The Enterprise Architect UML Toolbox

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What is the Toolbox?

The Enterprise Architect UML Toolbox is a panel of icons that you use to create elements and connectors on a diagram. Within the Toolbox, related UML elements and connectors are organized into pages, each page containing the elements or connectors used for a particular type of diagram.  The diagrams include standard UML diagrams, Enterprise Architect Extended diagrams, and any MDG Technologies and UML Profiles that you have added to Enterprise Architect.

Display the Toolbox

To display the Toolbox, select the View |  Toolbox menu option, or press [Alt]+[5].

Tip:

You can also hide and show the whole Toolbox using the HideShowButton2 Hide/Show Toolbox button on the shortcut toolbar.

The Toolbox can be docked on either side of the diagram, or free floated on top of the diagram to expose more surface for editing.

To display specific pages in the Toolbox, select the More Tools option at the top of the Toolbox, and select the appropriate menu option for the diagram type.

 

UMLToolBox

Create Elements and Connectors:

  1. Select the required diagram from the Project Browser window.
  2. Click on More tools, select the appropriate UML, Extended or customized Toolbox option, and select the diagram type from the menu. Three pages display: <type> elements, <type> Relationships and Common.
     
    If you select the <default> option, you display only the Common page.
  3. Click on the required item; for example, the Class element or Associate relationship.
  4. For element items, click anywhere on the diagram to place the new element.
  5. For connector items, drag the cursor between the source and target elements on the diagram. The solid border of the elements changes to a hatched border as you pass the cursor over them, indicating the source and potential target elements.
     
    Alternatively, drag from the source element to an empty area of the diagram; the Quick-linker enables you to create the target element.
  6. Edit the element properties or connector properties, as required.

Tip:

If you are creating several elements of one type, after creating the first just press [Shift]+[F3] or [Ctrl]+click to create the next element of that type. For connectors, click on the source element and press [F3] to create another connector of the same type.

Notes:
  • The Toolbox pages relate to specific UML diagrams. When you open a diagram, the Toolbox automatically provides the elements and Relationships pages corresponding to the UML diagram type. This does not prevent the use of elements and connectors from other pages in a given diagram, though some combinations might not represent valid UML.
  • Dropping a Package element from the Toolbox into a diagram creates a new package in the Project Browser window, and a default diagram of the same type as the current diagram.

Customize The Toolbox

You can customize the Toolbox pages by pinning them within the Toolbox, or by adding MDG Technologies and UML Profiles to the Toolbox.

Note:

Enterprise Architect provides Toolbox pages for the ICONIX, BPMN 1.4, Data Flow Diagrams and Mind Mapping technologies as part of the initial install.

You can also change other features of the Toolbox appearance - see UML Toolbox Appearance Options.