Tips and Tricks

This section loosely summarizes some handy short-cuts and ways to work with Slime UML efficiently.

  1. You can create a diagram by just creating a new file with extension .cdx
  2. Easily create Diagrams draggins Source Files or Library Class Files from the Package View on an empty Diagram.
  3. Select all items on a diagram using Ctrl-A, then use autolayout to layout according to inheritance hierarchy.
  4. Zoom in/out using Ctrl-Mousewheel.
  5. Analyse existing source by creating a BIIG Diagram with all stuff using the wizard, then scroll around and select inheritance hierarchies (select top element, then Diagram-->Select-->All Subclasses of Selected), cut and paste into a new diagram. Continue until you have the core abstractions left. Then try to figure out the interactions and model them using associations and notes to document them.
  6. If a class was renamed, the diagram will not sync with it anymore. Update the "associated class" in the Properties View and it will automatically sync again.
  7. Maybe you want to create diagrams automagically. Look at created cdx files with a text editor; it's XMI format; just analyze and generate whatever you like. You'd might want to use VelocityBuilder plugin for this ;-)
  8. If your connections always cross some nodes on the diagram, you can bend them with the mouse. Much easier is to use the "Shortest Path Connection Router". Select some empty part of the diagram, in the properties view you see a routerType entry. Select a different one and your connections will not cross anything anymore. But don't use this with very big diagrams, because its expensive !
  9. You can format notes by inserting \n into the text property.
  10. The overview offers a tree view of the diagram elements and a thumbnail overview. Use the buttons on its top-right side to switch between them. Selecting an item in the tree view will scroll the diagram to the associated item.
  11. By selecting an element, then clicking on it a second time (no mouse-double click !), you can directly edit the main text of the element in the diagram.
  12. To put your diagrams in documentation on Windows, use Edit-->Copy EMF to Windows Clipboard, then paste it into Word or whatever program can process EMF format. Opposed to images it will scale perfectly when you resize it in your Text processing program.