1. Visualizing Design Patterns in Their Applications and Compositions

2. Design pattern overview
A design pattern is a formally documented solution to a design problem.
Patterns are used to communicate architectural knowledge, teach new design paradigms, and convey design experience
They are normally modeled in natural languages and visual notations (UML)

3. Design pattern UML
Each design pattern typically contains several participants.
When the pattern is applied names are changed to suit the application domain
This means pattern information represented by the role names is lost.
When this happens it becomes difficult to identify the patterns used in the system.

4. Design pattern

5. UML Solutions Several approaches have been suggested.
-Venn diagram-style annotation
-UML collaboration annotation
-Pattern:role annotation

6. Composition of patterns
Venn diagram-style

7. UML collaboration
Pattern:Role

8. Problems with existing solutions
Static notations attached to UML diagrams
Cannot distinguish between two instantiations of the same pattern
Only applied in class diagrams not in sequence or behavioral diagrams
Do not cover the roles of operations or attributes.

9. Previously proposed solutions
Design pattern modeling language (DPML)
Adds new symbols to UML
Design recovery frameworks
Logic based languages
Specialized version of UML meta-model

10. New Solution
An extension to the existing UML specification through stereotypes
Tagged Values for each stereotype
[instance]
Multiple tags per class are allowed.

11. Visualization tool
On-demand visualization techniques based on coloring and mouse movement
VisDP – tool that can hide/show design pattern information on demand.
Mouse-over a class in a pattern, and all classes in that pattern turn a different color.
Pattern information overlaid over diagram