Re: [Edocs-development] UML design tool

[Derek H. <lor...@ms...>]

> I think we can use ARGO UML to draw UML diagrams and export files to be
> inserted in the documentation.

> Thoughts about that?

My first impression of ARGO UML is it's an improvement over DIA
(another open source diagramming package with some support
for UML).  Of course, DIA is what made me run out and buy
Visio 2000.  DIA was dreadful for UML.  ;-)

While I think it's desirable to have a freely-available, platform-
independent UML solution that everybody can use -- I don't
think one exists yet.

In about five minutes with ARGO UML, I found several bugs:

1. How to name an interface's operation on class diagrams -
    I enter a name but it keeps reverting back to newOperation.
2. The names of classifier roles keep disappearing, if I
    switch to a different diagram or connect two classifier
    roles with a message flow.
3. How to have more than one message flow between classifier
    roles on a collaboration diagram - the message text appears
    over previous message text creating mish-mash text).*

[*- I played around with it a little more, and although there
  are no 'handles' on the message flow, if you try and
  manually contort it out of the way, you can make two
  message flows visible, so it may not be as much a bug
  as a quirky feature. ]

and several areas where UML support is lacking:

1. No arrow-heads on message flows (to indicate synchronous,
    flat or asynchronous messages, you have filled, open or one-half
    arrow-heads) in collaboration diagrams.
2. Can't use the actor pictograph in a collaboration
    diagram.  A workaround is to make the actor a classifier
    role.
3. Extension use cases aren't depicted on use case
    diagrams (the split oval notation).  Have to add the
    extension using the extension button, can't just type
    a new extension use case's name in the "Extension"
    text box (it just seems to ignore my typing when it has
    focus).
4. Default values can't be made to appear in class diagrams.

From the image file export standpoint, it doesn't support
PNG, but GIF, which is in an intellectual property no man's
land that most open source projects tend to avoid (Unisys
owns the patent on the GIF image compression algorithm.
I'm not aware of them enforcing their right to receive
royalties from GIF users, but that doesn't mean they
never will).

The text in the GIF exported diagrams is small and hard
to read, there should at least be a way to scale the image
that gets exported (but Zooming the workspace to 150% -
a quirky technique sometimes necessary in DIA - doesn't
improve the exported image resolution).

In conclusion, I prefer Visio.  I think the ARGO UML
tool hasn't yet reached maturity.


Derek Harmon