Lattix LDM for Rhapsody

With Lattix LDM for Rhapsody it is now possible to apply the Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) approach to review, refactor, and maintain large scale Rhapsody models. During the earliest stages of design, it is possible to identify undesirable interdependencies and expose key design decisions for the entire team. Rules can be established in the DSM model for compliance with the architecture to guide the system developers during development and testing for validation.

In this DSM of the Rhapsody model of the Home Alarm example from IBM Rational, the static view of the system (such as package and class diagrams) and behavioral views (such as state and interaction diagrams) have been combined together in order to understand the overall picture. Because these diagrams contain requirements, use case scenarios and design information, the DSM can now be used to unite these different perspectives into a single view so that the impact of change to a requirement can be more readily understood.

Features

In addition to the Lattix LDM key features, Lattix LDM for Rhapsody has these unique capabilities:

• Create and explore the big picture view of the Rhapsody model that incorporates all the model elements including packages, use cases, sequence diagrams, object diagrams, class diagrams, types, state charts and other elements
• Identify problematic dependencies such as couplings and architectural violations within Rhapsody directly. Examples of such couplings include: unintended package coupling which breaks the desired layering or independence of components, and unintended coupling from sequence or other logical diagrams which, if implemented, could create undesired coupling.
• Establish rules so that model developers can maintain compliance to the desired architecture during development
• Extract interfaces and re-factor the model to preserve architecture

The implemented system can also be validated using Lattix to ensure that it remains in compliance with model intent. Note that since, Lattix uses the Rhapsody API to read the models, you must have a Rhapsody license to be able to use this module.

Specifications