Actors

An actor is a model element that describes a role that a user plays when interacting with the system being modeled. Actors, by definition, are external to the system. Although an actor typically represents a human user, it can also represent an organization, system, or machine that interacts with the system. An actor can correspond to multiple real users, and a single user may play the role of multiple actors.

Shape

An actor usually appears as a "stick man" shape.

actor.gif

In models depicting software applications, actors represent the users of the system. Examples include end users, external computer systems, and system administrators.

Naming Conventions

Each actor has a unique name that describes the role the user plays when interacting with the system.

Related Topics

Objects | UML Sequence Diagrams