Package Import   A package import is a directed relationship between a package (arrowhead end) and an importing namespace (tail end). The members of the referenced package can be used in the importing namespace without any qualification of the element name. A name can be added to the package import relationship, which is used as an alias (alternative name) for the elements in the importing namespace. The visibility of the elements in the importing namespace is by default public.

Explanation

A modeler will often need to refer to all or most of the elements in another package. While this can be achieved by using a qualified name for the elements, or by using an element import relationship to each element, a convenient way to refer to these elements is to use a package import relationship. This effectively allows the modeler to refer to (reference) all the elements in the other package as though they existed in the importing package. A package import relationship is the same as if there were an element import relationship to each of the elements of the package. If a new member were added to the package a package import relationship would implicitly make this available in the importing package (namespace); this may be useful in many circumstances but may be an unwanted side effect in other situations.

Related Entries

Element Import  Similar Usage,  Confused with,  More General An element import is related to a package import in that it has similar but more restrictive usage. Whereas a package import adds all the elements in the imported package to the importing package an element import only adds a single element.

Package Import (Access)  Similar Usage,  Confused with A package import with keyword access is related to a package import with a keyword import but is weaker. By using the keyword access the elements in the imported package (arrowhead end) are not added to the namespace but can be accessed by unqualified names from within the importing package. A package import with a keyword import adds all the elements in the imported package to the importing package; these elements can in turn be imported by another package.