Change Copied Object to Duplicate Object

General Questions/Discussions
1

Hi,

I’m working with a UML deployment diagram that I inherited from someone else. There are several similar components on the diagram, it looks like these have been created by copying another component, as a result when I make a change to one of them is reflected in all of the copies. I would like to break the link between the copies so that they are autonomous objects/duplicates. Is it possible to do this or do I have to create the objects ?

Thanks in Advance

Paul;

2

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your post. By default, if you press Ctrl+C/V to copy and paste a model, it will be a view of the model. That means any changes in one of the views will affect the other views of the model.

There are several ways to not copying and pasting the model as a view:

  1. Duplicate the model:
    (i) right-click on the model and select Duplicate in the popup menu.
    (ii) select the model and press Ctrl+E
    (iii) select the model and then select Edit > Duplicate
  2. Paste Model:
    (i) select the model and press Ctrl+C to copy it, then right-click on the diagram and select Paste Model in the popup menu
    (ii) select the model and then select Edit > Paste Model Element

Hope these can help. If you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Lilian Wong

3

Hi Lillian,

Thanks for the reply, the problem I am having is that I have a model in which the defalut ctrl-c/v has been used to create additional views of an elements.

I would like to find a way to change these elements that have been copied with ctrl-c/v so that they behave like elements that had been created using the duplicate method.

Regards

Paul;

4

Hi Paul,

Thanks for replying. You can simply duplicate the model you have copied, then reconnect any existing connectors and delete the old one (the model you have copied). Hope this can help.

If there are any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,
Lilian Wong

5

Hi Lillian,

Thanks for the reply, that is tha appraoch that I have been taking, I was hoping that there was a quicker/easier way to do this as some of the elements have a large number of connections.

Thanks

Paul;

6

Hi Paul,

Thanks for replying. We’ll create a plug-in to help you. Once the plug-in is ready, I’ll come back to you immediately.

If you have any other inquiries, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Lilian Wong

7

Hi Lillian,

That will be great, Thanks alot . . .

Regards

Paul;

8

Hi Paul,

I would like to notify you that the plug-in is available, but it requires the latest patch to run. Please download the plug-in and the patch in the following link:
http://files3.visual-paradigm.com/200804/Lilian/Plug-in.rar
http://files3.visual-paradigm.com/200804/Patch/sp1_20080417i/VP_Suite_Windows_3_2_sp1_20080417i.exe

After downloaded the compressed plug-in file, please create a folder “plugins” inside the VP installation directory first, then unzip the plug-in file and put the folder “com.vp.plugin.sample.duplicatemodel” inside the “plugins” folder. After that, startup the VP application and it will run the plug-in.

Please be reminded that the plug-in should work in general situation, you can modify the plug-in by yourself to meet your need.

Hope this will help. If there are any inquiries, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Lilian Wong