About this task
These relations include
the following items:
- Dependency shows a relationship in which
the proper functioning of one element requires information provided
by another element. In a component diagram, a dependency can exist
between any component, file, or folder.
- Interface shows a set of operations that
publicly define a behavior or way of handling something so knowledge
of the internals is not needed. Component diagrams define interfaces
between components only.
A component is
a physical subsystem in the form of a library or executable program
or other software components such as scripts, command files, documents,
or databases. Its role is important in the modeling of large systems
that comprise several libraries and executable programs. For example, IBM® Rational® Rhapsody® itself
is made up of many components, including the graphic editors, browser,
code generator, and animator, all provided in the form of a library.
Component diagrams are helpful in defining
and organizing the physical file hierarchy of your model. You can
assign model elements to be contained in certain files, instead of
using the default Rational Rhapsody designations;
you can organize files into folders or into components directly and
organize folders into components.
One aspect
of a component that is not included in a component diagram, but is
included in this section, is how to create the configurations that
are part of a component. Configurations specify how the component
is to be built, such as the target environment, initialization needed,
and checks to perform on the model before code is generated. See Configurations for information.
The following figure shows a component
diagram.