Glossary table

Description

The Glossary saves time by ensuring consistent usage of terminology in the organization. It improves communication between team members, as terms are understood to have the same definitions and usages everywhere they appear.

Each row in the table represents a term. A word, phrase, or any element of the model can be a term. Words and phrases defined as terms are underlined. This enables you to identify terms in your model.

Purpose

The Glossary Table allows you to:

• Create a list of all the specific terms used in the project.
• Define your terms in one place.
• Use them everywhere in your project.
• Export your glossary to a new project and use it in other projects.
• Export your glossary into .html, .csv, or .xlsx files.
• Have several glossaries in one project.
• Customize the representation of the glossary in the table.

Usage

The video below demonstrates how to use the glossary in MagicDraw when working with Requirements.

Example

Specific tasks in the Glossary Table

The following outlines the basic procedures used in working with Glossary Tables:

Visibility of terms

The term descriptions are visible on the diagram pane.

Navigation through terms

When a term is a whole phrase and one or more words are also defined as terms, you can easily navigate through all those terms in the description window. We recommend creating a new package where the Glossary Table and all terms will be stored. In the new package, create a Glossary Table.

Usage of terms

After terms are defined in the glossary, it is easy to use them in your project. Press Ctrl + Backspace while typing to get a list of available terms.

Usage of acronyms

You can define capitalized acronyms, such as ABS or MBSE, in the glossary (see the figure below).

The option to recognize acronyms everywhere in the text is enabled by default.

To disable acronyms usage

1. From the Glossary Table toolbar, select .
2. Click to clear the Use Acronyms check box.

Adding terms in the Glossary Table

Use the following:

Directly from the diagram pane

To add a word or phrase to a glossary directly from the diagram pane

1. Select a word or phrase you want to be a term.

   Even if you mark only a part of a word, the whole word will be added to the glossary as a term.

2. Right-click it and select Add To <Glossary Table name>.
   The word or phrase is converted to a term and added to the Glossary Table.
   

Using the Generic Table toolbar

To add a term in the Glossary Table using a toolbar

• Click the Add New button to create a new row for a term in the table.
• Click the Add Existing button and from the Select Element dialog. Choose the element you wish to be a term.

By dragging any element

To drag an element to the Glossary Table

1. In the Containment tree, select an element you wish to be a term.
2. Drag it to the Glossary Table.

By pasting from another resource

To create terms in the table by pasting data from another resource

1. Copy a table from another resource.

   • The number of columns in that table should be the same as the number of columns in the Glossary Table.
   • The data types of columns in the Glossary table must be compatible with copied information.

2. Open the Glossary Table where you want to paste the copied data.

   • The cells must be editable in the Glossary Table.

3. Press Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on OS X).
   Each row displays one term with its description.

   • If the term already exists in the model, the information updates.
   • If terms have ID prefixes in another resource, they are automatically set after the copy-and-paste command only for pasted terms in the Glossary Table. Manage ID prefixes in the Element Numbering dialog.