Composition shape

A composition is a form of aggregation that indicates that a part may belong to only one whole and that the lifetime of the whole determines the lifetime of the part.

A composition is indicated with a solid filled diamond adornment on one of the association ends, and can be thought of as a collaboration in which all of the participants are part of a single composite object.

Name a Composition shape and add other property values

Open the element's UML Properties dialog box by double-clicking the icon that represents the element in the tree view or the shape that represents the element in a diagram.

Tip

Control which property values display on a shape in a diagram by right-clicking the shape, and then clicking Shape Display Options. In the UML Shape Display Options dialog box, select and clear options to display or hide property values.

Control which property values are displayed on the Composition shape

Right-click the shape, click Shape Display Options, and then select or clear options to show or hide values.

Navigate to other views of the composition

Right-click the shape, click Views, select the view you want, and then click OK.