Use a Collaboration Use to apply a Pattern defined by a Collaboration to a specific situation, in a Composite Structure diagram.
This example shows a Use, NWServer, of the Collaboration Install, to define the installation process of a network scanner. This process can be defined by an interaction attached to the Collaboration. (See the Collaboration topic for a representation of the Install Collaboration.)
To create a Collaboration Use, drag the icon from the Toolbox onto the diagram.
OMG UML Specification:
The OMG UML specification (UML Superstructure Specification, v2.1.1, p.173) states:
A collaboration use represents one particular use of a collaboration to explain the relationships between the properties of a classifier. A collaboration use shows how the pattern described by a collaboration is applied in a given context, by binding specific entities from that context to the roles of the collaboration. Depending on the context, these entities could be structural features of a classifier, instance specifications, or even roles in some containing collaboration. There may be multiple occurrences of a given collaboration within a classifier, each involving a different set of roles and connectors. A given role or connector may be involved in multiple occurrences of the same or different collaborations.