Linking Project Elements in Documentation

Help|Tutorials|UML|Diagramming| 15 January 2024 | Dusan Rodina - softwareideas.net
This tutorial explains a particularly useful feature: adding dynamic links to other elements within your project's documentation. This functionality is not only incredibly efficient but also ensures that your documentation remains interconnected and up-to-date.

Getting Started with Class Diagrams

In our example, we start with a class diagram comprising four key elements: Employee, Contact, Task, and Role. Suppose we're tasked with creating documentation for the 'Employee' class. Our goal is to reference related classes and enumerations effectively.

The Initial Setup

Consider our initial documentation statement: 'An Employee in our project management system has a specific role, assigned contacts like an email address, and a series of assigned tasks.' Our objective is to transform this static text into something more dynamic and integrated.

Here's how you can enrich your documentation:

  • Select the Employee Class: Begin by selecting the 'Employee' class within your diagram.
  • Access the Documentation Sidebar: The Documentation sidebar is your gateway to adding dynamic content. Open it to proceed.
  • Drag and Drop Elements: This is where the real action begins. Hold down the right-mouse button and drag the 'Role' enumeration from the diagram editor, dropping it into the designated spot in your documentation text. Repeat this process with the 'Contact' class, and then with the 'Task' class.
  • Incorporate Links within Parentheses: After dragging and dropping, you have the flexibility to edit the text to suit your documentation style. While in this example we incorporate the links within parentheses, adding parentheses around the links for 'Role', 'Contact', and 'Task', this is not a strict requirement. You are free to integrate these links more naturally as keywords or actual terms directly into the text. The way you choose to embed these links can vary based on the context and readability of your documentation. Remember, the goal is to make the documentation as clear and useful as possible for its intended audience.

Reflecting Changes Automatically

The most impressive aspect of this feature is its dynamic nature. For instance, if you rename the 'Task' class to 'WorkTask' within the diagram, this change is automatically updated in your 'Employee' class documentation. The link adjusts to read 'WorkTask' in place of 'Task', ensuring your documentation is always synchronized with your diagram.

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