How to generate UML diagrams especially sequence diagrams from Java code

Question

How can I generate UML diagrams  especially sequence diagrams  from existing Java code

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How about PlantUML  It s not for reverse engineering    It s for engineering before you code

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What is your codebase  Java or C          eUML2 for Java is a powerful UML modeler designed for Java developper   in Eclipse  The free edition can be used for commercial use  It   supports the following features          CVS and Team Support   Designed for large project with multiple and customizable model views   Helios Compliant   Real-time code model synchronization   UML2 1 compliant and support of OMG XMI   JDK 1 4 and 1 5 support   The commercial edition provides    Advanced reversed engineering   Powerful true dependency analyze tools   UML Profile and MDD   Database tools   Customizable template support

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I developed a maven plugin that can both  be run from CLI as a plugin goal  or import as dependency and programmatically use the parser   see Main main   to get the idea on how    It renders PlantUML src code of desired packages recursively that you can edit manually if needed  hopefully you won t   Then  by pasting the code in the plantUML page  or by downloading plant s jar you can render the UML diagram as a png image     Check it out here https   github com juanmf Java2PlantUML  Example output diagram    Any contribution is more than welcome  It has a set of filters that customize output but I didn t expose these yet in the plugin CLI params   It s important to note that it s not limited to your   java files  it can render UML diagrams src from you maven dependencies as well  This is very handy to understand libraries you depend on  It actually inspects compiled classes with reflection so no source needed    Be the 1st to star it at GitHub  P

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I am one of the authors  so the answer can be biased  It is open-source  Apache 2 0   but the plugin is not free  You don t have to pay  obviously  if you clone and build it locally    On Intellij IDEA  ZenUML can generate sequence diagram from Java code    Check it out at https   plugins jetbrains com plugin 12437-zenuml-support  Source code  https   github com ZenUml jetbrains-zenuml

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Another modelling tool for Java is  my  website GitUML  Generate UML diagrams from Java or Python code stored in GitHub repositories    One key idea with GitUML is to address one of the problems with  documentation   that diagrams are always out of date  With GitUML  diagrams automatically update when you push code using git   Browse through community UML diagrams  there are some Java design patterns there  Surf through popular GitHub repositories and visualise the architectures and patterns in them     Create diagrams using point and click  There is no drag drop editor  just click on the classes in the repository tree that you want to visualise     The underlying technology is PlantUML based  which means you can refine your diagrams with additional PlantUML markup

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There is a Free tool named binarydoc which can generate UML Sequence Diagram  or Control Flow Graph  CFG  from the bytecode  instead of source code  of a Java method  Here is an sample diagram binarydoc generated for the java method java net AbstractPlainSocketImpl getInputStream   Control Flow Graph of method java net AbstractPlainSocketImpl getInputStream     UML Sequence Diagram of method java net AbstractPlainSocketImpl getInputStream

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I found Green plugin very simple to use and to generate class diagram from source code  Give it a try     Just copy the plugin to your plugin dir

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EDIT  If you re a designer then Papyrus is your best choice it s very advanced and full of features  but if you just want to sketch out some UML diagrams and easy installation then ObjectAid  is pretty cool and it doesn t require any plugins I just installed it over Eclipse-Java EE  and works great       UPDATE Oct 11th  2013  My original post was in June 2012 a lot of things have changed many tools has grown and others didn t  Since I m going back to do some modeling and also getting some replies to the post I decided to install papyrus again and will investigate other possible UML modeling solutions again  UML generation  with synchronization feature  is really important not to software designer but to the average developer   I wish papyrus had straightforward way to Reverse Engineer classes into UML class diagram and It would be super cool if that reverse engineering had a synchronization feature  but unfortunately papyrus project is full of features and I think developers there have already much at hand since also many actions you do over papyrus might not give you any response and just nothing happens but that s out of this question scope anyway   The Answer  Oct 11th  2013   Tools   Download Papyrus Go to Help -  Install New Software    In the Work with  drop-down  select --All Available Sites-- In the filter  type in Papyrus After installation finishes restart Eclipse Repeat steps 1-3 and this time  install Modisco   Steps   In your java project  assume it s called MyProject  create a folder e g UML Right click over the project name -  Discovery -  Discoverer -  Discover Java and inventory model from java project  a file called MyProject kdm xmi will be generated   Right click project name file --  new --  papyrus model -  and call it MyProject  Move the three generated files MyProject di   MyProject notation  MyProject uml to the UML folder Right click on MyProject kdm xmi -  Discovery -  Discoverer -  Discover UML model from KDM code again you ll get a property dialog set the serialization prop to TRUE to generate a file named MyProject uml   Move generated MyProject uml which was generated at root  to UML folder  Eclipse will ask you If you wanted to replace it click yes  What we did in here was that we replaced an empty model with a generated one  ALT W -  show view -  papyrus -  model explorer In that view  you ll find your classes like in the picture   In the view Right click root model -  New diagram  Then start grabbing classes to the diagram from the view   Some features   To show the class elements  variables  functions etc  Right click on any class -  Filters -  show hide contents  Voila    You can have default friendly color settings from Window -  pereferences -  papyrus -  class diagram one very important setting is Arrange when you drop the classes they get a cramped right click on any empty space at a class diagram and click Arrange All Arrows in the model explorer view can be grabbed to the diagram to show generalization  realization etc After all of that your settings will show diagrams like   Synchronization isn t available as far as I know you ll need to manually import any new classes    That s all  And don t buy commercial products unless you really need it  papyrus is actually great and sophisticated instead donate or something   Disclaimer  I ve no relation to the papyrus people  in fact  I didn t like papyrus at first until I did lots of research and experienced it with some patience  And will get back to this post again when I try other free tools

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Using IntelliJ IDEA  To generate class diagram select package and press Ctrl   Alt   U   By default  it displays only class names and not all dependencies  To change it  right click -  Show Categories    and Show dependencies    To genarate dependencies diagram  UML Deployment diagram  and you use maven go View -  Tool Windows -  Maven Projects and press Ctrl   Alt   U    The result    Also it is possible to generate more others diagrams  See documentation

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By far the best tool I have used for reverse engineering  and round tripping java -  UML is Borland s Together   It is based on Eclipse  not just a single plugin  and really works well

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ObjectAid UML Explorer  Is what I used  It is easily installed from the repository   Name      ObjectAid UML Explorer Location  http   www objectaid com update current   And produces quite nice UML diagrams     Description from the website      The ObjectAid UML Explorer is different from other UML tools  It uses   the UML notation to show a graphical representation of existing code   that is as accurate and up-to-date as your text editor  while being   very easy to use  Several unique features make this possible          Your source code and libraries are the model that is displayed  they are not reverse engineered into a different format    If you update your code in Eclipse  your diagram is updated as well  there is no need to reverse engineer source code    Refactoring updates your diagram as well as your source code  When you rename a field or move a class  your diagram simply reflects the   changes without going out of sync    All diagrams in your Eclipse workspace are updated with refactoring changes as appropriate  If necessary  they are checked out of your   version control system    Diagrams are fully integrated into the Eclipse IDE  You can drag Java classes from any other view onto the diagram  and diagram-related   information is shown in other views wherever applicable

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I suggest PlantUML  this tools is very usefull and easy to use  PlantUML have a plugin for Netbeans that you can create UML diagram from your java code   you can install PlantUML plugin in the netbeans by this method   Netbeans Menu -  Tools -  Plugin  Now select Available Plugins and then find PlantUML and install it   For more information go to website  www plantuml com

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You could also give the netbeans UML modeller a try  I have used it to generate javacode that I used in my eclipse projects  You can even import eclipse projects in netbeans and keep the eclipse settings synced with the netbeans project settings   I tried several UML modellers for eclipse and wasn t satisfied with them  They were either unstable  complicated or just plain ugly   -

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I ve noticed SequenceDiagram plugin for Intellij is also a good option

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You can use the 30 days evaluation build of EclipseUML for Eclipse 3 5   http   www uml2 org eclipse-java-galileo-SR2-win32 eclipseUML2 2 package may2010 zip This is not the latest 3 6 build  but is pretty good and don t require you purchase it for testing and reverse engineering   Reverse engineering   http   www forum-omondo com documentation eclipseuml 2008 reverse reverse reverse engineering example html  Live flash demo  http   www ejb3 org reverse swf  EclipseUML Omondo is the best tool in the world for Java  Only eUML seems to compete with it on this live java synchronization market  but eUML adds model tags in the code which is really very very bad and a definitive no go for me

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I would recommend EclipseUML from Omondo for general usage  although I did experience some problems a few months back  with my web projects  They had a free edition at one point in time  but that is supposedly no longer promoted   If you are really keen on reverse engineering sequence diagrams from source code  I would recommend jTracert   As far as Eclipse projects themselves are concerned  the Eclipse UML2 Tools project might support reverse engineering  although I ve have never seen its use in practice   The MoDisco  Model Discovery  project Eclipse GMT project seems to be clearer in achieving your objective  The list of technology specific tools would be a good place to start with

[java] How to generate UML diagrams (especially sequence diagrams) from Java code?

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