UML Plugin for Eclipse - Class Diagrams & Java Code Generation - Indigo/Juno - java

I am looking for a UML plugin for Eclipse. I know this questions has been asked several times, but most of them are a few years old. From what I read I would say that most people prefer eUML2, but this officially supports only Helios.
So far I am using argoUML, but the absence of an undo-button is really an usability nightmare, to say the least. Additionally I would prefer integration into Eclipse.
What I want is:
Free/Open-source
Actively developed tool (support for Indigo, planned support for Juno)
Hassle-free installation in Eclipse
Class diagrams
Generate Java code from diagrams
Update the class diagrams after implementation is done (round-trip)
What would be nice:
Other diagrams, where for me the most important are sequence and use case diagrams
If there are in fact no suitable Eclipse plugins, than I would be happy if you could point out other tools that are free/open source and linux-based and which workflow you are using to accomplish the aforementioned requirements.

I'll definitely go with ObjectAid.
It supports drag and drop of classes and packages directly from your code in eclipse.
No need to open another application for your modeling.
Model files (*.ucls) can be kept in a separate project in eclipse while you code/develop your Java codes in another project. All these can be done on a single eclipse session.
Just want to emphasize on the drag-n-drop. I simply love it!
I'm using Eclipse Juno.
I tried other modeling tools but didn't get what I wanted.
P.S.
Creation of class diagrams is free, but needs an evaluation license for creating Sequence diagrams.

For now I will go with either Green UML or UML Lab. Green UML fulfills all the points I asked for, except that I'm not a hundred percent sure it is very actively developed. But the last update is from November 2011. It only supports class diagrams, but that is ok for me. It can be found here.
Other than that I will try the academic version of UML Lab as it looks a bit more promising, though not being free is a draw back.

Papyrus is probably the best choice. It is actively developed and is an industry backed project. It does not have code-generation capabilities by since the uml model is stored as an emf model you can use acceleo for code generation.
Round trip (update of diagram after code update) is also not supported.
But it does support many other UML diagrams.
I tried a number of open source tools, and actually found none that are good to use inside eclipse, so I am using Visual Paradigm for UML, community edition. Not free, does not do what you want, but for modeling purposes it is way above any eclipse plug-in.

The best is Omondo EclipseUML for Java code generation because I can model but also hand code. I never loose my model because multiple iterations are possible opposite to other tools just working from model to code.
Accelero code generation is too complex and the code is not really good. It requires to fix it manually once generated. If more than one package then relations between packages are not generated. I would say that accelero is good for a single class diagram code generation but as soon as you have more than one diagram in a package or multiple package then it is better not to use this plugin.

I was looking for UML Round Trip Engineering tool that supports reversing and drawing sequence Diagrams. Focus is on sequence diagrams as majority of tools can help with class diagrams, but not sequence diags.
Among the Free or cheap tools: I tried Papyrus, Modisco, Modelio, ObjectAid - first 3 are bit over complicated for some basic reversing, tend to ask too many question to locate source and libraries and all is bit clumsy, and they don't help much with sequence diagrams. ObjectAid works well even with the most recent eclipse (Luna). Sequence diagrams have cheap license. Sadly - none of them understands Spring annotations (e.g. #autowire).
Among big and expensive tools like EA, Sparx, Magic Draw, UML Lab (Yatta) - I like none, I find them too expensive for what they offer. Also, Complicated to reverse code (endless search source path problems). Magic and Modelio can't reverse and auto-generate sequence diagrams.
Alternative to these expensive tools is Altova UModel, it works as independent tool or eclipse plugin (I used it independently of eclipse, faster install, offers sync diagram with code function). It's the only tool that can open eclipse project extensions (doesn't ask about classpaths, however can't find maven libraries) and no support for Spring annotations. Java 7 is not officially supported but it works (minor exceptions with some rare generics). If they add: full java 7 support, spring support, open whole eclipse workspace and support pom/maven libraries, that would be the best round trip engineering tool around.
I ended up using ObjectAid, which is free/cheap and does things well (except spring autowire), lacks communication diagram which was great thing in Altova.
HTH someone...
PS: I use MyEclipse Pro sometimes, decent yearly price, it can do some things from above, you need to see trial version and if UML are suitable for business documentation (too many boxes/packages make diagrams confusing).

Related

UML Class Diagram Generator for PHP and/or Java

With reference to this question here - there is a Class Diagram generator for Visual Studio. I've used it and its very useful indeed!
But what I wannna ask - Is there anything like this for PHP and/or Java?
GenMyModel matches, it's an UML online tool that generates Java from class diagrams. HTH
This one knows Java and also PHP: http://www.visual-paradigm.com/ And I have got quite good experience with that one. :)
VisualParadigm can help you to generate class diagrams and if you wish, generate also ORM diagrams and make mapping (e.g. in hibernate) between domain classes and database. But you should rather see the official tutorials here: http://www.visual-paradigm.com/product/vpuml/tutorials/
ArgoUML is nice. You should also check out UMLet. UMLet is a a stand-alone UML tool, good for quick class/sequence diagrams.
Visual Paradigm is quite nice, but a bit expensive I think.
A free alternative is ArgoUml. It can generate class diagrams from Java source code (I do not think for php, but I am not sure). It is not quite as good as vp, but it does work and is easy to use.
Netbeans had UML generation integrated up to version 5 or 6, but it was discontinued, so using an older version might work as well.
Eclipse has a plugin called papyrus which also does code to uml.
For the same functionality for PHP, see this question and see here for a general overview over UML diagrams.
Enterprise Architect and JetBrains phpStorm seem to support UML and PHP.

Free UML tool/plugin for Eclipse can generate Java code?

I'm newbie for Eclipse. I don't know what plugin can create class diagram, sequence diagram... and generate java code and of coursce, it's free. Anyone know some tools like this ?
eUML2 Free Edition gathers all basic features needed by java developpers and is free of use (even for commercial purposes)
I would recommend to use Togethersoft or Omondo for java but these tools are not free.
The only java free UML tool is eUML but it adds plenty of tags in my code. The generated code is a mess because the UML model is using # UML directly in my java code. Both UML model and java code are therefore mixed mixed.
If I refactor my code then all my model is lost. I only change one of my attribute and all my model was immediately lost. What was the worst is that I also lost my code which was changed. I needed to paste a copy manually all my classes and create a new project. I lost many hours of work just because I did create 2 small class diagrams !!
My code format has been changed without my permission. This is an unacceptable behavior. I like the tool but don't want that UML code generation be so intrusive in my java code. The graphical design is pretty nice but because this is live code and model syncrhonization and that the code is dirty this is a no go for me. It would have been good to separate live code generation from model and UML design like the other tools.
For Eclipse, I suggest using eUML2 (http://www.soyatec.com/euml2/installation/).
If using Eclipse is not a must, I think the better choice would be https://www.magicdraw.com/ - they have a free version for students.
Topcased contains a UML editor together with a Java generator (and reverse).
The Papyrus Editor is included in Topcased.
They are both based on Eclipse Modeling Project.
Have a look on tutorials.

Advice for mapping an undocumented Java Eclipse Project

I have started at a new firm and as part of my duties am making small changes on a Java Project that was developed previously. The problem is that it is mostly undocumented and very complex. By undocumented I mean no comments, no Java doc, no documentation guide, nothing. It's a website Java project developed in Eclipse and built using Ant. My question is what tools are available to help me map out the project to better understand it. Or is there any advice on the best set of steps to follow.
Thank you for your time.
Look into reverse engineering tools that can create UML diagrams for java, like omondo. If the ant build script is complex aswell - I once visualized some complex ant build script using yEd, that helped a lot.
I personally found that UML-based tools do not scale well in such cases, except for some very specific cases, where sequence diagrams might help a lot.
Instead, I would refer to the following book (available online) for a general approach to the problem:
http://scg.unibe.ch/download/oorp/
And try out some research tools for code visualization to get an overview, for example:
http://www.inf.usi.ch/faculty/lanza/codecrawler.html
(would love to post more links, but can't due to stackoverflow's spam prevention mechanism)

tools for reverse engineering for java

Is there any tool that can be used to generate the UML diagram from Java code. I am currently using STAR UML for the same. But the tool is unable to design the dependency like if one class calls another class, rest the class diagram is generated stating interfaces, classes, extended classes and all..
can anyone please help me for the same.
You can try Sparx Enterprise Architect. It can import Java or C# nicely. It also has a runtime feature that allows you to step through code and generate sequence diagrams.
Take a look at nWire for Java. It is not a UML tool. However, it will quickly draw a diagram of your code artifacts with all possible dependencies. Many people use it for reverse engineering and for digging into legacy code.
You could use MagicDraw UML to achieve this. It's not free, but it's definitly worth the money.
Check out the trial version before buying.

Modeling software using Eclipse plugin

I am brand new to modeling software (my greatest reference so far has been the Wikipedia page on UML). Are there any free tools that I can use with Eclipse to auto-generate diagrams?
Thanks
EDIT:Just to clarify, I am not necessarily looking for the 'right' solution, as I don't have a specific problem. I am just trying to see what is out there that other people use!
EDIT: Tried eUML2 . Worked ok. It destroys the look of the code (if you have ever seen auto-generated HTML code or the code created by NetBeans, image that now) by adding comments everywhere. The background says evaluation in huge letters, which is also annoying. The UML is decent, but definitely not standard. All in all, not what i'm looking for. On to something else...
EDIT: Tried UMLet. Works well, very easy to get the hang of. Unfortunately it does not auto-pull any information from the source code. Will likely leave it installed for now
You may take a look at eUML. It creates nice looking UML diagrams. However, what I don't like with it is that it is very strictly connected to the source code and thus lacks some flexibility. Any change in the source code changes the diagrams and the other way around - and this is IMO not always desirable.
Check Eclipse MDT (Model Developing Tools)
You have plenty of UML tools with Galileo and will have UML tools for Helios in the next six months.
I am a paid customer so got today the Helios UML build from Omondo.Please note that if you are not a paid up customer then you will not be able to download the lastest Helios build !!

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