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5.3 Method integration

One of the most powerful features of MetaEdit+ is that you can integrate methods and therefore also design information based on those methods. Basically, the integration features allow you to link and reuse data across different methods, maintaining a flow of information between different methods.

By linking we mean that you can link object elements to other graphs. Linking of objects to graphs is accomplished by using either decomposition structures or explosion structures (see Sections 5.2.7 and 5.2.8 for more detail).

A typical example of decomposition can be found from most structured methods in which a process in a Data Flow Diagram can be decomposed into a subdiagram. Also, most of the object diagrams found in MetaEdit+ support decomposition of objects and their relationships into new graphs.

All object-oriented methods also include an example of an explosion structure: Classes or Objects can be exploded into a State Transition Diagram in which the behaviour of the particular object is specified.

Another important feature is reuse. You can reuse either:
whole objects, or
properties.

Reuse of an object means that you can use the same design information stored in the object in other graphs, even if they are in different projects. In line with the principles of reuse, if you change the specifications of the reused object in one graph, it automatically updates changes to other graphs even if they were originally made with a different method. For example, a Business Process defined in a Value Chain during a business modelling task can also be used as a process to define information system architectures (e.g. with the BSP method).

To test reuse of objects:
1)Open a graph with any tool (i.e. Diagram Editor, Matrix Editor, Table Editor)
2)Select the Add Existing... command. In Diagram Editor this is done by pressing the ‘shift’ key and at the same time clicking in the drawing area with the left mouse button (or by selecting Add Existing Object... from the pop-up menu of drawing area: note that all elements should be unselected). In Matrix Editor and Table Editor select Add Existing... directly from the object related pop-up menu.
3)Select any object from the dialog that opens.

You can also re-use elements from other graphs made with different methods by selecting ‘Get an object from another graph’ or ‘Get an object of a type legal in this graph’ from the dialog. The first allows you first to browse available graphs and then to select from them which graph elements are to be reused. The second lets you search for elements of a specific type, such as to find any currently loaded Entity.

Reuse of properties allows a more detailed reuse option: you do not need to reuse whole objects but you can instead just reuse some of the object’s properties. For example, a message name in an object diagram can be shared as the method name of another object.

To try out reuse of properties:
1)Open a dialog for any existing object or relationship in any tool.
2)Move the cursor to the field to be reused (text field).
3)Open a pop-up menu by pressing the right mouse button and select Share Property....
4)Select any text specification to be shared from the dialog that appears.

After property sharing the object refers to the shared property and therefore any changes to the property will affect that property in every place where it is used.

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