Used the Web as a source—mostly Mario Jeckle’s excellent list Unified Modeling Language (UML) Tools. (Mr. Jeckle was killed in an automobile accident in 2004, while attempting to aid others. His contributions are appreciated. See his Wikipedia page for more.)
There are several utilities for converting UML to source without displaying it, and others for converting source code to UML as XML files—I haven’t listed all of them.
I tried most of these tools. Many either didn’t work on my system, or were so complicated to install that I gave up. If I was required to give somebody my home address and so forth to get a demo, I didn’t bother.
I document four different capacities of these tools.
There is some overlap. For instance, any CASE tool also does Diagramming, and they usually also do Source-to-UML. An IDE is expected to do everything, but sometimes doesn’t do anything very well.
Gathered list 5/16/03, updated 22/6/14, 10/07/15, 5/17/22
| Link | L i c | I D E | C A S E | Src -to- UML | D i a g | Envir | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArgoUML | O | x | x | Java | Very big and complete—but kinda slow and clumsy. WebStart version runs over Internet! | ||
| cpp2dia | O | x | TCL | imports C++ into Dia | |||
| Dia | G | x | gtk+/C | Generic diagramming tool. Very restrictive for UML. | |||
| Dia2Code | G | C | Converts Dia UML diagram to source code. | ||||
| jGRASP | R | x | x | x | x | Java | Auburn U. UML is just a view of project files. |
| Gaphor | G | x | gtk2/Python | Works; minimal; scriptable; generates SVG. | |||
| draw.io | G | x | JavaScript | Generic vector graphics. Was JGraphPad by Sun, then "jgraph drawio" | |||
| Open ModelSphere | G | x | x | Java | Grandite. Windows zip version runs in Linux. Have not located source yet. | ||
| Umbrello UML Modeller | G | x | KDE/C++ | Works. In development. Lots of messy bugs; clumsy interface. |
| R | free with restrictions |
| G | GNU |
| O | other open-source |
| Link | L i c | I D E | C A S E | Src -to- UML | D i a g | Envir | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MagicDraw | R | x | Java | Personal info in return for demo | |||
| Rational Rose Developer | C | x | was Rational Rose Developer. Latest version has new name, with Cloud and DevOps, to show how hip they are. Page for downloading demo, after bothering you with personal info, trips an internal failure that kills the process. It must be hard to be a big company. Poor IBM. | ||||
| JDeveloper | C | x | Java | Oracle. To get demo, requires personal info AND to sign up for a newsletter, then to assert you’re not a terrorist (otherwise they wouldn’t want you to get their newsletter!). It’s hard to be good when you’re big, but it’s easy to be funny! | |||
| Astah | R | x | x | J | x | Java | Community edition discontinued. Now have only demos. Was previously JUDE. |
| AgileJ StructureViews | D | x | Java | (formerly Modelistic?) Model file is the Java source. Eclipse plug-in. | |||
| Modelio | D | x | Java | Personal info in return for personal edition. Was Objecteering. | |||
| Design Rhapsody | D | x | By Telelogic. Purchased by IBM, called Rational Rhapsody, now Design Rhapsody. | ||||
| Together | D | x | Java | Micro Focus (formerly Borland). Eclipse plug-in | |||
| Visual Paradigm for UML | R | x | x | Java | Very big and complex, but usable. Some bugs. Community edition saves/prints with watermark; has XML export, but XMI export disabled |
| C | commercial |
| D | commercial with demo |
| R | free with restrictions |
| Link | L i c | I D E | C A S E | Src -to- UML | D i a g | Envir | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poseidon for UML | R | x | x | x | Java | There was a limited Community edition, full-featured but slow. Based on ArgoUML. Was distributed by gentleware; site gone ‘22. | |
| FUJABA | G | x | x | x | Java | “From Uml to Java And Back Again” U. Paderborn Looks dead as of 2007 or so. | |
| PyUt | G | x | x | WX Python | UML 1.3 editor. Works. Discontinued 2006. | ||
| DOME | G | x | x | Smalltalk | Domain Modelling Environment--Library for Cincom’s VisualWorks Smalltalk 5 tool suite. From Honeywell. No devel since 2000, web site gone ‘10 | ||
| Ideogramic UML | R | x | x | Works. Interesting GUI ideas. Probably usable. A little rough around the edges. web site gone ‘11 | |||
| ObjectArtist | G | x | x | Java | Lots of libraries and Java packages not included. No devel since ‘01. Web site gone '15. | ||
| Jase | G | x | Java | For analyzing Java source. No change since ’01. | |||
| Dachshund | G | x | x | Gnome in C++/Python | Crashes on startup. No devel since ‘02 | ||
| Thorn | G | x | x | Java | Very Alpha. No dev since ‘03, sourceforge project disappeared ‘10 | ||
| Composum | D | Java | Web site gone. | ||||
| FreeCase | F | In hibernation since ‘01. Web site gone '15 | |||||
| JUMLi | R | x | Java | Windows CAB only. No further devel. Web site gone ‘10 | |||
| JVISION | C | x | x | Java | last devel ’02; 09/09 web site times out | ||
| kUML | F | x | KDE in C++ | not functional. no change since Mar ‘01 | |||
| Object Domain | D | x | Java | Personal info in return for demo, web site gone ’11 | |||
| SoftModeler | D | x | Java | was by softera can’t find site | |||
| J2U | D | x | Java | Java to UML. E-mail for demo. Can't reach server '15. |
| C | commercial |
| D | commercial with demo |
| R | free with restrictions |
| G | GNU |
| O | other open-source |