In the next article we are going to take a look at Umbrello. This is a free tool for creating and editing UML diagrams, which are helpful in the software development process. This tool has been developed by Paul Hensgen, and is designed primarily for KDE (Umbrello is distributed in the KDE kdesdk module), although it can also be used in other desktop environments.
Umbrello is a free and open source unified modeling application that is available for Gnu / Linux, MacOS, and Windows. With UML you can create software diagrams, in a standard format to document or design the structure of our programs. It supports XMI formats and use case diagrams, classes, sequences, communications, states, activities, components, implementation and relationships, between entities. This software is released under the GNU General Public License v2.0.
This is a UML diagram tool that can be helpful during the software development process. Especially during the analysis and design phases of this process, Umbrello UML Modeller will help the user to obtain a high quality product. Can also be used UML to document our own software designs.
Umbrello general characteristics
- This program can handle most of the UML standard diagrams being able to create them, in addition to manually, importing them from code in C ++, Java, Python, IDL, Pascal / Delphi, Ada, or Perl. Likewise, it allows creating a diagram and generating the code automatically in the aforementioned languages, among others. The file format it uses is based on XNUMX.
- Umbrello will also allow us the distribution of models by exporting them in DocBook and XHTML formats, which will facilitate collaborative projects where developers do not have direct access to Umbrello, or where models will be published via the web.
- If the user wishes, he can group several related diagrams in a single XMI file. These will be organized in different views (logic, use cases, components, etc.), which in turn can contain diagrams or folders with which to further classify them.
- The creation of a type of diagram is restricted to a certain type of view. Within a view, diagrams can be moved between folders freely.
- Most The characteristics and types of umbrello diagrams depend on the public standards of UML.
- Umbrello supports the import and export of XMI 1.2 files (almost compatible with UML 1.4). Support for XMI 2.0 is currently up and running.
- We will find different formats supported for importing third-party files.
These are just some of the features of this program. They can consult all of them in detail from the project website.
Supported diagrams
Umbrello UML Modeller will allow us to use the following types of diagrams:
- Class
- Sequences
- Collaborations
- Case of use
- States
- Activities
- Alternative
- Deployment
- List of entities
Install Umbrello on Ubuntu
Umbrella can be found as snap pack available for Ubuntu. To install it on our system, we will only need to open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and execute the installation command in it:
sudo snap install umbrello
When the installation is complete, we can start the program by searching for the launcher in our system or by typing in the terminal:
umbrello
uninstall
If you would like to remove the program from your computer, in the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) it is only necessary to write the command:
sudo snap remove umbrello
Having a good model of our software is the best way to communicate with other developers working on the project. A good model is extremely important for medium to large projects, but it is also very useful for smaller projects. Even if you are working on a small project, having a good model will be beneficial, as it will give you a summary that will help you to program things correctly.
Umbrello UML Modeller will allow us to create software diagrams in industry standard UML format, and it will also give us the ability to generate code from UML diagrams using a variety of programming languages. For more information on how to use this program, users can consult the project website or on official documentation.