Jar2UML

Jar2UML

Jar2UML is an Eclipse plugin that imports Java jar files as a UML model into the workspace. It is used to reverse engineer Java API class libraries for PlatformKit's Java platform model. Jar2UML is included in the Eclipse MoDisco Toolbox.

Jar2UML has two import modes. The standard mode imports the contents of the selected Jar file(s) and the references made by the Jar file(s). The dependency mode imports only the references. The dependency mode can be used when Extracting Platform Dependencies of Third-party Components using the PlatformKit Eclipse Plugin.

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Dennis Wagelaar

System Requirements

You'll need the following installed on your computer:

More help on how to install Eclipse features from update sites can be found here.

Download

To download the JarToUML Eclipse plugin, do the following in your Eclipse:

Select “Help → Software Updates → Find and Install…” from the main menu.
Select “Search for new features to install” and click “Next”.
Click “New Remote Site…”.
Choose a name, fill in http://soft.vub.ac.be/eclipse/update as URL and click “OK”.
Click “Finish”.
Select the newly created update site and click “Next”.
Now proceed with the installation as you normally would.

Please report any bugs you find in the Jar2UML bugzilla. The source code is available here: http://soft.vub.ac.be/viewvc/JarToUML/

Release notes

Importing Jar files

Before you import a Jar file as a UML model, the target project in which you want to save the UML model must exist! You can create a new project by selecting “File → New → Project…” Any kind of project will do for Jar2UML.

Start by selecting “File → Import…” in the Eclipse menu.
Select “Jar2UML Import → Import Jar Files to UML Models” and click “Next”. The Jar2UML Import Wizard dialog appears (see Fig.1: Jar2UML Import Wizard).
At “Select File:”, select the jar files you want to reverse engineer to UML.
At “Enter or select the parent folder”, select the folder in the workspace where you want to save your UML model.
At “New File Name:”, choose a file name for your UML model.
If you don't want to import operations and attributes, then uncheck the “Include operations and attributes” option.
If you only want to import packages starting with “java”, “org.omg”, “org.ietf”, “org.w3c” or “org.xml”, then select “Only Java API packages”. You only want this when reverse engineering the Java class library itself!
By default, only named public and protected elements are imported. To include all elements, select “Include anonymous and private elements”.
Jar2UML has to introduce references to dependencies in the UML model to provide an accurate model of the jar file. If you want Jar2UML to exhaustively search for dependencies in the bytecode instructions themselves, select “Include elements referenced by bytecode instructions”.
Click “Finish” to create the UML model from the selected jar files.

If you also have UML2Tools installed, you can right-click the generated UML model and select “Initialize …_diagram file” to create a visual representation for the UML model.

Fig.1: Jar2UML Import Wizard

Importing Jar file dependencies

Import Jar File Dependencies is meant to chart only the static dependencies of a Jar file! It will not import the actual contents of the Jar itself. This import mode is meant to be used in combination with the Extracting Platform Dependencies of Third-party Components functionality of the PlatformKit Eclipse Plugin.

Start by selecting “File → Import…” in the Eclipse menu.
Select “Jar2UML Import → Import Jar File Dependencies to UML Models” and click “Next”. The Jar2UML Import Wizard dialog appears (see Fig.2: Jar2UML Dependencies Import Wizard).
At “Select File:”, select the jar files of you want to reverse engineer the dependencies to UML.
At “Enter or select the parent folder”, select the folder in the workspace where you want to save your UML model.
At “New File Name:”, choose a file name for your UML model.
Click “Finish” to create the UML model from the selected jar files.