The Class Editor enables you to declare the Class properties and to define the Attributes and Operations of the Class. The Class Editor is made up of three different windows: the Class Editor window itself, the Attribute Editor and the Operation Editor. All changes are saved from the Class Editor window. Exiting from the Class Editor window closes all other Class Editor windows. The Attributes command from the Window menu opens the Attribute Editor; the Operations command opens the Operation Editor. These windows are described separately. The Class command from the Window menu brings the Class Editor window to the front.
An Attribute is a data value held by the objects in a Class. Name, age and weight are the Attributes of Person objects. For example, Attribute age has value 30" in object John Smith. Each Attribute name is unique within a Class. Different Classes may each have an Attribute with the same name. Each Attribute name may be followed by an optional type, preceded by a colon. The command Class Member Settings" enables you to customize the information displayed in the Class Diagram. For Attributes you can choose to include the types of the Attributes and its access control. The access control can be private (indicated by "-"), protected ("#") or public ("+"). These are the only details of the Class shown in the Class Diagram. The following optional details can also be defined using the Class Editor: the purpose of the Class, whether the Class is transient or persistent, whether the Class is type export or internal. The Display" command enables you to choose which of the Attributes and Operations should appear in the Class symbol in the Class Diagram.
You can describe the dynamic behavior of a Class by a State Transition Diagram. From the Class Editor you can switch to the parent Class Diagram or to the State Transition Diagram describing the Class. If you open the Class Editor for a derived class, using the command Base Class" you can switch to the class details for the base class and thus see the details inherited by the derived class. If you are describing the details of a base class you can define this Class as an abstract base class.
You can copy and paste Attributes and Operations between different Classes using the Clipboard.