How to Draw a Sequence Diagram

How to Draw a Sequence Diagram Timo Poranenstar, Erkki M¨akinenstarstar, and Jyrki Nummenmaa Department of Computer and Information Sciences Kanslerinrinne 1 FIN-33014 University of Tampere Finland {tp,em,jyrki}@cs.uta.fi Abstract. In this paper, we consider the aesthetic criteria and con- straints related to the layouts of UML sequence diagrams. We consider the applicability of the traditional graph drawing aesthetics in drawing sequence diagrams. Because of the special nature of sequence diagrams, many of these aesthetics are not applicable. Based on our view

on how these diagrams are read or viewed, we propose some new aesthetics. We also take into account the presence of usually adopted conventions and constraints. The basic choice in producing a drawing for a sequence diagram is the linear order of the participating objects. Based on this finding and the identified aesthetics criteria, we formulate some related computational problems. 1 Introduction The Unified Modeling Language (UML) [21] is currently the standard nota- tion for modeling software-intensive systems. In UML, sequence diagrams are typically used to describe system dynamics. Sequence diagrams depict system dynamics by showing the participating objects (classes, components, etc.) in the interaction and the sequence of messages exchanged. A sequence diagram has two dimensions: the vertical dimension represents time and the horizontal dimension represents the objects participating in the interaction. Time flows from top to bottom. Objects (or classifier roles, more generally) are shown as vertical lines (called lifelines) and messages as horizontal arrows extending from a sender object to a receiver object. Spacing is irrelevant, that is, only the order of messages matters, not the distance between them. The diagrams produced by analysts are typically not very large. Based upon our experiments, they may contain something...

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