Packages and Namespaces - Packages and Their Contents - Specific Elements from other Packages

7 important questions on Packages and Namespaces - Packages and Their Contents - Specific Elements from other Packages

What would happen if a name collision appears?

If the Element import would cause a name collision (i.e., if there were already an Element with that name in the importing Package), the import is ignored.

If there were already a C in A10, but you still needed the B10::C, you can add an alias to the import.

The import tag would then look like “«import» D”. Then in A10 a user of B10::C would just refer to the alias D.

What does the dashed elements on the left indicates?

The dashed Elements on the left are a conventional way of indicating that the Elements exist as the results of importing but really reside in their original locations, see Figs. 8.15 and 8.16.

Use of the Package and Element import bring the target as a  ... Item?

Use of the Package and Element import bring the target as a publicly visible item into the Package for use by other Elements in the importing Package.

As a publicly visible item, they are further visible to anyone who imports the importing Package.
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Many modelers make extensive diagrams showing the dependencies and other relationships between the Packages to guide them into placing Elements in their correct Package.

This is good practise. It can reveal?

This is good practice. It can reveal dangerous cyclic dependencies among the Packages.

For example, if PA depends on PB while PB depends on PA, coordination will be very difficult

How could a decision be made on where to put something and how would the development order of the Packages be determined?


If the model is forcing you to have cyclic dependencies between Packages, encapsulate the entire set of Packages involved in the chain into a higher-level Package, to hide the codependencies and assign the whole chain to one team.

What are Package Merge?

Package Merge creates a new Package from existing ones, subject to complicated rules.

Why are Merges not longer in use?

Merges were used in early versions of UML 2.x, but were found to be overly difficult to use.

They are not used by UML 2.5, but they are still defined in the UML specification in case there are other OMG specifications that might depend on them. Merging will probably be removed from future versions of UML

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