Does generalization exist in UML Use Case Diagrams?

Question

I\'m trying to model some requirements and I saw some examples in the web with use cases generalization, but the UML 2.5 standard review doesn\'t say anything about generali

Answer 1

I don't know if use case generalization is "supported" by an official UML standard. But

• it is supported by Kirill Fakhroutdinov's online book (a site that I personally use as "standard" reference) at http://www.uml-diagrams.org/use-case.html#abstract-use-case
• it is supported by the Agile Modeling online book at http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/useCaseReuse.htm#InheritanceUC
• it is supported by the Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect tool
• it is supported by the Modelio the open source modeling environment tool

So my conclusion is that use case generalization is supported just enough and practically you can use if you need it.

But more usual way to express that one use case is specialization of another use case is (IMO) through the <> relationship. See http://www.uml-diagrams.org/use-case-extend.html and http://www.batimes.com/articles/use-case-goals-scenarios-and-flows.html (and Wikipedia) for some more detailed discussion