Sequence diagrams with references and VOPC

Question

I'm designing a sequence diagram that has a reference to other sequence diagrams. My question is when I design the VOPC of the sequence diagram that has such references to other diagrams, shall I include the VOPC of the referenced diagrams as well?

Answer 1

VOPC is not standard UML. It stands for "View Of the Participating Classes" and is a RUP specific acronym. This academic paper reminds its objective:

The objective of this deliverable [i.e. the analysis model] is to (...) develop analysis models (structural and behavioral) of each use case. (...) The structural model presents a grouping of classes that in RUP® technology are referred to as the View of Participating Classes (VOPC). This VOPC provides a model of classes and their relationships (associations and dependencies) needed to realize the functionality captured in the Use Case.

So the goal is not to limit itself to a specific sequence diagram, but to cover a use-case of which the sequence diagram is only a representation. Moreover, the use of a reference in the SD is arbitrary; another modeller could have described the use-case in a more complex - although difficult to read - single SD.

Therefore, you can derive that the VOPC shall contain also the classes of the referenced sequence diagram, as these contribute as well to the realisation of the use-case.