Altova UModel 2006

asp:review

Altova UModel 2006

A Powerful, Inexpensive UML Tool

By Mike Riley

As any experienced application developer knows, designingan application is just as important, if not more so, than actually coding it. Throughthe iteration of various modeling approaches, the Unified Modeling Language(UML) has become the universal graphic representation methodology of choice forsoftware engineers to quickly communicate their ideas across organizational,and even international, boundaries.

Altova, a company best known for their leading XML Spydesign tool (readmy review) has released their interpretation of the ideal UML design tool. Whilethe product has not seen the price-creep normally associated with Altova sflagship XML Spy utility, it has certainly added a number of new enhancements with the most notable being the fact that it is one of the first UML tools inits category to fully support the latest UML specification with its 13 diagramtypes and more than 1,000 graphical and textual language elements.

Figure 1: UModel s user interface ismodeled closely after the look and feel of Altova s popular XML Spy utility.

Packed with Features

In addition to supporting the full UML 2.1 specification(activity, class, component, composite, deployment, object, profile, state,sequence, and stereotype diagrams), some of the other more notable featuresinclude the ability to apply predefined C# stereotype profiles and tagdefinitions. UModel also assists in relationship construction such that if arelationship or construct is invalid, the program will clearly highlight theerror for easy identification. Syntax is also highlighted for quick associativepurposes. Another helpful assistant is automatic relationship identificationwhen adding new elements to a diagram, a kind of IntelliSense for UMLdevelopment.

While UModel s ability to export models to Java and C#code stubs is necessary, the more immediately useful feature that will bepopular among UML beginners and experts alike is the program s ability toimport Java 1.4 and 5.0 and C# v1.2 and 2.0-based code from existing projectsand generate UML diagrams from that source base. Documentation in the form ofJavaDoc and C# DocComments can be generated or consumed, as well. Projects canbe synchronized between code and UML representations via UModel s roundtripfeature. The diagrams can then be exported to a PNG image file for importationinto a Microsoft Office document or posted on the Web for distributed teamreview. Besides the benefit of more quickly learning the various UMLdiagramming approaches in an application scenario, this feature will morelikely be used for code documentation procedures. I ve used this method in myown projects as a quick way to model prototypes as a basis for more robustapplication construction across multiple team members, and it s a greattimesaver as well as a better communicator. A good analogy might be giving asales person graphs and charts of trends versus spreadsheets of text andnumbers. The message is more concise and organized.

Figure 2: The program supports allthe major UML 2.1 diagrams, including the frequently used Class diagram shownhere.

And for those developers who are working with organizationsthat can afford the more expensive UML products, UModel can import and exportXMI 2.1 files for better interoperability between modeling vendors. This isimportant for those companies that use application lifecycle suites such thatwork done outside such vendor-dominated environments can participate beyondsuch walled gardens.

Not Quite Perfect

Even though the features are impressive compared to itsprice, UModel 2006 is not yet the perfect tool for the .NET developer. First,its roundtrip language support is limited to C#, leaving out in the cold thosewho prefer VB.NET syntax. While C# advocates might smugly argue that VB isn t ahardcore systems language accustomed to modeling, the fact of the matter isthat UModel s target audience should include VB.NET developers who desire tobroaden their skill and understanding of UML.

Figure 3: Code import andengineering settings can be easily configured for a designer/developer sspecific project requirements.

Another minor irritation is the fact that UModel is astandalone tool; unlike XML Spy, Altova does not currently provide an add-in toallow it to live within the Visual Studio IDE. For most developers who liveinside that environment on a day to day basis, bouncing outside of it is a bitof a speed bump. Additionally, the tubular chrome UI style of the toolbars andwindows never really sat well with me. Altova is obviously trying todifferentiate its products by using this look and feel across its product line,but I m not much for artsy skins and UI glitz in my dev tools. And while it spossible to consume XML designs exported from Altova s XML Spy, UModel isn t astightly integrated into Spy as it could be. Perhaps in future versions UModelwill have the kind of interaction with XML Spy that Microsoft Excel and Wordcurrently illustrate.

Figure 4: UML diagrams can beexported to .PNG image files for electronic documentation and illustrationpurposes.

Conclusion

The final word on whether or not to consider purchasingUModel 2006 is primarily dependent on answers to the following questions:

If expectations are high and price is not a constraint,UModel is not for you. However, if you re like most developers constrained byreal-world budgets and tight deadlines, or you simply need to begin leveragingthe power of UML in communicating your next project, UModel offers an excellentintroduction to the technology, much the way XML Spy did for Extensible MarkupLanguage.

MikeRiley is anadvanced computing professional specializing in emerging technologies and newdevelopment trends. He also is a contributing editor for asp.netPRO. Readers may contact Mike at mailto:[email protected].

Rating:

Web Site: http://www.altova.com/products/umodel/uml_tool.html

Price: Startsat US$129