Article

A new approach for visualizing UML class diagrams

Authors:

Carsten Gutwenger,

Michael Jünger,

Sebastian Leipert,

Petra MutzelAuthors Info & Claims

SoftVis '03: Proceedings of the 2003 ACM symposium on Software visualization

Pages 179 - 188

https://doi.org/10.1145/774833.774859

Published: 11 June 2003 Publication History

Abstract

UML diagrams have become increasingly important in the engineering and reengineering processes for software systems. Of particular interest are UML class diagrams whose purpose is to display class hierarchies (generalizations), associations, aggregations, and compositions in one picture. The combination of hierarchical and non-hierarchical relations poses a special challenge to a graph layout tool. Existing layout tools treat hierarchical and non-hierarchical relations either alike or as separate tasks in a two-phase process as in, e.g., [Seemann 1997]. We suggest a new approach for visualizing UML class diagrams leading to a balanced mixture of the following aesthetic criteria: Crossing minimization, bend minimization, uniform direction within each class hierarchy, no nesting of one class hierarchy within another, orthogonal layout, merging of multiple inheritance edges, and good edge labelling. We have realized our approach within the graph drawing library GoVisual. Experiments show the superiority to state-of-the-art and industrial standard layouts.

References

[1]

BATTISTA, G. D., EADES, P., TAMASSIA, R., AND TOLLIS, I. 1999. Graph Drawing. Prentice Hall.]]

[2]

BERTOLAZZI, P., DI BATTISTA, G., MANNINO, C., AND TAMASSIA, R. 1998. Optimal upward planarity testing of single-source digraphs. SIAM Journal on Computing 27, 1, 132--169.]]

Digital Library

[3]

BOOCH, G., RUMBAUGH, J., AND JACOBSON, I. 1999. Unified Modeling Language User Guide. Addison Wesley Longman.]]

Digital Library

[4]

BOOTH, K., AND LUEKER, G. 1976. Testing for the consecutive ones property, interval graphs, and graph planarity using PQ-tree algorithms. Journal of Computer and System Sciences 13, 335--379.]]

Digital Library

[5]

CHIBA, N., NISHIZEKI, T., ABE, S., AND OZAWA, T. 1985. A linear algorithm for embedding planar graphs using PQ-trees. Journal of Computer and System Sciences 30, 54--76.]]

Digital Library

[6]

DI BATTISTA, G., EADES, P., TAMASSIA, R., AND TOLLIS, I. G. 1998. Graph Drawing. Prentice Hall.]]

[7]

DI BATTISTA, G., DIDIMO, W., AND MARCANDALLI, A. 2002. Planarization of clustered graphs. In Graph Drawing (Proc. GD '01), Springer-Verlag, P. Mutzel, M. Jünger, and S. Leipert, Eds., vol. 2265 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 60--74.]]

Digital Library

[8]

EADES, P., AND KELLY, D. 1986. Heuristics for reducing crossings in 2-layered networks. Ars Combinatoria 21, A, 89--98.]]

[9]

EICHELBERGER, H. 1999. Entwicklung eines Frameworks zum automatischen Zeichnen von Software-Entwurfsdiagrammen. Master's thesis, Universität Wüzburg.]]

[10]

EICHELBERGER, H. 2002. SugiBib. In Graph Drawing (Proc. GD '01), Springer-Verlag, P. Mutzel, M. Jünger, and S. Leipert, Eds., vol. 2265 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 467--468.]]

[11]

EIGLSPERGER, M., AND KAUFMANN, M. 2001. An approach for mixed upward planarization. In Proc. 7th International Workshop on Algorithms and Data Structures (WADS'01), Springer Verlag, vol. 2125 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 352--364.]]

Digital Library

[12]

FENG, Q.-W., COHEN, R. F., AND EADES, P. 1995. Planarity for clustered graphs. In Algorithms --ESA '95, Springer Verlag, P. Spirakis, Ed., vol. 979 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 213--226.]]

Digital Library

[13]

GANSNER, E. R., KOUTSOFIOS, E., NORTH, S. C., AND VO, K. P. 1993. A technique for drawing directed graphs. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 19, 3, 214--230.]]

Digital Library

[14]

GARG, A., AND TAMASSIA, R. 1995. On the computational complexity of upward and rectilinear planarity testing. In Graph Drawing (Proc. GD '94), Springer-Verlag, R. Tamassia and I. G. Tollis, Eds., vol. 894 of LNCS, 286--297.]]

Digital Library

[15]

GUTWENGER, C., MUTZEL, P., AND WEISKIRCHER, R. 2001. Inserting an edge into a planar graph. In Proceedings of the Twelwth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA '01), ACM Press, 246--255.]]

Digital Library

[16]

GUTWENGER, C., JÜNGER, M., LEIPERT, S., MUTZEL, P., PERCAN, M., AND WEISKIRCHER, R. 2002. Advances in cplanarity testing of clustered graphs. In Graph Drawing (Proc. 2002), Springer-Verlag, M. Goodrich and S. Kobourov, Eds., vol. 2528 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 220--235.]]

Digital Library

[17]

HARARY, F. 1972. Graph Theory. Addison Wesley.]]

[18]

JÜNGER, M., AND MUTZEL, P. 1996. 2-layer straightline crossing minimization: Performance of exact and heuristic algorithms. Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications (JGAA) (http://www.cs.brown.edu/publications/jgaa/) 1, 1, 1--25.]]

[19]

JÜNGER, M., LEIPERT, S., AND MUTZEL, P. 1998. A note on computing a maximal planar subgraph using PQ-trees. IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design 17, 7, 609--612.]]

Digital Library

[20]

KLAU, G. W., AND MUTZEL, P. 1998. Quasi-orthogonal drawing of planar graphs. Tech. Rep. MPI-I-98-1-013, Max--Planck--Institut für Informatik, Saarbrücken.]]

[21]

KLAU, G. W., KLEIN, K., AND MUTZEL, P. 2001. An experimental comparison of orthogonal compaction algorithms. In Graph Drawing (Proc. GD 2000), Springer, J. Marks, Ed., vol. 1984 of LNCS, 37--51.]]

Digital Library

[22]

LEMPEL, A., EVEN, S., AND CEDERBAUM, I. 1967. An algorithm for planarity testing of graphs. In Theory of Graphs: International Symposium: Rome, July 1966, Gordon and Breach, New York, 215--232.]]

[23]

PURCHASE, H., ALLDER, J.-A., AND CARRINGTON, D. 2001. User preference of graph layout aesthetics: A UML study. In Graph Drawing (Proc. GD 2000), Springer-Verlag, J. Marks, Ed., vol. 1984 of LNCS, 5--18.]]

Digital Library

[24]

RATIONAL SOFTWARE CORPORATION, 2002. Rational Rose, Rational XDE.]]

[25]

SEEMANN, J. 1997. Extending the sugiyama algorithm for drawing UML class diagrams. In Graph Drawing (Proc. GD '97), Springer-Verlag, G. Di Battista, Ed., vol. 1353 of LNCS, 415--424.]]

Digital Library

[26]

SUGIYAMA, K., TAGAWA, S., AND TODA, M. 1981. Methods for visual understanding of hierarchical systems. IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. SMC-11, 2, 109--125.]]

[27]

TAMASSIA, R., BATTISTA, G. D., AND BATINI, C. 1988. Automatic graph drawing and readability of diagrams. IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. SMC-18, 1, 61--79.]]

Digital Library

[28]

TAMASSIA, R. 1987. On embedding a graph in the grid with the minimum number of bends. SIAM J. Comput. 16, 3, 421--444.]]

Digital Library

[29]

TOGETHERSOFT CORPORATION, 2002. Together ControlCenter.]]

Cited By

Shmallo RKatz A(2023)Gender differences and transferring knowledge in database modelingComputer Science Education10.1080/08993408.2023.2220104(1-26)Online publication date: 6-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2023.2220104
Barth LNiedermann BRutter IWolf M(2023)A Topology-Shape-Metrics Framework for Ortho-Radial Graph DrawingDiscrete & Computational Geometry10.1007/s00454-023-00593-y70:4(1292-1355)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00454-023-00593-y
Eulzer PMeuschke MMistelbauer GLawonn K(2022)Vessel Maps: A Survey of Map‐Like Visualizations of the Cardiovascular SystemComputer Graphics Forum10.1111/cgf.1457641:3(645-673)Online publication date: 29-Jul-2022
https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.14576
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

A new approach for visualizing UML class diagrams

Recommendations

Automatic layout of UML class diagrams in orthogonal style
Special issue: Software visualization

Unified modelling language (UML) diagrams have become increasingly important in engineering and re-engineering processes for software systems. Of particular interest are UML class diagrams whose purpose is to display generalizations, associations, ...
On Evaluating the Layout of UML Class Diagrams for Program Comprehension
IWPC '05: Proceedings of the 13th International Workshop on Program Comprehension

UML class diagrams are helpful for understanding the structure of a software system. Algorithms and tools have been developed to generate UML class diagrams automatically for program understanding purposes. However, many tools often ignore perceptual ...
Management of Correctness Problems in UML Class Diagrams Towards a Pattern-Based Approach

UML is now widely accepted as the standard modeling language for software construction. The Class Diagram is its core view, having well formed semantics and providing the backbone for any modeling effort. Class diagrams are widely used for purposes such ...

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

SoftVis '03: Proceedings of the 2003 ACM symposium on Software visualization

June 2003

211 pages

ISBN:1581136420

DOI:10.1145/774833

Conference Chair:
Stephan Diehl
Saarland University
,
Program Chair:
John T. Stasko
Georgia Institute of Technology

Copyright © 2003 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Sponsors

In-Cooperation

SIGCSE: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 11 June 2003

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Article

Conference

SOFTVIS03

Sponsor:

SOFTVIS03: ACM Symposium on Software Visualization SOFTVIS'03

June 11 - 13, 2003

California, San Diego

Acceptance Rates

SoftVis '03 Paper Acceptance Rate 20 of 65 submissions, 31%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 20 of 65 submissions, 31%

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

38
Total Citations
View Citations
2,282
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)40
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)1

Reflects downloads up to 30 Aug 2024

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Shmallo RKatz A(2023)Gender differences and transferring knowledge in database modelingComputer Science Education10.1080/08993408.2023.2220104(1-26)Online publication date: 6-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2023.2220104
Barth LNiedermann BRutter IWolf M(2023)A Topology-Shape-Metrics Framework for Ortho-Radial Graph DrawingDiscrete & Computational Geometry10.1007/s00454-023-00593-y70:4(1292-1355)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00454-023-00593-y
Eulzer PMeuschke MMistelbauer GLawonn K(2022)Vessel Maps: A Survey of Map‐Like Visualizations of the Cardiovascular SystemComputer Graphics Forum10.1111/cgf.1457641:3(645-673)Online publication date: 29-Jul-2022
https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.14576
Toledo RJuristo N(2021)Interactive graph exploration for comprehension of static analysis resultsProceedings of the 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceedings10.1109/ICSE-Companion52605.2021.00129(284-286)Online publication date: 25-May-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/ICSE-Companion52605.2021.00129
Ali HMussbacher GGherbi AHamou-Lhadj WBali A(2020)Layout Merging with Relative PositioningProceedings of the 12th System Analysis and Modelling Conference10.1145/3419804.3420271(106-115)Online publication date: 19-Oct-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3419804.3420271
Pandey AShukla HYoung GQin LZamani AHsu LHuang RDunne CBorkin M(2020)CerebroVis: Designing an Abstract yet Spatially Contextualized Cerebral Artery Network VisualizationIEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics10.1109/TVCG.2019.293440226:1(938-948)Online publication date: Jan-2020
https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2019.2934402
Miscevic MBrdjanin D(2019)An Approach to Automatic Layout of Eclipse Papyrus Class Diagrams2019 27th Telecommunications Forum (TELFOR)10.1109/TELFOR48224.2019.8971132(1-4)Online publication date: Nov-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/TELFOR48224.2019.8971132
Binucci CBrandes UDwyer TGronemann Mvon Hanxleden Rvan Kreveld MMutzel PSchaefer MSchreiber FSpeckmann B(2019)10 Reasons to Get Interested in Graph DrawingComputing and Software Science10.1007/978-3-319-91908-9_6(85-104)Online publication date: 2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91908-9_6
Eades PKlein K(2018)Graph VisualizationGraph Data Management10.1007/978-3-319-96193-4_2(33-70)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2018
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96193-4_2
Khaloo PMaghoumi MTaranta EBettner DLaviola J(2017)Code Park: A New 3D Code Visualization Tool2017 IEEE Working Conference on Software Visualization (VISSOFT)10.1109/VISSOFT.2017.10(43-53)Online publication date: Sep-2017
https://doi.org/10.1109/VISSOFT.2017.10
Show More Cited By

View Options

Get Access

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

View Table of Contents