# Life Lines # ---------- # A lifeline is a vertical dashed line that appears below a participant’s name # (usually inside a rectangle at the top). It shows the existence of that # participant over time, starting from the top (earlier in time) and extending # downward as time progresses. # Structure of a Lifeline # # - Actor box (head): Contains the name of the object or actor. # # - Vertical dashed line: Represents the object’s presence throughout the # interaction. # # - Executions bars (optional): Narrow rectangles over the lifeline that show # when the object is performing an action or is active (e.g., executing a # method). These are alternatively called: Activations or Invocations actor : actor boundary : boundary control : control entity : entity type : type object : "Life Line" ref(Sequence Diagrams | /diagrams/uml-sequence-diagrams ) object.create() object.method(method parameters) { return(method results) } object.destroy() note(460, 10, 200, The box or icon at the top of the life line shows the objects name and its class/classifier. ) note(440, 120, 200, Actors/objects exist by default or can be created explicitly using the create message ) note(570, 280, 200, Execution rectangles show the time taken to perform an action. ) note(570, 370, 200, Cross shows the end of the actors life. )