How to build an RTF File

[nir]

Hello All,

I'm trying to create a Rtf file from my project - I have a few things that bother me but the most urgent one Is that my activity images (on screen 3-4 pages) appears in so small the document that only zoom 500% enable me to see what I actually wrote.


Is there away to fix this thing ?

I thank you for all the help........

[jaimeglz]

Hi nir,

The best way to solve this problem is to break-up the use case or process on which the activity diagram is based into several, smaller, use cases or sub-processes.

It is somehow time consuming, but it makes your whole model (not just a particular diagram) much more readable.

The way I divide one use case into several ones, is by means of <<include>> and <<extend>> relationships.

I hope this helps,

Jaime Gonzalez

[TeaMaker]

Jaime - Thank you for your reply.

I Understand from your answer that this is the only way to do that but I really feel that when I'm building a long Activity Diagram I'm not suppose to think all the time How is it going to fit in my Page - Breaking a long Diagram to small parts is only a way to go around the problem.


Best Regards
Nir Nitzani

[Tjerk]

Hi Teamaker,

It's not only an issue of "will it fit in the document", but it's also a question of (as Jaimy said) readability of the model in itself. If you want to communicate / discuss the model with one of your colleges, breaking up any diagram is adviced. One of those golden rules is that any diagram should contain somewhere between 3 to 9 items. This makes the diagram interpretable at once for most readers.

My guess is that your activity diagram covers more than one system / component / use case or subject. E.g. breaking up the system in several subsystems or components will enable you to make an activity diagram on system level (high abstraction) and provide more details in the subsystem / component activity diagrams.

By the way, is there any presentation method where you can squize in 4 pages of diagram into one readable item? I guess selecting A2 papersize might be the trick, but I guess you don't have an A2 printer  . It is, however, possible to set A2 papersize for your RTF (see http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=general&action=display&num=1046001960).

Greetings,
Tjerk

[TeaMaker]

Hi Tjerk,

Well actually my Activity diagram displays only one Use Case - And when building it I've noticed that the EA software is displaying exactly where the pages should break - So the EA knows exactly how many pages my digram is - isn't there a way to tell it to stretch my digram on these 4 pages and not squeeze it to one ? (I didn't use the Fit To Page feature)


Best Regards
Nir Nitzani

[Tjerk]

Hi Nir,

In my opinion, the diagram is still too large for one use case(use case contains to much).

But sorry, I've not seen any method to stretch the diagram over 4 pages. You could, of course, print the diagram directly from EA. There you will get your 4 pages.

I don't believe you could indicate in RTF or Word that one picture should stretch over more than one page. EA produces one picture from one diagram, not per page. That is even unwanted, because then when you have a diagram slightly larger than pagewidth, you will end up having two images underneath eachother instead of next to eachother.

Greetings,
Tjerk

[TeaMaker]

It's not a simple job.  .......Maybe my Use Case is too long (I don't think so) but to squeeze all the Activity Diagram in one page isn't simple.

Did you ever tried to copy a part of a diagram and transfer it to another ?!?!?!? - Well no can do.

At last I've managed to separate my diagram into two diagrams and if my readers will set the Zoom to 500% it will be just great.


Working hard as always
Nir Nitzani

[TeaMaker]

Somebody please Help..... :-/

I've the same problem with my Sequence Diagram (Don't tell me one page should be enough).


I'm Open for suggestions.....