Re: UML cooperation

[vmilitaru]

* Micheal J <address@hidden> [001026 03:39]:
> I am an Argo-naut and I implore you to at least try it and consider
> contributing if you have the skills and the time. The Open Source community
> *needs* a "Linux-grade" UML modeller to rival Rational & Co.

Hi, Micheal,
Thanks for your vote. Yes, the thought crossed my mind. But then again, dreams 
are painless. 
RRose (made by the creators of UML - the 3 amigos, or at least I read that they 
are on Rational's payroll) is an impressive tool every developer should have. 
It is also 4500 US$ (or close). A free Linux clone sounds more than appealing. 

> Not wishing to spoil the party but...
> 
> Whilst Rational Rose (RR) can be coaxed to reverse-engineer your Java (and
> other languages too) code into UML classes, it will *NOT* generate any
> diagrams as a result. It kinda makes sense unless you want a single diagram
> with *everything* on it.

Gotcha. OK, I'm still learning how to use the thing. But my book says that it 
does generate class diagrams (if it can't generate UML diagrams from 
C++/Java/etc. source code, what's the point of the reverse-engineering feature 
then ? Reverse-engineering does the source-to-UML translation, while the "code 
generation" feature goes the other way: UML-to-source; how well and how 
completely it manages those translations is another subject).

> 
> TogetherSoft has a tool that would create diagrams. It is Java-only and it
> seems to be for Java-only reverse-engineering as well although I may be
> wrong on that. You can get a 30-day evaluation if you apply.
> 
> Ultimately though, if you have access to RR then I'd say use it. Reverse the
> code and build the diagrams manually. It's a good way to get initial
> familiarisation with the code and structure of the system.

In my ideal world, every developer would have a tool like this, with added 
cooperation features, so we could cooperate (and focus efforts) especially in 
the Design phase (creating the project's blueprint in UML), and not only on 
writing source code (which is but an implementation of that blueprint, and 
which, as RR is showing, can be automated to a respectable extent).

Regards - Vio