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Status Future consideration
Categories Modeling and UI
Created by Guest
Created on May 12, 2021

Rhapsody 9.0.1 can't display entry actions in a state that has orthogonal regions

When I have a state in a state machine (no orthogonal regions), I can enter entry, exit actions and more, and when I click the symbol on the state's name, these will be shown in the state chart. But when a state has orthogonal regions, they are not shown, which is cumbersome.

The action occurs when the main state is entered; when the main state is entered, the default state of every orthogonal is also entered, and their respective entry actions would be executed after the entry action of the main state. The point at which entry actions are executed, as well as their sequence, is therefore clearly defined and I don't see any ambiguity or confusion in doing this. On the contrary, it would seem that a key motivation of a main state is to model behavior that is common to all orthogonal regions, and that would include entry and exit actions.
Of course, if specifying entry or exit actions for states that have orthogonal regions is prohibited by UML, then I could accept the restriction stated, but you didn't provide any evidence to this effect.
I looked at the UML standard [1]; it does not appear to exclude entry and exit actions for states with orthogonal regions, but of course I didn't read the entire standard.
I also referred to [2], and it states that states in orthogonal regions are a kind of substate (concurrent substates), and it gives a sample diagram which depicts entry and exit actions for a state that has substates. While [2] is admittedly a bit old, it is unlikely that such entry and exit actions were once allowed but are forbidden today
A person with a similar problem discussed it in [3]. While StackExchange is certainly not an authoritative source or information, I still think it's worth having a look.

Considering the above, I still believe that my expectations are not only reasonable but also in line with UML specifications.

References:

[1] UML standard; https://www.omg.org/spec/UML/2.5/PDF/(14.2.2)

[2] "The Unified Modeling Language Usage Guide" by Booch, Rumbaugh, Jacobson, 1999

[3] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20428170/uml-behavioral-state-diagram-entry-and-exit-point-ownership-implications-for-or

Idea priority Medium
  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    May 12, 2021

    Attachment (Description): This is a demo project to show the issue.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    May 12, 2021

    Attachment (Description): A State with Orthogonal Regions Can't Display Entry Actions