Software Architecture and

Design
Collaboration Diagram
Today’s Agenda
• What is a Collaboration Diagram in UML?
• Components of Collaboration Diagram
• What are the benefits of a Collaboration diagram?
What is a Collaboration Diagram?
• The collaboration diagram is used to show the relationship between
the objects in a system.
• Both the sequence and the collaboration diagrams represent the
same information but differently.
• A collaboration diagram, also known as a communication diagram, is a
type of diagram in Unified Modeling Language (UML) that shows how
objects or elements in a system interact with each other to achieve a
specific goal or behavior.
• It provides a visual representation of the relationships and
interactions between objects during a particular scenario.
Components of Collaboration Diagram
• Actors
• Objects(Lifelines)
• Links
• Messages
• Synchronous messages
• Asynchronous Messages
• Self Message
• Sequence Numbers
Actors
• An actor in a UML diagram
represents a type of role where
it interacts with the system and
its objects.
• It is important to note here
that an actor is always outside
the scope of the system.
Objects
• As its name suggests,
this element represents
each object of the
system.
• It is noted with the
format “Object name:
Class name”.
Links
• The link is an instance of
association, which
associates the objects
and actors.
• It portrays a relationship
between the objects
through which the
messages are sent.
• It is represented by a
solid line.
Synchronous messages
• A synchronous message
waits for a reply before
the interaction can move
forward.
• The sender waits until
the receiver has
completed the processing
of the message.
Asynchronous Messages
• Asynchronous
Messages – An
asynchronous message
does not wait for a reply
from the receiver.
Self Message
• Self Message –
Certain scenarios
might arise where
the object needs to
send a message to
itself.
Sequence Numbers
• Sequence numbers are
used to indicate the
order of messages.
Benefits of a Collaboration diagram
• Used to model and visualize the logic behind a sophisticated function,
operation or procedure.
• They are also used to show details of UML use case diagrams.
• Used to understand the detailed functionality of current or future
systems.
• Visualize how messages and tasks move between objects or
components in a system.