What tools do people use for Part 2?

I am going to be doing this on my own dime and don't wish to pay a ton for Visio or RR.
Any suggestions?

Hi there,
A great compromise between free (but not a lot of features) and commercial (but not too expensive) is Enterprise Architect from http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/ . It's an incredibly versatile UML tool and only comes in at $89 - $189 (or thereabouts.)
The tools comes in three editions:
1. Desktop
The Desktop Edition is targeted at a single developer producing UML analysis and design models. It includes all Professional features except code engineering (import/export of source code and DDL), the Active-X interface and the ability to share a model amongst multiple users.

2. Professional
The Professional Edition is aimed at work groups and developers. It supports shared projects through replication and shared network file. The Professional version also has an ActiveX interface for interrogating EA projects and extracting information in XMI format. The Professional version also fully supports code import/export and synchronisation of model elements with source code and reverse engineering Oracle, SQL Server and MS Access databases.

3. Corporate
The Corporate Edition is aimed at larger development teams. It supports everything in the Desktop and Professional versions, as well as the ability to connect to MySQL and SQL Server DBMS backends as the shared repository. It also supports user security, user logins, user groups and user level locking of elements.

The desktop version is all I need at the moment. The way I see it, if one is willing to pay $89 for a one-time application like SCEA@Whiz, then one is probably willing to pay $89 for a continual-use application like EA Architect.

I've used Visio Pro 2002 as well as Poseidon UML Professional. But at the end of the day I'll come back to EA Architect :-)

My two cents.
Darryl

I used Enterprise Architect (v3.51 with UML 1.4 Notation). It is an Excellent tool at an Excellent price. Overall is a very good tool. It is a very fast and lightweight tool.

What are "excellent" tools in the free category?

For a free tool I recommend ArgoUML.
I also suggest taking a look at MagicDraw. It is an excellent tool for a very reasonable price.
Personally, I used a copy of Together Control Center. However, it costs about the same as a family sedan so if you don't have a copy through your employer than don't even consider it.

Also in the freebie category are:

1. Poseidon CE (http://www.gentleware.de/)
This is a cousin of ArgoUML.

2. Objecteering Discovery (?) Edition (http://www.objecteering.com/)
This is a nice freebie one too but a very massive download -- i.e. 15+ MB I believe!)
Darryl

Hmmm,
I wonder if I could use my old Etch-a-Sketch at home? This would only be good for angular classifiers. It might be possible to use Spirograph for the circular shapes however :-)
Darryl
[ April 29, 2003: Message edited by: Darryl A. J. Staflund ]

I use Enterprise Architect trial version. It is very easy to use !

Thanks for all the help, folks. Looks like a delay on my plans for the SCEA (I'm going to help Sun beta-test the new J2EE Business Components exam), but I still plan to start the SCEA this year.
So thanks, all!

there is a recently completed Eclipse /WSAD plugin that is available for FREE! you can get it on http://www.omondo.com/ . it has features like round-trip code revers-eng, exports of all kind.

Features of the free product Omondo UML (http://www.omondo.com)
UML 1.4
Eclipse 2.0.2
Eclipse 2.1
WSAD 5
XMI
GEF
EMF Ecore
EMF Codegen
Print function
Export functions (SVG, WMF, ...)
Auto-Layout
Zoom
Class diagram
Sequence diagram
Use Case diagram
StateChart diagram
Collaboration diagram
Activity diagram
Deployment diagram
Component diagram
Object diagram

1. How does one place a Actor in a Sequence Diagram in Rational Rose ? There seems to be no way to do this... The toolbar does not have any such icon/symbol.
2. How does one place the interface symbol (a small circle kind of thing) in a Component Diagram. It is not available in the tool bar of Component Diagram. But i find this symbol in the tool bar of Class Diagram instead ! I need this symbol to interface with subsystems.