connecting diagram gates to reference interaction fragments

[ty.newton]

Hi,
I found a few queries in the forum asking about the use of diagram gates when using reference interaction fragments - to "connect" subordinate sequence diagrams.  I'm a bit unsure about the best practice for using these so I am hoping some knowledgeable people can assist.

I have a sequence diagram (called Nested Diagram) with a diagram gate (called Gate In) representing an off-diagram input message.  I also have a lifeline (called Producer) and a sequence connector connecting from Gate In to Producer.  I have a second sequence diagram (called Top Level Diagram) with a lifeline (called Consumer) and I dragged the Gate In element onto Top Level Diagram.  In Top Level Diagram I use a sequence connector to connect from Gate In to Producer.

When I look at the properties of the lifelines and the gate I see that the sequence connection is made between Consumer and Producer via Gate In.  This is what I was hoping to achieve.

However, when I look at other examples of trying to do this kind of thing I see a reference interaction fragment being used.  When I drag Nested Diagram onto Top Level Diagram I create a reference interaction fragment.

I was expecting the fragment to automagically have Gate In "attached" to it visually somehow but it seems to be independent of Gate In.  This seems strange.  Is there something I need to do, is it intentional functionality, is the software deficient, is the fragment element just for visual clarity/navigation...

To make things a little more confusing, in Top Level Diagram, I can connect a message from Consumer to the reference interaction fragment.  With this connector there doesn't seem to be a way to specify the target lifeline (the lifeline I want the message to connect to in Nested Diagram).

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

[qwerty]

I guess you should link your SO question (if that's the one) to enable people seeing the pictures. Can't help here...

q.