How to create an element type
Create the element type
Section titled “Create the element type”- In the Explorer, expand your M2 metamodel package
- Right-click on an element type layer package (e.g., “Business Layer”)
- Select New Element Type…, name it, and click Create Element Type
- Rename it (e.g., “Application”) and press Enter
Configure notation
Section titled “Configure notation”With the new element type selected, set its visual appearance in the Appearance section of the Properties panel:
- Shape — Rectangle, Rounded, Pill, Chamfered, Chevron, Ellipse or Diamond
- Fill colour — a Light and a Dark value, linked by default so one pick sets both. See How to set light and dark colours for a metamodel type
- Border, Text and Fold colours — leave them on Auto unless you need a specific colour
- Icon (SVG) — paste SVG markup (e.g., from Lucide icons)
- Default Width / Default Height — initial size when placed on a diagram
For every setting, see How to configure notation.
Add to the palette
Section titled “Add to the palette”Element types automatically appear in the Palette once created inside an elementTypes package. No additional configuration is needed — the Palette picks up all element types from imported M2 metamodels.
Three settings keep a type out of the Palette:
- Abstract (in Advanced) — the type exists only to be inherited from, and nothing can be created as one. See How to use class generalization
- Hidden from palette (in Advanced) — the type is usable but not listed
- Is Subordinate (in Subordination) — elements of the type are created inside an element of another type. See How to define owned element types
Move it to another layer
Section titled “Move it to another layer”To move an element type to a different layer, drag it in the Explorer onto that layer’s folder. Select several types to move them together.
- It can go only to a layer of the same metamodel: a folder directly inside Element Types. Anywhere else shows the “not allowed” cursor
- The type’s property types move with it, and it appears under the new layer in the Palette
- Nothing else changes: elements of the type, the relationship rules that name it, and its superclasses and subclasses all stay as they are
- To undo it, drag the type back
Relationship types and enumerations each live in a single folder, so there is nowhere to move them. Nothing can be moved in a read-only metamodel.
If you later upgrade the metamodel from a file, the type returns to the layer the file gives it.
The sections of a type’s Properties
Section titled “The sections of a type’s Properties”Below the name, an element type’s Properties are grouped into sections you open and close:
| Section | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Shape, colours, icon and default size |
| Inheritance | The type’s superclasses and subclasses. See How to use class generalization |
| Property Types | The properties elements of this type have, the type’s own and the inherited ones |
| Subordination | Whether the type is subordinate, and the subordinate types it can own |
| Advanced | Stereotype, Abstract, Hidden from palette, containment and attachment |
Each heading says what is inside after a dot, so you need only open a section when there is something in it: Inheritance · 1 superclass, Property Types · 1 + 2 inherited, Subordination · subordinate, Advanced · abstract. A heading with nothing after its name has nothing inside. Appearance always shows its name alone.
Sections start closed, and stay as you leave them while you move from one type to the next.
Add properties
Section titled “Add properties”See How to define properties and enumerations.
- Give each element type a distinct fill colour and icon so types are visually distinguishable on diagrams
- Check the fill in both themes with the Preview toggle (☀ Light / ☾ Dark)
- Use layer packages to organise related types (e.g., “People & Teams”, “Technology”, “Financial”)
- Tick Abstract in Advanced if the type should only be used as a superclass. Nothing can then be created as one, and its name shows in italics in the Explorer