A state models a situation during which some (usually implicit) invariant condition holds for the parent class. This invariant may be a static situation such as an object waiting for some external event to occur, or some dynamic activity “in progress”.
A state is represented on a statechart diagram in ArgoUML as a rectangle with rounded corners, with a horizontal line separating the name at the top from the description of the behavior below. The description of the behavior includes the entry and exit actions and any internal transitions.
The details tabs that are active for states are as follows.
ToDoItemStandard tab.
PropertiesSee Section 20.2.2, “ State Property Toolbar ” and Section 20.2.3, “ Property Fields For State ” below.
DocumentationStandard tab.
PresentationStandard tab. The values for the bounds of the state define the bounding box of the state.
StereotypeStandard tab.
Tagged ValuesStandard tab.
Go upNavigate up through the package structure.
New StereotypeThis creates a new Stereotype (see Section 16.6, “ Stereotype ”) for the selected state, navigating immediately to the properties tab for that stereotype.
DeleteThis deletes the state from the model
![[Note]](images/note.png)
Note This is a deletion from the model, not just the diagram. You can not just remove a state from the diagram, and keep it within the model, as is possible in other diagrams.
NameText box. The name of the state. By convention state names start with a lower case letter and use bumpy caps to divide words within the name.
Note ArgoUML does not enforce this naming convention.
ContainerText box. Shows the container of the state. This is the state hierarchy.
Button 1 double click on the entry will navigate to the composite state that contains this state. All states are at least contained by the otherwise hidden top-level state (named “top”) that is the root of the state containment hierarchy.
Entry-ActionText box. Shows the name of the action (if any) to be executed on entry to this state.
Note This field shows the name of the action, while on the diagram the expression of the action is shown.
Button 1 double-click navigates to the selected entry, button 2 gives a pop up menu with two entries:
New. Add a new Entry action of a certain kind. This menu has the following submenus to select the kind of action: Call Action, Create Action, Destroy Action, Return Action, Send Action, Terminate Action, Uninterpreted Action.Delete From Model. Delete the Entry-Action.
Exit-ActionText box. Shows the action (if any) to be executed on exit from this state.
Button 1 click navigates to the selected action, button 2 gives a pop up menu with two entries.
New. Add a new Exit action of a certain kind. This menu has the following submenus to select the kind of action: Call Action, Create Action, Destroy Action, Return Action, Send Action, Terminate Action, Uninterpreted Action.Delete From Model. Delete the Exit-Action.
Do-ActivityText box. Shows the action (if any) to be executed while being in this state.
Button 1 click navigates to the selected action, button 2 gives a pop up menu with two entries.
New. Add a new Do-Activity (action) of a certain kind. This menu has the following submenus to select the kind of action: Call Action, Create Action, Destroy Action, Return Action, Send Action, Terminate Action, Uninterpreted Action.Delete From Model. Delete the Do-Activity.
Deferrable EventsText box. Shows a list of events that are candidates to be retained by the state machine if they trigger no transitions out of the state (not consumed).
Button 1 click navigates to the selected event, button 2 on an event gives a pop up menu with the following entries.
Select. Allows to add already existing events to the list of deferred ones.New. Add a new event of a certain kind. This menu has the following submenus to select the kind of event: Call Event, Change Event, Signal Event, Time Event.Delete From Model. Delete the event.
IncomingText area. Lists all the transitions that enter this state.
Button 1 double click navigates to the selected entry.
OutgoingText area. Lists all the transitions that leave this state.
Button 1 double click navigates to the selected action.
Internal TransitionsText area. Lists all the internal transitions of the state. Such transitions neither exit nor enter the state, so they do not cause a state change. Which means that the Entry and Exit actions are not invoked.
Note This field shows the name of the transition, while on the diagram the name of the trigger is shown, separated with a
/from the effect script.Button 1 double-click navigates to the selected transition, button 2 gives a pop up menu with one entry.
New. Add a new internal transition.