Section B.2. Stereotypes

B.2. Stereotypes

Stereotypes signify that an element has a special use or intent. Stereotypes are most often shown by specifying the name of the stereotype between two guillemots, as in <<stereotype_name>>; you can substitute angle brackets if you don't have guillemots available on your system, as shown in Figure B-1.

Figure B-1. An artifact with a JAR stereotype applied to it; this is an example of a stereotype you might see in a J2EE profile

If a stereotype has an icon associated with it, you may also display the element with its icon. UML tools generally allow you to switch between these display options. Figure B-2 shows the standard JAR stereotype display notation as well as an example JAR icon.

Figure B-2. Using the <<JAR>> Stereotype and a JAR icon

There is no limit to the number of stereotypes that can be applied to a particular element, as shown in Figure B-3.

Figure B-3. The bookstore.jar has both the JAR and file stereotype applied to it