Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.
Attributes
Attributes are features of an element that represent the properties or internal data elements of that element. Not all element types support attributes, and others have restrictions - for example, attributes of Interfaces must have Public scope.
Elements with attributes (typically Classes) display their features in diagrams in the manner illustrated below. Attributes display in the first compartment of properties in colored text - the default color is red (for example, Age : int).
Example
For a Customer Class, CustomerName and CustomerAddress can be attributes. Attributes have several important characteristics, such as type, scope (visibility), static, derived and notes.
Topics
Topic |
Detail |
See also |
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Create and Modify Element Attributes |
In the Project Browser, Classes with attributes have their features collected beneath them, each preceded by a blue box ( In the Diagram view or Project Browser, either:
The <Element name> Attributes dialog displays. You can also copy or move existing attributes between elements. These facilities are only available if the target element supports attributes.
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Notes
| • | If you make changes and do not save them, the Cancel button prompts you to save or cancel the changes, whilst the Close button closes the dialog immediately and does not save the changes |
| • | If you are creating many attributes, go to the Attribute/Operations page of the Options dialog (Tools | Options | Source Code Engineering | Attribute/Operations) and select the After save, re-select edited item checkbox; now, when you create an attribute and click on the Save button, the dialog fields clear ready for you to enter the details of the next attribute - this helps you when you want to create attributes quickly and might not necessarily want to fully define each one as you create it |
| • | If the parent element provides source or target roles for a connector, the connector can be attached to a specific attribute (feature) |
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