You can import an OWL ontology file (after setting the OWL import catalog, if necessary), and reuse or augment it in the Concept Modeler.


To import an OWL ontology into a concept model (after setting the XML catalog file if necessary)


  1. On the main menu, click File > Import From. Select OWL Ontology File.


  2. Browse for an ontology file.
  3. Click Open. The ontology file will be imported into the MagicDraw project.

Path Variables

If the OWL import catalog is set using a path variable (as described in using a path variable to share OWL import catalog files), and this path variable is not defined (as described in setting a path variable to share OWL import catalog files), the Concept Modeler will not be able to locate it. Consequently, the following dialog box will be displayed.

A dialog prompting you to specify a path variable.

Clicking Yes allows you to set the path variable to a root directory containing OWL import catalog files and the import of the OWL ontology to proceed.

Setting the path variable to the OWL import catalog files.

When an OWL file has been successfully imported, an Imported Ontologies package will appear in the Containment tree containing the imported OWL data. 

The imported ontology package appears in the Containment tree.

Anonymous Ontology

The modeling tool detects anonymous ontologies and shows you an informative message when you import an anonymous ontology. The message is shown below.

Also, the notification window will show you the follow message.

XML Namespaces

When importing an ontology, CCM will now automatically populate the XML Namespace in any case where an XML Namespace exists, even if you are not importing the main file.