Element Display Styles

We saw in the overview page for the Profile that each Element Binding connects an Element Set with an Element Display Style. While an Element Set is concerned with defining a group of elements it says nothing about how to display elements on a diagram. Conversely, an Element Display is wholly concerned with how an element is displayed while saying nothing about which elements are to be displayed that way.

There are four element types and each has its own display style.

Inherited Values

Element Display Styles support an inheritance mechanism. A new Element Display Style can take an existing Element Display Style as the basis for all of its attribute values. For example, rather than define all seventeen attributes for a Method Display Style, you can choose an existing Method Display Style which is close to how you want a method to look, and override only those attributes which you would like to be different.

Common Attributes

Element Display Styles shape the appearance of elements on the diagrams. They are independent of any Diagram Style; so once defined, they are available for re-use across many Diagram Styles. There are some attributes common to all four concrete display styles which we will deal with first:

• Border Colors: A Color Set to be used to draw a border around an element.
• Background Colors: A Color Set to be used to draw the background within the bounds of this element on the diagram.
• Name Text Style : A Text Style to be used for displaying the name of this element.
• Default Text Style : A Text Style to be used for all other text which does not have any specific attribute to control its appearance (things like brackets, commas, colons).

Class Display Style

This display style describes how to display a class.

• Stereotype Text Style : A Text Style to be used for displaying the stereotype.
• Title Bar Colors: A Color Set which is the background to the title bar of the class.
• Icon Background Colors: A Color Set used to fill the background behind the icon.

Field Display Style

This display style describes how to display a field.

• Show Type: true means do display a field's type, false means do not display a field's type.
• Type Text Style : A Text Style to use for displaying a field's type.

Initializer Display Style

There are no additional attributes for an Initializer Display Style.

Method Display Style

This display style describes how to display methods (including constructors).

• Show Return Type: true means do display the return type, false means do not display the return type.
• Show Exceptions: true means do show checked exceptions, false means do not show checked exceptions.
• Show Parameter Names: true means do show the names of the parameters, false means do not show the names of the parameters.
• Show Parameter Types: true means do show the types of the parameters, false means do not show the types of the parameters.
• Return Type Text Style : A Text Style to use to display the return type.
• Exception Text Style: A Text Style to use to display checked exceptions.
• Parameter Name Text Style: A Text Style to use to display parameter names.
• Parameter Type Text Style: A Text Style to use to display parameter types.