Actors and Messages

[Gary]

So we cannot add messages to actors on sequence diagrams, which is correct, as actors are external to the system and not under our control.

So what methods do you guys use to collect all the messages that need to be specified on a user interface and are now currently sitting on sequence diagrams.
Do you replace actors with blocks/classes/interfaces? Add ports to and actor? Not bother and wing it?

Just curious really and thought it would make for a diversion from answering problems.

Gary

[RoyC]

I'm not sure what you are asking here. You CAN have messages issuing from and terminating on Actors on a Sequence diagram. An Actor can represent a person or a system. Am I missing something in what you are saying?

[Gary]

Hi Roy

Yes on a sequence diagram you can have messages issuing from and terminating at an Actor but what you cannot do is add operations to an Actor element.
So if for instance I am elborating a use case with a sequence diagram to show user interaction with a system. I create the sequence diagram and add the class/block and the actor. I then create messages from the actor which I can add to the block/class element as operations. I cannot add the messages terminating at the actor to the actor as operations. This is of course correct. However when I want to document all of the messages that terminate at the actor as an Interface specification there is no easy way of adding them, for instance, to an interface element.
I would have to go through all of the sequence diagrams and cut and paste the message names into an interface element. So the question was what methods do people use to make this step easier.
It is not a request for help as such more of a "how do you do it" question

[qwerty]

You "can" add methods the following way:
- Element/Advanced Change Type to Class
- Add methods
- Element/Advanced Change Type to Actor

I thought having seen the Add Method in the context menu in a former EA version but that seems to have gone.

q.