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umlactor

UML Diagrams: Can I use same actor on one diagram couple of times?

I am drawing some diagram, and I am wondering if it is acceptable for the actor to be in diagram more than once (for better transparency of the diagram)?

Thanks

Solution

  • UMLDiagram is a composition of UMLDiagramElements, however Actor is NOT UmlDiagramElement, it is an Element. The UMLDiagramElement counterpart for Actor is either UMLShape (when shown as icon/figure) or UMLClassifierShape (when shown as a class box).

    You have to keep the concepts of "UML Model" and "UML Diagram" separate. Model is a conceptual representation of your domain, and diagram is a concrete visual representation of a model.

    The two elements from Model and Diagram are then connected by an association (B.2.2). enter image description here

    The association is N:M (and unidirectional), the model doesn't care that it is being visualized.

    As far as I can tell there is nothing that would restrict you from having several visual representations of a single actor.

    Lastly as both Thomas and Geert mentioned, it is a bad practice. If your diagram is so complex that you want multiple representations you should probably decompose it.