When to use sequence and collaboration diagram

[kanupam11]

When we designing an enterprise solution, which would be better to depict a flow of usecase??
I would appreciate any remarks on this front..
Thanks

[Cindy Glass]

kanupam11
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Thanks,
Cindy
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[Michael Chang]

sequence diagram is used for describing data flow among difference objects. It is useful when you need to figure out how the messages should be passed around to finish a task. collaboration diagram is more static. It basically tells you the relationship among the objects.

[Avijeet Dash]

I thought we can do all that we do in sequence diagram in collaboration diagram also, only the digram is different.
Am i wrong?

[Thomas Paul]

They do two different things. The collaboration diagram shows the structural arrangement of classes that have interactions. The sequnce diagram shows how those interactions exist in time. A collaboration diagram will say that these two classes share a relationship. A sequence diagram will show the details of that relationship.
In our shop we rarely use collaboration diagrams except to hang on the wall of the war room where they look very impressive.
[This message has been edited by Thomas Paul (edited March 02, 2001).]

[John Wetherbie]

Collaboration and sequence diagrams show pretty much the same information, how objects in a system communicate with each other, the information is presented differently. They are both classified as interaction diagrams. The sequence diagram emphasizes sequence (not a surprise! )while the collaboration diagram can be used to indicate how the objects are statically related.
I have never used a collaboration diagram myself. I much prefer the sequence diagram because I think it is much easier to read and understand how the objects are communicating. If I want to understand the static relationships I'll use a class diagram.
John

[Ct Arrington]

Hi all
I agree that they contain the same information and that sequence diagrams are far more natural to create. I create the sequence diagrams and then make Rose auto-generate the collaboration diagram. The collaboration diagram emphasizes the connections between the objects and provides a valuable sanity check.
CT

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C.T. Arrington
Author of Enterprise Java with UML