Free PHP Library to Read, Write & Customize UML Diagrams
A Leading Open Source PHP UML Diagraming Library that allows Software Developers to Create, Edit, Manipulate, Customize and Export UML Diagrams from PHP Source.
What is PHP-PlantUMLWriter?
When you’re dealing with software development, it’s crucial to simplify complex systems and structures by creating visual representations. PlantUML is a handy tool that’s becoming more and more popular for this task. It’s a text-based tool that turns simple text descriptions into diagrams. If you’re a PHP developer and want to seamlessly add PlantUML to your projects, David Fuhr’s PHP library is a great option. Software developers have the power to not just design and tailor these diagrams with PHP code but also simplify the process of adding diagram creation to your projects.One handy tool is PHP-PlantUMLWriter, an open-source PHP library empowering software developers to produce UML diagrams programmatically. This library is versatile, capable of crafting various diagrams such as class, sequence, and activity diagrams.
The PlantUML’s library streamlines the intricate task of generating diagrams through library’s text-based format and simple, object-oriented interface from within your PHP code. By incorporating the library into your projects, you can improve the documentation and communication of your software designs. The PHP-PlantUMLWriter library is created to be flexible. If you have particular needs or want personalized features, you can easily expand it to match what you require. This library makes it easier to create diagrams in your PHP programs. It’s a useful resource for PHP developers who want to illustrate and exchange intricate system structures. Plus, it offers exciting opportunities for developing well-documented and easy-to-look-after codebases. So, if you need to make intricate flowcharts, organizational charts, or network diagrams this library has got you covered.
Getting Started with PHP-PlantUMLWriter
The recommend way to install PHP-PlantUMLWriter is using Composer. Please use the following command for a smooth installation.
Install PHP-PlantUMLWriter via Composer
composer require davidfuhr/php-plantumlwriterUML Diagrams Generating via PHP
The open source PHP-PlantUMLWriter library has include complete support for generating new PlantUML diagrams inside their PHP applications. Software developers can create a variety of diagrams supported, including class diagrams, sequence diagrams, use case diagrams, and more. The library allows to generates the PlantUML diagram text using the getDiagramText() method, which can then render into an actual diagram using a PlantUML renderer. The following example can be used to create a simple class diagram with two classes, "Car" and "Engine," and establish an association between them
How to Create PlantUML Diagram using PHP Library?
use PlantUmlWriter\PlantUmlWriter;
$plantUml = new PlantUmlWriter();
$plantUml->startDiagram();
$plantUml->addClass('Car');
$plantUml->addClass('Engine');
$plantUml->addAssociation('Car', 'Engine');
$plantUml->endDiagram();
echo $plantUml->getDiagramText();
Customizing Diagrams via PHP Library
The open source PHP-PlantUMLWriter library enables software developers to load and customize an existing diagram inside PHP applications. The library offers a wide range of customization options for your diagrams. You can set properties for classes, change the layout, add notes, and more. Here's an example that demonstrates how software developers customize a class in a diagram with just a couple of lines of PHP code.
How to Customize Diagrams using PHP Commands?
$plantUml->addClass('Person', ['abstract', '<>']);
$plantUml->addProperty('Person', '+name: string');
$plantUml->addMethod('Person', '+getName(): string');
Ease of Use & Integration Support
One of the PHP-PlantUMLWriter library's primary goals is to make it easy for software developers to create PlantUML diagrams without needing to write PlantUML syntax directly. Using the library, you can define diagrams using a clean and intuitive API. Morover, the library is designed to be extensible. If you have specific requirements or need custom functionality, the library can be easily extended to suit that particular need.
