Re: Drawing sequence diagrams with dia

[Lars Clausen <lars raeder dk>]

On Thu, 2008-01-31 at 11:18 +0100, Per Olesen wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Can I draw sequence diagrams with dia?
>
> I looked through the various shapes and could only find "lifeline" in the
> UML bunch of shapes, which looks like something I should use in a sequence
> diagram. But I am having trouble using it.
>
> I searched the archives and googled for an answer, but either dia cannot
> be used for it, or it is so simple that I am missing how, and everyone
> else knows how :-)

The answer is clearly yes, but it doesn't hand-hold as many things as a
dedicated UML editor.  The Lifeline object is indeed intended for
sequence diagrams, and most other things can be done with standard
objects.

The following is about the current SVN version of Dia, not version
0.96.1 -- the lifeline is much improved now:

To use a Lifeline object, attach the top end of it to whatever
explanatory box is should hang down from.  You can extend the line by
dragging the bottom green handle, you can move the box by grabbing
anywhere in the box, and you can move the whole line by grabbing
anywhere else.  The box has some connection points, and right-clicking
on it gives you a menu where you can add more and adjust the spacing
between them.  To have more than one box, add a new lifeline with the
top green handle connecting to the bottom of the box of the first
lifeline -- the dashes will even match up:)  

In version 0.96.1 and earlier, it doesn't allow the nice connection of
several lines, and the connection points are simply evenly distributed
over the side of the box -- impractical when you have lines from them
nicely lined up.  On the other hand, you can use the orange handles to
resize the box in this version.

-Lars