Basic examples
The sequence ->
is used to draw a message between two
participants.
Participants do not have to be explicitly declared.
To have a dotted arrow, you use -->
It is also possible to use <-
and <--
.
That does not change the drawing, but may improve readability.
Note that this is only true for sequence diagrams, rules are different for the other diagrams.
Declaring participant
If the keyword participant
is used to declare a participant, more control on that participant is possible.
The order of declaration will be the (default) order of display.
Using these other keywords to declare participants will change the shape of the participant representation:
* actor
* boundary
* control
* entity
* database
* collections
* queue
@startuml
participant Participant as Foo
actor Actor as Foo1
boundary Boundary as Foo2
control Control as Foo3
entity Entity as Foo4
database Database as Foo5
collections Collections as Foo6
queue Queue as Foo7
Foo -> Foo1 : To actor
Foo -> Foo2 : To boundary
Foo -> Foo3 : To control
Foo -> Foo4 : To entity
Foo -> Foo5 : To database
Foo -> Foo6 : To collections
Foo -> Foo7: To queue
@enduml
Rename a participant using the as
keyword.
You can also change the background link::color[color] of actor or participant.
@startuml
actor Bob #red
' The only difference between actor
'and participant is the drawing
participant Alice
participant "I have a really\nlong name" as L #99FF99
/' You can also declare:
participant L as "I have a really\nlong name" #99FF99
'/
Alice->Bob: Authentication Request
Bob->Alice: Authentication Response
Bob->L: Log transaction
@enduml
You can use the order
keyword to customize the display order of participants.
Declaring participant on multiline
You can declare participant on multi-line.
@startuml
participant Participant [
=Title
----
""SubTitle""
]
participant Bob
Participant -> Bob
@enduml
[Ref. QA-15232]
Message to Self
A participant can send a message to itself.
It is also possible to have multi-line using \n
.
[Ref. QA-1361]
Text alignment
Text alignment on arrows can be set to left
, right
or center
using skinparam sequenceMessageAlign
.
You can also use direction
or reverseDirection
to align text depending on arrow direction. Further details and examples of this are available on the link::skinparam[skinparam] page.
Change arrow style
You can change arrow style by several ways:
* add a final x
to denote a lost message
* use \
or /
instead of <
or >
to have only the bottom or top part of the arrow
* repeat the arrow head (for example, >>
or //
) head to have a thin drawing
* use --
instead of -
to have a dotted arrow
* add a final "o" at arrow head
* use bidirectional arrow <->
Message sequence numbering
The keyword autonumber
is used to
automatically add an incrementing number to messages.
@startuml
autonumber
Bob -> Alice : Authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Authentication Response
@enduml
You can specify a startnumber with autonumber <start>
, and
also an increment with autonumber <start> <increment>
.
@startuml
autonumber
Bob -> Alice : Authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Authentication Response
autonumber 15
Bob -> Alice : Another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Another authentication Response
autonumber 40 10
Bob -> Alice : Yet another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Yet another authentication Response
@enduml
You can specify a format for your number by using between double-quote.
The formatting is done with the Java class DecimalFormat
(0
means digit, #
means digit and zero if absent).
You can use some html tag in the format.
@startuml
autonumber "[000]"
Bob -> Alice : Authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Authentication Response
autonumber 15 "(##)"
Bob -> Alice : Another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Another authentication Response
autonumber 40 10 "Message 0 "
Bob -> Alice : Yet another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Yet another authentication Response
@enduml
You can also use autonumber stop
and
autonumber resume <increment> <format>
to respectively pause and resume
automatic numbering.
@startuml
autonumber 10 10 "[000]"
Bob -> Alice : Authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Authentication Response
autonumber stop
Bob -> Alice : dummy
autonumber resume "Message 0 "
Bob -> Alice : Yet another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Yet another authentication Response
autonumber stop
Bob -> Alice : dummy
autonumber resume 1 "Message 0 "
Bob -> Alice : Yet another authentication Request
Bob <- Alice : Yet another authentication Response
@enduml
Your startnumber can also be a 2 or 3 digit sequence using a field delimiter such as .
, ;
, ,
, :
or a mix of these. For example: 1.1.1
or 1.1:1
.
Automatically the last digit will increment.
To increment the first digit, use: autonumber inc A
. To increment the second digit, use: autonumber inc B
.
@startuml
autonumber 1.1.1
Alice -> Bob: Authentication request
Bob --> Alice: Response
autonumber inc A
'Now we have 2.1.1
Alice -> Bob: Another authentication request
Bob --> Alice: Response
autonumber inc B
'Now we have 2.2.1
Alice -> Bob: Another authentication request
Bob --> Alice: Response
autonumber inc A
'Now we have 3.1.1
Alice -> Bob: Another authentication request
autonumber inc B
'Now we have 3.2.1
Bob --> Alice: Response
@enduml
You can also use the value of autonumber
with the %autonumber%
variable:
@startuml
autonumber 10
Alice -> Bob
note right
the autonumber works everywhere.
Here, its value is ** %autonumber% **
end note
Bob --> Alice: //This is the response %autonumber%//
@enduml
[Ref. QA-7119]
Splitting diagrams
The newpage
keyword is used to split a diagram into several images.
You can put a title for the new page just after the newpage
keyword. This title overrides the previously specified title if any.
This is very handy with Word to print long diagram on several pages.
(Note: this really does work. Only the first page is shown below, but it is a display artifact.)
Grouping message
It is possible to group messages together using the following
keywords:
* alt/else
* opt
* loop
* par
* break
* critical
* group
, followed by a text to be displayed
It is possible to add a text that will be displayed into the
header (for group
, see next paragraph 'Secondary group label').
The end
keyword is used to close the group.
Note that it is possible to nest groups.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
alt successful case
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Accepted
else some kind of failure
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Failure
group My own label
Alice -> Log : Log attack start
loop 1000 times
Alice -> Bob: DNS Attack
end
Alice -> Log : Log attack end
end
else Another type of failure
Bob -> Alice: Please repeat
end
@enduml
Secondary group label
For group
, it is possible to add, between`[` and ]
, a secondary text or label that will be displayed into the header.
@startuml
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Failure
group My own label [My own label 2]
Alice -> Log : Log attack start
loop 1000 times
Alice -> Bob: DNS Attack
end
Alice -> Log : Log attack end
end
@enduml
[Ref. QA-2503]
Notes on messages
It is possible to put notes on message using the note left
or note right
keywords just after the message.
You can have a multi-line note using the end note
keywords.
Some other notes
It is also possible to place notes relative to participant with note left of
, note right of
or note over
keywords.
It is possible to highlight a note by changing its background link::color[color].
You can also have a multi-line note using the end note
keywords.
@startuml
participant Alice
participant Bob
note left of Alice #aqua
This is displayed
left of Alice.
end note
note right of Alice: This is displayed right of Alice.
note over Alice: This is displayed over Alice.
note over Alice, Bob #FFAAAA: This is displayed\n over Bob and Alice.
note over Bob, Alice
This is yet another
example of
a long note.
end note
@enduml
Changing notes shape [hnote, rnote]
You can use hnote
and rnote
keywords
to change note shapes :
* hnote
for hexagonal note;
* rnote
for rectangle note.
@startuml
caller -> server : conReq
hnote over caller : idle
caller <- server : conConf
rnote over server
"r" as rectangle
"h" as hexagon
endrnote
rnote over server
this is
on several
lines
endrnote
hnote over caller
this is
on several
lines
endhnote
@enduml
[Ref. QA-1765]
Note over all participants [across]
You can directly make a note over all participants, with the syntax:
* note across: note_description
@startuml
Alice->Bob:m1
Bob->Charlie:m2
note over Alice, Charlie: Old method for note over all part. with:\n ""note over //FirstPart, LastPart//"".
note across: New method with:\n""note across""
Bob->Alice
hnote across:Note across all part.
@enduml
[Ref. QA-9738]
Several notes aligned at the same level [/]
You can make several notes aligned at the same level, with the syntax /
:
* without /
(by default, the notes are not aligned)
@startuml
note over Alice : initial state of Alice
note over Bob : initial state of Bob
Bob -> Alice : hello
@enduml
-
with
/
(the notes are aligned)
@startuml note over Alice : initial state of Alice / note over Bob : initial state of Bob Bob -> Alice : hello @enduml
[Ref. QA-354]
Creole and HTML
link::creole[It is also possible to use creole formatting:]
@startuml
participant Alice
participant "The **Famous** Bob" as Bob
Alice -> Bob : hello --there--
... Some ~~long delay~~ ...
Bob -> Alice : ok
note left
This is **bold**
This is //italics//
This is ""monospaced""
This is --stroked--
This is __underlined__
This is ~~waved~~
end note
Alice -> Bob : A //well formatted// message
note right of Alice
This is displayed
__left of__ Alice.
end note
note left of Bob
This is displayed
**left of Alice Bob**.
end note
note over Alice, Bob
This is hosted by
end note
@enduml
Divider or separator
If you want, you can split a diagram using ==
separator to
divide your diagram into logical steps.
Lifeline Activation and Destruction
The activate
and deactivate
are used to denote
participant activation.
Once a participant is activated, its lifeline appears.
The activate
and deactivate
apply on
the previous message.
The destroy
denote the end of the lifeline of a
participant.
@startuml
participant User
User -> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> B: << createRequest >>
activate B
B -> C: DoWork
activate C
C --> B: WorkDone
destroy C
B --> A: RequestCreated
deactivate B
A -> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml
Nested lifeline can be used, and it is possible to add a link::color[color] on the lifeline.
@startuml
participant User
User -> A: DoWork
activate A #FFBBBB
A -> A: Internal call
activate A #DarkSalmon
A -> B: << createRequest >>
activate B
B --> A: RequestCreated
deactivate B
deactivate A
A -> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml
Autoactivation is possible and works with the return keywords:
Return
Command return
generates a return message with optional text label.
The return point is that which caused the most recent life-line activation.
The syntax is return label
where label
if provided is any string acceptable for conventional messages.
Participant creation
You can use the create
keyword just before the first
reception of a message to emphasize the fact that this message is
actually creating this new object.
Shortcut syntax for activation, deactivation, creation
Immediately after specifying the target participant, the following syntax can be used:
-
Activate the target (optionally a link::color[color] may follow this)
-
--
Deactivate the source -
**
Create an instance of the target -
!!
Destroy an instance of the target
@startuml
alice -> bob ++ : hello
bob -> bob ++ : self call
bob -> bib ++ #005500 : hello
bob -> george ** : create
return done
return rc
bob -> george !! : delete
return success
@enduml
Then you can mix activation and deactivation, on same line:
Incoming and outgoing messages
You can use incoming or outgoing arrows if you want to focus on a part of the diagram.
Use square brackets to denote the left “[” or the right “]” side of the diagram.
@startuml
[-> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> A: Internal call
activate A
A ->] : << createRequest >>
A<--] : RequestCreated
deactivate A
[<- A: Done
deactivate A
@enduml
You can also have the following syntax:
Short arrows for incoming and outgoing messages
You can have short arrows with using ?
.
@startuml
?-> Alice : ""?->""\n**short** to actor1
[-> Alice : ""[->""\n**from start** to actor1
[-> Bob : ""[->""\n**from start** to actor2
?-> Bob : ""?->""\n**short** to actor2
Alice ->] : ""->]""\nfrom actor1 **to end**
Alice ->? : ""->?""\n**short** from actor1
Alice -> Bob : ""->"" \nfrom actor1 to actor2
@enduml
[Ref. QA-310]
Anchors and Duration
With teoz
it is possible to add anchors to the diagram and use the anchors to specify duration time.
@startuml
!pragma teoz true
{start} Alice -> Bob : start doing things during duration
Bob -> Max : something
Max -> Bob : something else
{end} Bob -> Alice : finish
{start} <-> {end} : some time
@enduml
You can use the -P
link::command-line[command-line] option to specify the pragma:
java -jar plantuml.jar -Pteoz=true
[Ref. issue-582]
Stereotypes and Spots
It is possible to add stereotypes to participants using <<
and >>
.
In the stereotype, you can add a spotted character
in a colored circle using the syntax (X,color)
.
@startuml
participant "Famous Bob" as Bob << Generated >>
participant Alice << (C,#ADD1B2) Testable >>
Bob->Alice: First message
@enduml
By default, the guillemet character is used to display the stereotype.
You can change this behavious using the skinparam guillemet
:
More information on titles
You can use link::creole[creole formatting] in the title.
@startuml
title __Simple__ **communication** example
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Response
@enduml
You can add newline using \n
in the title description.
@startuml
title __Simple__ communication example\non several lines
Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request
Bob -> Alice: Authentication Response
@enduml
You can also define title on several lines using title
and end title
keywords.
Participants encompass
It is possible to draw a box around some participants, using box
and end box
commands.
You can add an optional title or a
optional background color, after the box
keyword.
@startuml
box "Internal Service" #LightBlue
participant Bob
participant Alice
end box
participant Other
Bob -> Alice : hello
Alice -> Other : hello
@enduml
It is also possible to nest boxes - to draw a box within a box - when using the teoz rendering engine, for example:
Skinparam
You can use the link::skinparam[skinparam] command to change colors and fonts for the drawing.
You can use this command: * In the diagram definition, like any other commands, * In an link::preprocessing[included file], * In a configuration file, provided in the link::command-line[command line] or the link::ant-task[ANT task].
You can also change other rendering parameter, as seen in the following examples:
@startuml
skinparam sequenceArrowThickness 2
skinparam roundcorner 20
skinparam maxmessagesize 60
skinparam sequenceParticipant underline
actor User
participant "First Class" as A
participant "Second Class" as B
participant "Last Class" as C
User -> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> B: Create Request
activate B
B -> C: DoWork
activate C
C --> B: WorkDone
destroy C
B --> A: Request Created
deactivate B
A --> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml
@startuml
skinparam backgroundColor #EEEBDC
skinparam handwritten true
skinparam sequence {
ArrowColor DeepSkyBlue
ActorBorderColor DeepSkyBlue
LifeLineBorderColor blue
LifeLineBackgroundColor #A9DCDF
ParticipantBorderColor DeepSkyBlue
ParticipantBackgroundColor DodgerBlue
ParticipantFontName Impact
ParticipantFontSize 17
ParticipantFontColor #A9DCDF
ActorBackgroundColor aqua
ActorFontColor DeepSkyBlue
ActorFontSize 17
ActorFontName Aapex
}
actor User
participant "First Class" as A
participant "Second Class" as B
participant "Last Class" as C
User -> A: DoWork
activate A
A -> B: Create Request
activate B
B -> C: DoWork
activate C
C --> B: WorkDone
destroy C
B --> A: Request Created
deactivate B
A --> User: Done
deactivate A
@enduml
Appendix: Examples of all arrow type
Normal arrow
@startuml
participant Alice as a
participant Bob as b
a -> b : ""-> ""
a ->> b : ""->> ""
a -\ b : ""-\ ""
a -\\ b : ""-\\\\""
a -/ b : ""-/ ""
a -// b : ""-// ""
a ->x b : ""->x ""
a x-> b : ""x-> ""
a o-> b : ""o-> ""
a ->o b : ""->o ""
a o->o b : ""o->o ""
a <-> b : ""<-> ""
a o<->o b : ""o<->o""
a x<->x b : ""x<->x""
a ->>o b : ""->>o ""
a -\o b : ""-\o ""
a -\\o b : ""-\\\\o""
a -/o b : ""-/o ""
a -//o b : ""-//o ""
a x->o b : ""x->o ""
@enduml
Itself arrow
@startuml
participant Alice as a
participant Bob as b
a -> a : ""-> ""
a ->> a : ""->> ""
a -\ a : ""-\ ""
a -\\ a : ""-\\\\""
a -/ a : ""-/ ""
a -// a : ""-// ""
a ->x a : ""->x ""
a x-> a : ""x-> ""
a o-> a : ""o-> ""
a ->o a : ""->o ""
a o->o a : ""o->o ""
a <-> a : ""<-> ""
a o<->o a : ""o<->o""
a x<->x a : ""x<->x""
a ->>o a : ""->>o ""
a -\o a : ""-\o ""
a -\\o a : ""-\\\\o""
a -/o a : ""-/o ""
a -//o a : ""-//o ""
a x->o a : ""x->o ""
@enduml
Incoming and outgoing messages (with '[', ']')
Incoming messages (with '[')
@startuml
participant Alice as a
participant Bob as b
[-> b : ""[-> ""
[->> b : ""[->> ""
[-\ b : ""[-\ ""
[-\\ b : ""[-\\\\""
[-/ b : ""[-/ ""
[-// b : ""[-// ""
[->x b : ""[->x ""
[x-> b : ""[x-> ""
[o-> b : ""[o-> ""
[->o b : ""[->o ""
[o->o b : ""[o->o ""
[<-> b : ""[<-> ""
[o<->o b : ""[o<->o""
[x<->x b : ""[x<->x""
[->>o b : ""[->>o ""
[-\o b : ""[-\o ""
[-\\o b : ""[-\\\\o""
[-/o b : ""[-/o ""
[-//o b : ""[-//o ""
[x->o b : ""[x->o ""
@enduml
Outgoing messages (with ']')
@startuml
participant Alice as a
participant Bob as b
a ->] : ""->] ""
a ->>] : ""->>] ""
a -\] : ""-\] ""
a -\\] : ""-\\\\]""
a -/] : ""-/] ""
a -//] : ""-//] ""
a ->x] : ""->x] ""
a x->] : ""x->] ""
a o->] : ""o->] ""
a ->o] : ""->o] ""
a o->o] : ""o->o] ""
a <->] : ""<->] ""
a o<->o] : ""o<->o]""
a x<->x] : ""x<->x]""
a ->>o] : ""->>o] ""
a -\o] : ""-\o] ""
a -\\o] : ""-\\\\o]""
a -/o] : ""-/o] ""
a -//o] : ""-//o] ""
a x->o] : ""x->o] ""
@enduml
Short incoming and outgoing messages (with '?')
Short incoming (with '?')
@startuml
participant Alice as a
participant Bob as b
a -> b : //Long long label//
?-> b : ""?-> ""
?->> b : ""?->> ""
?-\ b : ""?-\ ""
?-\\ b : ""?-\\\\""
?-/ b : ""?-/ ""
?-// b : ""?-// ""
?->x b : ""?->x ""
?x-> b : ""?x-> ""
?o-> b : ""?o-> ""
?->o b : ""?->o ""
?o->o b : ""?o->o ""
?<-> b : ""?<-> ""
?o<->o b : ""?o<->o""
?x<->x b : ""?x<->x""
?->>o b : ""?->>o ""
?-\o b : ""?-\o ""
?-\\o b : ""?-\\\\o ""
?-/o b : ""?-/o ""
?-//o b : ""?-//o ""
?x->o b : ""?x->o ""
@enduml
Short outgoing (with '?')
@startuml
participant Alice as a
participant Bob as b
a -> b : //Long long label//
a ->? : ""->? ""
a ->>? : ""->>? ""
a -\? : ""-\? ""
a -\\? : ""-\\\\?""
a -/? : ""-/? ""
a -//? : ""-//? ""
a ->x? : ""->x? ""
a x->? : ""x->? ""
a o->? : ""o->? ""
a ->o? : ""->o? ""
a o->o? : ""o->o? ""
a <->? : ""<->? ""
a o<->o? : ""o<->o?""
a x<->x? : ""x<->x?""
a ->>o? : ""->>o? ""
a -\o? : ""-\o? ""
a -\\o? : ""-\\\\o?""
a -/o? : ""-/o? ""
a -//o? : ""-//o? ""
a x->o? : ""x->o? ""
@enduml
Specific SkinParameter
LifelineStrategy
-
nosolid (by default)
@startuml skinparam lifelineStrategy nosolid Bob -> Alice : hello Alice -> Bob : ok @enduml
[Ref. QA-9016]
-
solid In order to have solid life line in sequence diagrams, you can use:
skinparam lifelineStrategy solid
@startuml skinparam lifelineStrategy solid Bob -> Alice : hello Alice -> Bob : ok @enduml
[Ref. QA-2794]
style strictuml
To be conform to strict UML (for arrow style: emits triangle rather than sharp arrowheads), you can use:
* skinparam style strictuml
[Ref. QA-1047]
Hide unlinked participant
By default, all participants are displayed.
But you can hide unlinked
participant.
@startuml
hide unlinked
participant Alice
participant Bob
participant Carol
Alice -> Bob : hello
@enduml
[Ref. QA-4247]
Slanted or odd arrows
You can use the (nn)
option (before or after arrow) to make the arrows slanted, where nn is the number of shift pixels.
[Available only after v1.2022.6beta+]
[Ref. QA-14145]
@startuml
!pragma teoz true
A ->(50) C: Starts\nwhen 'B' sends
& B ->(25) C: \nBut B's message\n arrives before A's
@enduml
[Ref. QA-6684]
@startuml
!pragma teoz true
S1 ->(30) S2: msg 1\n
& S2 ->(30) S1: msg 2
note left S1: msg\nS2 to S1
& note right S2: msg\nS1 to S2
@enduml
[Ref. QA-1072]