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A UML use case diagram summarizes how users (or actors) interact with a system, such as a software application. An actor can be a person, an organization, or another system. Use case diagrams show the expected behavior of the system.

Note: Creating and editing UML diagrams on Visio for the web requires a Visio Plan 1 or Visio Plan 2 license, which is purchased separately from Microsoft 365. For more information, contact your Microsoft 365 admin. If your admin has turned on "self-service purchasing," you can buy a license for Visio yourself. For more details, see Self-service purchase FAQ.

Following are the shapes on the UML Use Case stencil.

Shape

Description

The Actor shape.

Represents a user or external entity that interacts with a system.

The Use Case shape.

A coherent unit of functionality provided by a system or class. 

The Subsystem shape.

A system component that may contain multiple use cases.

The Association connector.

Represents the participation of an actor in a use case. 

The Dependency connector.

Indicates that one use case has a dependency on another.

The Generalization connector.

Indicates that a use case is a specific way to achieve goals of the general use case.

The Include connector.

Shows how a use case is broken into smaller steps.

The Extend connector.

Shows that one use case adds functionality to another.

See Also

Create a UML use case diagram

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