Article - Message Signatures

> On sequence diagrams in Design Model (designing phase), whether only
> data types for arguments in class methods should appear or only the
> veriable names should appear?
> i.e. If Class A has a method called UpdateStatus(char Status)
> then in sequence diagrams how it shd appear?
> either as UpdateStatus(char) ot UpdateStatus(Status).

It shoud appear as UpdateStatus(someValueOfStatus) like in
UpdateStatus("funky").
Because seq diags show message between objects, not classes (well, if it was
a class method (i.e. static)), it also shows real values for the parameters,
not the parameters themselves.
If you wanted to stay "generic" on the seq diag (say for showing a
mechanism), the this could be UpdateStatus(aStatus).

After some fiddling with Rose and Enterprise Architect,

 I would say that in
any case, you have to pass something to the UpdateStatus operation. This
something comes from somewhere like in:

{
   ....
   status : char;

   status = someObject.getTheStatus();

   service.UpdateStatus(status);
   ...
}

it just happens that status is named with the same name as the formal
parameter but it not the same thing: a parameter *value* is not a parameter
*name* nor a parameter *type*. What is passed on the message is the *value*.
That being clear, you name it the way you want.

As I was in Rose, here is the settings box mentioned on the agilemodeling list:

How would MDA manage such aspects, I wonder...

Discuss this if you want to...