Rational Software Architect Standard Edition

Comprehensive support for UML 2 modeling

• Provides UML 2 modeling support for analysis and design using use case, object, class, sequence, activity, composite structure, state machine, communication, component, and object and deployment diagrams.
• Simplifies use of UML notation for design, documentation and other communications with free-form diagrams, topic diagrams and browse diagrams.
• Offers visual modeling with content-assist. This feature includes action bars, connection handles and CTRL-SPACE to guide you through creating well-formed models.
• Includes UML class diagram editing for C/C++ and Java code, and UML sequence diagram editing for C++ and Java code.
• Provides Java method body visualization using UML 2 sequence diagrams. This helps you understand the flow of a Java method.

Transformations

• Automatically creates UML models from code for Java-to-UML and C++-to-UML transformations.
• Allows you to use the visual model compare/merge facility to compare code to models to verify conformance with the specified architecture, even when both code and models have been changed.
• Generates Java, C++ or CORBA IDL code from design models. You can customize transformations to tailor code generation patterns to your needs.

Productivity

• Allows organizations to capture and promote "recipes" that teams can use and reuse. These apply and author patterns and transformations increase the predictability and repeatability of software development.
• Enables you to access reusable assets via an asset browser. It supports the OMG Reusable Asset Specification, helping you browse repositories containing reusable assets and structure repositories to make it easy to find assets. This feature also helps reduce code redundancy by promoting reuse throughout the organization.
• Mines application code automatically to identify and graphically render application patterns. Enables flexible model management for parallel development and architectural re-factoring including split, combine, compare, and merge models and model fragments.
• Supports US Department of Defense Architectural Framework (DoDAF). You can build and manage DoDAF views and work products, and automatically generate DoDAF compliant reports.
• Supports Model Driven Systems Development. Process guidance is based on the Rational Unified Process with extensions for systems engineering. You gain context-sensitive process guidance and tool mentors.

Flexibility

• Supports Eclipse-based plug-ins. Includes Java and C/C++ development tools with syntax highlighting editors, code completion, and customizable build and debugger environment.
• Integrates with IBM WebSphere® Business Modeler and IBM Rational SoDA®.
• Provides an open API to support customizing and extending the modeling environment. Supports UML profile creation and editing to customize properties stored in UML models.
• Augments Javadoc reporting capabilities with the ability to integrate UML detailed design diagrams into a Javadoc.
• Allows you to create lightweight utilities and extensions to customize your development environment via scripting support with Java.