Architecting and designing > MODAF > Creating Operational View products > Creating OV-5 activity models > Modeling OV-5 diagrams with IDEF > Specifying IDEF0 models for the OV-5 > Propagating IDEF0 models automatically
  
Propagating IDEF0 models automatically
You can use the IDEF0 Model Propagation command to attach the model name of the parent OV-5 diagram that you have open to all of its child diagrams.
About this task
This is a useful utility if you have created IDEF0 diagrams for which you have not specified a model (in their diagram properties dialog), but have connected those diagrams as children within a hierarchy of IDEF0 diagrams. The model name of an IDEF0 diagram is found in its Diagram Properties (right-click the diagram workspace and select Diagram Properties or select Edit > Diagram Properties).
IDEF0 Model Names and Child Diagrams
If you start modeling with an OV-5 Context diagram (which must have a model name) and then create child OV-5 diagrams, that model name is automatically given to the child diagrams.
However, if you do not start with an OV-5 Context diagram, and simply create a hierarchy of OV-5 diagrams through Parent-Child linkages, none of the diagrams will have an IDEF0 model name assigned to it unless you manually specify the model name for each one.
There are advantages to each method. If you are drilling down from a Context diagram, you are assured that the child diagrams belong to the same model. However, many times in analysis you might be modeling a business situation that you do not yet know how to 'group' yet.
Procedure
To get each diagram in the hierarchy to report to a particular model:
1 Open the OV-5 Activity Model diagram in the hierarchy that has the model name that you want to propagate to child diagrams.
2 Click Tools > IDEF Utilities > IDEF0 Model Propagation.
Results
The operation starts at the diagram you opened and assigns its model name to all diagrams below it, but not above it, in the hierarchy.
See also
Specifying IDEF0 models for the OV-5