Suitable Layout Algorithms for UML Diagram Types

Questions & Answers

Summary

A brief overview of the yFiles layout algorithms that are suitable for UML diagram types.
For a better user experience, please go to the integrated documentation viewer to read this article.

Description

TheThe yFiles diagramming library provides a variety of automatic layout algorithms that suit many different application areas. The following table lists the layout algorithms that qualify for automatic layout calculation of UML diagram types.

UML Diagram Type Layout Algorithm(s) Notes
Class Diagram IncrementalHierarchicLayouter
DirectedOrthogonalLayouter 		The yFiles source code demo application UMLClassDiagramLayouterDemo.java shows how to use DirectedOrthogonalLayouter for class diagrams.
Use Case Diagram SmartOrganicLayouter
IncrementalHierarchicLayouter
Component Diagram IncrementalHierarchicLayouter
OrthogonalLayouter
OrthogonalGroupLayouter 		If you want to highlight dependencies, use IncrementalHierarchicLayouter. If the directedness of the relationships is of no concern, use OrthogonalLayouter or OrthogonalGroupLayouter.
State Diagram SmartOrganicLayouter
IncrementalHierarchicLayouter
OrthogonalLayouter		 If edge labels are involved that need to be placed nicely, use IncrementalHierarchicLayouter or OrthogonalLayouter.
Activity Diagram IncrementalHierarchicLayouter
SeriesParallelLayouter
Deployment Diagram IncrementalHierarchicLayouter
OrthogonalGroupLayouter
Profile Diagram IncrementalHierarchicLayouter
Composite Structure Diagram IncrementalHierarchicLayouter

In the following table links to Developer's Guide articles for the above-mentioned layout algorithms are given: Orthogonal Layout

yFiles
for Java		 yFiles.NET yFiles WPF
IncrementalHierarchicLayouter Hierarchical Layout Style Hierarchical Layout Style Hierarchical Layout Style
SmartOrganicLayouter Organic Layout Style Organic Layout Style Organic Layout Style
OrthogonalLayouter Orthogonal Layout Orthogonal Layout Orthogonal Layout
OrthogonalGroupLayouter Orthogonal Group Layout Orthogonal Group Layout Orthogonal Group Layout
DirectedOrthogonalLayouter Directed Orthogonal Layout Directed Orthogonal Layout Directed Orthogonal Layout
SeriesParallelLayouter Series-parallel Layout not available not available

Categories this article belongs to:
yFiles for Java > yFiles Layout > Automatic Graph Layout
yFiles for Silverlight > yFiles for Silverlight Algorithms > Automatic Graph Layout
yFiles WPF > yFiles WPF Algorithms > Automatic Graph Layout
yFiles.NET > yFiles.NET Algorithms > Automatic Graph Layout
Applies to:
yFiles for Java 2: 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.17, 2.18
yFiles.NET: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3
yFiles WPF: 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4
yFiles FLEX: 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6
yFiles AJAX: 1.2, 1.3, 2.0
yFiles for Silverlight: 1.0, 1.0.1, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
Keywords:
UML - diagram - layout - algorithm - class - component - deployment - state - use case - profile - activity - composite structure