autonumber and references in sequence diagrams

Question

Is it possible to reference the numbers generated by the autonumber function? Sometimes it would be desirable to be able to reference a particular flow from a note (or other location). The only way to do this today is to use the real/generated number, which will of course change as you add other flows

Comments

This is not possible today, I believe. The %autonumber% variable is available at each step, but you cannot store it in a reference/variable and then use it in a note (or other text) later in the diagram.

Answer 1

Hello,

Well, good idea!

Do you have any suggestion about the syntax ?

Thanks,

Comments

Maybe using the poung (#) character? Something like this:

@startuml
autonumber "[0]"

A->B: message
#first-message   /`This should take the value of the last number that has been used by the autonumber functionality`/

B->A: This is the response to message #first-message

note over A: This is a note that references message #first-message

@enduml

Answer 2

Seems to be implemented here http://forum.plantuml.net/7119