Can PlantUML generate class diagrams from Java source code ?

Question

I am looking for a tool that can visualize the relationships between classes in my Java projects. When I read about PlantUML I see that the class diagrams it generates fit perfectly my needs but it seems to me that the only way to generate them is by writing the diagram code directly, in the "@startuml / @enduml" syntax.

Is that correct ? If yes, if someone knows about tools to generate class diagrams from existing Java code I would be interested in hearing about that.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

 

       Working example:

        StringBuilder plantUmlSource = new StringBuilder();

        plantUmlSource.append("@startuml\n");

        plantUmlSource.append("Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request\n");

        plantUmlSource.append("Bob --> Alice: Authentication Response\n");

        plantUmlSource.append("@enduml");

        SourceStringReader reader = new SourceStringReader(plantUmlSource.toString());

        FileOutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(new File("/your/path/to/plantuml/test.svg"));

        reader.generateImage(output, new FileFormatOption(FileFormat.SVG, false));

Comments

The above example shows how to use Java code to create a PlantUML language file. The original question asked for "tools to generate class diagrams from existing Java code". These are not the same thing. The question is about a tool that can analyze a Java class and create the class diagram automatically. I think I've seen some javadoc extensions that do this to same extent as well as doxygen (I think). The problem with those tools are that you get an image file, not an easy to work with text file (plantuml syntax). The textual representations used by PLantUML to generate the images are great for so many reasons.

Answer 2

Hello,

Have you tried PlantUML dependency ?

http://plantuml-depend.sourceforge.net/

Answer 3

Javadoc can help: https://github.com/talsma-ict/umldoclet