroom/contents.htm and read through the Local Community Radio
Station scenario.
From this scenario have produced a tentative list of Actors and Use cases:
Actor
Use Case
Hospitals
Create item
Schools
Create
programme
Manager
Administrator
Present
Programme
Recording
engineer
Maintain
feedback log
Editor
Monitor
Presenter
Book studio
Secretary
Maintain
equipment
Volunteer
I assume you have worked through the material explaining what a Use Case diagram is and how you derive the
required information from a narrative scenario.
Now lets see how we use the above information to create a UML Use Case diagram in MagicDraw.
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
4 Setting your perspective you will use in MagicDraw
The first time you open
MagicDraw after installing it asks
you to specify what type of user
you are ('user perspective'). Set
the options as shown in the
screen shot below.
The first screen is rather
cluttered, to say the least, so
the first thing I suggest you do
is close the Welcome window
Although the screen appears very
complex you can think of it as
consisting of 4 main areas:

Menu

Toolbars

Browser window

Drawing Canvas
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
5 Creating a new project
We are now ready to create a new project which will include our Use case diagram. To do this click on the menu
option File -> new project.
Selecting this menu option brings up a dialogue box asking a
name for the project and a place to save it. The screen shot below
tells you which options to choose in each dialogue box.
Finally click the OK button on the first
dialogue box:
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
6 Creating a new Diagram
We now have a relatively empty screen, let's review some interesting aspects of it before moving on. Along the
toolbar at the top of the screen there are a series of icons these allow you to easily create new UML diagrams of
various types. Along the left hand side of the screen there is a panel with four tabs along the top of it clicking on
the third one 'diagrams' provides us with a graphical display of any diagrams we might have in the project, as we
would expect this is empty at the moment. Finally notice that the middle of the tool bar provides you with details
of the actual project filename 'radio station.mdzip' along with where it is on the hard drive.
Besides clicking on the appropriate icon on the toolbar to create a new diagram is it possible to do it the old
fashioned way by using the menu option Diagrams -> Use Case Diagrams.
Once you choose this the Use case diagrams dialogue box
appears which is empty at the moment, click the 'Add' button
and follow the instructions below in the screen shot.
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
Once you click the Create button another dialogue box appears just close it by clicking the ?? [lost details]
button.
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
7 The project window and diagram toolbar - moving around and Zooming
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
8 Removing the grid on the drawing canvas
One thing I find annoying is the grid on the drawing canvas, following the details below to remove it.
9 Creating a Actor
The panel on the immediate leftof the drawing canvas provides a easy way of creating a dragging various UML
elements onto the drawing canvas
Exercise 1:
Follow the instructions above to create the project Radio Station and a UML use case diagram called Overview.
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
Exercise 2:
Add the following actors to your use case diagram:
10 Creating individual use cases and associations
To create individual Use Cases you select the use case icon on the left hand panel and drag it oto the drawing
canvas. To name it you just start to
type in it.
Actors in Use Case diagrams communicate with Use cases
via associations (this does not have the same meaning as
associations in UML Class diagrams I tend to think of these
as messages). The diagram on the left shows you how to
create an association. The pop up menu appears when the
Use case is selected.
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
11 Tidying the lines
Once you start to add a number of
associations the diagram will become to look
rather messy one easy way of tidying it up is to
change the style of the lines. I would
recommend that you usually keep the same
line style for all the lines within a particular
diagram.
12 Adding notes
The Use case diagram we are creating is just
an overview of the system we are beginning to
model, one of the main purposes of a Use
Case diagram is to encourage discussion
between all the stakeholders therefore an initial
diagram will contain many questions that will need clarifying in drawn out meetings.
Exercise 3:
Modify your Use Case diagram to resemble the one below:
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
13 Saving your project and diagram
14 Displaying diagram information
It is possible to display a table showing such things as the diagram name, author, and creation, modification
dates. While in the drawing canvas right mouse click in an empty part of the diagram you want to add the
information table to. A properties menu appears which you just
need to click on the 'Show diagram info' option. Once you have
done this and click on the OK button a information table will
appear in the diagram. You can move the table by clicking on it
and dragging it around the diagram. You can also change its
contents, look and feel by selecting it and then right clicking
which brings up its own properties box.
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
15 Include, Extend and Inheritance
You use the same technique as described above to add other diagram elements such as include, extend and
inheritance associations. In the example below I
have indicated that the process of creating a
programme involves creating items.
16 Finding out properties
It is easy to find out what characteristics of a particular element (e.g. actor, Use case, association etc) you can
edit. You can either select the element by left mouse clicking on it then once selected RIGHT mouse click which
brings up a menu. Alternatively you can constantly see the characteristics of the currently selected element by
moving to the properties tab of the browser window.
Rather than selecting the element
you want on the actual diagram
you can go to the containment
tab of the browser window and
select what you want there.
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Using MagicDraw to Create UML Use Case diagrams
17 Learning more about Use Case diagrams
MagicDraw comes with two case studies, the Inventory control system and a Library system. The Inventory
control system has a simple Use case diagram while the Library system contains a much more complex one. I
personally feel that the Inventory control system's Use case diagram reflects the spirit of the Use case diagram
more accurately. See what you think.
18 A common interface
I thing you might be interested to know that superficially the screen layout of MagicDraw is very similar to a
number of other Case tools so once you have learnt it you should have little difficulty moving to others. It is
important to realise that while each Case tool may look initially very similar in fact most offer very different
features.
The screen shot opposite is
that of another UML case tool
VP-UML.
End of document
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