Simple UML Drawing Tool for Windows That Supports Eiffel

Question

I don't want anything that reads or generates code just drawing diagrams.

I also must be able to enter code as text because i'm pretty sure it will not support the Eiffel langauge and i really don't want to click through a dozend buttons and dialogs just to enter a method signature (who ever invented this shit has no idea about usability).

Thats why i don't use Visio. There must be something better.

I like the idea of "http://websequencediagrams.com/" for describing UML diagrams and compile them to PNG files.

Answer 1

I use GraphViz for drawing diagrams. It allows you to enter them as text and then compile them to PNG, PDF and other formats.

There are two main tools, dot for directed graphs, and neato for layout graphs. I think you'll want dot.

A source dot graph looks like this:

digraph G {
   main -> parse -> execute;
   main -> init;
   main -> cleanup;
   execute -> make_string;
   execute -> printf
   init -> make_string;
   main -> printf;
   execute -> compare;
}

That's at its simplest. You can add labels, formatting, set shapes for nodes and all sorts of other things to make your graphs look nice.

Answer 2

I like Tobin Harris' YUML website. It is like the web version of drawing uml diagrams on the back of a napkin :)

Kindness,

Dan

Answer 3

You should give ArgoUML a try

ArgoUML is the leading open source UML modeling tool and includes support for all standard UML 1.4 diagrams. It runs on any Java platform and is available in ten languages.

Answer 4

I would try dia. This is a simple tool that is great from UML diagrams.

Answer 5

It seems that you would be happy using a textual notation to define the UML model. If so, a list of tools that allow the specification of UML models as text (and that then, create and show the corresponding diagram) can be found here: http://modeling-languages.com/blog/content/textual-notationslanguages-define-uml-models-list-tools

Another easy option, if you are a programmer AND you use Eclipse as IDE, would be to use one of the Eclipse UML2 compatible tools (the above link also includes a link to those tools)

Answer 6

The EiffelStudio IDE has a build-in Diagram editor that supports both BON and UML notation.

A commercial and a free version are avaiable http://www.eiffel.com.

You'll should be able to write your code and get the UML representation for free.

Answer 7

If you want to focus on building your model and not manipulating the object on diagram. You must try Red Koda Community. Check the sequence diagram video, you can see how easy and fast you can use it.

Answer 8

Cadifra is perfect for your needs. Very intuitive user interface and all text is free form so you can adapt it to your own language.

I am not associated with the developers. I am just a satisfied regular Cadifra user.

http://www.cadifra.com

Answer 9

See EasyUML Editor. It is a nice Web based UML Editor which converts Text to all types of UML diagram. As EasyUML is web based, it can be accesed over the network and hence it is a nice tool to share your Designs. You can also export UML diagrams as PDF, PNG and SVG format.