ArgoUML: Free and Open Source UML Modelling Tool

ArgoUML is a free and open source UML modelling software. It supports all UML 1.4 diagrams, and is based on OMG specification of UML. ArgoUML is written in Java. This makes it completely platform independent, and runs on any platform with Java 5 or Java 6.  Other free UML modelling tools that you can also try are StarUML and Dia.

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ArgoUML supports following diagrams based on UML 1.4:

• Class diagram
• Statechart diagram
• Activity diagram
• Use Case diagram
• Collaboration diagram
• Deployment diagram (includes Object and Component diagram in one)
• Sequence diagram

The interface of ArgoUML is very well organized, and pretty easy to use.

The main window is divided into 4 sections:

Top Left: Top left side of ArgoUML provides a hierarchical view of current files of the project. The files can be sorted and arranged using various parameters.

Editor: Main editor for the files of the project is present in Top right side. You can open any project file in this editor, and edit those.

To-Do List: There is a nice to-do list on bottom left side. You can use it to keep track of pending items.

Bottom Right: There is a nice multipurpose window on bottom right to see properties of the selected object in the editor, or even details of your to-do items.

Here are the features of this free UML Modelling tool:

• ArgoUML can generate code for Java, C++, C#, PHP4 and PHP5.
• It can reverse engineer code for Java.
• Supports UML 1.4 diagrams
• ArgoUML allows multiple graphical representations of the same design element to be used in different diagrams.
• Platform independent
• XMI and OCL Support.
• Export Diagrams as GIF, PNG, PS, EPS, PGML and SVG

ArgoUML is pretty detailed, and can be very effectively used for any modelling need. This also makes it a good replacement for Visio, and Rational Rose.

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