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### 4.3 Dividers

In a message sequence chart it is often important to segment the process into multiple logical parts. You can use the ‘`---`’ element to draw a horizontal line acorss the chart with some text, e.g., to summarize what have been achieved so far.

Similar to this, using the ‘`...`’ element can express the passage of time by making the vertical lines dotted.

Sometimes one merely wants to add some text to a chart. In that case the empty element can be used either like ‘`: text;`’. The symbol ‘`|||`’ simply inserts an empty row.

The above construct always places the text in the middle of the chart. Smaller chart explanations are better done via the `text at` command.

More options to comment and annotate your chart can be found in Annotating the Chart.