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i am sorry for asking such a straight forward and simple question but there is a lot of confusion regarding the use of partition in activity diagrams like :

  1. is it really necessary to create partitions?
  2. since each organisation has a number of working units/sub-units,and eventually they will have roles to play,would we need to create partitions in literally every activity diagram we draw for any process flow?

e.g- suppose we have draw an activity diagram for online shopping .customers browse and search for items and later buy it .now there are very fewer roles here so we can clearly draw the diagram without partitions but still we can create them ,in both case they will represent the system so does it really make sense to create them.

0decimal0
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1 Answers1

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The answer to both questions is No. Partitioning is an optional feature for an activity diagram.

UML is most of all a means of communication. When partitioning adds useful information to the ddiagram, then you should include it. When it doesn't add anything to the message presented by the diagram, then you don't add it.

nakosspy
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  • thanks for answering,what kind of useful information can be added through **partitioning**? besides,i have read that it can be used to group activities with some common characteristics. – 0decimal0 Jun 03 '13 at 16:22
  • "some common characteristics" is correct. It's up to you to decide which characteristics. The most obvious and frequently used grouping is "who" performs each activity. For example you can describe a use case flow with an activity diagram. You could use partitioning in this diagram in order to show which module of the system performs each activity presented in the diagram. Another frequent use of activity diagrams is for modelling business processes. In this case, partitions correspond to different departments. – nakosspy Jun 03 '13 at 16:25
  • thanks a lot,this has cleared almost all my doubts.since there is always a chance of adding some information through partitioning for that matter,then it would be better to include them often and it won't do any harm anyway.what do you suggest? – 0decimal0 Jun 03 '13 at 16:35
  • It depends. UML is a means of communication. In a lot of cases you prefer to hide or ignore some information. Why? Because you want to emphasize on specific parts of the message. It's up to the communicator to decide. The same applies for all other UML diagram types. You don't want to fill your diagram with all kinds of details, you only want to include what you think is important. I mean that in some cases more detail "could harm". – nakosspy Jun 03 '13 at 16:46