Unified Modeling Language Reference Manual, The, Second Edition

inheritance

The mechanism by which more specific elements incorporate structure and behavior defined by more general elements.

See also full descriptor, generalization, redefinition

Semantics

Inheritance allows a full description of a classifier to be automatically constructed by assembling declaration fragments from a generalization hierarchy. A generalization hierarchy is a tree (actually, a partial order) of declarations of model elements, such as classes. Each declaration is not the declaration of a complete, usable element, however. Instead, each declaration is an incremental declaration describing what the element declaration adds to the declarations of its ancestors in the generalization hierarchy. Inheritance is the (implicit) process ...