What is PlantUML?
PlantUML is an open-source tool allowing users to create diagrams from a plain text language. Besides various UML diagrams, PlantUML has support for various other software development related formats, as well as visualisation of JSON and YAML files. The language of PlantUML is an example of a domain-specific language.
PlantUML Capabilities
PlantUML is a component that allows you to quickly write:
- Sequence diagram
- Usecase diagram
- Class diagram
- Object diagram
- Activity diagram (here is the legacy syntax)
- Component diagram
- Deployment diagram
- State diagram
- Timing diagram
The following non-UML diagrams are also supported:
- JSON data
- YAML data
- Network diagram (nwdiag)
- Wireframe graphical interface or UI mockups (salt)
- Archimate diagram
- Specification and Description Language (SDL)
- Ditaa diagram
- Gantt diagram
- MindMap diagram
- Work Breakdown Structure diagram (WBS)
- Mathematic with AsciiMath or JLaTeXMath notation
- Entity Relationship diagram (IE/ER)
PlantUML and GitLab
When the PlantUML integration is enabled and configured in GitLab, you can create diagrams in snippets, wikis, and repositories. This integration
is enabled on GitLab.com for all SaaS users and does not require any additional configuration.
To set up the integration on a self-managed instance, you must:
- Step 1 – Configure your PlantUML server.
- Step 2 – Configure local PlantUML access.
- Step 3 – Configure PlantUML security.
- Step 4 – Enable the integration.
I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.
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