Drawing UML with plantuml
In this article, I will demo how to use plantuml and org-mode to draw UML diagram and embedded the graphic inside the exported html file.
PlantUML is used to draw UML diagram, using a simple and human readable text description.1
1 Installation and emacs setup
In order to make use of plantuml you should install graphviz and
download plantuml.jar. plantuml.jar uses graphviz as the
backend to convert images.
You can download graphviz here:
http://www.graphviz.org/Download.php. Or you can install graphviz
from cygwin setup, actually, I'm using cygwin port of graphviz. My
philosophy is that if some software is available as cygwin port, I
will not install it as Windows software.
In this link you can find all the guide on how to add cygwin mirror
for graphviz: http://sourceware.org/cygwinports/.
Then you can find plantuml.jar from here:
http://www.plantuml.com/download.html. The F.A.Q. says that:
PlantUML is developped with continuous integration in mind. That
means that there are new releases quite often. So you'd better to
check update with following command:
java -jar plantuml.jar -checkversion
Now lets assume that your graphviz dot.exe is located at
C:\cygwin\bin\dot.exe and plantuml.jar can be found at
C:\plantuml\plantuml.jar.
You should add following elisp to your .emacs to make use of
plantuml from emacs org-mode:
(require 'ob-plantuml) (setenv "GRAPHVIZ_DOT" "C:\\cygwin\\bin\\dot.exe") (setq org-plantuml-jar-path "C:\\plantuml\\plantuml.jar") (org-babel-do-load-languages 'org-babel-load-languages '((plantuml . t) ))
As normal, org-babel will evaluate plantuml source and generate an image file, and then attach the image file inside html file. But as I know svg type of image is just standard xml text, so it is possible to merge the svg xml with html file. You can add following redefined function to your .emacs to make this happen:
(defun org-babel-result-to-file (result &optional description) "If result file is svg type, convert RESULT into html file and plugin the html text in the exported file." (when (stringp result) (if (string= "svg" (file-name-extension result)) (progn (with-temp-buffer (if (file-exists-p (concat result ".html")) (delete-file (concat result ".html"))) (rename-file result (concat result ".html")) (insert-file-contents (concat result ".html")) (message (concat result ".html")) (format "#+BEGIN_HTML <div style=\"text-align: center;\"> %s </div> #+END_HTML" (buffer-string) ))) (progn (format "[[file:%s]%s]" (if (and default-directory buffer-file-name (not (string= (expand-file-name default-directory) (expand-file-name (file-name-directory buffer-file-name))))) (expand-file-name result default-directory) result) (if description (concat "[" description "]") ""))))))
2 First try with plantuml
Now let try to draw some uml diagrams. In order to generate svg images, you should add following property to the plantuml source:
#+BEGIN_SRC plantuml :file filename.svg
2.1 Sequence Diagram
"UML sequence diagrams model the flow of logic within your system in a visual manner, enabling you both to document and validate your logic, and are commonly used for both analysis and design purposes. Sequence diagrams are the most popular UML artifact for dynamic modeling, which focuses on identifying the behavior within your system.2"
@startuml
hide footbox
actor Kimi
actor Ivy
Kimi -> Ivy: Can I buy a pot of rosemary?
loop 10 times
Ivy -> Notebook: Check how many pots of rosemary we have
activate Notebook
Notebook --> Ivy: Count of rosemary
deactivate Notebook
end
Ivy --> Kimi: No, we have many pots.
Kimi -> Ivy: Can I buy a novel book?
Ivy --> Bookshelf: Check how many new books
activate Bookshelf
Bookshelf --> Ivy: Count of new books
deactivate Bookshelf
Ivy --> Kimi: No, you have lots of new books not finished.
@enduml
2.2 Use Case Diagram
"UML 2 use case diagrams overview the usage requirements for a system.3"
@startuml left to right direction actor Kimi << Robot >> actor Ivy << Human >> (Use the computer) as (Computer) << Main >> (Use the iPad) as (iPad) << Secondary >> Kimi --> (Computer):emacs Ivy --> (Computer):taobao, movie Kimi --> (iPad):news, learning languages Ivy --> (iPad):taobao, movie @enduml
2.3 Class Diagram
"UML 2 class diagrams show the classes of the system, their interrelationships (including inheritance, aggregation, and association), and the operations and attributes of the classes. Class diagrams are used for a wide variety of purposes, including both conceptual/domain modeling and detailed design modeling.4"
@startuml
abstract class AbstractMother
abstract AbstractFather
abstract AbstractDaughter
interface Mother
interface Father
interface Daughter
interface Toy
interface Cash
abstract AbstractToy
abstract AbstractCash
Mother <|-- AbstractMother
Father <|-- AbstractFather
Daughter <|-- AbstractDaughter
Toy <|-- AbstractToy
Cash <|-- AbstractCash
Mother <|-- Daughter
Father <|-- Daughter
AbstractMother *- AbstractCash
AbstractDaughter *- AbstractToy
AbstractCash <|-- RMB
AbstractToy <|-- ManhattanBall
AbstractToy <|-- FisherPrice
AbstractMother <|-- Ivy
Ivy *- RMB
AbstractDaughter <|-- Vivi
Vivi *- ManhattanBall
Vivi *- FisherPrice
AbstractFather <|-- Kimi
interface Father {
work()
}
interface Mother {
cook()
pay_by_cash()
}
interface Daughter {
play_toy()
sing()
laugh()
cry()
}
class Ivy {
taobao()
watch_movie()
}
class Kimi {
cook()
read()
write()
}
class Vivi {
sleep()
drink_milk()
}
@enduml
2.4 Activity Diagram
UML 2 activity diagrams are typically used for business process modeling, for modeling the logic captured by a single use case or usage scenario, or for modeling the detailed logic of a business rule.5
@startuml
title Kimi's daily life
(*)--> get up/have breakfast
--> read Deutsch/Francais news
if "work day" then
-left->[yes] "wait shuttle bus"
--> "hard working"
--> "back to home"
else
-right->[no] "write article"
if "Vivi and Ivy wake up" then
--> [yes] "play with Vivi"
--> "go out with Vivi and Ivy"
-left-> "back to home"
endif
endif
"back to home" --> "give a bath to Vivi"
--> "sleep"
-->(*)
@enduml
2.5 State Diagram
"UML state machine diagrams depict the various states that an object may be in and the transitions between those states. In fact, in other modeling languages, it is common for this type of a diagram to be called a state-transition diagram or even simply a state diagram.6"
@startuml
[*] -> Wakeup
Wakeup --> Thinking : earlier than 9:00
Wakeup --> Playing : later than 9:00
Thinking -> Playing : timeout
Thinking -left-> Writing: have idea
Writing -> Playing : timeout
state Writing {
[*] --> Research : stopped
Research --> Typing : materials found
Typing --> Preview : succeeded
Preview --> Publish : succeeded
Preview --> Typing : failed
Typing --> Research : blocked
}
Writing --> [*] : Succeeded / Save Result
Writing --> [*] : Aborted
Playing --> [*] : Tired
@enduml
2.6 Other UML Diagrams
In UML 2 there are other diagrams such as Component Diagram and Objects Diagram which are supported also by PlantUML.