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UML stereotype Standard Elements

StereotypeApplies to … Meaning
accessclassSpecifies a coherent set of roles that users of use cases play when interacting with these use cases
associationlink endSpecifies that the corresponding object is visible by association
becomemessageSpecifies that the target is the same object as the source but at a later point in time and with possibly different values, state, orroles
copydependencySpecifies that the source a operation invokes the target operation
createevent or messageSpecifies that the target object is an exact but independent copy of the source
derivedependencySpecifies that the source may be computed from the target
destroyevent or messageSpecifies that the target object is destroyed by the event or message
documentcomponentSpecifies a component that represents a document
enumerationclassSpecifies an enumerated type, including its possible values as a set of identifiers
executablecomponentSpecifies a component that may be executed on a node
extenddependencySpecifies that the source use case extends the behavior of the target use case at the given extension point in the target use case
facadepackageSpecifies a package that is only a view on some other package
filecomponentSpecifies a package consisting of mainly patterns
frienddependencySpecifies that the source is given special visibility into the target
globallink endSpecifies that the corresponding object is visible because it is in an enclosing scope
importdependencySpecifies that the public contents of the target package enter the flat namespace of the source, as if they had been declared in thesource
implementationgeneralizationSpecifies that the child inherits the implementation of the parent but does not make public nor support its interface, thereby violatingsubstitutability
implementationclassclassSpecifies the implementation of a class in some programming language
includedependencySpecifies that the source use case explicitly incorporates the behavior of another use case at a location specified by the source
instanceofdependencySpecifies that the source object is an instance of the target classifier
instantiatedependencySpecifies that operations on the source class create instances of the target class
invariantconstraintSpecifies a constraint that must always hold for the associated element
librarycomponentSpecifies a static or dynamic object library
locallink endSpecifies that the corresponding object is visible because it is in a local scope
metaclassclassifierSpecifies a classifier whose objects are classes
parameterlink endSpecifies that the corresponding object is visible because it is a parameter
postconditionconstraintSpecifies a constraint that must hold after the invocation of an operation
powertypeclass or dependencySpecifies a classifier whose objects are all the children of a given parent; specifies that the target is a powertype of the source.
preconditionconstraintSpecifies a constraint that must hold before the invocation of an operation
processclassSpecifies a classifier whose instances represent a heavyweight flow
requirementcommentSpecifies a desired feature, property, or behavior of a system
responsibilitycommentSpecifies a contract by or an obligation of a class
selflink endSpecifies that the corresponding object is visible because it is the dispatcher of the message
senddependencySpecifies that the source operation sends the target event
stereotypeclassSpecifies that the classifier is a stereotype that may be applied to other elements
stubpackageSpecifies a package that serves as a proxy for the public contents of another package
systempackageSpecifies a package representing the entire system being modeled
tablecomponentSpecifies a component that represents a database table
threadclassSpecifies a classifier whose instances represent a lightweight flow of control
typeclassSpecifies an abstract class that is used only to specify the structure and behavior (but not the implementation) of a set of objects
utilityclassSpecifies a class whose attributes and operations are all class-scope

UML Distilled

Purpose of Stereotypes

Because of UML 1, many people use the term stereotype to mean the same as keyword, although that is no longer correct.
Stereotypes are used as part of profiles. A profile takes a part of the UML and extends it with a coherent group of stereotypes for a particular purpose, such as business modeling. Unless you are into serious meta-model design, you are unlikely to need to create a stereotype yourself. You are more likely to use one created for a specific modeling purpose, but fortunately, use of a profile does not require you to know all of the details of how they are tied into the meta-model.