Preamble

In front of the wide range of possibilities given by the PGF/TikZ library, and in front of the apparent lack of dedicated package to UML diagrams, I was to develop the TikZ-UML package, with a set of specialized commands and environments for these diagrams. It is dedicated to succeed pst-uml package, that was developped for similar reasons in PSTricks. Actually, the package contains definitions of complete class diagrams, use case diagrams, sequence diagrams and state diagrams in a quite easy way. Some improvements are needed, but it is near the final release.

Here is an example of class diagram you can draw :

We will now show you the various functionnalities of TikZ-UML, but before we will talk about packages dependencies and installation of TikZ-UML.

Dependencies

Required packages

tikz :

It is useless to present this extremely powerful and complete drawing package. Every diagram generated by TikZ-UML is in fact generated by TikZ. It also gives some packages and libraries used by TikZ-UML, such as the backgrounds, arrows, shapes, fit, shadows, decorations.markings libraries and the pgfkeys package that manages macros options.

ifthen :

This package offers the management of conditional test, such as if … then … else …

xstring :

This package offers string substitutions. It is used for the management of names between programmation items (classes, states, packages, …) and and the nodes representing them.

calc :

This package offers easy access to calculations.

pgfopts :

This package is an add-on of the pgfkeys package for the management of packages and classes options.

Others dependencies

For still unknown reasons, TikZ-UML works fine if you have already included the babel package with the language of your choice.

Installation

Coming soon.

Class diagrams

Package, class, attributes and operations

To define a package

You can define a package with the umlpackage environment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlpackage}[x=0,y=0]{package-name} \end{umlpackage} \end{tikzpicture}

Both options x and y allow to define the package position in the figure. The default value for both of them is 0.

• When a package contains classes and sub-packages, its dimensions automatically fit to its content.
• You can define as many packages as you want in a figure.
• For an empty package (that contains no class), you can use a shortcut command : umlemptypackage that takes the same arguments and options as the umlpackage environment

To define a class

You can define a class with the umlclass command :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlclass[x=0,y=0]{class\_name}{}{} \end{tikzpicture}

Both options x and y allow to define the class position in the figure. 2 cases : if the class is defined inside a package, the class position is relative to the package; on the contrary, the class position is relative to the figure. The default value for both options is 0.

For an empty class (that contains no attributes and no operations), you can use a shortcut command umlemptyclass that takes only the class name for argument and the same options as the command umlclass. You may also prefer drawing a single rectangle node instead of a 3 parts rectangle node. In this case, you may use the simple option of umlclass or the shortcut command umlsimpleclass that also takes only the class name for argument and the same options as the command umlclass.

To define the width of a class

The default width of a class is 10ex. You can use the width option to specify an other value :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass[width=15ex]{class20} \umlemptyclass[y=-2, width=30ex]{class40} \end{tikzpicture}

To specify the type of a class

There is different types of classes : class, interface, typedef, enum. You can specify it with the type option (the default value is class) :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass[type=interface]{class\_name} \end{tikzpicture}

The type is written between << and >> above the class name, excepted the class type (default behavior), and the abstract type, where the class name is written in italic style instead :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass[type=abstract]{class\_name} \end{tikzpicture}

Notice that aliases exists for each value of the type option : umlabstract, umltypedef, umlenum, umlinterface.

To specify template parameters

For a template class, you can use the template option to specify the template parameters list :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass[template={T,U}]{class\_name} \end{tikzpicture}

Name of the node defining a class

To name a class, it occurs that we use special characters such as _ or : when we give the namespace. The internal mechanism of TikZ-uml give the class name to the node defining the class. Thus, TikZ forbids the use of some special characters such as \ and : to name a node. It is possible that other characters may be dangerous. A character substitution is then needed as sson as a class name is defined. In examples aboe, you may have noticed that class names can contains the _ character.

To define attributes and operations

The attributes of a class are defined with the second argument of the umlclass command. You write the attributes list using \\ as a delimiter. The operations of a class are defined with the third argument of the umlclass command. To define a static attribute or a static operation, you can use the umlstatic command. In a similar way, the umlvirt command is used to define a virtual operation :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlclass{A}{   + n : uint \\ \umlstatic{-- i : int} \\ \# r : const float   }{   + setA(i : int) : void \\ \umlvirt{\# getA() : A} } \end{tikzpicture}

To define a relation between classes

General macro

Each class or package is draw as a node sharing the same name. To define a relation between two classes, you just need to specify the source class name, the target class name and a set of options specific to the relation.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=3,y=-3]{A2} \umluniaggreg[arg2=a,mult2=1,pos2=0.9]{A1}{A2} \umluniassoc[geometry=-|,arg1=x,mult1=1,pos1=1.9,arg2=y,mult2=*,pos2=0.2]{A1}{A2} \umlunicompo[arg=z,mult=1..*,pos=0.8, angle1=-90, angle2=-140, loopsize=2cm]{A2}{A2} \end{tikzpicture}

From a UML semantic point of view, there are 11 different relations. Every type of relation is defined in TikZ-UML :

A dependency :

You can use the umldep command

An association :

You can use the umlassoc command

A unidirectional association

You can use the umluniassoc command

An aggregation :

You can use the umlaggreg command

A unidirectional aggregation :

You can use the umluniaggreg command

A composition :

You can use the umlcompo command

A unidirectional composition :

You can use the umlunicompo command

An import :

You can use the umlimport command

An inheritance :

You can use the umlinherit command

An implementation :

You can use the umlimpl command

A realisation :

You can use the umlreal command

These 11 shortcuts are based on the same scheme (the umlrelation command) and take theoretically the same set of options. Nevertheless, some options concern only a part of relations.

To define the geometry of a relation

As you may have seen in previous examples, you can specify the geometric shape of a relation with the geometry option. It needs a value among the following list : - - (straight line), -| (horizontal then vertical), |- (vertical then horizontal), -|- (horizontal chicane) ou |-| (vertical chicane). These values are very inspired from TikZ philosophy.

It seems that this option is used very often. That is why a shortcut of the umlrelation command has been defined each possible value of the geometry option :

umlHVrelation :

shortcut of umlrelation with geometry=-|

umlVHrelation :

shortcut of umlrelation with geometry=|-

umlHVHrelation :

shortcut of umlrelation with geometry=-|-

umlVHVrelation :

shortcut of umlrelation with geometry=|-|

Warning ! For each of these 4 shortcuts, the geometry option is forbidden.

Warning ! There is no shortcut for the value - - : this is the default value for the umlrelation command.

To adjust the geometry of a relation

When the geometry is built with 2 segments, you can define the coordinates of the auto-built point, named control node. Then, instead of using umlrelation, you should use the umlCNrelation command, or one of its 11 shortcuts :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=3,y=-3]{A2} \umluniaggreg[geometry=-|]{A1}{A2} \umlCNuniassoc{A1}{4,0}{A2} \end{tikzpicture}

When the geometry is built with 3 segments, the relative position of the middle segment between classes is defined by the midlle of the classes nodes. You can adjust this parameter with the weight option :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=4, y=-1]{A2} \umlemptyclass[y=-2]{A3} \umlassoc[geometry=-|-]{A1}{A2} \umluniaggreg[geometry=-|-, weight=0.3]{A3}{A2} \end{tikzpicture}

In some cases, this option is not very convenient, because it needs to compute the option value to give. There is another possibility by uusing the arm1 and arm2 options, that control the size of the first and last segment respectively. Let's see the 2 following examples using respectively the weight option and the arm1 option :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=4, y=1]{A2} \umlemptyclass[x=6, y=3]{A3} \umlHVHdep[weight=0.375]{A1}{A2} \umlHVHdep[weight=0.25]{A1}{A3} \end{tikzpicture}

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=4, y=1]{A2} \umlemptyclass[x=6, y=3]{A3} \umlHVHdep[arm1=1.5cm]{A1}{A2} \umlHVHdep[arm1=1.5cm]{A1}{A3} \end{tikzpicture}

The arm1 and arm2 options also take negative values. How does it work then ? A positive value means an arm oriented to the right direction (to the right or to the top), whereas a negative valuemeans an arm oriented to the opposite direction, that allows you to draw other 3-segments relations :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=4, y=2]{A2} \umlHVHdep[arm2=-2cm]{A1}{A2} \umlHVHdep[arm2=2cm]{A1}{A2} \end{tikzpicture}

To define informations about attributes of a relation

A relation means a dependency between two classes and represents an attribute in most of the cases. You can define its name with the arg1 option or the arg2 option, and its multiplicity with the mult1 option or the mult2 option :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=5]{A2} \umlassoc[arg1=arg1, mult1=mult1, arg2=arg2, mult2=mult2]{A1}{A2} \end{tikzpicture}

For unidirectional relations, you should use only arg2 and mult2 options. That is why shortcuts have been defined, namely the arg option and the mult option respectively.

In addition, when you define the name and the multiplicity of an attribute, you may prefer use the all-in-one following options attr1, attr2 and attr :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=5]{A2} \umlassoc[attr1=arg1|mult1, attr2=arg2|mult2]{A1}{A2} end{tikzpicture}

This has an advantage : the semantic of the two values has disappeared and you can switch them for convenience :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=5]{A2} \umlassoc[attr1=mult1|arg1, attr2=mult2|arg2]{A1}{A2} \end{tikzpicture}

To place information about attributes of a relation

You can place information seen in previous section with the following options : pos1, pos2 and pos. The umlrelation command determine by itself if name and multiplicity should be written on left and right or on top and bottom of the arrow, according to the geometry and their placement. For those who know TikZ enough, the mechanism is based on auto and swap options.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=2,y=-2]{A2} \umlemptyclass[x=-2,y=-2.5]{A3} \umlassoc[geometry=-|,arg1=x,mult1=1,pos1=0.2,arg2=y,mult2=*,pos2=1.9]{A1}{A2} \umlassoc[geometry=|-|,arg1=a,mult1=1,pos1=0.5,arg2=b,mult2=*,pos2=1.5]{A1}{A3} \end{tikzpicture}

You may have noticed that the range of values of the position depends on the number of segments composing the arrow. For a straight line, position has to be between 0 (source class) and 1 (target class). If there are 2 segments, then position has to be between 0 et 2 (target class), the value 1 corresponding to the control node. Otherwise, position has to be between 0 et 3, values 1 and 2 corresponding to the first and second control node respectively.

To adjust the alignment of information about attributes of a relation

Name and multiplicity of an attribute, when they are written on top and bottom of the relation, are centered by default. You can define an other alignment. The options align1, align2 and align are used to have ragged right or ragged left text :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=4, y=-3]{A2} \umlassoc[geometry=-|-, arg1=arg1, mult1=mult1, pos1=0.1, align1=left,           arg2=arg2, mult2=mult2, pos2=2.9, align2=right]{A1}{A2} \end{tikzpicture}

To define and place the stereotype of a relation

The stereotype of a relation is a keyword contained between << and >>. You can define it with the option stereo and place it with the option pos stereo.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=4, y=-3]{A2} \umlassoc[geometry=-|-, stereo=vector, pos stereo=1.2]{A1}{A2} \end{tikzpicture}

To modify the anchor points of a relation

The default behavior of a relation is to start from the center anchor of the source class node and to end to the center anchor of the target class node. You can adjust this with the options anchor1 and anchor2.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A} \umlemptyclass[x=4,y=2]{B} \umldep[geometry=-|]{A}{B} \umlassoc[geometry=-|, anchor1=30, anchor2=300, name=assoc1]{A}{B} \umlassoc[geometry=-|, anchor1=-30, anchor2=-60, name=assoc2]{A}{B} \end{tikzpicture}

You give angular values in degree and they can be negative. The internal mechanism of TikZ uses modulos. The value 0 is east, 90 is north, 180 (or -180) is west, et 270 (or -90) is south. The following figure illustrates this option and its angular meaning on 2 examples of rectangular nodes, (class nodes for instance). You can notice that border anchors (to use TikZ vocabulary) depend on node dimensions.

You will very often define anchor1 and anchor2 simultaneously. In this case, you can use the all-in-one option anchors :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A} \umlemptyclass[x=4,y=2]{B} \umldep[geometry=-|]{A}{B} \umlassoc[geometry=-|, anchors=30 and 300, name=assoc1]{A}{B} \umlassoc[geometry=-|, anchors=-30 and -60, name=assoc2]{A}{B} \end{tikzpicture}

To define a recursive relation

You can define recursive relations, namely a relation from a class to itself. Then, the geometry option is disabled, but 3 specific options are available : angle1 determines the start angle, angle2 determines the end angle, and loopsize controls the size of the loop.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlassoc[arg=x,mult=1,pos=0.6, angle1=-90, angle2=-140, loopsize=2cm]{A1}{A1} \umlassoc[arg=y,mult=1..*,pos=0.6, angle1=-90, angle2=-140, loopsize=4cm]{A1}{A1} \umlassoc[arg=z,mult=0..*,pos=0.8, angle1=-90, angle2=0, loopsize=2cm]{A1}{A1} \end{tikzpicture}

When you use recursive relations, you will notice that you will need the 3 options simultaneously. This is the reason why a compact form is defined, the recursive option, and the following syntax :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlassoc[arg=x, mult=1, pos=0.6, recursive=-90|-140|2cm]{A1}{A1} \umlassoc[arg=y, mult=1..*, pos=0.6, recursive=-90|-140|4cm]{A1}{A1} \umlassoc[arg=z, mult=0..*, pos=0.8, recursive=-90|0|2cm]{A1}{A1} \end{tikzpicture}

Name of auto-built points of a relation

In order to understand the purpose of giving a name to a relation, one should explain how arrows are defined.

To build an arrow, we need to define control nodes, and a name for each one. The only way to identify a relation is to give a name using a id counter. This counter is incremented each time we define a relation in a picture. Let's suppose the relation has the id i. The name of the relation, called relname in the following, is : relation-i

The first defined node is the middle of the class nodes. It is called relname-middle. To simplify, we will not deal with the placement of the argument and its multiplicity here. So, there are 3 cases :

1. If the arrow is a straight line or a recursive line, it is renamed in relname-1.
   
2. If the arrow has one right angle, the node placed at the angle is named relname-2, that is enough to draw the arrow. 2 other nodes are defined, placed at the middle of each arc and named respectively relname-1 and relname-3.
   
3. If the arrow has 2 right angles, they are defined with relname-middle, that is enough to draw the arrow. Nodes placed at the angles are named respectively relname-2 and relname-4. 3 other nodes are defined, at the middle of each arc, named respectively relname-1, relname-3, and relname-5.
   

This default behavior is not easy to use, because the value of the counter is not defined by the user, and depends on the order of definition of the relations in the picture. This is the reason why you can define relname thanks to the name option. In the two following sections, you will see when this option is useful.

To draw an intersection point between relations

When you draw a diagram, it occurs that relations cross other ones or share arcs. Let's take two crossing arrows. Can both start points go graphically to both end points ? If yes, you will want to draw a point at the intersection of the arrows, and this point should be a control node of one the the relations. To define the point, you can use the umlpoint command.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlemptyclass[x=4, y=-1]{A2} \umlemptyclass[y=-2]{A3} \umlassoc[geometry=-|-, name=assoc]{A1}{A2} \umluniaggreg[geometry=-|-, weight=0.3]{A3}{A2} \umlpoint{assoc-4} \end{tikzpicture}

N-ary associations

Sometimes, you need to draw a relation between more than two classes, namely a n-ary association. To do so, you have to draw the main node of such a relation, ans link it to every class it has to be linked :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A} \umlemptyclass[x=6]{B} \umlemptyclass[x=3, y=3]{C} \umlNarynode[x=3, name=naryassoc, below]{bla bla} \umlassoc[attr1=a|*]{A}{naryassoc} \umlassoc[mult1=0..1]{B}{naryassoc} \umlassoc[mult=*]{naryassoc}{C} \end{tikzpicture}

The umlNarynode command accepts the following options :

• width : to set the width of the node
• name : to give a name to the node and use it in others macros
• below, below left, left, above left, above, above right, right, below right : to place the label of the n-ary node. Contrary to their equivalents in TikZ, these options has to be used without values. The default is above.

Comments / constraints note

A note is a text comment attached to a class or a relation. The umlnote command needs the name of the node as argument :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A1} \umlnote[x=3]{A1}{Je suis une note attachee a la classe A1} \umlnote[x=2,y=-3, width=5cm]{A1}{Je suis une note plus large attachee a la classe A1} \end{tikzpicture}

Here again, you can give the name of a control node of a relation to attach the note. Giving a name to the relation will be very useful :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A} \umlemptyclass[x=4]{B} \umluniassoc[arg=bb, mult=1, pos=0.95, align=right, name=uniassoc]{A}{B} \umlnote[x=2,y=-3]{uniassoc-1}{Je suis une note attachee a la relation uniassoc} \end{tikzpicture}

Notes have 2 uses : comments and contraints (generally in OCL format).

The umlnote command has the following options :

x, y

These 2 options define the coordinates of the note

width

This option defines the width of the note. For TikZ users, it encapsulates the text width option

weight, arm, anchor1, anchor2, anchors

These options has the same behavior as for umlrelation, arm being equivalent to arm1, namely attached to the note.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A} \umlemptyclass[x=4]{B} \umluniassoc[arg=bb, mult=1, pos=0.95, align=right, name=uniassoc]{A}{B} \umlnote[y=-3, geometry=|-|, anchor1=70, arm=0.5cm]{uniassoc-1}{      Je suis une note attachee a la relation uniassoc} \end{tikzpicture}

For a note, you can also use the geometry option, as for umlrelation. Then, aliases have been defined : umlHVnote, umlVHnote, umlHVHnote and umlVHVnote.

Warning ! For each of these aliases, the geometry option is forbidden.

Warning ! There is no alias for the - - value. It is the default one.

Association class

Drawing an association class is very easy with TikZ-UML. It is just a class and a dependency between this class and a built point of another relation. The umlassocclass makes it for you :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass{A} \umlemptyclass[x=6, y=-3]{B} \umlHVassoc[name=assoc, attr=t|*, pos=1.9]{A}{B} \umlassocclass[geometry=|-|,x=2, y=-3]{C}{assoc-1}{}{} \end{tikzpicture}

As the command is like a class and a relation, you can use the following options : x, y, width (default is 10ex), type (default is class), template coming from the umlclass environment, and name, geometry (default is - -), weight, arm, anchor1, anchor2, and anchors coming from the umlrelation command.

To change preferences

Thanks to the tikzumlset command, you can change default preferences for packages, classes and notes. The available options are :

text :

allows you to set text color for every drawn object (=black by default),

draw :

allows you to define edge color for every drawn object (=black by default),

fill class :

allows you to define the background color of a class node (=yellow!20 by default),

fill template :

allows you to define the background color of a template node (=yellow!2 by default),

fill package :

allows you to define the background color of a package (=blue!20 by default),

fill note :

allows you to define the background color for a note (=green!20 by default),

font :

allows you to define the font style for every drawn object (=\small by default).

Furthermore, relation commands has the style option taking a TikZ style name as value.

Let's see the definition of the umlinherit command :

You can easily define a command on this model by defining a particular style.

Examples

Example from introduction, step by step

We will now build step by step the picture seen in introduction to understand the behavior of each used command.

Definition of packages p, sp1 and sp2

The package p is placed at (0,0) (default), and the sub-packages sp1 and sp2 respectively at (0,0) and (10,-6).

Definition of classes A, B, C, D and their attributes and operations

The class A is placed at (0,0) in the sub-package sp1 and has a template parameter : T. The class B is placed 3 units below A, still in the sub-package sp1. The interface C is placed at (0,0) in the sub sp2. The class D is placed at (2,-11) in the package p.

Class A has two attributes. Class B has one attribute and two operations (one is virtual). Class C has two attributes. Classe D has one attribute.

Definition of relations

We define an association between classes C and B, a unidirectional composition between classes D and C, an import relation named "import" between sub-packages sp2 and sp1 (with modification of anchors), a recursive aggregation on class D and an inheritnce between classes D and B. On thses relations, we will specify argument names and multiplicities. You can notice the value given to place these elements on each arrow according to the geometry.

Definition of notes

We add a note attached to class B and a note attached to the import relation.

Setting style

We illustrate the use of the tikzumlset command by changing colors associated to class and font. We can also change colors of a given class with draw, text and fill options.

To define a specialization of a class

A specialization of a classe is an inheritance from a templace class in which one of the template parameters is defined. To draw this relation, you will use the umlreal command , and its stereo option :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass[template=T]{A} \umlemptyclass[template={T,U}, x=5, y=-2]{B} \umlreal[stereo={U $\rightarrow$ int}]{A}{B} \end{tikzpicture}

Priority rules of options and known bugs

1. The geometry option has always the priority on the others options. It means for instance that if it has a non-default value, then angle1, angle2 and loopsize options, defining recursive relations, will be ignored.
2. As far as a template class is concerned, there are cases in which a relation about it will not be drawn correctly, as in the picture below, where the aggregation symbol is hidden by the template parameter :

   \begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass[template=T]{A} \umlemptyclass[x=4,y=2]{B} \umluniaggreg{A}{B} \end{tikzpicture}

   To solve this problem, you van link the arrow between the template part of class A and class B, by adding the suffix -template and adjusting the start anchor (the -30 value is correct here) :

   \begin{tikzpicture} \umlemptyclass[template=T]{A} \umlemptyclass[x=4,y=2]{B} \umluniaggreg[anchor1=-30]{A-template}{B} \end{tikzpicture}

3. If you define a class with a name having the : character in it – typically when you give the namespace of the class – it may have a conflict with the french (or frenchb or francais) option of the babel package. Indeed, these options add a white-space before the : character if the writer forgot it, that is a problem for the access operator ::. If we take the example of class definition, we should obtain :

   \begin{tikzpicture} \umlclass[x=0,y=0]{namespace::class\_name}{}{} \end{tikzpicture}

   The solution is to use a specific macro given by these options of babel package you have to use in the preamble of your document :

   \frenchbsetup{AutoSpacePunctuation=false}
4. The automatic placement of argument names and multiplicity on a relation can be surprising when you can to deactivate it. Let's take the example shown in introduction. If we focus on the association relation and its attributes toto and tata, toto is above, tata is below. If we justify to the right the tata attribute (and change its position to 0.1), positions of tata and its multiplicity exchange.
   

Use case diagrams

Here is an example of use case diagram you can draw :

We will see how to define the four constitutive elements of such a diagram : the system, the actors, the use cases and the relations.

To define a system

A system is defined by the umlsystem environment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlsystem}[x=0, y=0]{nom du systeme} \end{umlsystem} \end{tikzpicture}

Both options x and y allow to place the system in the picture. The default value is 0. Inside this environment, you will define use cases, whereas outside, you will define actors.

To define an actor

You can define an actor with the umlactor command :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlactor[x=0, y=0]{user} \end{tikzpicture}

Both options x and y allow to place the actor in the picture. The default value is 0. You can change dimensions of the actor symbol with the scale option. It also adapts position of the label below :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlactor{normal user} \umlactor[x=2, scale=0.5]{small user} \umlactor[x=4, scale=2]{big user} \end{tikzpicture}

The actor symbol size is defined according to the font size (ex unit), whereas the distance between the symbol and the label is in cm. You can adjust it if you need with the below option (0.5cm by default).

\tikzumlset{font=\tiny} \begin{tikzpicture} \umlactor{normal user} \umlactor[x=2, scale=0.5, below=0.1cm]{small user} \umlactor[x=4, scale=2]{big user} \end{tikzpicture}

To define a use case

You can define a use case with the umlusecase command :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlusecase[x=0, y=0]{cas 1} \umlusecase[x=3, y=1]{cas 2} \end{tikzpicture}

Both options x and y allow to place the use case in the picture or in the container system. The default value is 0. The text argument is the label of the use case. The node representing the use case has a default name, based on a global counter, that is like usecase-17. For pratical reasons, you can rename it thanks to the name option.

Furthermore, you can set the witdh of the use case with the width option.

Now, we can talk about relations between use cases, systems and actors.

To define a relation

Relations in a user case diagram are of 4 categories :

• Inheritance relations, between actors or between use cases. You can use the umlinherit command and its aliases, ie sub-section 1.2.1.
• Association relations, between an actor and a use cases. You can use the umlassoc command and its aliases, ie sub-section 1.2.1.
• Include and extend relations. Graphically, it is a dependency relation, as for class diagrams, with the stereotype extend or include. You can use aliases of the umlrelation command, named umlinclude, umlHVinclude, …, umlextend, umlHVextend, …, to define such relations.

anchor1, anchor2, anchors, arm1, arm2, weight, geometry (for umlinclude and umlextend only), and pos stereo options are available here.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlusecase[name=case1]{cas 1} \umlusecase[x=5, name=case2]{cas 2} \umlusecase[x=5, y=-2, name=case3]{cas 3} \umlinclude{case1}{case2} \umlVHextend[pos stereo=1.5]{case1}{case3} \end{tikzpicture}

To change preferences

With the tikzumlset command, you can change default colors for use cases, systems, actors and relations :

text :

allows to set the text color (=black by default),

draw :

allows to set the edge colors (=black by default),

fill usecase :

allows to set the background color for use cases (=blue!20 by default),

fill system :

allows to set the background color for systems (=white by default),

font :

allows to set the font style (=\small by default).

You can also use text, draw and fill options on a particular element to change its colors, as shown in the introduction example.

Examples

Example from introduction, step by step

Definition of actors

\umlactor{user} \umlactor[y=-3]{subuser} \umlactor[x=14, y=-1.5]{admin}

Definition of use cases

We also show here the use of the fill option.

\umlusecase{use case1} \umlusecase[y=-2]{use case2} \umlusecase[y=-4]{use case3} \umlusecase[x=4, y=-2, width=1.5cm]{use case4 on 2 lines} \umlusecase[x=6, fill=green!20]{use case5} \umlusecase[x=6, y=-4]{use case6} \umlactor{user} \umlactor[y=-3]{subuser} \umlactor[x=14, y=-1.5]{admin}

Definition of the system

As the system is a box used as a new coordinate system, we have to change coordinates of use cases.

\begin{umlsystem}[x=4, fill=red!10]{The system} \umlusecase{use case1} \umlusecase[y=-2]{use case2} \umlusecase[y=-4]{use case3} \umlusecase[x=4, y=-2, width=1.5cm]{use case4 on 2 lines} \umlusecase[x=6, fill=green!20]{use case5} \umlusecase[x=6, y=-4]{use case6} \end{umlsystem} \umlactor{user} \umlactor[y=-3]{subuser} \umlactor[x=14, y=-1.5]{admin}

Definition of relations and of the note

You will notice here the use of the name option to ensure the definition of the note, and its interest for use cases, in order to ignore the order of their definition, as shown in the following example :

\begin{umlsystem}[x=4, fill=red!10]{The system} \umlusecase{use case1} \umlusecase[y=-2]{use case2} \umlusecase[y=-4]{use case3} \umlusecase[x=4, y=-2, width=1.5cm]{use case4 on 2 lines} \umlusecase[x=6, fill=green!20]{use case5} \umlusecase[x=6, y=-4]{use case6} \end{umlsystem} \umlactor{user} \umlactor[y=-3]{subuser} \umlactor[x=14, y=-1.5]{admin} \umlinherit{subuser}{user} \umlassoc{user}{usecase-1} \umlassoc{subuser}{usecase-2} \umlassoc{subuser}{usecase-3} \umlassoc{admin}{usecase-5} \umlassoc{admin}{usecase-6} \umlinherit{usecase-2}{usecase-1} \umlVHextend{usecase-5}{usecase-4} \umlinclude[name=incl]{usecase-3}{usecase-4} \umlnote[x=7, y=-7]{incl-1}{note on include dependency}

State-transitions diagrams

Here is an example of state-transition diagram you can draw :

Now, we will see how to define parts of these diagrams, namely the ten sorts of state and the transitions.

To define a state

A << standard >> state can be defined with the umlstate environment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlstate}[x=0, y=0, name=state]{state} \end{umlstate} \end{tikzpicture}

Both options x and y allows to place the state in the figure, or in another state. The default value is 0. The argument to give is the label of the state. The node representing the state has a default name, based on a global counter. For practical reasons, when you define a transition for instance, you can rename it with the name option.

You can also define the width of an empty state with the width (8ex by default).

You can define a state in another state. Then, the coordinates of the sub-states are relative to the parent state :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlstate}[name=state]{I am a state} \begin{umlstate}[name=substate1]{I am a substate 1} \end{umlstate} \begin{umlstate}[x=3, y=-3, name=substate2]{I am a substate 2} \end{umlstate} \end{umlstate} \end{tikzpicture}

If you want to define a state without detailing it, you can use the umlbasicstate command, that is an alias of the umlstate environment.

Let's talk about the specific states :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlstateinitial[name=initial] \umlstatefinal[x=1, name=final] \umlstatejoin[x=2, name=join] \umlstatedecision[x=3, name=decision] \umlstateenter[y=-2, name=enter] \umlstateexit[x=1, y=-2, name=exit] \umlstateend[x=2, y=-2, name=end] \umlstatehistory[x=3, y=-2, name=hist] \umlstatedeephistory[x=4, y=-2, name=deephist] \end{tikzpicture}

From left to right and top to bottom :

• An initial state is defined with the umlstateinitial command.
• A final state is defined with the umlstatefinal command.
• A join state is defined with the umlstatejoin command.
• A decision state is defined with the umlstatedecision command.
• An enter state is defined with the umlstateenter command.
• An exit state is defined with the umlstateexit command.
• An end state is defined with the umlstateend end.
• An history state is defined with the umlstatehistory command.
• A deep history state is defined with the umlstatedeephistory command.

These commands take several options : name, to rename the node, and width to set their size. You can use these commands in a umlstate environment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlstate}[name=state]{state} \begin{umlstate}[name=substate]{substate} \umlstateinitial[name=initial] \umlstatefinal[x=1, name=final] \umlstatejoin[x=2, name=join] \end{umlstate} \umlstatedecision[x=4, name=decision] \umlstateenter[y=-2, name=enter] \umlstateexit[x=1, y=-2, name=exit] \umlstateend[x=2, y=-2, name=end] \umlstatehistory[x=3, y=-2, name=hist] \umlstatedeephistory[x=4, y=-2, name=deephist] \end{umlstate} \end{tikzpicture}

Vous pouvez également définir des actions sur un état, à travers les options entry, do et exit :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlstate}[name=state, do=b, exit=c]{state} \begin{umlstate}[name=substate, entry=d, exit=f]{substate} \end{umlstate} \end{umlstate} \end{tikzpicture}

To define a transition

Transitions are relations between states in a state-transition diagram. You can define them with the umltrans command, that is an alias of the umlrelation command. There are unidirectional transitions and recursive transitions.

To define a unidirectional transition

Thanks to the geometry option, usual aliases are available : umlHVtrans, umlVHtrans, umlVHVtrans and umlHVHtrans. Graphically, the use of these aliases are the most interesting, because corners are rounded.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlstateinitial[name=initial] \umlstatefinal[x=4, y=-2, name=final] \umlHVtrans[arg=transition1, pos=0.5]{initial}{final} \umlVHtrans[arg=transition2, pos=0.5]{initial}{final} \end{tikzpicture}

Every option of the umlrelation command can be used with the umltrans command and its aliases.

To define a recursive transition

Recursive transitions are graphically the most difficult to manage, because their shape is a rounded rectangle, contrary to recursive relations in a class diagram. Conceptually, it is as if the geometry option has the value -|- or |-|, that is to say arrows composed of several segments.

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlbasicstate[name=state]{I am a state} \umltrans[recursive=-10|10|2cm, arg=a, pos=1.5, recursive direction=right to right]{state}{state} \umltrans[recursive=-170|-110|2cm, arg=b, pos=2, recursive direction=left to bottom]{state}{state} \end{tikzpicture}

The recursive direction option is fundamental. Indeed, giving values of start angle and end angle is not enough to determine the start direction and the end direction of the recursive arrow, because it does not define the normal direction. Then, we have to precise it. There are 2 cases :

• The arrow can be composed of 3 segments. In this case, usable nodes are shown as follows :
  
• The arrow can be composed of 4 segments. In this case, usable nodes are shown as follows :
  

To define a transition between sub states

When you want to define transitions between sub-states, transitions are drawn inside the parent state.Then, you have to define them inside the umlstate environment. Let's compare the two following examples :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlstate}[name=state]{state} \umlbasicstate[name=substate1]{sub state1} \umlbasicstate[x=4, name=substate2]{sub state2} \end{umlstate} \umlVHVtrans[arm1=-2cm]{substate1}{substate2} \end{tikzpicture}
\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlstate}[name=state]{state} \umlbasicstate[name=substate1]{sub state1} \umlbasicstate[x=4, name=substate2]{sub state2} \umlVHVtrans[arm1=-2cm]{substate1}{substate2} \end{umlstate} \end{tikzpicture}

To change preferences

With the tikzumlset command, you can change default colors for states and transitions :

text :

allows to set text color (=black by default),

draw :

allows to set the edge color and the color of initial, final and join states (=black by default),

fill state :

allows to set the background color of a state (=yellow!20 by default),

font :

allows to set the font style (=\small by default).

You can also use the text, draw and fill options on a particular element, in order to change its colors, as shown in the introduction example.

Examples

Example from introduction, step by step

Definition of basic states

Definition of specific states

Definition of transitions

Sequence diagrams

Here is an example of sequence diagram you can draw :

Now, we will talk about elements that compose such diagrams.

To define a sequence diagram

Here is the main difference from previous diagrams : to define a sequence diagram, you have to use a umlseqdiag environment. Its aim is to initialise some global variables and to draw the lifelines of each object in the diagram. You have to understand that commands and environments you will use to define a sequence diagrams place the elements (calls, objects, … ) automatically. We will talk about that in more details later.

To define an object

Types of objects

You can define an object with the umlobject command :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

The default type is a class instance. You can give the class name with the class option (empty by default).

The stereo option allows to set the type of object. It needs one of the following values : object (default value), actor, entity, boundary, control, database, multi. The last six are drawn in the following picture, from left to right and top to bottom :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlactor[class=B]{b} \umlentity[x=2, class=C]{c} \umlboundary[x=4, class=D]{d} \umlcontrol[x=0, y=-2.5, class=E]{e} \umldatabase[x=2, y=-2.5, class=F]{f} \umlmulti[x=4, y=-2.5, class=G]{g} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

UML objects may be used in other contexts than class instances. Then, the colon symbol shown in an object may not be necessary. For this purpose, you may use the umlbasicobject command.

Automatic placement of an object

Both options x and y allows to place an object. You only have to use them if the automatic placement does not do what you need. Its behavior is the following :

• The default value of the y option is 0, that means the default placement of an object is at the top of the sequence diagram.
• The default value of the x option is the product of 4 by the value of the global counter identifying the object : for instance, for the second object defined in a diagram, the x option is set to 8 by default, …

Unless the width of the object is too large, a shift of 4 is enough. If not, you use the x option.

To scale an object

The scale option of the umlobject command allows to scale an object, its symbol and its font size :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A, stereo=entity]{a} \umlobject[x=4, scale=2, class=B, stereo=entity]{b} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}
\tikzumlset{font=\large} \begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A, stereo=entity]{a} \umlobject[x=4, scale=2, class=B, stereo=entity]{b} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

To define a function call

Function calls are the core of sequence diagrams. Then, we need a motor either smart enough to propose a satisfacting default behavior, either easy enough to parametrize.

From a technical point of view, and I open here a parenthesis, there are two ways to implement function calls :

1. Either we use the nodal matrix structure of TikZ. The advantage is to work on a pre computed nodal grid and then to place elements of a sequence diagram easily (and fast for compilation) with exactly one counter.
2. Either we use an automatical positioning of nodes with a set of coordinates, here the time instant, that allows total freedom for the user and make its work easier.

I chose the second way, to keep the philosophy used to implement the other diagrams in this package. Indeed, if the lack of a grid needs a more accurate computation core, and as a result more compilation time, you can define most of the elements very easily, such as constructor calls, drawn according to the standard. That is different from others UML softwares I used before. I close the parenthesis.

Basic / recursive calls

You can define a function call with the umlcall environment. Of course, you can define umlcall environments in other ones :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \umlobject[class=C]{c} \begin{umlcall}{a}{b} \begin{umlcall}{b}{c} \end{umlcall} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

You have to give the name of the source object and the name of the destination object. If you give the same name as source and destination, you define a recursive call. In this case, you may prefer use an alias, the umlcallself environment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \begin{umlcall}{a}{b} \begin{umlcall}{b}{b} \end{umlcall} \begin{umlcallself}{b} \end{umlcallself} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

To place a call

The dt option allows to place a function call on a lifeline, relatively to the last call drawn on this lifeline. It has no default value. Its unit is ex. The default behavior is to shift the call you define to avoid overwriting between to consecutive calls :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \begin{umlcall}{a}{b} \begin{umlcall}{b}{b} \end{umlcall} \begin{umlcallself}[dt=5]{b} \end{umlcallself} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

You can also set spaces for recursive calls with the padding option. It set the space just below the recursive call :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \begin{umlcall}[padding=10]{a}{b} \begin{umlcall}{b}{b} \end{umlcall} \begin{umlcallself}{b} \end{umlcallself} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

Synchron / asynchron calls

The type option allows to tell if the call is synchron (default value) or asynchron :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \begin{umlcall}[type=synchron]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \begin{umlcall}[type=asynchron]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

Operation, arguments and return value

You can give the function name in a call and its arguments with the op option :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

Warning ! Beware of the braces, so as to the comma between i and k is deactivated as an option delimiter. WIthout them, there will be a compilation error.

You can also set the return value with the return option, with the same warning :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}, return=2]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

In this case, the return arrow is drawn with the return value above. You can draw the return arrow without giving a return value. For this, there is the with return option :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}, with return]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

In some cases, the call may have multiple return arrows. To draw an additionnal return arrow, you can do as follows :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlobject[class=B]{b} \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}, return=1]{a}{b} \begin{umlcall}[type=return]{b}{a} \end{umlcall} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

To define a constructor call

Constructor calls are special function calls, insofar as they build a new object. They are not messages between two lifelines, but between a lifeline and an object.

To define a constructor call, you can use the umlcreatecall command :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlcreatecall[class=B]{a}{b} \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}, return=2]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

You can notice that everything behave normally after a constructor call.

As an object builder, the umlcreatecall command has class, stereo and x options.

As a function call, it has the dt option.

To name a call

The name option allows to give a name for a function call. It is not useful actually, insofar as this option was added for the definition of combined fragments, but as you will see, combined fragment does not use this feature. Maybe this option will be used for future developments of the package.

To define a combined fragment

Combined fragments are the second family of elements in a sequence diagram, with the function calls. You can define them with the umlfragment environment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlcreatecall[class=B]{a}{b} \begin{umlfragment} \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}, dt=7, return=2]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlfragment} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

Informations of a fragment

The type option allows to set the keyword on the top left corner : opt, alt, loop, par, assert, … The default value is opt.

The label option allows to set information such as the condition for a opt fragment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlcreatecall[class=B]{a}{b} \begin{umlfragment}[type=alt, label=i>5, inner xsep=2] \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}, dt=7, return=2]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlfragment} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

The inner xsep option allows to shift type and label to the left. The default value is 1 and its unit is ex.

Name of a fragment

You can give a name to a combined fragment with the name option. It can be useful when you want to attach a note on a fragment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlcreatecall[class=B]{a}{b} \begin{umlfragment}[type=alt, label=i>5, name=alt, inner xsep=2] \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}, dt=7, return=2]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlfragment} \umlnote[x=2, y=-5]{alt}{note on alt fragment} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

To define regions of a fragment

Let's take a alt fragment. It represents a switch-case instruction block. To represent each case, you need to set regions in the fragment. For this purpose, you can use the umlfpart command :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlobject[class=A]{a} \umlcreatecall[class=B]{a}{b} \begin{umlfragment}[type=alt, label=i>5, inner xsep=5] \begin{umlcall}[op={tata(i,k)}, dt=7, return=2]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \umlfpart[default] \begin{umlcall}[op={titi(a,k)}, return=4]{a}{b} \end{umlcall} \end{umlfragment} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

To change preferences

Thanks to the tikzumlset command, you can set colors for calls, fragments and objects :

text :

allows to set the text color (=black by default),

draw :

allows to set the color od edges and arrows (=black by default),

fill object :

allows to set the background color of objects (=yellow !20 by default),

fill call :

allows to set the background color for calls (=white by default),

fill fragment :

allows to set the background color for fragments (=white by default),

font :

allows to set the font style (=\small by default).

You can also use the options text, draw and fill on a particular element, as in the introduction example.

There is an exception : umlcreatecall. The options text, draw and fill set the colors of the call, whereas options text obj, draw obj and fill obj set the colors of the object.

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlseqdiag} \umlactor[class=A]{a} \umlcreatecall[class=B, draw obj=green!70!black, fill obj=green!20, draw=blue!70]{a}{b} \end{umlseqdiag} \end{tikzpicture}

Examples

Example from introduction, step by step

Definition of objects

Definition of the call opa and its components

Definition of the calls following the construction of E

Definition of fragments

Known bugs and perspectives

1. When you define a fragment on a set of calls just after a constructor call, the automatic shift does not work. You have to use the dt with a value greather than 7 to the first call inside the fragment.
2. The automatic placement of objects with a multiple of 4 is not very convenient. A shift of 4 relatively to the last object drawn should be better.
3. You can not give arguments to constructor calls.
4. You can not force the drawing of the activity area of a << non working >> object.
   

Component diagrams

Here is an example of component diagram you can draw :

Now, we will talk about elements that compose such diagrams.

To define a component

A component can be defined with the umlcomponent environment :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlcomponent}[x=0,y=0]{A} \end{umlcomponent} \end{tikzpicture}

Both options x and y allow to place the component in the figure, or in another component. The default value is 0. The argument to give is the label of the component. The node representing the state has a default name, based on a global counter. For practical reasons, you can rename it with the name option.

You can also define the width of an empty component with the width option (8ex by default).

You can define a component in another component or in a package. Then, the coordinates of the sub-component are relative to the parent component or package :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlpackage}{p} \begin{umlcomponent}{A} \begin{umlcomponent}{B} \umlemptyclass{D} \end{umlcomponent} \begin{umlcomponent}[x=4,y=-2]{C} \end{umlcomponent} \end{umlcomponent} \end{umlpackage} \end{tikzpicture}

Notice that you can define a class inside a component.

If you want to define a component without detailing it, you can use the umlbasiccomponent command, that is an alias of the umlcomponent environment.

To define a provided/required interface

On a component, you can define 2 kinds of interfaces : provided interfaces and required interfaces. For that purpose, you can use umlprovidedinterface and/or umlrequiredinterface commands. These 2 commands offers the same list of options :

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlcomponent}{A} \umlbasiccomponent{B} \umlbasiccomponent[y=-2.5]{C} \umlrequiredinterface[interface=Bri,distance=2cm, width=2em]{B} \umlprovidedinterface[interface=Cpi,distance=3cm, with port]{C} \end{umlcomponent} \end{tikzpicture}

The interface option is used to give the label of the interface, written above the interface symbol. The interface symbol is a node named X-interface, where X is the name of the component.

The width option is used to size the interface symbol. The default value is 1em.

The distance option is used to set the distance between the interface symbol and the component port.

The with port option is used to draw the port symbol.

If you look at the previous example, you can notice the padding between the interface symbols on sub-components, and the boundary of the parent component. You can change it with the padding option. The default value is 1cm.

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlcomponent}{A} \umlbasiccomponent{B} \umlbasiccomponent[y=-2.5]{C} \umlrequiredinterface[interface=Bri,distance=2cm, padding=2cm]{B} \umlprovidedinterface[interface=Cpi,distance=3cm, padding=0cm]{C} \end{umlcomponent} \end{tikzpicture}

This option will be very useful whan you draw connectors, as you will see in the next section.

To define an assembly connector

An assembly connector is a relation between 2 different components. It is graphically the provided interface of one of them with the required interface of the other. For that purpose, you can use the umlassemblyconnector command :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlbasiccomponent{A} \umlbasiccomponent[x=4, y=-2]{B} \umlassemblyconnector[interface=AB]{A}{B} \umlHVassemblyconnector[with port]{A}{B} \end{tikzpicture}

The assembly connector symbol is drawn only if the interface option is given. As for umlprovidedinterface and umlrequiredinterface commands, the with port option is used to draw ports, and the width option is used to set the size of the assembly connector symbol (default is 1em).

You can also name the assembly connector with the option name.

To define the geometry of an assembly connector

As for umlrelation command, you can use the geometry option and shortcuts are defined :

umlHVassemblyconnector :

shortcut of umlassemblyconnector with geometry=-|

umlVHassemblyconnector :

shortcut of umlassemblyconnector with geometry=|-

umlHVHassemblyconnector :

shortcut of umlassemblyconnector with geometry=-|-

umlVHVassemblyconnector :

shortcut of umlassemblyconnector with geometry=|-|

To place the assembly connector symbol

To place the assembly connector symbol, you can use the first arm, second arm, middle arm or last arm options :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlbasiccomponent{A} \umlbasiccomponent[x=4, y=-3]{B} \umlHVHassemblyconnector[interface=AB1, arm1=6cm, last arm]{A}{B} \umlHVHassemblyconnector[interface=AB2]{A}{B} \umlVHassemblyconnector[interface=AB3, first arm]{A}{B} \end{tikzpicture}

To adjust the geometry of an assembly connector

As for umlrelation command, you can use the arm1, arm2, anchor1, anchor2 and anchors options :

\begin{tikzpicture} \umlbasiccomponent{A} \umlbasiccomponent[x=4, y=-3]{B} \umlHVHassemblyconnector[interface=AB1, arm1=6cm, anchor1=20, last arm, with port]{A}{B} \umlHVHassemblyconnector[interface=AB2, anchors=-20 and 160, arm2=-0.5cm]{A}{B} \umlVHassemblyconnector[interface=AB3, first arm, anchor2=-160]{A}{B} \end{tikzpicture}

The position of the ports is automatically evaluated according to the values given to these options and to the geometry option.

To define a delegate connector

A delegate connector is a connector between a sub-component and its parent component. For this purpose, you can use the umldelegateconnector command. It has all options of umlrelation command except stereo, that is set to delegate.

\begin{tikzpicture} \begin{umlcomponent}{A} \umlbasiccomponent{B} \umlbasiccomponent[y=-3]{C} \umlprovidedinterface[interface=Bri, distance=2cm, padding=2cm]{B} \umlprovidedinterface[interface=Cri, distance=2cm, padding=2cm]{C} \end{umlcomponent} \umldelegateconnector{A-west-port}{B-west-interface} \umlHVHdelegateconnector[pos stereo=1.5]{A-west-port}{C-west-interface} \umlport{A}{west} \end{tikzpicture}

To define a port on a component

Sometimes, as in the previous example, you have to draw manually a port. For this purpose, you can use the umlport command.

The first argument is the component name, the second one is the anchor of the component node where you want to draw the port. You can set the size of the port with the width option.

To change preferences

Thanks to the tikzumlset command, you can set colors for components, provided/required interfaces, ports and assembly/delegate connectors :

text :

allows to set the text color (=black by default),

draw :

allows to set the color od edges and arrows (=black by default),

fill component :

allows to set the background color of components (=yellow !20 by default),

fill port :

allows to set the background color of ports (=yellow !20 by default),

fill assembly connector :

allows to set the background color for assembly connector symbols (=white by default),

font :

allows to set the font style (=$\backslash$small by default).

You can also use the options text, draw and fill on a particular element.

There is an exception : umlassemblyconnector. The option fill assembly connector sets the colors of the assembly connector symbol, whereas the option fill port sets the colors of the port symbol.

Examples

Example from introduction, step by step

Definition of the components

There are 6 components A, D, E, F, G and H, and 2 sub-components of A : B and C.

Definition of the interfaces

We define a required interface for the component B, and a provided interface for the component C. We prepare the delegate connector by setting the padding.

Definition of the connectors

We define 5 assembly connectors and 1 delegate connector.

Definition of the notes

We add notes to explain the node names.