Notes

Notes give you the ability to digitally stick notes onto your class diagram.

Declaration

Notes are declared with the command word note. They require an anchor and an orientation from that anchor.

Example: Note Declaration

@startuml
'Example: Note Declaration

'Create two classes with methods and properties.
class Class1 {
  Method_1()
  Property_1
}

class Class2 {
  Method_2()
  Property_2
}

'Create a relationship between the two classes.
Class1 -> Class2 : A Relationship

'Create a note.
note left of Class1 : A Note

@enduml
Note Declaration

Properties

  • orientation - the direction the note appears in relation to the anchor

  • anchor - the entity that determines the location of the note

  • fill_color - the color of the note

  • text - the message of the note

Orientation

Orientation determines the direction the note is positioned in relation to the anchor. The eight options are below.

  • left of - orients a note to the left of the named anchor

  • right of - orients a note to the right of the named anchor

  • top of - orients a note to the top of the named anchor

  • bottom of - orients a note to the bottom of the named anchor

  • left - orients a note to the left of the most recently declared class

  • right - orients a note to the right of the most recently declared class

  • top - orients a note to the top of the most recently declared class

  • bottom - orients a note to the bottom of the most recently declared class

  • * on link - orients note to the most recently defined relationship, * can be left out or be replaced with left, right, top, or bottom.

Example: Note Orientation

@startuml
'Example: Note Orientation

'Create a class with a method and property.
class Class1 {
  Method_1()
  Property_1
}

'Create a note to the left of the previous class.
note left : A Note

'Create a second class with a method and property.
class Class2 {
  Method_2()
  Property_2
}

'Create a relationship between the two classes.
Class1 -> Class2 : A Relationship

'Create a note above the previous relationship.
note top on link : Another Note

'Create a note below Class2.
note bottom of Class2 : Yet Another Note

@enduml
Note Orientation

Anchor

Anchors determine where a notes orientation originates. Anchors can be classes, relationships, or any class members such as attributes and methods.

If the anchor is a class member you can only use left and right orientations. If a method occurs more than once in a class, you must specify the desired method with the values inside of the parentheses. You must also use the multiline text option with the end note command. Multiline texts will be explained further in the text property.

Example: Note Anchors

@startuml
'Example: Note Anchors

'Create a class with a method and property.
class Class1 {
  Method_1(args0)
  Property_1
}

'Create a second class with a method and property.
'Repeat the property with a different value in the parentheses.
class Class2 {
  Method_2(args0)
  Method_2(args1)
  Property_2
}

'Create a relationship between the two classes.
Class1 --> Class2 : A Relationship

'Create a note to the left of Method_1.
note left of Class1::Method_1
  A Note
end note

'Create a note on the previous relationship.
note on link : Another Note

'Create two notes to the right of both Method_2() methods.
note right of Class2::Method_2(args0)
  args0 Note
end note

note right of Class2::Method_2(args1)
  args1 Note
end note

@enduml
Note Anchors

Fill Color

The color property is the only optional property. It can be defined with one color or can be defined with two colors to make a gradient. You can define colors with a standard color name or hex code. There is always a # before the color name or hex code. Create a gradient by using two colors.

Note: At the time of this writing fill_color is not supported on notes whose anchors are members.

Example: Note Fill Colors

@startuml
'Example: Note Fill Colors

'Create a class with a method and property.
class Class1 {
  Method_1(args0)
  Property_1
}

'Create a second class with a method and property.
'Repeat the property with a different value in the parentheses.
class Class2 {
  Method_2(args0)
  Method_2(args1)
  Property_2
}

'Create a relationship between the two classes.
Class1 --> Class2 : A Relationship

'Create a note to the left of Class1 with a color.
note left of Class1 #E6E6E7/561D5E : A Note

'Create a note on the previous relationship with a color.
note on link #CD1E1E
  Another Note
end note

@enduml
Note Fill Colors

Text

The text property provides the text that is displayed in the note. This is also where the text is formatted. Attached note text supports creole for emphasis and markup language for color and emphasis. You can define colors with a standard color name or hex code. The # is optional for hex codes in this portion of markup. It appears to be optional in all <color> tags as well.

Multiline text can be achieved with the end note command. For multiline text remove the : and begin the text on the line below the note command. You can use as many lines as necessary. End the note on the last line with the end note command. Empty lines will be displayed on the note.

Example: Note Text

@startuml
'Example: Note Text

'Create a class with a method and property.
class Class1 {
  Method_1(args0)
  Property_1
}

'Create a second class with a method and property.
'Repeat the property with a different value in the parentheses.
class Class2 {
  Method_2(args0)
  Method_2(args1)
  Property_2
}

'Create a relationship between the two classes.
Class1 --> Class2 : A Relationship

'Create a note to the left of Class1.
'Use creole for text emphasis.
note left of Class1 : **A Note**

'Create a multiline note on the previous relationship.
'Use markup for color and emphasis.
note on link 
  <color #576065>Another</color>
  <i>Note</i>
end note

@enduml
Note Text

With All Properties

Example: Notes With All Properties

@startuml
'Example: Notes With All Properties

class Class1 {
  Method_1(args0)
  Property_1
}

class Class2 {
  Method_2(args0)
  Method_2(args1)
  Property_2
}

Class1 --> Class2 : A Relationship

note left of Class1 #CD1E1E: **A Note**

note on link #561D5E/191C1F
  <color #E6E6E7>Another</color>
  <color #E6E6E7><i>Note</i></color>
end note

@enduml
Notes With All Properties

Attached Notes

Attached notes have an alias instead of a position. **** The position is determined by the entities the note is attached to. Attached notes contain three properties. The alias comes last if the text is on one line. If you use multiline text with end note, the alias comes immediately after the command word note. Notes with aliases that are not attached to anything will appear on their own in the diagram.

  • text - the text that appears on the note

  • alias - allows other entities to connect to the attached notes

  • fill_color - determines the background color of the note

Text

The text property provides the text that is displayed in the note. This is also where the text is formatted. Attached note text supports creole for emphasis and markup language for color and emphasis. You can define colors with a standard color name or hex code. The # is optional for hex codes in this portion of markup. It appears to be optional in all <color> tags as well.

Multiline text can be achieved with the end note command. For multiline text remove the : and begin the text on the line below the note command. You can use as many lines as necessary. End the note on the last line with the end note command. Empty lines will be displayed on the note.

Alias

The alias allows the note to be attached to any other entity on the diagram. The alias comes last if the text is on one line. If you use multiline text with end note, the alias comes immediately after the command word note.

Example: Attached Note With Alias and Text

@startuml
'Example: Attached Notes

'Create a class with a method and property.
class Class1 {
  Method_1(args0)
  Property_1
}

'Create a second class with a method and property.
'Repeat the property with a different value in the parentheses.
class Class2 {
  Method_2(args0)
  Method_2(args1)
  Property_2
}

'Create a relationship between the two classes.
Class1 --> Class2 : A Relationship

'Make a note with an alias.
'Add color and emphasis.
note "<color #561D5E>Note <b>Text</b></color>" as noteAlias_1

'Make a multiple line note with an alias.
note as noteAlias_2
Multiline
Unattached
Note
end note

'Attach the first note to both classes.
Class1 .. noteAlias_1
Class2 .. noteAlias_1

@enduml
Attached Notes

Fill Color

Fill_color is the only optional property. Place the fill_color on the same line immediately after the alias. It can be defined with one color or can be defined with two colors to make a gradient. You can define colors with a standard color name or hex code. There is always a # before the color name or hex code.

Example: Attached Notes Color

@startuml
'Example: Attached Notes Color

'Create a class with a method and property.
class Class1 {
  Method_1(args0)
  Property_1
}

'Create a second class with a method and property.
'Repeat the property with a different value in the parentheses.
class Class2 {
  Method_2(args0)
  Method_2(args1)
  Property_2
}

'Create a relationship between the two classes.
Class1 --> Class2 : A Relationship

'Make a note with an alias.
'Add a fill color.
note "A Note" as noteAlias_1 #CD1E1E

'Make a multiple line note with an alias.
'Add a fill color.
note as noteAlias_2 #561D5E/E6E6E7
Multiline
Unattached
Note
end note

'Attach the first note to both classes.
Class1 .. noteAlias_1
Class2 .. noteAlias_1

@enduml
Attached Notes Color
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