Working with activity diagrams

Activity diagrams show the workflow of child process elements of a process, activity, phase, or iteration. You can choose to include diagrams created externally by another application or you can create activity diagrams internally by using this diagram editor. To open an activity diagram from the process editor, right-click your process and select Open Activity Diagram. If this is the first time that you are opening the activity diagram, you are prompted to create a new diagram. Click OK to continue. To delete an activity diagram from the process editor, right-click your process and select Diagrams > Delete Activity Diagram.

Diagram editor tools

The diagram editor palette has several tools for creating diagrams.

Select: Use this tool to select elements or portions of your diagram for manipulation using the drawing aids.
Zoom: Use this tool to zoom in and zoom out your diagram. Left-click to zoom in, shift + left-click to zoom out, and drag to zoom to a selection.
Note and Note Attachment: Use this tool to add notes to the diagram and link the notes to other diagram elements.
Text: Use this tool to add your own text to the diagram. After you add the text to the diagram, you can open the Properties view via the pop-up menu to set display and font properties.
Control Flow: Use this tool to draw directional arrows from one node on your diagram to another.
Activity Partition: Use this tool to create 'swim-lanes' in your activity diagrams. After you create a partition, you can drag other elements inside to add them to the partition. You can alternatively add or remove elements to a partition via the Advanced Properties view.
Start Node and End Node: Use these tools to identify the start and end of the workflow.
Fork Node: Use this tool to depict the beginning of concurrent threads of control.
Join Node: Use this tool to depict the end of concurrent threads of control. The workflow cannot continue past the Join Node until all of the flows that it joins together have completed.
Decision Node: Use this tool to show the control flow coming out of a decision.
Merge Node: Use this tool to merge two or more distinct flows back to one common flow.
You can also add new process elements to your diagram using: Activity, Iteration, Phase, Milestone or Task Descriptor.

Drawing aids

The activity diagram editor provides several aids to manipulate and improve the appearance of your diagram.

To move a selected node in one direction, pixel-by-pixel: Select the node, hold the control key and press the cursor keys in the direction that you want to move the selected node.
To move a selected node or nodes in a vertical or horizontal plane, using the mouse: Select the node or nodes to move, hold the Shift key and hold the primary mouse button on the selected node. Drag the node or nodes with the mouse in the direction that you want to move them.
To align nodes with one another: Select the nodes of interest, open the pop-up menu and choose Format > Align followed by your choice of alignment.
To bend a link line: Select the link, grab the center dot and drag it with the mouse to the preferred point.

Activity diagrams in extended capability patterns

You can reuse an existing capability pattern or parts of a capability pattern, such as an activity, in another process. When you reuse another pattern by either copying or extending it, any diagrams that you have created are also included in your process. When you extend a capability pattern, the predecessor information, including refresh diagram from base, copying of diagram during deep copy, import, and export is stored in the extended activity. This means, you can create control flow to the inherited green nodes. To retrieve updates to a diagram of the base element, right-click in the open diagram of the extending element and select Refresh from Base Activity.

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