looking for UML to match resources/uml_datamodel.h

[Robert Glover Jr]

I am  reading and following along with the excellent "Database Modeling in UML" tutorial at http://www.sparxsystems.com/resources/uml_datamodel.html.
  The problem I am having is that I cannot find all the UML stereotypes used in the tutorial.
   For example, in the "Physical Model" section it says:

To represent a physical database in UML, use a stereotyped component

 However when I place a Component...Component from the Toolbox on a diagram, the dropdown list of Stereotypes in the Component's properties does not show a "Database" stereotype.
   Maybe there is an add-in I need to install to get support for Database modeling in UML?  I am using Sparx EA 10.0.1010 [Corporate Edition].

[KP]

The Stereotype field is a text box. You can type anything you like into it.

[Robert Glover Jr]

The Stereotype field is a text box. You can type anything you like into it.

Thanks.  I'm quite enthusiastic about Sparx Ea 10.10 and am trying to learn as fast as possible how to use it, but sometimes I hit a speed bump on my journey.
    When I make a new diagram by choosing "Extended....Data Modeling", it causes a new entry to appear in "Toolbox" named "Data Modeling" that has:

• Table
• View
• Procedure
• Association

  I can also cause this to appear in Toobox by clicking on "Extended...Data Modeling" from "More Tools...Set Toolbox Visibility".
   Those four items in "Data Modeling" seem very useful, especially the ability of "Table" to add columns via clicking"Columns/Attributes...." within Table properties.
   But then on the other hand, "Package" is not in "Data Modeling" but rather in the "Use Case" Toolbox, but to use a "Component" I have to find it within in the "Component" Toolbox.  There are so many different "Toolbox" groups that it is hard to figure out what is in each of them... and no easy way to search for items in Toolbox globally.
    And finally, I don't understand why some easy to use, intuitive items are in "Data Modeling" while other tools that seem like they are also needed when using "Data Modeling" are not included in "Data Modeling" but require me to go searching in other ToolBox groupings, after which I have to manually type in custom stereotype names.
    Why hasn't someone created a "one-stop" ToolBox grouping that has everything needed for this type of work ready to use?
   Sparx is certainly an interesting journey.  :-)

[RoyC]

Providing 'one-stop' toolboxes is not that easy, given that what one user thinks is intuitive for their work is not necessarily what other users would want for their tasks. As you have observed, there are already several toolboxes that we have tried to gear to particular diagram types and work areas, with the Common toolbox providing objects that one might use in many different contexts. However, we still have to make what appear to be arbitrary decisions as to which element or relationship types are on which specific Toolboxes or on the Common Toolbox. The Package icon, for example, is actually available through six or seven Toolboxes; maybe that should be on Common.

There are a few things you can do. The Help provides a fairly compact overview of what is on all the standard and extended Toolboxes. You can use the Toolbox Shortcut menu to more rapidly get to and use whatever element type or connector type you need on a diagram (press Spacebar on the diagram background). Or, you or someone else with the appropriate skills can create your own Toolboxes with the selection of standard objects you want, and/or with other customized (stereotyped) object types you have developed yourself, using an MDG Technology.

Enjoy the journey - there is plenty to see along the way!

[Robert Glover Jr]

...
Enjoy the journey - there is plenty to see along the way!

 Thanks for being so patient with me as I continue my Sparx journey.  I keep Sparx open all day long in order to use the "Project...Issues" feature to track tasks.  That forces me to keep Sparx in mind at all times, which is what I want.
    I wonder if you could throw some breadcrumbs my way for an exciting (to me) possibility for using Sparx.  I am thinking that by my using the Sparx EA API and by using the Sparx's underlying SQL database, I could load data about a couple of hundred applications as well as about 75 or so properties about those applications.  In this way, I am thinking, I could develop a "poor man's APM" (Application Portfolio Management) system, that could be used to group applications into portfolios that could be reported on based on features such as, for example, the life cycle phase of the underlying technologies each application uses.
   Do you think I am entirely barking up the wrong tree here, or do you think this might be possible?  If it is possible, are there any in the Sparx community who have done anything like this, so that I could connect with them and leverage their work?