Generate class diagram from existing javadocs

Question

Hi,

I'm using an external java library for which I only have the javadocs and do not have the source code. I'd like to generate a UML diagram from the existing javadocs so that I can visualize the class hierarchy using something like Graphviz. Is that possible? Note that what I'm looking for is a graphical version of overview-tree.html.

Please let me know if you have any ideas and/or suggestions.

Thanks,

Shirley

Answer 1

I don't believe that there is such a tool. Most of the reverse engineer tools depend on the actual code. The javadoc information isn't guaranteed to match the code as a 1:1 for the structure, thus making it unreliable.

Answer 2

I'm not familiar with any off-the-shelf solution for this purpose. Most commonly folks have the source code that generated the JavaDoc.

That being said, the overview-tree.html traditionally has a fairly straightforward HTML format. It should not be difficult to write a script that would read the file as text or as a DOM, reconstruct the hierarchy of UL and LI tags, and use that to build an input file for graphviz. I've done similar stuff in the past with other forms of data.

It's just a matter of time and proficiency with the scripting language or appropriate tools.

The one problem of this approach is that you would only get the hierarchy of classes. You would have to make it somewhat smarter if you wanted to get the "implements XYZ" and create multiple hierarchies. Even if you could get that data, you would have to manipulate GraphViz's levels to get it to provide an appropriate layout once you have this multiple inheritance structure.

Of course, adding the details of the members would turn this into a whole new problem since you will have to access other HTML files.

Answer 3

See http://www.reversejava.com for a dynamic reverse engineering application which generates UML Sequence diagram and view of Participating Class diagram from any Java Application at runtime All you have to do is just run your application and sit back. Reverse Java runs in background tracing all the activities happening inside your application and creates UML diagram for you.

You also have options for, excluding packages,editing the Sequence diagram and exporting the diagrams as PDF or Image.

And its not expensive !