Model Structure and Management

What is the best way to structure a SysML model? This is a question often asked of the authors. Unfortunately, as with much of modelling, the only valid answer that can be given is “It depends”. It depends on who are the main users of the model, on the level of sophistication of the document generation facilities within a SysML tool, on the life cycle stage you are in, on the Processes you are following and the Architectural Framework you are using. It can also depend on the SysML tool you are using. Section 19.2 of this chapter gives some thoughts on possible ways of structuring a model. They are only suggestions, and the reality is that the structure may well change considerably throughout the lifetime of the model. The second topic covered by this chapter, in Section 19.3, is that of model management. Again, this is a huge topic that is very much dependent on the SysML tool being used. Nevertheless, some of our thoughts on model management are presented. The topics presented in this chapter, together with those diagramming guidelines discussed in Chapter 6, should be incorporated into an organisational SysML modelling standard that is used and enforced as part of the reader's systems engineering processes.