Fell on MetaUML today. (Well, I had the link on my todo list since a couple of month…)

It is a very interesting tool for two things:

1. enable you to describe UML diagrams in a textual notation.
2. enable you to include UML diagrams in latex document.

Last year, in a talk with one of my co-director, I formulated the idea that when drawing diagrams in a CASE tool, it could be sometime useful to start the skeleton in a textual notation, and then switch to the graphical notation to arrange the visual representation. I remembered also saying that it could be useful to switch back to uml textual notation to add attributes/operations/more details, since it is faster to search/edit a textual notation than class contained in a huge class diagram. I already said that the textual language should far simpler than an xmi file or some other storing text-based file.

MetaUML is not far from my idea. The major problem with MetaUML is that you have to “compile” the textual file in order to get an image of the diagram. Would it not cool to write a uml graphic and see a canvas updating itself automaticaly as you “type” uml ?

Anyway, I’m pretty sure that MetaUML and its textual notation could be reuse in another software to make my idea reality. But for now, let’s enjoy UML in latex document (for those of you who use latex) !

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