DomainStory-PlantUML uses PlantUML to describe and document a domain story which was developed in a Domain Storytelling workshop.
DomainStory-PlantUML includes macros for creating domain stories with PlantUML.
At the top of your domain story PlantUML .puml file,
you need to include the domainStory.puml file
found in the root of this repository.
If you want to use the always up-to-date version in this repository, use the following:
!include https://raw.githubusercontent.com/johthor/DomainStory-PlantUML/main/domainStory.pumlTo be independent of any internet connectivity, you can also download the file found in the root and reference it locally with
!include path/to/domainStory.pumlAfter you have included domainStory.puml you can use the predefined macro
definitions for the domain story actors:
Person(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])Group(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])System(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])
As well as the domain story work items:
Document(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])Folder(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])Call(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])Email(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])Conversation(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])Info(name, [label], [color], [scale], [note])
Activities between actors and involving work items are described via the activity macro:
activity(step, subject, predicate, object, [post], [target], [objectArr], [targetArr], [color], [scale], [note])In addition to these,
it is also possible to define system boundaries viaBoundary(name, [label]).
Now let's create our first domain story:
@startuml
!include https://raw.githubusercontent.com/johthor/DomainStory-PlantUML/main/domainStory.puml
Boundary(System) {
Person(Alice)
Conversation(weather)
Person(Bob)
}
activity(1, Alice, talks about the, weather, with, Bob)
@endumlMore information can be found here:
Instead of predefining all work objects,
they can also be defined on the fly when they are used.
Just prefix the work object with the kind of object you want to create
followed by a colon e.g. Conversation:.
Additionally, you can specify the color and scale of the created object
via the keyword arguments $color and $scale
@startuml
!include https://raw.githubusercontent.com/johthor/DomainStory-PlantUML/main/domainStory.puml
Boundary(System) {
Person(Alice)
Person(Bob)
activity(1, Alice, talks about the, Conversation: weather, with, Bob, $color = red, $scale = 2)
}
@enduml
⚠️ If you want your dynamically created objects to be placed inside a boundary. You need to declare the activity inside said boundary.
For single story diagrams a landscape orientation is preferred
and is therefore the default orientation.
If you combine multiple stories into a domain journey,
a portrait orientation usually gives better results.
The orientation can be switched via !$storyLayout = "[leftToRight|topToBottom]" at the top of your file.
ℹ️ Wrangling diagram elements to an exact position or layout is not what PlantUML is for.
If the default layout does not please your inner artist, there are some possibilities to improve it.
Group elements via together { elements... }.
Those elements will be grouped together.
The activity macro provides two features for better layout control.
The step counter can be combined with a backwards indicator <.
The following activity will be oriented backwards against the normal story flow.
activity(1<, Alice, talks about the, weather, with, Bob)If this is not enough it also provides two optional parameters,
which allow you to specify the arrow orientation in full.
Some possible arrow specifications are -->, ->, <-, <--, and -up->.
For more details
see The Hitchhiker's Guide to PlantUML
.
activity(1, Alice, talks about the, weather, with, Bob, -->, ->)You can use underscores _ in cases where you don't have a post action,
or target but want to specify the arrow orientation directly.
When you specify only the arrow between subject and object,
the specification will also be used for the arrow between object and target.
So the following lines describe all more or less the same activity.
activity(1, Alice, talks about the, weather, , Bob, <--, <--)
activity(1, Alice, talks about the, weather, Bob, _, <--)
activity(1, Alice, talks about the, weather, _, _, <--)If all of that does not help your layout problems, there's always the possibility to introduce hidden connections only for layout purposes. Remember that every element of your story may be referenced by its name later.
Bob ---[hidden]-> AliceAll elements support adding notes via the keyword argument $note.
Boundary(wonderland, $note=like Oxford) {
Person(Alice, $note=fizz)
Conversation(weather, $note=buzz)
Person(Hatter)
activity(1, Alice, talks about the, weather, with, Hatter, $note=sunny)
}When adding a note on an activity, the note will be added to the object of that activity.
Furthermore, the first symbol of the note text controls the orientation of it.
If its one of ^, >, v or < the note will be placed
above, right, below or left of its element of reference.
Otherwise, it will be placed right of its element by default.
Notes may also be placed via the basic PlantUML mechanism.
Boundary(wonderland) {
Person(Alice)
Document(bottle)
}
note bottom of Alice : main character
note top of bottle : drink me
note right of wonderland : visit meWhen describing activities the current step is automatically incremented,
if you pass an underscore _ as step spec.
If instead you pass a vertical bar |,
the current step is declared as parallel to the last step,
and the step counter won't be incremented.
When you pass an integer value as step spec,
the step label will be set to that value.
If the integer is prefixed with an equal sign =,
the step counter will also be set to that value and auto-increment will continue from there.
activity(_, Bob, talks about the, weather) ' auto-increment, will create step 1
activity(_, Bob, talks about the, weather) ' auto-increment, will create step 2
activity(|, Bob, talks about the, weather) ' no increment, will create step 2
activity(42, Alice, asks about all the, talking, Bob) ' will create step 42
activity(|, Bob, talks about the, weather) ' no increment, will create step 2
activity(=10, Alice, asks about all the, talking, Bob) ' will create step 10
activity(_, Bob, is embarassed about, talking) ' auto-increment, will create step 11The following style definitions are used by default.
| Property | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
$storyLayout |
leftToRight |
Basic direction of the activity arrows |
$textColor |
#0b0c10 |
Color of all text |
$actorStyle |
default |
Use outlines instead of filled icons for actors |
$actorScale |
1 |
Size of all actors |
$actorColor |
#1f2833 |
Color of all actors |
$objectStyle |
default |
Use outlines instead of filled icons for work items |
$objectScale |
0.8 |
Size of all work items |
$objectColor |
#1f2833 |
Color of all work items |
$boundaryColor |
#1f2833 |
Color of boundary borders |
$activityColor |
#c5c6c7 |
Color of the activity arrows |
$stepColor |
#66fcf1 |
Background color for step numbers |
$stepFontSize |
16 |
Font size for step numbers |
$stepFontColor |
$textColor |
Font color for step numbers, same as $textColor |
$noteColor |
#c5c6c7 |
Background color for notes |
$noteBorder |
#1f2833 |
Border color for notes |
To use your own styling you need to define the relevant styling properties before including the library. The following example would combine green actor icons with red text.
@startuml
!$textColor = "red"
!$actorColor = "green"
!include https://raw.githubusercontent.com/johthor/DomainStory-PlantUML/main/domainStory.puml
Person(Alice)
@endumlIf the default actors and work objects are not enough to express your specific needs, see the extensions sample for a way to add new actors and objects.
The following example is taken from the Domain Storytelling website.
Source: cinema.puml
The following example is taken from Collaborative Modelling -- Wie die Kommunikation mit den Fachexperten gelingt JavaSPEKTRUM 2/2020.
Source: airportBus.puml
This project is licensed under the MIT License
- see the LICENSE file for details
- C4-PlantUML an inspiration to implement a collection of domain story macros
- @dirx improved domain story macros a more refined implementation of the first version