ubml

PlantUML Projection

UBML → PlantUML diagram rendering

Status: Evolving — rich feature set including native ArchiMate syntax.

PlantUML supports richer diagram types than Mermaid — including native ArchiMate, WBS, and more complex activity diagram syntax — making it ideal for detailed exports and enterprise documentation. Like Mermaid, PlantUML diagrams are generated from UBML; there is no import direction.

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Process → Activity Diagram

Best for: Detailed process flows with full BPMN-like semantics

UBML Concept	PlantUML Syntax	Notes
Step (kind: action)	:Step name;	Activity node
Step (kind: decision)	if (condition?) then (yes) / else (no)	Branch
Step (kind: start)	start	Initial node
Step (kind: end)	stop or end	Final node
Step (kind: wait)	#LightBlue:Wait for X;	Colored activity
Step (kind: milestone)	#Gold:**Milestone**;	Emphasized activity
Step (kind: subprocess)	Subprocess syntax	Embed or reference
Block (operator: par)	fork / fork again / end fork	Parallel
Block (operator: alt)	if/elseif/else/endif	Alternative
Block (operator: loop)	repeat/repeat while or while/endwhile	Loop
Actor (swimlane)	\|Swim Lane Name\|	Partition
Annotation	note right: text	Attached note

Information Lost

• Approval/review gate detail (simplified to activity)
• Scheduling dependencies (FS/SS/FF/SF)
• Duration/effort/cost values (not rendered)
• Entity data flow (simplified to notes)
• Notification configuration

Process → Sequence Diagram

Best for: Cross-actor message flows with timing

UBML Concept	PlantUML Syntax
Actor	participant "Name" as AC00001
Message	AC00001 -> AC00002 : text
Async message	AC00001 ->> AC00002 : text
Return	AC00002 --> AC00001 : text
Activation	activate/deactivate
Decision	alt / else / end
Parallel	par / else / end
Loop	loop N times / end
Note	note over AC00001 : text
Phase	group Phase Name / end

Entity Model → Class Diagram

Best for: Detailed entity-relationship models with attributes

UBML Concept	PlantUML Syntax
Entity	class EntityName { ... }
Attribute	+type attributeName
Attribute (required)	Bold or marked
Relationship (1:1)	EntityA "1" -- "1" EntityB
Relationship (1:N)	EntityA "1" -- "*" EntityB
Relationship (M:N)	EntityA "*" -- "*" EntityB
Document	class DocName <<document>> { ... }

Information Lost

• Entity.lifecycle (use state diagram instead)
• Entity.system (master system name)
• Attribute defaults and enum values (partially via notes)

Strategy → ArchiMate Diagram

Best for: Enterprise architecture views, capability maps, value streams

PlantUML has native ArchiMate syntax via the ArchiMate sprite library:

UBML Concept	PlantUML ArchiMate
Capability	Strategy_Capability(id, "name")
ValueStream	Strategy_ValueStream(id, "name")
Product	Business_Product(id, "name")
Service	Business_Service(id, "name")
Business Process	Business_Process(id, "name")
Business Actor	Business_Actor(id, "name")
Business Role	Business_Role(id, "name")
Business Object	Business_Object(id, "name")
Application Component	Application_Component(id, "name")
Location	Location(id, "name")
Realization	Rel_Realization(from, to)
Composition	Rel_Composition(from, to)
Assignment	Rel_Assignment(from, to)
Triggering	Rel_Triggering(from, to)

Information Lost

• Same as ArchiMate export losses (see ARCHIMATE.md)
• Capability maturity levels (can be shown via coloring)
• Strategic importance classification

Scheduling → Gantt Diagram

Best for: Project timelines with dependencies

UBML Concept	PlantUML Syntax
Process	@startgantt / @endgantt
Step	[Task name] lasts N days
Link (FS)	[B] starts after [A]'s end
Link (SS)	[B] starts after [A]'s start
Link (FF)	[B] ends at [A]'s end
Milestone	[Milestone] happens at [Task]'s end
Phase	-- Phase Name --

PlantUML Gantt supports more dependency types than Mermaid — SS, FF in addition to FS.

Information Lost

• SF dependency type (not supported)
• Effort vs. duration
• Resource assignment (RACI)
• Cost data

Entity Lifecycle → State Diagram

Best for: Entity state machines

UBML Concept	PlantUML Syntax
Lifecycle states	state "Name" as S1
Transitions	S1 --> S2 : trigger
Initial state	[*] --> S1
Final state	S2 --> [*]

Information Lost

• UBML lifecycle is a flat list — no composite/hierarchical states
• No guard conditions on transitions
• No entry/exit/do activities

Hypothesis → WBS / Mindmap

Best for: Hypothesis tree decomposition

UBML Concept	PlantUML Syntax
HypothesisTree	@startmindmap or @startwbs
Root	* Root hypothesis text
Children	** Child (deeper: ***, etc.)
Status	Color: [#green] validated, [#red] invalidated
Type	Icon prefix per node type

Information Lost

• SCQH framing (situation, complication, question, hypothesis)
• Confidence levels
• Evidence references
• Operator semantics (AND/OR/MECE between children)

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PlantUML Diagram Types with No UBML Source

PlantUML Diagram	Why No UBML Source
Use Case Diagram	Partially mappable (see UML), but UBML processes are richer than use cases
Component Diagram	Software architecture (out of scope)
Deployment Diagram	Infrastructure (out of scope)
Object Diagram	Instance-level data (UBML models types)
Timing Diagram	Concurrent state timelines (no UBML equivalent)
Network Diagram (nwdiag)	Network topology (out of scope)
Salt (UI Mockups)	Interface design (out of scope)
Ditaa	ASCII art diagrams (manual authoring)
BPMN Diagram	PlantUML has experimental BPMN; prefer native BPMN export instead
Chronology Diagram	Historical timelines (no UBML equivalent)
Information Engineering Diagram	Could map to Entity model but ER/Class is preferred

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See README.md for the full projection index and information loss matrix.

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