convert communication diagram to sequence diagram

[blackpuppy]

I'm new to EA and the forum.  Need some time to get started.  I have two simple questions.

Does anyone know how to convert a collaboration (communication) diagram to a sequence diagram?  In Rational Rose, just pressing one key will do the job.  Is there any way to do that in EA?  Because we use collaboration (communication) diagram in the analysis phase.  When we move on to the design phase, we'll use sequence diagram.  If there is a way to switch between these two kinds of diagrams for the same use case, the sequence diagram converted from collaboratin (communication) diagram will be a good start for the design phase.  Otherwise we have to redraw the sequence diagram from scratch.  In fact, the information carried in these two kinds of diagrams are basicly the same so it's possible to provide that conversion facility.

And how can I change an object of one class to another class?  In Rational Rose, I can just drag and drop the second class over the object of the first class, and the object will be changed to the instance of the second class.  Any way to do that in EA without deleting the existing object and adding a new one?  Because doing that will require redrawing the assocations and methods.

Thanks!
Zhu Ming

[Bruno.Cossi]

Hi Zhu Ming,

the automated conversion between a communication and a sequence diagram is not currently implemented in EA. This has been discussed in this forum many times and hopefully Sparx hears the users' pleas :-)
As far as changing the classifieer of an object, just right-click the object and in the context menu select the option "Set Instance Classifier".

Hope this helps!
Bruno

[blackpuppy]

Thanks a lot, Bruno!

I tried to search "sequence diagram" in the forum and it does not seem to find any useful messages.
The context menu is quite useful, I think.  There may be many such tips and tricks.

In addition, it's not easy to change the sequence of operations in a diagram.  In Rational Rose, I can do that in a sequence daigram by moving the operations up and down, then the sequence of the operations in the associated collaboration (communication) diagram will be changed accordingly.  In EA, I must go to the menu Diagram --> Sequence Communication Messages.  And we find there are some bugs there.  Is that the only way to do this?