PlantUML Language Reference Guide Plant UML

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Drawing UML with PlantUML

Language Reference Guide
(Version pversion)

PlantUML is an Open Source project that allows to quickly write:
• Sequence diagram,
• Usecase diagram,
• Class diagram,
• Activity diagram,
• Component diagram,
• State diagram,
• Object diagram.
Diagrams are deﬁned using a simple and intuitive language.

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1 Sequence Diagram
1.1 Basic examples
The sequence -> is used to draw a message between two participants. Participants do not have to be
explicitly declared.
To have a dotted arrow, you use -->
It is also possible to use <- and <--. That does not change the drawing, but may improve readability.
Note that this is only true for sequence diagrams, rules are diﬀerent for the other diagrams.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob --> Alice: Authentication Response
Alice -> Bob: Another authentication Request
Alice <-- Bob: another authentication Response
@enduml

1.2 Declaring participant
It is possible to change participant order using the participant keyword.
It is also possible to use other keywords to declare a participant:
• actor
• boundary
• control
• entity
• database
@startuml
actor Foo1
boundary Foo2
control Foo3
entity Foo4
database Foo5
collections Foo6
Foo1 -> Foo2 : To
Foo1 -> Foo3 : To
Foo1 -> Foo4 : To
Foo1 -> Foo5 : To
Foo1 -> Foo6 : To

boundary
control
entity
database
collections

@enduml

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1.3 Use non-letters in participants

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

You can rename a participant using the as keyword.
You can also change the background color of actor or participant.
@startuml
actor Bob #red
' The only difference between actor
'and participant is the drawing
participant Alice
participant "I have a really\nlong name" as L #99 FF99
/' You can also declare:
participant L as "I have a really\nlong name" #99 FF99
'/
Alice ->Bob: Authentication Request
Bob ->Alice: Authentication Response
Bob ->L: Log transaction
@enduml

1.3 Use non-letters in participants
You can use quotes to deﬁne participants. And you can use the as keyword to give an alias to those
participants.
@startuml
Alice -> "Bob ()" : Hello
"Bob ()" -> "This is very\nlong" as Long
' You can also declare:
' "Bob ()" -> Long as "This is very\nlong"
Long --> "Bob ()" : ok
@enduml

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1.4 Message to Self

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.4 Message to Self
A participant can send a message to itself.
It is also possible to have multi-line using \n.
@startuml
Alice ->Alice: This is a signal to self .\nIt also demonstrates\nmultiline \ntext
@enduml

1.5 Change arrow style
You can change arrow style by several ways:
• add a ﬁnal x to denote a lost message
• use \ or / instead of < or > to have only the bottom or top part of the arrow
• repeat the arrow head (for example, >> or //) head to have a thin drawing
• use -- instead of - to have a dotted arrow
• add a ﬁnal ”o” at arrow head
• use bidirectional arrow
@startuml
Bob ->x Alice
Bob -> Alice
Bob ->> Alice
Bob -\ Alice
Bob \\- Alice
Bob //-- Alice
Bob ->o Alice
Bob o\\-- Alice
Bob <-> Alice
Bob <->o Alice
@enduml

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1.6 Change arrow color

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.6 Change arrow color
You can change the color of individual arrows using the following notation:
@startuml
Bob -[#red]> Alice : hello
Alice -[#0000FF]->Bob : ok
@enduml

1.7 Message sequence numbering
The keyword autonumber is used to automatically add number to messages.
@startuml
autonumber
Bob -> Alice : Authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Authentication Response
@enduml

You can specify a startnumber with autonumber 'start' , and also an increment with autonumber
'start' 'increment'.
@startuml
autonumber
Bob -> Alice : Authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Authentication Response
autonumber 15
Bob -> Alice : Another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Another authentication Response
autonumber 40 10

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1.7 Message sequence numbering

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

Bob -> Alice : Yet another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Yet another authentication Response
@enduml

You can specify a format for your number by using between double-quote.
The formatting is done with the Java class DecimalFormat (’0’ means digit, ’#’ means digit and zero
if absent).
You can use some html tag in the format.
@startuml
autonumber "[000]"
Bob -> Alice : Authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Authentication Response
autonumber 15 "(##)"
Bob -> Alice : Another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Another authentication Response
autonumber 40 10 "Message 0 "
Bob -> Alice : Yet another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Yet another authentication Response
@enduml

You can also use autonumber stop and autonumber resume 'increment' 'format' to respectively
pause and resume automatic numbering.
@startuml
autonumber 10 10 "[000]"
Bob -> Alice : Authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Authentication Response

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1.8 Splitting diagrams

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

autonumber stop
Bob -> Alice : dummy
autonumber resume "Message 0 "
Bob -> Alice : Yet another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Yet another authentication Response
autonumber stop
Bob -> Alice : dummy
autonumber resume 1 "Message 0
Bob -> Alice : Yet another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Yet another authentication Response
@enduml

"

1.8 Splitting diagrams
The newpage keyword is used to split a diagram into several images.
You can put a title for the new page just after the newpage keyword.
This is very handy with Word to print long diagram on several pages.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob : message 1
Alice -> Bob : message 2
newpage
Alice -> Bob : message 3
Alice -> Bob : message 4
newpage A title for the\nlast page
Alice -> Bob : message 5
Alice -> Bob : message 6
@enduml

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1.9 Grouping message

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.9 Grouping message
It is possible to group messages together using the following keywords:
• alt/else
• opt
• loop
• par
• break
• critical
• group, followed by a text to be displayed
It is possible a add a text that will be displayed into the header (except for group).
The end keyword is used to close the group.
Note that it is possible to nest groups.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
alt successful case
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Accepted
else some kind of failure
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Failure
group My own label
Alice -> Log : Log attack start
loop 1000 times
Alice -> Bob: DNS Attack
end
Alice -> Log : Log attack end
end
else Another type of failure
Bob -> Alice: Please repeat
end
@enduml

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1.10 Notes on messages

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.10 Notes on messages
It is possible to put notes on message using the note left or note right keywords just after the message.
You can have a multi-line note using the end note keywords.
@startuml
Alice ->Bob : hello
note left: this is a first note
Bob ->Alice : ok
note right: this is another note
Bob ->Bob : I am thinking
note left
a note
can also be defined
on several lines
end note
@enduml

1.11 Some other notes
It is also possible to place notes relative to participant with note left of , note right of or note
over keywords.
It is possible to highlight a note by changing its background color.
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1.12 Changing notes shape

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

You can also have a multi-line note using the end note keywords.
@startuml
participant Alice
participant Bob
note left of Alice #aqua
This is displayed
left of Alice.
end note
note right of Alice: This is displayed right of Alice.
note over Alice: This is displayed over Alice.
note over Alice , Bob #FFAAAA: This is displayed\n over Bob and Alice.
note over Bob , Alice
This is yet another
example of
a long note.
end note
@enduml

1.12 Changing notes shape
You can use hnote and rnote keywords to change note shapes.
@startuml
caller -> server : conReq
hnote over caller : idle
caller <- server : conConf
rnote over server
"r" as rectangle
"h" as hexagon
endrnote
@enduml

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1.13 Creole and HTML

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.13 Creole and HTML
It is also possible to use creole formatting:
@startuml
participant Alice
participant "The ** Famous ** Bob" as Bob
Alice -> Bob : hello --there -... Some ~~ long delay ~~ ...
Bob -> Alice : ok
note left
This is ** bold **
This is // italics //
This is "" monospaced ""
This is --stroked -This is __underlined__
This is ~~ waved ~~
end note
Alice -> Bob : A // well formatted // message
note right of Alice
This is  displayed 
__left of__ Alice.
end note
note left of Bob
This  is  displayed 
**left of  Alice  Bob **.
end note
note over Alice , Bob
This is hosted  by 
end note
@enduml

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1.14 Divider

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.14 Divider
If you want, you can split a diagram using == separator to divide your diagram into logical steps.
@startuml
== Initialization ==
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob --> Alice: Authentication Response
== Repetition ==
Alice -> Bob: Another authentication Request
Alice <-- Bob: another authentication Response
@enduml

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1.15 Reference

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.15 Reference
You can use reference in a diagram, using the keyword ref over.
@startuml
participant Alice
actor Bob
ref over Alice , Bob : init
Alice -> Bob : hello
ref over Bob
This can be on
several lines
end ref
@enduml

1.16 Delay
You can use ... to indicate a delay in the diagram. And it is also possible to put a message with this
delay.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
...
Bob --> Alice: Authentication Response
...5 minutes latter ...
Bob --> Alice: Bye !
@enduml

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1.17 Space

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.17 Space
You can use ||| to indicate some spacing in the diagram.
It is also possible to specify a number of pixel to be used.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob: message 1
Bob --> Alice: ok
|||
Alice -> Bob: message 2
Bob --> Alice: ok
||45||
Alice -> Bob: message 3
Bob --> Alice: ok
@enduml

1.18 Lifeline Activation and Destruction
The activate and deactivate are used to denote participant activation.
Once a participant is activated, its lifeline appears.
The activate and deactivate apply on the previous message.
The destroy denote the end of the lifeline of a participant.
@startuml
participant User
User -> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> B: << createRequest >>
activate B
B -> C: DoWork
activate C
C --> B: WorkDone
destroy C
B --> A: RequestCreated
deactivate B
A -> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml

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1.19 Participant creation

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

Nested lifeline can be used, and it is possible to add a color on the lifeline.
@startuml
participant User
User -> A: DoWork
activate A #FFBBBB
A -> A: Internal call
activate A #DarkSalmon
A -> B: << createRequest >>
activate B
B --> A: RequestCreated
deactivate B
deactivate A
A -> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml

1.19 Participant creation
You can use the create keyword just before the ﬁrst reception of a message to emphasize the fact that
this message is actually creating this new object.
@startuml
Bob -> Alice : hello
create Other
Alice -> Other : new
create control String
Alice -> String
note right : You can also put notes!

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1.20 Incoming and outgoing messages

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

Alice --> Bob : ok
@enduml

1.20 Incoming and outgoing messages
You can use incoming or outgoing arrows if you want to focus on a part of the diagram.
Use square brackets to denote the left ”[” or the right ”]” side of the diagram.
@startuml
[-> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> A: Internal call
activate A
A ->] : << createRequest >>
A<--] : RequestCreated
deactivate A
[<- A: Done
deactivate A
@enduml

You can also have the following syntax:
@startuml
[-> Bob
[o-> Bob
[o->o Bob
[x-> Bob

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1.21 Stereotypes and Spots

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

[<- Bob
[x<- Bob
Bob
Bob
Bob
Bob

->]
->o]
o->o]
->x]

Bob <-]
Bob x<-]
@enduml

1.21 Stereotypes and Spots
It is possible to add stereotypes to participants using << and >>.
In the stereotype, you can add a spotted character in a colored circle using the syntax (X,color).
@startuml
participant "Famous Bob" as Bob << Generated >>
participant Alice << (C,# ADD1B2) Testable >>
Bob ->Alice: First message
@enduml

By default, the guillemet character is used to display the stereotype. You can change this behavious
using the skinparam guillemet:
@startuml
skinparam guillemet false
participant "Famous Bob" as Bob << Generated >>
participant Alice << (C,# ADD1B2) Testable >>
Bob ->Alice: First message
@enduml

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1.22 More information on titles

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

@startuml
participant Bob << (C,# ADD1B2) >>
participant Alice << (C,# ADD1B2) >>
Bob ->Alice: First message
@enduml

1.22 More information on titles
You can use creole formatting in the title.
@startuml
title __Simple__ ** communication ** example
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Response
@enduml

You can add newline using \n in the title description.
@startuml
title __Simple__ communication example\non several lines
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Response
@enduml

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1.23 Participants encompass

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

You can also deﬁne title on several lines using title and end title keywords.
@startuml
title
Simple  communication example
on several  lines and using html 
This is hosted by 
end title
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Response
@enduml

1.23 Participants encompass
It is possible to draw a box around some participants, using box and end box commands.
You can add an optional title or a optional background color, after the box keyword.
@startuml
box "Internal Service" #LightBlue
participant Bob
participant Alice
end box
participant Other
Bob -> Alice : hello
Alice -> Other : hello
@enduml

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1.24 Removing Footer

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

1.24 Removing Footer
You can use the hide footbox keywords to remove the footer of the diagram.
@startuml
hide footbox
title Footer removed
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob --> Alice: Authentication Response
@enduml

1.25 Skinparam
You can use the skinparam command to change colors and fonts for the drawing.
You can use this command:
• In the diagram deﬁnition, like any other commands,
• In an included ﬁle,
• In a conﬁguration ﬁle, provided in the command line or the ANT task.
You can also change other rendering parameter, as seen in the following examples:
@startuml
skinparam
skinparam
skinparam
skinparam

sequenceArrowThickness 2
roundcorner 20
maxmessagesize 60
sequenceParticipant underline

actor User
participant "First Class" as A
participant "Second Class" as B
participant "Last Class" as C
User -> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> B: Create Request
activate B
B -> C: DoWork
activate C
C --> B: WorkDone

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1.25 Skinparam

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

destroy C
B --> A: Request Created
deactivate B
A --> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml

@startuml
skinparam backgroundColor #EEEBDC
skinparam handwritten true
skinparam sequence {
ArrowColor DeepSkyBlue
ActorBorderColor DeepSkyBlue
LifeLineBorderColor blue
LifeLineBackgroundColor #A9DCDF
ParticipantBorderColor DeepSkyBlue
ParticipantBackgroundColor DodgerBlue
ParticipantFontName Impact
ParticipantFontSize 17
ParticipantFontColor #A9DCDF
ActorBackgroundColor aqua
ActorFontColor DeepSkyBlue
ActorFontSize 17
ActorFontName Aapex
}
actor User
participant "First Class" as A
participant "Second Class" as B
participant "Last Class" as C
User -> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> B: Create Request
activate B
B -> C: DoWork

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1.26 Changing padding

1 SEQUENCE DIAGRAM

activate C
C --> B: WorkDone
destroy C
B --> A: Request Created
deactivate B
A --> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml

1.26 Changing padding
It is possible to tune some padding settings.
@startuml
skinparam ParticipantPadding 20
skinparam BoxPadding 10
box "Foo1"
participant Alice1
participant Alice2
end box
box "Foo2"
participant Bob1
participant Bob2
end box
Alice1 -> Bob1 : hello
Alice1 -> Out : out
@enduml

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2

USE CASE DIAGRAM

2 Use Case Diagram
2.1 Usecases
Use cases are enclosed using between parentheses (because two parentheses looks like an oval).
You can also use the usecase keyword to deﬁne a usecase. And you can deﬁne an alias, using the as
keyword. This alias will be used latter, when deﬁning relations.
@startuml
(First usecase)
(Another usecase) as (UC2)
usecase UC3
usecase (Last\nusecase) as UC4
@enduml

2.2 Actors
Actor are enclosed using between two points.
You can also use the actor keyword to deﬁne an actor. And you can deﬁne an alias, using the as
keyword. This alias will be used latter, when deﬁning relations.
We will see later that the actor deﬁnitions are optional.
@startuml
:First Actor:
:Another\nactor: as Men2
actor Men3
actor :Last actor: as Men4
@enduml

2.3 Usecases description
If you want to have description on several lines, you can use quotes.
You can also use the following separators: -- .. == __. And you can put titles within the separators.

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2.4 Basic example

2

USE CASE DIAGRAM

@startuml
usecase UC1 as "You can use
several lines to define your usecase.
You can also use separators.
-Several separators are possible.
==
And you can add titles:
.. Conclusion ..
This allows large description ."
@enduml

2.4 Basic example
To link actors and use cases, the arrow --> is used.
The more dashes "-" in the arrow, the longer the arrow. You can add a label on the arrow, by adding
a ”:” character in the arrow deﬁnition.
In this example, you see that User has not been deﬁned before, and is used as an actor.
@startuml
User -> (Start)
User --> (Use the application) : A small label
:Main Admin: ---> (Use the application) : This is\nyet another\nlabel
@enduml

2.5 Extension
If one actor/use case extends another one, you can use the symbol <|-- (which stands for ).
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2.6 Using notes

2

USE CASE DIAGRAM

@startuml
:Main Admin: as Admin
(Use the application) as (Use)
User <|-- Admin
(Start) <|-- (Use)
@enduml

2.6 Using notes
You can use the note left of , note right of , note top of , note bottom of keywords to deﬁne
notes related to a single object.
A note can be also deﬁne alone with the note keywords, then linked to other objects using the ..
symbol.
@startuml
:Main Admin: as Admin
(Use the application) as (Use)
User -> (Start)
User --> (Use)
Admin ---> (Use)
note right of Admin : This is an example.
note right of (Use)
A note can also
be on several lines
end note
note "This note is connected\nto several objects ." as N2
(Start) .. N2
N2 .. (Use)
@enduml

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2.7 Stereotypes

2

USE CASE DIAGRAM

2.7 Stereotypes
You can add stereotypes while deﬁning actors and use cases using ” << ” and ” >> ”.
@startuml
User << Human >>
:Main Database: as MySql << Application >>
(Start) << One Shot >>
(Use the application) as (Use) << Main >>
User -> (Start)
User --> (Use)
MySql --> (Use)
@enduml

2.8 Changing arrows direction
By default, links between classes have two dashes -- and are vertically oriented. It is possible to use
horizontal link by putting a single dash (or dot) like this:
@startuml
:user: --> (Use case 1)
:user: -> (Use case 2)
@enduml

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2.8 Changing arrows direction

2

USE CASE DIAGRAM

You can also change directions by reversing the link:
@startuml
(Use case 1) <.. :user:
(Use case 2) <- :user:
@enduml

It is also possible to change arrow direction by adding left, right, up or down keywords inside the
arrow:
@startuml
:user: -left -> (dummyLeft)
:user: -right -> (dummyRight)
:user: -up -> (dummyUp)
:user: -down -> (dummyDown)
@enduml

You can shorten the arrow by using only the ﬁrst character of the direction (for example, -d- instead
of -down-) or the two ﬁrst characters (-do-).
Please note that you should not abuse this functionality : Graphviz gives usually good results without
tweaking.

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2.9 Splitting diagrams

2

USE CASE DIAGRAM

2.9 Splitting diagrams
The newpage keywords to split your diagram into several pages or images.
@startuml
:actor1: --> (Usecase1)
newpage
:actor2: --> (Usecase2)
@enduml

2.10 Left to right direction
The general default behavior when building diagram is top to bottom.
@startuml
'default
top to bottom direction
user1 --> (Usecase 1)
user2 --> (Usecase 2)
@enduml

You may change to left to right using the left to right direction command. The result is often
better with this direction.
@startuml
left to right direction
user1 --> (Usecase 1)
user2 --> (Usecase 2)
@enduml

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2.11 Skinparam

2

USE CASE DIAGRAM

2.11 Skinparam
You can use the skinparam command to change colors and fonts for the drawing.
You can use this command :
• In the diagram deﬁnition, like any other commands,
• In an included ﬁle,
• In a conﬁguration ﬁle, provided in the command line or the ANT task.
You can deﬁne speciﬁc color and fonts for stereotyped actors and usecases.
@startuml
skinparam handwritten true
skinparam usecase {
BackgroundColor DarkSeaGreen
BorderColor DarkSlateGray
BackgroundColor << Main >> YellowGreen
BorderColor << Main >> YellowGreen
ArrowColor Olive
ActorBorderColor black
ActorFontName Courier
ActorBackgroundColor << Human >> Gold
}
User << Human >>
:Main Database: as MySql << Application >>
(Start) << One Shot >>
(Use the application) as (Use) << Main >>
User -> (Start)
User --> (Use)
MySql --> (Use)
@enduml

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2.12 Complete example

2

USE CASE DIAGRAM

2.12 Complete example
@startuml
left to right direction
skinparam packageStyle rectangle
actor customer
actor clerk
rectangle checkout {
customer -- (checkout)
(checkout) .> (payment) : include
(help) .> (checkout) : extends
(checkout) -- clerk
}
@enduml

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3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3 Class Diagram
3.1 Relations between classes
Relations between classes are deﬁned using the following symbols :
Extension
<|-Composition *-Aggregation o-It is possible to replace -- by .. to have a dotted line.
Knowing those rules, it is possible to draw the following drawings:
@startuml
Class01 <|-- Class02
Class03 *-- Class04
Class05 o-- Class06
Class07 .. Class08
Class09 -- Class10
@enduml

@startuml
Class11 <|.. Class12
Class13 --> Class14
Class15 ..> Class16
Class17 ..|> Class18
Class19 <--* Class20
@enduml

@startuml
Class21 #-Class23 x-Class25 }-Class27 +-Class29 ^-@enduml

Class22
Class24
Class26
Class28
Class30

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3.2 Label on relations

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.2 Label on relations
It is possible a add a label on the relation, using ”:”, followed by the text of the label.
For cardinality, you can use double-quotes "" on each side of the relation.
@startuml
Class01 "1" *-- "many" Class02 : contains
Class03 o-- Class04 : aggregation
Class05 --> "1" Class06
@enduml

You can add an extra arrow pointing at one object showing which object acts on the other object,
using < or > at the begin or at the end of the label.
@startuml
class Car
Driver - Car : drives >
Car *- Wheel : have 4 >
Car -- Person : < owns
@enduml

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3.3 Adding methods

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.3 Adding methods
To declare ﬁelds and methods, you can use the symbol ":" followed by the ﬁeld’s or method’s name.
The system checks for parenthesis to choose between methods and ﬁelds.
@startuml
Object <|-- ArrayList
Object : equals ()
ArrayList : Object [] elementData
ArrayList : size ()
@enduml

It is also possible to group between brackets {} all ﬁelds and methods.
Note that the syntax is highly ﬂexible about type/name order.
@startuml
class Dummy {
String data
void methods ()
}
class Flight {
flightNumber : Integer
departureTime : Date
}
@enduml

You can use {field} and {method} modiﬁers to override default behaviour of the parser about ﬁelds
and methods.
@startuml
class Dummy {
{field} A field (despite parentheses)
{method} Some method
}
@enduml

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3.4 Deﬁning visibility

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.4 Deﬁning visibility
When you deﬁne methods or ﬁelds, you can use characters to deﬁne the visibility of the corresponding
item:
#
̃
+

private
protected
package private
public

@startuml
class Dummy {
-field1
#field2
~method1 ()
+method2 ()
}
@enduml

You can turn oﬀ this feature using the skinparam classAttributeIconSize 0 command :
@startuml
skinparam classAttributeIconSize 0
class Dummy {
-field1
#field2
~method1 ()
+method2 ()
}
@enduml

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3.5 Abstract and Static

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.5 Abstract and Static
You can deﬁne static or abstract methods or ﬁelds using the {static} or {abstract} modiﬁer.
These modiﬁers can be used at the start or at the end of the line. You can also use {classifier}
instead of {static}.
@startuml
class Dummy {
{static} String id
{abstract} void methods ()
}
@enduml

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3.6 Advanced class body

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.6 Advanced class body
By default, methods and ﬁelds are automatically regrouped by PlantUML. You can use separators to
deﬁne your own way of ordering ﬁelds and methods. The following separators are possible : -- ..
== __.
You can also use titles within the separators:
@startuml
class Foo1 {
You can use
several lines
..
as you want
and group
==
things together.
__
You can have as many groups
as you want
-End of class
}
class User {
.. Simple Getter ..
+ getName ()
+ getAddress ()
.. Some setter ..
+ setName ()
__ private data __
int age
-- encrypted -String password
}
@enduml

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3.7 Notes and stereotypes

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.7 Notes and stereotypes
Stereotypes are deﬁned with the class keyword, ” << ” and ” >> ”.
You can also deﬁne notes using note left of , note right of , note top of , note bottom of
keywords.
You can also deﬁne a note on the last deﬁned class using note left, note right, note top, note
bottom.
A note can be also deﬁne alone with the note keywords, then linked to other objects using the ..
symbol.
@startuml
class Object << general >>
Object <|--- ArrayList
note top of Object : In java , every class\nextends this one.
note "This is a floating note" as N1
note "This note is connected\nto several objects ." as N2
Object .. N2
N2 .. ArrayList
class Foo
note left: On last defined class
@enduml

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3.8 More on notes

3.8

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

More on notes

It is also possible to use few html tags like :
• 
• 
• 
• , , 
•  or 
•  or 
•  to change font size
•  or  : the ﬁle must be accessible by the ﬁlesystem
You can also have a note on several lines.
You can also deﬁne a note on the last deﬁned class using note left, note right, note top, note
bottom.
@startuml
class Foo
note left: On last defined class
note top of Object
In java , every  class 
extends 
this  one.
end note
note as N1
This note is also 
on several 
words  lines
And this is hosted by 
end note
@enduml

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3.9 Note on links

3.9

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

Note on links

It is possible to add a note on a link, just after the link deﬁnition, using note on link.
You can also use note left on link, note right on link, note top on link, note bottom on
link if you want to change the relative position of the note with the label.
@startuml
class Dummy
Dummy --> Foo : A link
note on link #red: note that is red
Dummy --> Foo2 : Another link
note right on link #blue
this is my note on right link
and in blue
end note
@enduml

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3.10 Abstract class and interface

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.10 Abstract class and interface
You can declare a class as abstract using "abstract" or "abstract class" keywords.
The class will be printed in italic.
You can use the interface, annotation and enum keywords too.
@startuml
abstract class AbstractList
abstract AbstractCollection
interface List
interface Collection
List <|-- AbstractList
Collection <|-- AbstractCollection
Collection <|- List
AbstractCollection <|- AbstractList
AbstractList <|-- ArrayList
class ArrayList {
Object [] elementData
size ()
}
enum TimeUnit {
DAYS
HOURS
MINUTES
}
annotation SuppressWarnings
@enduml

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3.11 Using non-letters

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.11 Using non-letters
If you want to use non-letters in the class (or enum...) display, you can either :
• Use the as keyword in the class deﬁnition
• Put quotes "" around the class name
@startuml
class "This is my class" as class1
class class2 as "It works this way too"
class2 *-- "foo/dummy" : use
@enduml

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3.12 Hide attributes, methods...

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.12 Hide attributes, methods...
You can parameterize the display of classes using the hide/show command.
The basic command is: hide empty members. This command will hide attributes or methods if
they are empty.
Instead of empty members, you can use:
• empty fields or empty attributes for empty ﬁelds,
• empty methods for empty methods,
• fields or attributes which will hide ﬁelds, even if they are described,
• methods which will hide methods, even if they are described,
• members which will hide ﬁelds and methods, even if they are described,
• circle for the circled character in front of class name,
• stereotype for the stereotype.
You can also provide, just after the hide or show keyword:
• class for all classes,
• interface for all interfaces,
• enum for all enums,
• <> for classes which are stereotyped with foo1,
• an existing class name.
You can use several show/hide commands to deﬁne rules and exceptions.
@startuml
class Dummy1 {
+myMethods ()
}
class Dummy2 {
+hiddenMethod ()
}
class Dummy3 <> {
String name
}
hide
hide
show
show

members
<> circle
Dummy1 methods
<> fields

@enduml

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3.13 Hide classes

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.13 Hide classes
You can also use the show/hide commands to hide classes.
This may be useful if you deﬁne a large !included ﬁle, and if you want to hide come classes after
ﬁle inclusion.
@startuml
class Foo1
class Foo2
Foo2 *-- Foo1
hide Foo2
@enduml

3.14 Use generics
You can also use bracket < and > to deﬁne generics usage in a class.
@startuml
class Foo  {
int size ()
}
Foo *- Element
@enduml

It is possible to disable this drawing using skinparam genericDisplay old command.

3.15 Speciﬁc Spot
Usually, a spotted character (C, I, E or A) is used for classes, interface, enum and abstract classes.
But you can deﬁne your own spot for a class when you deﬁne the stereotype, adding a single
character and a color, like in this example:
@startuml
class System << (S,# FF7700) Singleton >>
class Date << (D,orchid) >>
@enduml

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3.16 Packages

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.16 Packages
You can deﬁne a package using the package keyword, and optionally declare a background color
for your package (Using a html color code or name).
Note that package deﬁnitions can be nested.
@startuml
package "Classic Collections" #DDDDDD {
Object <|-- ArrayList
}
package net.sourceforge.plantuml {
Object <|-- Demo1
Demo1 *- Demo2
}
@enduml

3.17 Packages style
There are diﬀerent styles available for packages.
You can specify them either by setting a default style with the command : skinparam packageStyle,
or by using a stereotype on the package:
@startuml
scale 750 width
package foo1 <> {
class Class1
}
package foo2 <> {
class Class2
}
package foo3 <> {
class Class3
}
package foo4 <> {
class Class4
}
package foo5 <> {
class Class5
}
package foo6 <> {
class Class6
}
@enduml

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3.18 Namespaces

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

You can also deﬁne links between packages, like in the following example:
@startuml
skinparam packageStyle rectangle
package foo1.foo2 {
}
package foo1.foo2.foo3 {
class Object
}
foo1.foo2 +-- foo1.foo2.foo3
@enduml

3.18 Namespaces
In packages, the name of a class is the unique identiﬁer of this class. It means that you cannot have
two classes with the very same name in diﬀerent packages.
In that case, you should use namespaces instead of packages.
You can refer to classes from other namespaces by fully qualify them. Classes from the default
namespace are qualiﬁed with a starting dot.
Note that you don’t have to explicitly create namespace : a fully qualiﬁed class is automatically
put in the right namespace.
@startuml
class BaseClass
namespace net.dummy #DDDDDD {
.BaseClass <|-- Person
Meeting o-- Person
.BaseClass <|- Meeting
}
namespace net.foo {
net.dummy.Person <|- Person
.BaseClass <|-- Person

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3.19 Automatic namespace creation

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

net.dummy.Meeting o-- Person
}
BaseClass <|-- net.unused.Person
@enduml

3.19 Automatic namespace creation
You can deﬁne another separator (other than the dot) using the command : set namespaceSeparator
???.
@startuml
set namespaceSeparator ::
class X1::X2::foo {
some info
}
@enduml

You can disable automatic package creation using the command set namespaceSeparator none.
@startuml
set namespaceSeparator none
class X1.X2.foo {
some info
}
@enduml

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3.20 Lollipop interface

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.20 Lollipop interface
You can also deﬁne lollipops interface on classes, using the following syntax:
• bar ()- foo
• bar ()-- foo
• foo -() bar
@startuml
class foo
bar ()- foo
@enduml

3.21 Changing arrows direction
By default, links between classes have two dashes -- and are vertically oriented. It is possible to
use horizontal link by putting a single dash (or dot) like this:
@startuml
Room o- Student
Room *-- Chair
@enduml

You can also change directions by reversing the link:
@startuml
Student -o Room
Chair --* Room
@enduml

It is also possible to change arrow direction by adding left, right, up or down keywords inside the
arrow:

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3.22 Association classes

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

@startuml
foo -left -> dummyLeft
foo -right -> dummyRight
foo -up -> dummyUp
foo -down -> dummyDown
@enduml

You can shorten the arrow by using only the ﬁrst character of the direction (for example, -dinstead of -down-) or the two ﬁrst characters (-do-).
Please note that you should not abuse this functionality : Graphviz gives usually good results
without tweaking.

3.22 Association classes
You can deﬁne association class after that a relation has been deﬁned between two classes, like in
this example:
@startuml
class Student {
Name
}
Student "0..*" - "1..*" Course
(Student , Course) .. Enrollment
class Enrollment {
drop ()
cancel ()
}
@enduml

You can deﬁne it in another direction:

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3.23 Skinparam

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

@startuml
class Student {
Name
}
Student "0..*" -- "1..*" Course
(Student , Course) . Enrollment
class Enrollment {
drop ()
cancel ()
}
@enduml

3.23 Skinparam
You can use the skinparam command to change colors and fonts for the drawing.
You can use this command :
• In the diagram deﬁnition, like any other commands,
• In an included ﬁle,
• In a conﬁguration ﬁle, provided in the command line or the ANT task.
@startuml
skinparam class {
BackgroundColor PaleGreen
ArrowColor SeaGreen
BorderColor SpringGreen
}
skinparam stereotypeCBackgroundColor YellowGreen
Class01 "1" *-- "many" Class02 : contains
Class03 o-- Class04 : aggregation
@enduml

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3.24 Skinned Stereotypes

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.24 Skinned Stereotypes
You can deﬁne speciﬁc color and fonts for stereotyped classes.
@startuml
skinparam class {
BackgroundColor PaleGreen
ArrowColor SeaGreen
BorderColor SpringGreen
BackgroundColor <> Wheat
BorderColor <> Tomato
}
skinparam stereotypeCBackgroundColor YellowGreen
skinparam stereotypeCBackgroundColor << Foo >> DimGray
Class01 <>
Class03 <>
Class01 "1" *-- "many" Class02 : contains
Class03 o-- Class04 : aggregation
@enduml

3.25 Color gradient
It’s possible to declare individual color for classes or note using the notation.
You can use either standard color name or RGB code.
You can also use color gradient in background, with the following syntax: two colors names separated
either by:
• |,
• /,
• \,
• or depending the direction of the gradient.
For example, you could have:
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3.26 Help on layout

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

@startuml
skinparam backgroundcolor AntiqueWhite/Gold
skinparam classBackgroundColor Wheat|CornflowerBlue
class Foo #red -green
note left of Foo #blue \9932 CC
this is my
note on this class
end note
package example #GreenYellow/ LightGoldenRodYellow {
class Dummy
}
@enduml

3.26 Help on layout
Sometimes, the default layout is not perfect...
You can use together keyword to group some classes together : the layout engine will try to group
them (as if they were in the same package).
You can also use hidden links to force the layout.
@startuml
class Bar1
class Bar2
together {
class Together1
class Together2
class Together3
}
Together1 - Together2
Together2 - Together3
Together2 -[hidden]--> Bar1
Bar1 -[hidden]> Bar2

@enduml

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3.27 Splitting large ﬁles

3 CLASS DIAGRAM

3.27 Splitting large ﬁles
Sometimes, you will get some very large image ﬁles.
You can use the ”page (hpages)x(vpages)” command to split the generated image into several
ﬁles :
hpages is a number that indicated the number of horizontal pages, and vpages is a number that
indicated the number of vertical pages.
You can also use some speciﬁc skinparam settings to put borders on splitted pages (see example).
@startuml
' Split into 4 pages
page 2x2
skinparam pageMargin 10
skinparam pageExternalColor gray
skinparam pageBorderColor black
class BaseClass
namespace net.dummy #DDDDDD {
.BaseClass <|-- Person
Meeting o-- Person
.BaseClass <|- Meeting
}
namespace net.foo {
net.dummy.Person <|- Person
.BaseClass <|-- Person
net.dummy.Meeting o-- Person
}
BaseClass <|-- net.unused.Person
@enduml

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3.27 Splitting large ﬁles

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4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

4

Activity Diagram

4.1

Simple Activity

You can use (*) for the starting point and ending point of the activity diagram.
In some occasion, you may want to use (*top) to force the starting point to be at the top of the
diagram.
Use --> for arrows.
@startuml
(*) --> "First Activity"
"First Activity" --> (*)
@enduml

4.2

Label on arrows

By default, an arrow starts at the last used activity.
You can put a label on an arrow using brackets [ and ] just after the arrow deﬁnition.
@startuml
(*) --> "First Activity"
-->[You can put also labels] "Second Activity"
--> (*)
@enduml

4.3

Changing arrow direction

You can use -> for horizontal arrows. It is possible to force arrow’s direction using the following
syntax:
• -down-> (default arrow)
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4.4 Branches

4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

• -right-> or ->
• -left->
• -up->
@startuml
(*) -up -> "First Activity"
-right -> "Second Activity"
--> "Third Activity"
-left -> (*)
@enduml

4.4

Branches

You can use if/then/else keywords to deﬁne branches.
@startuml
(*) --> "Initialization"
if "Some Test" then
-->[true] "Some Activity"
--> "Another activity"
-right -> (*)
else
->[false] "Something else"
-->[Ending process] (*)
endif
@enduml

Unfortunately, you will have to sometimes repeat the same activity in the diagram text:

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4.5 More on Branches

4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

@startuml
(*) --> "check input"
If "input is verbose" then
--> [Yes] "turn on verbosity"
--> "run command"
else
--> "run command"
Endif
-->(*)
@enduml

4.5

More on Branches

By default, a branch is connected to the last deﬁned activity, but it is possible to override this and
to deﬁne a link with the if keywords.
It is also possible to nest branches.
@startuml
(*) --> if "Some Test" then
-->[true] "activity 1"
if "" then
-> "activity 3" as a3
else
if "Other test" then
-left -> "activity 5"
else
--> "activity 6"
endif
endif
else
->[false] "activity 2"
endif
a3 --> if "last test" then
--> "activity 7"
else
-> "activity 8"

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4.6 Synchronization

4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

endif
@enduml

4.6

Synchronization

You can use === code === to display synchronization bars.
@startuml
(*) --> ===B1===
--> "Parallel Activity 1"
--> ===B2===
===B1=== --> "Parallel Activity 2"
--> ===B2===
--> (*)
@enduml

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4.7 Long activity description

4.7

4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

Long activity description

When you declare activities, you can span on several lines the description text. You can also add
\n in the description.
You can also give a short code to the activity with the as keyword. This code can be used latter
in the diagram description.
@startuml
(*) -left -> "this  activity 
is very  long2 
and defined on several lines
that contains many text " as A1
-up -> "Another activity\n on several lines"
A1 --> "Short activity "
@enduml

4.8

Notes

You can add notes on a activity using the commands note left, note right, note top or note
bottom, just after the description of the activity you want to note.
If you want to put a note on the starting point, deﬁne the note at the very beginning of the diagram
description.
You can also have a note on several lines, using the endnote keywords.
@startuml
(*) --> "Some Activity"
note right: This activity has to be defined
"Some Activity" --> (*)
note left
This note is on
several lines
end note
@enduml

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4.9 Partition

4.9

4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

Partition

You can deﬁne a partition using the partition keyword, and optionally declare a background color
for your partition (Using a html color code or name)
When you declare activities, they are automatically put in the last used partition.
You can close the partition deﬁnition using a closing bracket }.
@startuml
partition Conductor {
(*) --> "Climbs on Platform"
--> === S1 ===
--> Bows
}
partition Audience #LightSkyBlue {
=== S1 === --> Applauds
}
partition Conductor {
Bows --> === S2 ===
--> WavesArmes
Applauds --> === S2 ===
}
partition Orchestra #CCCCEE {
WavesArmes --> Introduction
--> "Play music"
}
@enduml

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4.10 Skinparam

4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

4.10 Skinparam
You can use the skinparam command to change colors and fonts for the drawing.
You can use this command :
• In the diagram deﬁnition, like any other commands,
• In an included ﬁle,
• In a conﬁguration ﬁle, provided in the command line or the ANT task.
You can deﬁne speciﬁc color and fonts for stereotyped activities.
@startuml
skinparam backgroundColor #AAFFFF
skinparam activity {
StartColor red
BarColor SaddleBrown
EndColor Silver
BackgroundColor Peru
BackgroundColor << Begin >> Olive
BorderColor Peru
FontName Impact
}
(*)
-->
-->
-->
-->
-->

--> "Climbs on Platform" << Begin >>
=== S1 ===
Bows
=== S2 ===
WavesArmes
(*)

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4.11 Octagon

4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

@enduml

4.11 Octagon
You can change the shape of activities to octagon using the skinparam activityShape octagon
command.
@startuml
'Default is skinparam activityShape roundBox
skinparam activityShape octagon
(*) --> "First Activity"
"First Activity" --> (*)
@enduml

4.12 Complete example
@startuml
title Servlet Container
(*) --> "ClickServlet.handleRequest ()"
--> "new Page"
if "Page.onSecurityCheck" then
->[true] "Page.onInit ()"

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4.12 Complete example

4 ACTIVITY DIAGRAM

if "isForward ?" then
->[no] "Process controls"
if "continue processing ?" then
-->[yes] === RENDERING ===
else
-->[no] === REDIRECT_CHECK ===
endif
else
-->[yes] === RENDERING ===
endif
if "is Post ?" then
-->[yes] "Page.onPost ()"
--> "Page.onRender ()" as render
--> === REDIRECT_CHECK ===
else
-->[no] "Page.onGet ()"
--> render
endif
else
-->[false] === REDIRECT_CHECK ===
endif
if "Do redirect ?" then
->[yes] "redirect request"
--> == BEFORE_DESTROY ===
else
if "Do Forward ?" then
-left ->[yes] "Forward request"
--> == BEFORE_DESTROY ===
else
-right ->[no] "Render page template"
--> == BEFORE_DESTROY ===
endif
endif
--> "Page.onDestroy ()"
-->(*)
@enduml

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4.12 Complete example

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5

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

Activity Diagram (beta)

Current syntax for activity diagram has several limitations and drawbacks (for example, it’s diﬃcult
to maintain).
So a completely new syntax and implementation is proposed as beta version to users (starting
with V7947), so that we could deﬁne a better format and syntax.
Another advantage of this new implementation is that it’s done without the need of having Graphviz
installed (as for sequence diagrams).
The new syntax will replace the old one. However, for compatibility reason, the old syntax will still
be recognized, to ensure ascending compatibility.
Users are simply encouraged to migrate to the new syntax.

5.1

Simple Activity

Activities label starts with : and ends with ;.
Text formatting can be done using creole wiki syntax.
They are implicitly linked in their deﬁnition order.
@startuml
:Hello world;
:This is on defined on
several ** lines **;
@enduml

5.2

Start/Stop

You can use start and stop keywords to denote the beginning and the end of a diagram.
@startuml
start
:Hello world;
:This is on defined on
several ** lines **;
stop
@enduml

You can also use the end keyword.

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5.3 Conditional

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

@startuml
start
:Hello world;
:This is on defined on
several ** lines **;
end
@enduml

5.3

Conditional

You can use if, then and else keywords to put tests if your diagram. Labels can be provided
using parentheses.
@startuml
start
if (Graphviz installed ?) then (yes)
:process all\ndiagrams;
else (no)
:process only
__sequence__ and __activity__ diagrams;
endif
stop
@enduml

You can use the elseif keyword to have several tests :
@startuml
start
if (condition A) then (yes)
:Text 1;
elseif (condition B) then (yes)
:Text 2;
stop
elseif (condition C) then (yes)
:Text 3;
elseif (condition D) then (yes)

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5.4 Repeat loop

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

:Text 4;
else (nothing)
:Text else;
endif
stop
@enduml

5.4

Repeat loop

You can use repeat and repeatwhile keywords to have repeat loops.
@startuml
start
repeat
:read data;
:generate diagrams;
repeat while (more data ?)
stop
@enduml

5.5

While loop

You can use while and end while keywords to have repeat loops.
@startuml
start

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5.6 Parallel processing

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

while (data available ?)
:read data;
:generate diagrams;
endwhile
stop
@enduml

It is possible to provide a label after the endwhile keyword, or using the is keyword.
@startuml
while (check filesize ?) is (not empty)
:read file;
endwhile (empty)
:close file;
@enduml

5.6

Parallel processing

You can use fork, fork again and end fork keywords to denote parallel processing.
@startuml
start
if (multiprocessor ?) then (yes)
fork
:Treatment 1;
fork again
:Treatment 2;
end fork
else (monoproc)
:Treatment 1;
:Treatment 2;
endif
@enduml

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5.7 Notes

5.7

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

Notes

Text formatting can be done using creole wiki syntax.
A note can be ﬂoating, using floating keyword.
@startuml
start
:foo1;
floating note left: This is a note
:foo2;
note right
This note is on several
// lines // and can
contain HTML 
====
* Calling the method ""foo ()"" is prohibited
end note
stop
@enduml

5.8

Colors

You can use specify a color for some activities.
@startuml
start
:starting progress;
#HotPink:reading configuration files
These files should edited at this point !;
#AAAAAA:ending of the process;
@enduml

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5.9 Arrows

5.9

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

Arrows

Using the -> notation, you can add texts to arrow, and change their color.
It’s also possible to have dotted, dashed, bold or hidden arrows.
@startuml
:foo1;
-> You can put text on arrows;
if (test) then
-[#blue]->
:foo2;
-[#green ,dashed]-> The text can
also be on several lines
and ** very ** long ...;
:foo3;
else
-[#black ,dotted]->
:foo4;
endif
-[#gray ,bold]->
:foo5;
@enduml

5.10 Connector
You can use parentheses to denote connector.
@startuml
start
:Some activity;
(A)

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5.11 Grouping

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

detach
(A)
:Other activity;
@enduml

5.11 Grouping
You can group activity together by deﬁning partition:
@startuml
start
partition Initialization {
:read config file;
:init internal variable;
}
partition Running {
:wait for user interaction;
:print information;
}
stop
@enduml

5.12 Swimlanes
Using pipe |, you can deﬁne swimlanes.
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5.13 Detach

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

It’s also possible to change swimlanes color.
@startuml
|Swimlane1|
start
:foo1;
|# AntiqueWhite|Swimlane2|
:foo2;
:foo3;
|Swimlane1|
:foo4;
|Swimlane2|
:foo5;
stop
@enduml

5.13 Detach
It’s possible to remove an arrow using the detach keyword.
@startuml
:start;
fork
:foo1;
:foo2;
fork again
:foo3;
detach
endfork
if (foo4) then
:foo5;
detach
endif
:foo6;
detach
:foo7;
stop
@enduml

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5.14 SDL

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

5.14 SDL
By changing the ﬁnal ; separator, you can set diﬀerent rendering for the activity:
• |
• <
• >
• /
• ]
• }
@startuml
:Ready;
:next(o)|
:Receiving;
split
:nak(i)<
:ack(o)>
split again
:ack(i)<
:next(o)
on several line|
:i := i + 1]
:ack(o)>
split again
:err(i)<
:nak(o)>
split again
:foo/
split again
:i > 5}
stop
end split
:finish;
@enduml

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5.15 Complete example

5

ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

5.15 Complete example
@startuml
start
:ClickServlet.handleRequest ();
:new page;
if (Page.onSecurityCheck) then (true)
:Page.onInit ();
if (isForward ?) then (no)
:Process controls;
if (continue processing ?) then (no)
stop
endif
if (isPost ?) then (yes)
:Page.onPost ();
else (no)
:Page.onGet ();
endif
:Page.onRender ();
endif
else (false)
endif
if (do redirect ?) then (yes)
:redirect process;
else
if (do forward ?) then (yes)
:Forward request;
else (no)
:Render page template;
endif
endif
stop
@enduml

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ACTIVITY DIAGRAM (BETA)

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6 COMPONENT DIAGRAM

6
6.1

Component Diagram
Components

Components must be bracketed.
You can also use the component keyword to deﬁnes a component. And you can deﬁne an alias,
using the as keyword. This alias will be used latter, when deﬁning relations.
@startuml
[First component]
[Another component] as Comp2
component Comp3
component [Last\ncomponent] as Comp4
@enduml

6.2

Interfaces

Interface can be deﬁned using the () symbol (because this looks like a circle).
You can also use the interface keyword to deﬁnes an interface. And you can deﬁne an alias, using
the as keyword. This alias will be used latter, when deﬁning relations.
We will see latter that interface deﬁnition is optional.
@startuml
() "First Interface"
() "Another interface" as Interf2
interface Interf3
interface "Last\ninterface" as Interf4
@enduml

6.3

Basic example

Links between elements are made using combinations of dotted line (..), straight line (--), and
arrows (-->) symbols.
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6.4 Using notes

6 COMPONENT DIAGRAM

@startuml
DataAccess - [First Component]
[First Component] ..> HTTP : use
@enduml

6.4

Using notes

You can use the note left of , note right of , note top of , note bottom of keywords to
deﬁne notes related to a single object.
A note can be also deﬁne alone with the note keywords, then linked to other objects using the ..
symbol.
@startuml
interface "Data Access" as DA
DA - [First Component]
[First Component] ..> HTTP : use
note left of HTTP : Web Service only
note right of [First Component]
A note can also
be on several lines
end note
@enduml

6.5

Grouping Components

You can use several keywords to group components and interfaces together:
• package
• node
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6.5 Grouping Components

6 COMPONENT DIAGRAM

• folder
• frame
• cloud
• database
@startuml
package "Some Group" {
HTTP - [First Component]
[Another Component]
}
node "Other Groups" {
FTP - [Second Component]
[First Component] --> FTP
}
cloud {
[Example 1]
}

database "MySql" {
folder "This is my folder" {
[Folder 3]
}
frame "Foo" {
[Frame 4]
}
}

[Another Component] --> [Example 1]
[Example 1] --> [Folder 3]
[Folder 3] --> [Frame 4]
@enduml

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6.6 Changing arrows direction

6.6

6 COMPONENT DIAGRAM

Changing arrows direction

By default, links between classes have two dashes -- and are vertically oriented. It is possible to
use horizontal link by putting a single dash (or dot) like this:
@startuml
[Component] --> Interface1
[Component] -> Interface2
@enduml

You can also change directions by reversing the link:
@startuml
Interface1 <-- [Component]
Interface2 <- [Component]
@enduml

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6.7 Use UML2 notation

6 COMPONENT DIAGRAM

It is also possible to change arrow direction by adding left, right, up or down keywords inside the
arrow:
@startuml
[Component]
[Component]
[Component]
[Component]
@enduml

-left -> left
-right -> right
-up -> up
-down -> down

You can shorten the arrow by using only the ﬁrst character of the direction (for example, -dinstead of -down-) or the two ﬁrst characters (-do-).
Please note that you should not abuse this functionality : Graphviz gives usually good results
without tweaking.

6.7

Use UML2 notation

The skinparam componentStyle uml2 command is used to switch to UML2 notation.
@startuml
skinparam componentStyle uml2
interface "Data Access" as DA
DA - [First Component]
[First Component] ..> HTTP : use
@enduml

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6.8 Long description

6.8

6 COMPONENT DIAGRAM

Long description

It is possible to put description on several lines using square brackets.
@startuml
component comp1 [
This component
has a long comment
on several lines
]
@enduml

6.9

Individual colors

You can specify a color after component deﬁnition.
@startuml
component
@enduml

[Web Server] #Yellow

6.10 Using Sprite in Stereotype
You can use sprites within stereotype components.
@startuml
sprite $businessProcess [16 x16 /16] {
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFF0FFFFF
FFFFFFFFFF00FFFF
FF00000000000FFF
FF000000000000FF
FF00000000000FFF
FFFFFFFFFF00FFFF
FFFFFFFFFF0FFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

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6.11 Skinparam

6 COMPONENT DIAGRAM

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
}

rectangle " End to End\nbusiness process" <<$businessProcess >> {
rectangle "inner process 1" <<$businessProcess >> as src
rectangle "inner process 2" <<$businessProcess >> as tgt
src -> tgt
}
@enduml

6.11 Skinparam
You can use the skinparam command to change colors and fonts for the drawing.
You can use this command :
• In the diagram deﬁnition, like any other commands,
• In an included ﬁle,
• In a conﬁguration ﬁle, provided in the command line or the ANT task.
You can deﬁne speciﬁc color and fonts for stereotyped components and interfaces.
@startuml
skinparam interface {
backgroundColor RosyBrown
borderColor orange
}
skinparam component {
FontSize 13
BackgroundColor <> Red
BorderColor <> #FF6655
FontName Courier
BorderColor black
BackgroundColor gold
ArrowFontName Impact
ArrowColor #FF6655
ArrowFontColor #777777
}
() "Data Access" as DA
DA - [First Component]
[First Component] ..> () HTTP : use
HTTP - [Web Server] << Apache >>
@enduml

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6 COMPONENT DIAGRAM

@startuml
[AA] <>
[BB] <>
[CC] <>
node node1
node node2 <>
database Production
skinparam component {
backgroundColor <> DarkKhaki
backgroundColor <> Green
}
skinparam node {
borderColor Green
backgroundColor Yellow
backgroundColor <> Magenta
}
skinparam databaseBackgroundColor Aqua
@enduml

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7 STATE DIAGRAM

7
7.1

State Diagram
Simple State

You can use [*] for the starting point and ending point of the state diagram.
Use --> for arrows.
@startuml
[*] --> State1
State1 --> [*]
State1 : this is a string
State1 : this is another string
State1 -> State2
State2 --> [*]
@enduml

7.2

Composite state

A state can also be composite. You have to deﬁne it using the state keywords and brackets.
@startuml
scale 350 width
[*] --> NotShooting
state NotShooting {
[*] --> Idle
Idle --> Configuring : EvConfig
Configuring --> Idle : EvConfig
}
state Configuring {
[*] --> NewValueSelection
NewValueSelection --> NewValuePreview : EvNewValue
NewValuePreview --> NewValueSelection : EvNewValueRejected
NewValuePreview --> NewValueSelection : EvNewValueSaved
state NewValuePreview {
State1 -> State2
}
}
@enduml

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7.3 Long name

7.3

7 STATE DIAGRAM

Long name

You can also use the state keyword to use long description for states.
@startuml
scale 600 width
[*] -> State1
State1 --> State2 : Succeeded
State1 --> [*] : Aborted
State2 --> State3 : Succeeded
State2 --> [*] : Aborted
state State3 {
state "Accumulate Enough Data\nLong State Name" as long1
long1 : Just a test
[*] --> long1
long1 --> long1 : New Data
long1 --> ProcessData : Enough Data
}
State3 --> State3 : Failed
State3 --> [*] : Succeeded / Save Result
State3 --> [*] : Aborted
@enduml

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7.4 Concurrent state

7.4

7 STATE DIAGRAM

Concurrent state

You can deﬁne concurrent state into a composite state using either -- or || symbol as separator.
@startuml
[*] --> Active
state Active {
[*] -> NumLockOff
NumLockOff --> NumLockOn : EvNumLockPressed
NumLockOn --> NumLockOff : EvNumLockPressed
-[*] -> CapsLockOff
CapsLockOff --> CapsLockOn : EvCapsLockPressed
CapsLockOn --> CapsLockOff : EvCapsLockPressed
-[*] -> ScrollLockOff
ScrollLockOff --> ScrollLockOn : EvCapsLockPressed
ScrollLockOn --> ScrollLockOff : EvCapsLockPressed
}
@enduml

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7.5 Arrow direction

7.5

7 STATE DIAGRAM

Arrow direction

You can use -> for horizontal arrows. It is possible to force arrow’s direction using the following
syntax:
• -down-> (default arrow)
• -right-> or ->
• -left->
• -up->
@startuml
[*] -up -> First
First -right -> Second
Second --> Third
Third -left -> Last
@enduml

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7.6 Note

7 STATE DIAGRAM

You can shorten the arrow by using only the ﬁrst character of the direction (for example, -dinstead of -down-) or the two ﬁrst characters (-do-).
Please note that you should not abuse this functionality : Graphviz gives usually good results
without tweaking.

7.6

Note

You can also deﬁne notes using note left of, note right of, note top of, note bottom of
keywords.
You can also deﬁne notes on several lines.
@startuml
[*] --> Active
Active --> Inactive
note left of Active : this is a short\nnote
note right of Inactive
A note can also
be defined on
several lines
end note
@enduml

You can also have ﬂoating notes.
@startuml
state foo
note "This is a floating note" as N1
@enduml

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7.7 More in notes

7.7

7 STATE DIAGRAM

More in notes

You can put notes on composite states.
@startuml
[*] --> NotShooting
state "Not Shooting State" as NotShooting {
state "Idle mode" as Idle
state "Configuring mode" as Configuring
[*] --> Idle
Idle --> Configuring : EvConfig
Configuring --> Idle : EvConfig
}
note right of NotShooting : This is a note on a composite state
@enduml

7.8

Skinparam

You can use the skinparam command to change colors and fonts for the drawing.
You can use this command :
• In the diagram deﬁnition, like any other commands,
• In an included ﬁle,
• In a conﬁguration ﬁle, provided in the command line or the ANT task.
You can deﬁne speciﬁc color and fonts for stereotyped states.
@startuml
skinparam backgroundColor LightYellow
skinparam state {
StartColor MediumBlue
EndColor Red
BackgroundColor Peru
BackgroundColor <> Olive
BorderColor Gray
FontName Impact
}
[*] --> NotShooting
state "Not Shooting State" as NotShooting {

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7.8 Skinparam

7 STATE DIAGRAM

state "Idle mode" as Idle <>
state "Configuring mode" as Configuring
[*] --> Idle
Idle --> Configuring : EvConfig
Configuring --> Idle : EvConfig
}
NotShooting --> [*]
@enduml

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8

8
8.1

OBJECT DIAGRAM

Object Diagram
Deﬁnition of objects

You deﬁne instance of objects using the object keywords.
@startuml
object firstObject
object "My Second Object" as o2
@enduml

8.2

Relations between objects

Relations between objects are deﬁned using the following symbols :
Extension
Composition
Aggregation

<|-*-o--

It is possible to replace -- by .. to have a dotted line.
Knowing those rules, it is possible to draw the following drawings.
It is possible a add a label on the relation, using ” : ”, followed by the text of the label.
For cardinality, you can use double-quotes "" on each side of the relation.
@startuml
object Object01
object Object02
object Object03
object Object04
object Object05
object Object06
object Object07
object Object08
Object01
Object03
Object05
Object07
@enduml

8.3

<|-- Object02
*-- Object04
o-- "4" Object06
.. Object08 : some labels

Adding ﬁelds

To declare ﬁelds, you can use the symbol ":" followed by the ﬁeld’s name.
@startuml
object user
user : name = "Dummy"
user : id = 123
@enduml

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8

OBJECT DIAGRAM

It is also possible to ground between brackets {} all ﬁelds.
@startuml
object user {
name = "Dummy"
id = 123
}
@enduml

8.4

Common features with class diagrams

• Visibility
• Deﬁnes notes
• Use packages
• Skin the output

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9 COMMON COMMANDS

9

Common commands

9.1

Comments

Everything that starts with simple quote ' is a comment.
You can also put comments on several lines using /' to start and '/ to end.

9.2

Footer and header

You can use the commands header or footer to add a footer or a header on any generated diagram.
You can optionally specify if you want a center, left or right footer/header, by adding a keyword.
As for title, it is possible to deﬁne a header or a footer on several lines.
It is also possible to put some HTML into the header or footer.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
header
Warning :
Do not use in production.
endheader
center footer Generated for demonstration
@enduml

9.3

Zoom

You can use the scale command to zoom the generated image.
You can use either a number or a fraction to deﬁne the scale factor. You can also specify either
width or height (in pixel). And you can also give both width and height : the image is scaled to ﬁt
inside the speciﬁed dimension.
• scale 1.5
• scale 2/3
• scale 200 width
• scale 200 height
• scale 200*100
• scale max 300*200
• scale max 1024 width
• scale max 800 height
@startuml
scale 180*90
Bob ->Alice : hello
@enduml

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9.4 Title

9.4

9 COMMON COMMANDS

Title

The title keywords is used to put a title. You can add newline using \n in the title description.
Some skinparam settings are available to put borders on the title.
@startuml
skinparam
skinparam
skinparam
skinparam

titleBorderRoundCorner 15
titleBorderThickness 2
titleBorderColor red
titleBackgroundColor Aqua -CadetBlue

title Simple communication\nexample
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob --> Alice: Authentication Response
@enduml

You can use creole formatting in the title.
You can also deﬁne title on several lines using title and end title keywords.
@startuml
title
Simple  communication example
on several  lines and using creole tags 
end title
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Response
@enduml

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9.5 Caption

9.5

9 COMMON COMMANDS

Caption

There is also a caption keyword to put a caption under the diagram.
@startuml
caption figure 1
Alice -> Bob: Hello
@enduml

9.6

Legend the diagram

The legend and end legend are keywords is used to put a legend.
You can optionally specify to have left, right or center alignment for the legend.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob : Hello
legend right
Short
legend
endlegend
@enduml

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10

10

SALT

Salt

Salt is a subproject included in PlantUML that may help you to design graphical interface.
You can use either @startsalt keyword, or @startuml followed by a line with salt keyword.

10.1

Basic widgets

A window must start and end with brackets. You can then deﬁne:
• Button using [ and ].
• Radio button using ( and ).
• Checkbox using [ and ].
• User text area using ".
@startuml
salt
{
Just plain text
[This is my button]
() Unchecked radio
(X) Checked radio
[] Unchecked box
[X] Checked box
"Enter text here
"
^This is a droplist^
}
@enduml

The goal of this tool is to discuss about simple and sample windows.

10.2

Using grid

A table is automatically created when you use an opening bracket {.
And you have to use | to separate columns.
For example:
@startsalt
{
Login
| "MyName
"
Password | "****
"
[Cancel] | [ OK
]
}
@endsalt

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10.3 Using separator

10

SALT

Just after the opening bracket, you can use a character to deﬁne if you want to draw lines or columns
of the grid :
# To display all vertical and horizontal lines
! To display all vertical lines
- To display all horizontal lines
+ To display external lines
@startsalt
{+
Login
| "MyName
"
Password | "****
"
[Cancel] | [ OK
]
}
@endsalt

10.3

Using separator

You can use several horizontal lines as separator.
@startsalt
{
Text1
..
"Some field"
==
Note on usage
~~
Another text
-[Ok]
}
@endsalt

10.4

Tree widget

To have a Tree, you have to start with {T and to use + to denote hierarchy.
@startsalt
{
{T
+ World
++ America
+++ Canada
+++ USA
++++ New York
++++ Boston
+++ Mexico
++ Europe
+++ Italy
+++ Germany

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10.5 Enclosing brackets

10

SALT

++++ Berlin
++ Africa
}
}
@endsalt

10.5

Enclosing brackets

You can deﬁne subelements by opening a new opening bracket.
@startsalt
{
Name
| "
"
Modifiers:
| { (X) public | () default | () private | () protected
[] abstract | [] final
| [] static }
Superclass: | { "java.lang.Object " | [Browse ...] }
}
@endsalt

10.6

Adding tabs

You can add tabs using {/ notation. Note that you can use HTML code to have bold text.
@startsalt
{+
{/ General | Fullscreen | Behavior | Saving }
{
{ Open image in: | ^Smart Mode^ }
[X] Smooth images when zoomed
[X] Confirm image deletion
[ ] Show hidden images
}
[Close]
}
@endsalt

Tab could also be vertically oriented:
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10.7 Using menu

10

SALT

@startsalt
{+
{/ General
Fullscreen
Behavior
Saving } |
{
{ Open image in: | ^Smart Mode^ }
[X] Smooth images when zoomed
[X] Confirm image deletion
[ ] Show hidden images
[Close]
}
}
@endsalt

10.7

Using menu

You can add a menu by using {* notation.
@startsalt
{+
{* File | Edit | Source | Refactor }
{/ General | Fullscreen | Behavior | Saving }
{
{ Open image in: | ^Smart Mode^ }
[X] Smooth images when zoomed
[X] Confirm image deletion
[ ] Show hidden images
}
[Close]
}
@endsalt

It is also possible to open a menu:
@startsalt
{+
{* File | Edit | Source | Refactor
Refactor | New | Open File | - | Close | Close All }
{/ General | Fullscreen | Behavior | Saving }
{
{ Open image in: | ^Smart Mode^ }
[X] Smooth images when zoomed
[X] Confirm image deletion
[ ] Show hidden images
}
[Close]
}
@endsalt

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10.8 Advanced table

10.8

10

SALT

Advanced table

You can use two special notations for table :
• * to indicate that a cell with span with left
• . to denotate an empty cell
@startsalt
{#
. | Column 2 | Column 3
Row header 1 | value 1 | value 2
Row header 2 | A long cell | *
}
@endsalt

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11

11

CREOLE

Creole

A light Creole engine have been integrated into PlantUML to have a standardized way of deﬁning
text style.
All diagrams are now supporting this syntax.
Note that ascending compatibility with HTML syntax is preserved.

11.1

Emphasized text

@startuml
Alice -> Bob : hello --there -... Some ~~ long delay ~~ ...
Bob -> Alice : ok
note left
This is ** bold **
This is // italics //
This is "" monospaced ""
This is --stroked -This is __underlined__
This is ~~ waved ~~
end note
@enduml

11.2

List

@startuml
object demo {
* Bullet list
* Second item
}
note left
* Bullet list
* Second item
** Sub item
end note
legend
# Numbered list
# Second item
## Sub item
## Another sub item
# Third item
end legend
@enduml

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11.3 Escape character

11.3

11

CREOLE

Escape character

You can use the tilde ~ to escape special creole characters.
@startuml
object demo {
This is not ~___underscored__.
This is not ~"" monospaced "".
}
@enduml

11.4

Horizontal lines

@startuml
database DB1 as "
You can have horizontal line
---Or double line
====
Or strong line
____
Or dotted line
..My title ..
Enjoy!
"
note right
This is working also in notes
You can also add title in all these lines
== Title ==
--Another title -end note
@enduml

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11.5 Headings

11.5

11

CREOLE

Headings

@startuml
usecase UC1 as "
= Extra -large heading
Some text
== Large heading
Other text
=== Medium heading
Information
....
==== Small heading"
@enduml

11.6

Legacy HTML

Some HTML tags are also working:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

 for bold text
 or  or  for underline
 for italic
 or  or  for strike text
 or  or  for wave underline text
 or 
 or  for background color
 to change font size
 : the ﬁle must be accessible by the ﬁlesystem
 : the URL must be available from the Internet

@startuml
:* You can change text color 
* You can change background color 
* You can change size 
* You use legacy  HTML tag 
* You use color  in HTML  tag 
---* Use image : 
;
@enduml

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11.7 Table

11.7

11

CREOLE

Table

It is possible to build table.
@startuml
skinparam titleFontSize 14
title
Example of simple table
|= |= table |= header |
| a | table | row |
| b | table | row |
end title
[*] --> State1
@enduml

You can specify background colors for cells and lines.
@startuml
start
:Here is the result
|= |= table |= header |
| a | table | row |
|<#FF8080 > red |<#80FF80 > green | <#8080FF > blue |
<#yellow >| b | table | row |;
@enduml

11.8

Tree

You can use |_ characters to build a tree.
@startuml
skinparam titleFontSize 14
title
Example of Tree
|_ First line
|_ **Bom(Model )**
|_ prop1
|_ prop2
|_ prop3
|_ Last line
end title
[*] --> State1
@enduml

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11.9 Special characters

11.9

11

CREOLE

Special characters

It’s possible to use any unicode characters with &# syntax or 
@startuml
usecase foo as "this is ∞ long"
usecase bar as "this is also  long"
@enduml

11.10

OpenIconic

OpenIconic is an very nice open source icon set. Those icons have been integrated into the creole
parser, so you can use them out-of-the-box.
You can use the following syntax: <&ICON_NAME>.
@startuml
title: <&heart >Use of OpenIconic <&heart >
class Wifi
note left
Click on <&wifi >
end note
@enduml

The complete list is available on OpenIconic Website, or you can use the following special diagram:
@startuml
listopeniconic
@enduml

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11.10 OpenIconic

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11

CREOLE

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11.11 Deﬁning and using sprites

11.11

11

CREOLE

Deﬁning and using sprites

A Sprite is a small graphic element that can be used in diagrams.
In PlantUML, sprites are monochrome and can have either 4, 8 or 16 gray level.
To deﬁne a sprite, you have to use a hexadecimal digit between 0 and F per pixel.
Then you can use the sprite using <$XXX> where XXX is the name of the sprite.
@startuml
sprite $foo1 {
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
}
Alice -> Bob : Testing <$foo1 >
@enduml

You can scale the sprite.
@startuml
sprite $foo1 {
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
F0123456789ABCF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
}
Alice -> Bob : Testing <$foo1{scale =3}>
@enduml

11.12

Encoding Sprite

To encode sprite, you can use the command line like:
java -jar plantuml.jar -encodesprite 16z foo.png

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11.13 Importing Sprite

11

CREOLE

where foo.png is the image ﬁle you want to use (it will be converted to gray automatically).
After -encodesprite, you have to specify a format: 4, 8, 16, 4z, 8z or 16z.
The number indicates the gray level and the optional z is used to enable compression in sprite
deﬁnition.

11.13

Importing Sprite

You can also launch the GUI to generate a sprite from an existing image.
Click in the menubar then on File/Open Sprite Window.
After copying an image into you clipboard, several possible deﬁnitions of the corresponding sprite
will be displayed : you will just have to pickup the one you want.

11.14

Examples

@startuml
sprite $printer [15 x15/8z] NOtH3W0W208HxFz_kMAhj7lHWpa1XC716sz0Pq4MVPEWfBHIuxP3L6kbTcizR8tAhzaqFvXwvFfPEq
start
:click on <$printer > to print the page;
@enduml

@startuml
sprite $bug [15 x15 /16z] PKzR2i0m2BFMi15p__FEjQEqB1z27aeqCqixa8S4OT7C53cKpsHpaYPDJY_12MHM - BLRyywPhrrlw3qum
sprite $printer [15 x15/8z] NOtH3W0W208HxFz_kMAhj7lHWpa1XC716sz0Pq4MVPEWfBHIuxP3L6kbTcizR8tAhzaqFvXwvFfPEq
sprite $disk {
444445566677881
436000000009991
43600000000 ACA1
53700000001 A7A1
53700000012 B8A1
53800000123 B8A1
63800001233 C9A1
634999 AABBC99B1
744566778899 AB1
7456 AAAAA99AAB1
8566 AFC228AABB1
8567 AC8118BBBB1
867 BD4433BBBBB1
39 AAAAABBBBBBC1
}
title Use of sprites (<$printer >, <$bug >...)
class Example {
Can have some bug : <$bug >
Click on <$disk > to save
}

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11.14 Examples

11

CREOLE

note left : The printer <$printer > is available
@enduml

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12

12
12.1

CHANGING FONTS AND COLORS

Changing fonts and colors
Usage

You can change colors and font of the drawing using the skinparam command. Example:
skinparam backgroundColor yellow

You can use this command :
• In the diagram deﬁnition, like any other commands,
• In an included ﬁle (see Preprocessing),
• In a conﬁguration ﬁle, provided in the command line or the ANT task.

12.2

Nested

To avoid repetition, it is possible to nest deﬁnition. So the following deﬁnition :
skinparam
skinparam
skinparam
skinparam

xxxxParam1
xxxxParam2
xxxxParam3
xxxxParam4

value1
value2
value3
value4

is strictly equivalent to:
skinparam xxxx {
Param1 value1
Param2 value2
Param3 value3
Param4 value4
}

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12.3 Color

12.3

12

CHANGING FONTS AND COLORS

Color

You can use either standard color name or RGB code.

Parameter name
backgroundColor
arrowColor
activityBackgroundColor
activityBorderColor
activityStartColor
activityEndColor
activityBarColor
usecaseActorBackgroundColor
usecaseActorBorderColor
usecaseBackgroundColor
usecaseBorderColor
classBackgroundColor
classBorderColor
packageBackgroundColor
packageBorderColor
stereotypeCBackgroundColor
stereotypeABackgroundColor
stereotypeIBackgroundColor
stereotypeEBackgroundColor
componentBackgroundColor
componentBorderColor
componentInterfaceBackgroundColor
componentInterfaceBorderColor
noteBackgroundColor
noteBorderColor
stateBackgroundColor
stateBorderColor
stateStartColor
stateEndColor
sequenceActorBackgroundColor
sequenceActorBorderColor
sequenceGroupBackgroundColor
sequenceLifeLineBackgroundColor
sequenceLifeLineBorderColor
sequenceParticipantBackgroundColor
sequenceParticipantBorderColor

Default
Value
white
#A80036

Color

Comment
Background of the page
Color of arrows

#FEFECE

Background of activities

#A80036

Color of activity borders

black

Starting circle in activity diagrams

black

Ending circle in activity diagrams

black

Synchronization bar in activity diagrams

#FEFECE

Head’s color of actor in usecase diagrams

#A80036
#FEFECE
#A80036
#FEFECE
#A80036
#FEFECE
#A80036

Color of actor borders in usecase diagrams
Background of usecases
Color of usecase borders in usecase diagrams
Background of classes/interface/enum in class diagrams
Borders of classes/interface/enum in class diagrams
Background of packages in class diagrams
Borders of packages in class diagrams

#ADD1B2

Background of class spots in class diagrams

#A9DCDF

Background of abstract class spots in class diagrams

#B4A7E5

Background of interface spots in class diagrams

#EB937F

Background of enum spots in class diagrams

#FEFECE

Background of components

#A80036
#FEFECE

Borders of components
Background of interface in component diagrams

#A80036

Border of interface in component diagrams

#FBFB77

Background of notes

#A80036

Border of notes

#FEFECE
#A80036

Background of states in state diagrams
Border of states in state diagrams

black

Starting circle in state diagrams

black

Ending circle in state diagrams

#FEFECE
#A80036
#EEEEEE
white
#A80036
#FEFECE
#A80036

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Head’s color of actor in sequence diagrams
Border of actor in sequence diagrams
Header color of alt/opt/loop in sequence diagrams
Background of life line in sequence diagrams
Border of life line in sequence diagrams
Background of participant in sequence diagrams
Border of participant in sequence diagrams

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12.4 Font color, name and size

12.4

12

CHANGING FONTS AND COLORS

Font color, name and size

You can change the font for the drawing using xxxFontColor, xxxFontSize and xxxFontName
parameters.
Example:
skinparam classFontColor red
skinparam classFontSize 10
skinparam classFontName Aapex

You can also change the default font for all fonts using skinparam defaultFontName.
Example:
skinparam defaultFontName Aapex

Please note the fontname is highly system dependent, so do not over use it, if you look for portability.
Parameter
Name
activityFontColor
activityFontSize
activityFontStyle
activityFontName
arrowFontColor
arrowFontSize
arrowFontStyle
arrowFontName
circledCharacterFontColor
circledCharacterFontSize
circledCharacterFontStyle
circledCharacterFontName
circledCharacterRadius
classAttributeFontColor
classAttributeFontSize
classAttributeIconSize
classAttributeFontStyle
classAttributeFontName
classFontColor
classFontSize
classFontStyle
classFontName
classStereotypeFontColor
classStereotypeFontSize
classStereotypeFontStyle
classStereotypeFontName
componentFontColor
componentFontSize
componentFontStyle
componentFontName
componentStereotypeFontColor
componentStereotypeFontSize
componentStereotypeFontStyle
componentStereotypeFontName
noteFontColor
noteFontSize
noteFontStyle
noteFontName

Default
Value
black
14
plain
black
13
plain
black
17
bold
Courier
11
black
10
10
plain
black
12
plain
black
12
italic
black
14
plain
black
14
italic
black
13
plain

Comment

Used for activity box

Used for text on arrows

Used for text in circle for class, enum and others

Class attributes and methods

Used for classes name

Used for stereotype in classes

Used for components name

Used for stereotype in components

Used for notes in all diagrams but sequence diagrams

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12.4 Font color, name and size

packageFontColor
packageFontSize
packageFontStyle
packageFontName
sequenceActorFontColor
sequenceActorFontSize
sequenceActorFontStyle
sequenceActorFontName
sequenceDividerFontColor
sequenceDividerFontSize
sequenceDividerFontStyle
sequenceDividerFontName
sequenceGroupingFontColor
sequenceGroupingFontSize
sequenceGroupingFontStyle
sequenceGroupingFontName
sequenceGroupingHeaderFontColor
sequenceGroupingHeaderFontSize
sequenceGroupingHeaderFontStyle
sequenceGroupingHeaderFontName
sequenceParticipantFontColor
sequenceParticipantFontSize
sequenceParticipantFontStyle
sequenceParticipantFontName
sequenceTitleFontColor
sequenceTitleFontSize
sequenceTitleFontStyle
sequenceTitleFontName
titleFontColor
titleFontSize
titleFontStyle
titleFontName
stateFontColor
stateFontSize
stateFontStyle
stateFontName
stateAttributeFontColor
stateAttributeFontSize
stateAttributeFontStyle
stateAttributeFontName
usecaseFontColor
usecaseFontSize
usecaseFontStyle
usecaseFontName
usecaseStereotypeFontColor
usecaseStereotypeFontSize
usecaseStereotypeFontStyle
usecaseStereotypeFontName
usecaseActorFontColor
usecaseActorFontSize
usecaseActorFontStyle
usecaseActorFontName
usecaseActorStereotypeFontColor
usecaseActorStereotypeFontSize
usecaseActorStereotypeFontStyle
usecaseActorStereotypeFontName

12

black
14
plain
black
13
plain
black
13
bold
black
11
plain
black
13
plain
black
13
plain
black
13
plain
black
18
plain
black
14
plain
black
12
plain
black
14
plain
black
14
italic
black
14
plain
black
14
italic

CHANGING FONTS AND COLORS

Used for package and partition names

Used for actor in sequence diagrams

Used for text on dividers in sequence diagrams

Used for text for ”else” in sequence diagrams

Used for text for ”alt/opt/loop” headers in sequence diagrams

Used for text on participant in sequence diagrams

Used for titles in sequence diagrams

Used for titles in all diagrams but sequence diagrams

Used for states in state diagrams

Used for states description in state diagrams

Used for usecase labels in usecase diagrams

Used for stereotype in usecase

Used for actor labels in usecase diagrams

Used for stereotype for actor

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12.4 Font color, name and size

footerFontColor
footerFontSize
footerFontStyle
footerFontName
headerFontColor
headerFontSize
headerFontStyle
headerFontName

12

black
10
plain
black
10
plain

CHANGING FONTS AND COLORS

Used for footer

Used for header

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12.5 Black and White

12.5

12

CHANGING FONTS AND COLORS

Black and White

You can force the use of a black white output using the skinparam monochrome true command.
@startuml
skinparam monochrome true
actor User
participant "First Class" as A
participant "Second Class" as B
participant "Last Class" as C
User -> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> B: Create Request
activate B
B -> C: DoWork
activate C
C --> B: WorkDone
destroy C
B --> A: Request Created
deactivate B
A --> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml

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13 PREPROCESSING

13

Preprocessing

Some minor preprocessing capabilities are included in PlantUML, and available for all diagrams.
Those functionnalities are very similar to the C language preprocessor, except that the special
character (#) has been changed to the exclamation mark (!).

13.1

Including ﬁles

Use the !include directive to include ﬁle in your diagram.
Imagine you have the very same class that appears in many diagrams. Instead of duplicating the
description of this class, you can deﬁne a ﬁle that contains the description.
@startuml
!include List.iuml
List <|.. ArrayList
@enduml

File List.iuml: interface List List : int size() List : void clear()
The ﬁle List.iuml can be included in many diagrams, and any modiﬁcation in this ﬁle will change
all diagrams that include it.
A ﬁle can be only be included once. If you want to include several times the very same ﬁle, you
have to use the directive !include_many instead of !include.
You can also put several @startuml/@enduml text block in an included ﬁle and then specify which
block you want to include adding !0 where 0 is the block number.
For example, if you use !include foo.txt!1, the second @startuml/@enduml block within foo.txt
will be included.
You can also put an id to some @startuml/@enduml text block in an included ﬁle using @startuml(id=MY_OWN_ID)
syntax and then include the block adding !MY_OWN_ID when including the ﬁle, so using something
like !include foo.txt!MY_OWN_ID.

13.2

Including URL

Use the !includeurl directive to include ﬁle from Internet/Intranet in your diagram.
You can also use !includeurl http://someurl.com/mypath!0 to specify which @startuml/@enduml
block from http://someurl.com/mypath you want to include. The !0 notation denotes the ﬁrst
diagram.

13.3

Constant deﬁnition

You can deﬁne constant using the !define directive. As in C language, a constant name can only
use alphanumeric and underscore characters, and cannot start with a digit.

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13.4 Macro deﬁnition

13 PREPROCESSING

@startuml
!define SEQUENCE (S,# AAAAAA) Database Sequence
!define TABLE (T,# FFAAAA) Database Table
class USER << TABLE >>
class ACCOUNT << TABLE >>
class UID << SEQUENCE >>
USER "1" -- "*" ACCOUNT
USER -> UID
@enduml

Of course, you can use the !include directive to deﬁne all your constants in a single ﬁle that you
include in your diagram.
Constant can be undeﬁned with the !undef XXX directive.
You can also specify constants within the command line, with the -D ﬂags.
java -jar plantuml.jar -DTITLE ="My title" atest1.txt

Note that the -D ﬂag must be put after the ”-jar plantuml.jar” section.

13.4

Macro deﬁnition

You can also deﬁne macro with arguments.
@startuml
!define module(x) component x <>
module(ABC)
module(XYZ)
@enduml

Macro can have several arguments.
@startuml
!define send(a,b,c) a->b : c
send(Alice , Bob , Hello)
send(Bob , Alice , ok)
@enduml

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13.5 Adding date and time

13.5

13 PREPROCESSING

Adding date and time

You can also expand current date and time using the special variable %date%.
Date format can be speciﬁed using format speciﬁed in SimpleDataFormat documentation.
@startuml
!define ANOTHER_DATE %date[yyyy.MM.dd 'at ' HH:mm]%
Title Generated %date% or ANOTHER_DATE
alice -> bob
@enduml

13.6

Other special variables

You can also use the following special variables:
%dirpath% Path of the current ﬁle
%filename% Name of the current ﬁle

13.7

Macro on several lines

You can also deﬁne macro on several lines using !definelong and !enddefinelong.
@startuml
!define DOUBLE(x) x x
!definelong AUTHEN(x,y)
x -> y : DOUBLE(hello)
y -> x : ok
!enddefinelong
AUTHEN(Bob ,Alice)
@enduml

13.8

Default values for macro parameters

It is possible to assign default values to macro parameters.
@startuml
!define some_macro(x, y = "some default" , z = 'another default ' ) x and y and z
class foo {
some_macro(Z1 , Z2 , Z3)
some_macro(Z1 , Z2)
some_macro(A)
}
@enduml

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13.9 Conditions

13.9

13 PREPROCESSING

Conditions

You can use !ifdef XXX and !endif directives to have conditionnal drawings.
The lines between those two directives will be included only if the constant after the !ifdef directive
has been deﬁned before.
You can also provide a !else part which will be included if the constant has not been deﬁned.
@startuml
!include ArrayList.iuml
@enduml

File ArrayList.iuml:
class ArrayList
!ifdef SHOW_METHODS
ArrayList : int size ()
ArrayList : void clear ()
!endif

You can then use the !define directive to activate the conditionnal part of the diagram.
@startuml
!define SHOW_METHODS
!include ArrayList.iuml
@enduml

You can also use the !ifndef directive that includes lines if the provided constant has NOT been
deﬁned.
You can use boolean expression with parenthesis, operators and || in the test.
@startuml
!define SHOW_FIELDS
!undef SHOW_METHODS
class foo {
!ifdef SHOW_FIELDS || SHOW_METHODS
This is shown
!endif
!ifdef SHOW_FIELDS && SHOW_METHODS
This is NOT shown
!endif
}
@enduml

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13.10 Search path

13.10

13 PREPROCESSING

Search path

You can specify the java property ”plantuml.include.path” in the command line.
For example:
java -Dplantuml.include.path ="c:/ mydir" -jar plantuml.jar atest1.txt

Note the this -D option has to put before the -jar option. -D options after the -jar option will be
used to deﬁne constants within plantuml preprocessor.

13.11

Advanced features

It is possible to append text to a macro argument using the ## syntax.
@startuml
!definelong COMP_TEXTGENCOMP(name)
[name] << Comp >>
interface Ifc << IfcType >> AS name ##Ifc
name ##Ifc - [name]
!enddefinelong
COMP_TEXTGENCOMP(dummy)
@enduml

A macro can be deﬁned by another macro.
@startuml
!define DOUBLE(x) x x
!definelong AUTHEN(x,y)
x -> y : DOUBLE(hello)
y -> x : ok
!enddefinelong
AUTHEN(Bob ,Alice)
@enduml

A macro can be polymorphic with argument count.
@startuml
!define module(x) component x <>
!define module(x,y) component x as y <>
module(foo)
module(bar , barcode)
@enduml

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13.11 Advanced features

13 PREPROCESSING

You can use system environment variable or constant deﬁnition when using include:
!include %windir %/ test1.txt
!define PLANTUML_HOME /home/foo
!include PLANTUML_HOME/test1.txt

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14 INTERNATIONALIZATION

14

Internationalization

The PlantUML language use letters to deﬁne actor, usecase and so on. But letters are not only A-Z
latin characters, it could be any kind of letter from any language.

@startuml
skinparam backgroundColor #EEEBDC
actor 使 用 者
participant " 頭 等 艙 " as A
participant " 第 二 類 " as B
participant " 最 後 一 堂 課 " as 別 的 東 西
使 用 者 -> A: 完 成 這 項 工 作
activate A
A -> B: 創 建 請 求
activate B
B -> 別 的 東 西 : 創 建 請 求
activate 別 的 東 西
別 的 東 西 --> B: 這 項 工 作 完 成
destroy 別 的 東 西
B --> A: 請 求 創 建
deactivate B
A --> 使 用 者 : 做 完
deactivate A
@enduml

14.1

Charset

The default charset used when reading the text ﬁles containing the UML text description is system
dependent. Normally, it should just be ﬁne, but in some case, you may want to the use another
charset. For example, with the command line:
java -jar plantuml.jar -charset UTF -8 files.txt

Or, with the ant task:
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14.1 Charset

14 INTERNATIONALIZATION





Depending of your Java installation, the following charset should be available: ISO-8859-1, UTF-8,
UTF-16BE, UTF-16LE, UTF-16.

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15 COLOR NAMES

15

Color Names

Here is the list of colors recognized by PlantUML. Note that color names are case insensitive.

AliceBlue
AntiqueWhite
Aquamarine
Aqua
Azure
Beige
Bisque
Black
BlanchedAlmond
BlueViolet
Blue
Brown
BurlyWood
CadetBlue
Chartreuse
Chocolate
Coral
CornﬂowerBlue
Cornsilk
Crimson
Cyan
DarkBlue
DarkCyan
DarkGoldenRod
DarkGray
DarkGreen
DarkKhaki
DarkMagenta
DarkOliveGreen
DarkOrchid
DarkRed
DarkSalmon
DarkSeaGreen
DarkSlateBlue
DarkSlateGray
DarkTurquoise
DarkViolet
Darkorange
DeepPink
DeepSkyBlue
DimGray
DodgerBlue
FireBrick
FloralWhite
ForestGreen
Fuchsia
Gainsboro

GhostWhite
GoldenRod
Gold
Gray
GreenYellow
Green
HoneyDew
HotPink
IndianRed
Indigo
Ivory
Khaki
LavenderBlush
Lavender
LawnGreen
LemonChiﬀon
LightBlue
LightCoral
LightCyan
LightGoldenRodYellow
LightGreen
LightGray
LightPink
LightSalmon
LightSeaGreen
LightSkyBlue
LightSlateGray
LightSteelBlue
LightYellow
LimeGreen
Lime
Linen
Magenta
Maroon
MediumAquaMarine
MediumBlue
MediumOrchid
MediumPurple
MediumSeaGreen
MediumSlateBlue
MediumSpringGreen
MediumTurquoise
MediumVioletRed
MidnightBlue
MintCream
MistyRose
Moccasin

PlantUML Language Reference Guide (Version pversion)

NavajoWhite
Navy
OldLace
OliveDrab
Olive
OrangeRed
Orange
Orchid
PaleGoldenRod
PaleGreen
PaleTurquoise
PaleVioletRed
PapayaWhip
PeachPuﬀ
Peru
Pink
Plum
PowderBlue
Purple
Red
RosyBrown
RoyalBlue
SaddleBrown
Salmon
SandyBrown
SeaGreen
SeaShell
Sienna
Silver
SkyBlue
SlateBlue
SlateGray
Snow
SpringGreen
SteelBlue
Tan
Teal
Thistle
Tomato
Turquoise
Violet
Wheat
WhiteSmoke
White
YellowGreen
Yellow

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Contents
1 Sequence Diagram

1

1.1

Basic examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1

1.2

Declaring participant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1

1.3

Use non-letters in participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2

1.4

Message to Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

1.5

Change arrow style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

1.6

Change arrow color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4

1.7

Message sequence numbering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4

1.8

Splitting diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6

1.9

Grouping message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7

1.10 Notes on messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8

1.11 Some other notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8

1.12 Changing notes shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9

1.13 Creole and HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10

1.14 Divider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

1.15 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

1.16 Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

1.17 Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

1.18 Lifeline Activation and Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

1.19 Participant creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14

1.20 Incoming and outgoing messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15

1.21 Stereotypes and Spots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16

1.22 More information on titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

17

1.23 Participants encompass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

18

1.24 Removing Footer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19

1.25 Skinparam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19

1.26 Changing padding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21

2 Use Case Diagram

22

2.1

Usecases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

22

2.2

Actors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

22

2.3

Usecases description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

22

2.4

Basic example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23

2.5

Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23

2.6

Using notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

24

2.7

Stereotypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25

2.8

Changing arrows direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25

2.9

Splitting diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

27

2.10 Left to right direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

27

2.11 Skinparam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

28

2.12 Complete example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

29

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3 Class Diagram

30

3.1

Relations between classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

30

3.2

Label on relations

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

31

3.3

Adding methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

32

3.4

Deﬁning visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

33

3.5

Abstract and Static

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

34

3.6

Advanced class body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

35

3.7

Notes and stereotypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

36

3.8

More on notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37

3.9

Note on links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

38

3.10 Abstract class and interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

39

3.11 Using non-letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

40

3.12 Hide attributes, methods... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

41

3.13 Hide classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

42

3.14 Use generics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

42

3.15 Speciﬁc Spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

42

3.16 Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

43

3.17 Packages style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

43

3.18 Namespaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

44

3.19 Automatic namespace creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

45

3.20 Lollipop interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

46

3.21 Changing arrows direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

46

3.22 Association classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

47

3.23 Skinparam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

48

3.24 Skinned Stereotypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

49

3.25 Color gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

49

3.26 Help on layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

50

3.27 Splitting large ﬁles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

51

4 Activity Diagram

53

4.1

Simple Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

53

4.2

Label on arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

53

4.3

Changing arrow direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

53

4.4

Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

54

4.5

More on Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

55

4.6

Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

56

4.7

Long activity description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

57

4.8

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

57

4.9

Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

58

4.10 Skinparam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

59

4.11 Octagon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

60

4.12 Complete example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

60

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5 Activity Diagram (beta)

63

5.1

Simple Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

63

5.2

Start/Stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

63

5.3

Conditional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

64

5.4

Repeat loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

65

5.5

While loop

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

65

5.6

Parallel processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

66

5.7

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

67

5.8

Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

67

5.9

Arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

68

5.10 Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

68

5.11 Grouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

69

5.12 Swimlanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

69

5.13 Detach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

70

5.14 SDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

71

5.15 Complete example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

72

6 Component Diagram

74

6.1

Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

74

6.2

Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

74

6.3

Basic example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

74

6.4

Using notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

75

6.5

Grouping Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

75

6.6

Changing arrows direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

77

6.7

Use UML2 notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

78

6.8

Long description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

79

6.9

Individual colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

79

6.10 Using Sprite in Stereotype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

79

6.11 Skinparam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

80

7 State Diagram

82

7.1

Simple State

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7.2

Composite state

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

82

7.3

Long name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

83

7.4

Concurrent state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

84

7.5

Arrow direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

85

7.6

Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

86

7.7

More in notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

87

7.8

Skinparam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

87

8 Object Diagram

82

89

8.1

Deﬁnition of objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

89

8.2

Relations between objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

89

8.3

Adding ﬁelds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

89

8.4

Common features with class diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

90

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9 Common commands

91

9.1

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

91

9.2

Footer and header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

91

9.3

Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

91

9.4

Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

92

9.5

Caption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

93

9.6

Legend the diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

93

10 Salt

94

10.1 Basic widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

94

10.2 Using grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

94

10.3 Using separator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

95

10.4 Tree widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

95

10.5 Enclosing brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

96

10.6 Adding tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

96

10.7 Using menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

97

10.8 Advanced table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

98

11 Creole

99

11.1 Emphasized text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

99

11.2 List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

99

11.3 Escape character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
11.4 Horizontal lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
11.5 Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11.6 Legacy HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11.7 Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
11.8 Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
11.9 Special characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
11.10OpenIconic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
11.11Deﬁning and using sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
11.12Encoding Sprite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
11.13Importing Sprite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
11.14Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
12 Changing fonts and colors

108

12.1 Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
12.2 Nested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
12.3 Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
12.4 Font color, name and size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
12.5 Black and White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

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13 Preprocessing

CONTENTS

114

13.1 Including ﬁles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
13.2 Including URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
13.3 Constant deﬁnition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
13.4 Macro deﬁnition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
13.5 Adding date and time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
13.6 Other special variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
13.7 Macro on several lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
13.8 Default values for macro parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
13.9 Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
13.10Search path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
13.11Advanced features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
14 Internationalization

120

14.1 Charset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
15 Color Names

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PlantUML Language Reference Guide Plant UML

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