PlantUML Dependency

Understanding the PlantUML Dependency Display options

Definition

The display options are used to filter objects which will appear in the result PlantUML file. It is different from exclude and include options which filter parsed files.

Right now, three display options are supported : by type, by package name, by name.

Display type option

Here is the current list of all supported display options (others may be added in future versions) :

abstract_classes : displays parsed source files which are abstract classes and relations to abstract classes
annotations : displays parsed source files which are annotations, annotations (upon classes and methods) of all parsed source files and relations to annotations
classes : displays parsed source files which are classes (not abstract), dependencies which are considered as classes (because they are imported or extended but not parsed) and relations to classes
enums : displays parsed source files which are enums and relations to enums
extensions : displays relations between dependencies which are extended by parsed source files (i.e. classes or interfaces) if their type is displayed
implementations : displays relations between dependencies which are implemented by parsed source files (i.e. interfaces) if their type is displayed
imports : displays relations from parsed source files to import dependencies (not static) if their type is displayed
interfaces : displays parsed source files which are interfaces, dependencies which are considered as interfaces (because they are implemented but not parsed) and relations to interfaces
native_methods : displays relations from parsed source files to the native dependency if they use native methods
static_imports : displays relations from parsed source files to import dependencies (only static) if their type is displayed

Simple example

Considering this simple Java file :

package output;

import output.test.Enum1;
import output.test.Class2;
import output.test.Class3;
import output.test.Interface1;
import output.test.Interface3;
import static output.test.Class4.MAX_LENGTH;

@Deprecated
public class Class1 extends Class3 < String > implements Interface1 {

    public static native void register_Natives();

    @Override
    public int count() {
        return 0;
    }
}

Considering that all objects are known, here is the list of all dependencies of this class :

output.Class1 : the current parsed object, which is a class
output.test.Enum1 : an enum dependency, linked to the current parsed object by an use relation (because it is only declared through imports)
output.test.Class2 : a class dependency, linked to the current parsed object by an use relation (because it is only declared through imports)
output.test.Class3 : a class dependency, linked to the current parsed object by an extension relation (because it is declared through the extend key word). Even if it is also declared through imports, it is only considered as an extension relation
output.test.Interface1 : an interface dependency, linked to the current parsed object by an implementation relation (because it is declared through the implement key word). Even if it is also declared through imports, it is only considered as an implementation relation
output.test.Interface3 : an interface dependency, linked to the current parsed object by an use relation (because it is only declared through imports)
output.test.Class4 : a class dependency, linked to the current parsed object by an use relation (because it is only declared through static imports)
java.lang.Deprecated : an annotation dependency, linked to the current parsed object by an use relation
java.lang.Override : an annotation dependency, linked to the current parsed object by an use relation

Tests

Now, let's play with different options to see the result :

The default option -dt abstract_classes,annotations,classes,enums,extensions,implementations,imports,interfaces,native_methods,static_imports will display all objects and all relations, in our case this will generate :

@startuml
annotation java.lang.Deprecated
annotation java.lang.Override
class javax.native.NativeCall << (N,#ffff00) >>
class output.Class1
class output.test.Class2
class output.test.Class3
class output.test.Class4
enum output.test.Enum1
interface output.test.Interface3
interface output.test.Interface1
output.Class1 ..> java.lang.Deprecated
output.Class1 ..> java.lang.Override
output.Class1 ..> javax.native.NativeCall
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Class2
output.Class1 --|> output.test.Class3
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Class4
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Enum1
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Interface3
output.Class1 --|> output.test.Interface1
@enduml

The option -dt interfaces,implementations,extensions,imports,static_imports will display all interfaces with relations to interfaces, in our case this will only generate :

@startuml
interface output.test.Interface1
interface output.test.Interface3
@enduml

The option -dt classes,interfaces,implementations,extensions,imports,static_imports will display all classes and interfaces with relations to classes and interfaces, in our case this will only generate :

@startuml
class output.Class1
class output.test.Class2
class output.test.Class3
class output.test.Class4
interface output.test.Interface1
interface output.test.Interface3
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Class2
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Class4
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Interface3
output.Class1 --|> output.test.Interface1
@enduml

The option -dt native_methods will display the native object if one of the parsed object uses it, in our case this will only generate :

@startuml
class javax.native.NativeCall << (N,#ffff00) >>
@enduml

The option -dt native_methods,classes will display all classes, the native object if one of the parsed object uses it and all relations between classes and the native object, in our case this will only generate :

@startuml
class javax.native.NativeCall << (N,#ffff00) >>
class output.Class1
class output.test.Class2
class output.test.Class3
class output.test.Class4
output.Class1 ..> javax.native.NativeCall
@enduml

Display package name option

These options allow to filter output object by their package name, for instance :

^(?!net.sourceforge.plantumldependency)(.+)$ : displays only objects which don't belong to a package starting with net.sourceforge.plantumldependency
^java.lang.* : displays only objects which belong to a package starting with java.lang
net.sourceforge.plantumldependency.main : displays only objects which belong exactly to the net.sourceforge.plantumldependency.main package

The option -dp ^java.* will display all objects which belong to a package starting with java :

@startuml
annotation java.lang.Deprecated
annotation java.lang.Override
class javax.native.NativeCall << (N,#ffff00) >>
@enduml

Display name option

These options allow to filter output object by their name, for instance :

.*Test.* : displays only objects which contain the Test string in their name

The option -dn Class. will display all objects which have a name starting with Class, followed by only one character :

@startuml
class output.Class1
class output.test.Class2
class output.test.Class3
class output.test.Class4
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Class2
output.Class1 --|> output.test.Class3
output.Class1 ..> output.test.Class4
@enduml