Re: long method signatures in uml class diagrams

[Lars Clausen <lrclause cs uiuc edu>]

On Sun, 13 Oct 2002, James K. Lowden wrote:
> On 13 Oct 2002 14:35:51 -0500, Lars Clausen <lrclause cs uiuc edu> wrote:
[...]
> > We obviously don't want to blindly insert linebreaks everywhere we can,
> > as then the objects would just be too tall rather than too wide.  I
> > could probably cook up a little pretty-printer that has some idea about
> > when it'd be good to break lines.
>
> If somebody wants to use the UML class this way, he's going to need a
> long and short form IMO.  Maybe the user could provide a "display string"
> to override the complete representation of a function.  If the UML class
> actually understood C++, it would have enough information to offer
> gradations of detail, choosing among:
>
>       Class name
>       Class template parameters
>       Data member names
>       Data member types
>       Function names
>       Function template parameters
>       Function parameter types
>       Function parameter names
>       Function return types
>
> I realize this is empty noodling, but the UML class is such a "hairball"
> (quoting Cyrille) and in such need of extension in several directions,
> that it's bound to be replaced one of these days, when someone gets
> ambitious.  

The best way to go about that would be to look into the more complex
properties and get them working.  That should make it a lot easier to make
a new class object.

> Slay any dragons yesterday?  Rescue any damsels?  (No and yes,
> respectively, I hope.)

No dragons on the field (and besides, they're an endangered species).  Did
rescue a damsel or two who were fighting off overpowering numbers of evil
foemen (and foewomen:).  Beautiful day for it, too.

-Lars

-- 
Lars Clausen (http://shasta.cs.uiuc.edu/~lrclause)| Hårdgrim of Numenor
"I do not agree with a word that you say, but I   |----------------------------
will defend to the death your right to say it."   | Where are we going, and
    --Evelyn Beatrice Hall paraphrasing Voltaire  | what's with the handbasket?