Subdiagram Blocks to Represent Inheritance

A subdiagram block inherits some or all of its properties from another block diagram. This allows the analyst to maintain separate diagrams for portions of a system and incorporate those diagrams as components of another diagram. With this technique, it is possible to generate and analyze extremely complex diagrams representing the behavior of many subsystems, subsubsystems etc. in a manageable way. In Figure 1, Subdiagram Block A in the top diagram represents the series configuration of the subsystem reflected in the middle diagram, while Subdiagram Block G in the middle diagram represents the series configuration of the subsubsystem in the bottom diagram.

Figure 1: Subdiagram Blocks to Represent Inheritance