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Scalable Vector Graphics

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a graphical format renowned for its scalability, ensuring that your diagrams maintain their quality at any zoom level, providing an optimal printing result. In this guide, we delve into how you can enable SVG generation with PlantUML, exploring various settings and directives that enhance your SVG output.

PlantUML offers multiple avenues to enable SVG generation, each catering to different environments. Here, we outline the methods available:

Command Line

Utilize the -tsvg flag with the PlantUML command line to enable SVG generation. Learn more about this in our command line guide.

Ant Task

Incorporate the format="svg" setting in your Ant task definition to facilitate SVG generation. Find detailed instructions in our Ant task guide.

<target name="main">
  <plantuml dir="./src" format="svg" />
</target>

Java

You can also generate SVG directly from Java. Discover how to set this up in our Java API guide.

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Specific Skin Parameters for SVG

Enhance your SVG diagrams with specific skin parameters that allow you to customize various aspects of the output. Here we delve into some of the parameters you can use:

svgLinkTarget

The svgLinkTarget setting allows you to modify the target attribute in the hyperlinks generated in the SVG output, thereby controlling how the links will open when clicked.

Referencing the HTML specification, you have the following options:

_blank: Opens the link in a new window or tab
_parent: Opens the link in the parent frame
_self: Opens the link in the same frame where it was clicked (default setting)
_top: Opens the link in the full body of the window

The default setting is _top, applied when the svgLinkTarget is left empty. The example below uses _parent:

Please note that for SVG links to work properly when the SVG is used in a HTML page, you need to embed the resulting SVG content directly in the HTML page, rather than invoking it through an <img> tag.

You may also want to use skinparam topurl (see link) to specify how to resolve relative links.

pathHoverColor

Utilize the skinparam pathHoverColor setting to specify a color that will be applied to links when hovered over with the mouse pointer, enhancing user interaction with your diagrams.

@startuml
skinparam pathHoverColor green
class Foo2 [[http://www.yahoo.com/Foo2]] {
  +double[] x
  +double y
}
Foo2 --> Foo3
@enduml

[Reference: QA-5453]

svgDimensionStyle

If you prefer not to include the style, width, and height attributes in the SVG output header, set the skinparam svgDimensionStyle to false. This gives you cleaner output, focusing solely on the essential elements of your diagram.

@startuml
skinparam svgDimensionStyle false

component a {
}
component b {
}
a -(0- b
@enduml

[Reference QA-7334]

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svgSize Pragma

Leverage the svgSize pragma directive to define custom sizes for specific SVG elements in your PlantUML diagrams.

Using the `svgSize` Pragma Directive

The !pragma svgSize <U+hhhhh> XX directive informs PlantUML to assume the size of the <U+hhhhh> element to be the same as the text 'XX' provided.

Here are different ways you can use this directive to obtain the ideal setting:

!pragma svgSize <U+hhhhh> XX
!pragma svgSize <U+hhhhh> I

Example Usage

Below is an example PlantUML code utilizing the svgSize directive:

@startuml
!pragma svgSize <U+1F610> XX

test: text <U+1F610>
test_size45: text <size:45><U+1F610>
@enduml

Command-Line Options

You can specify the svgSize pragma using the -P option on the command-line. Remember to:

Enclose the argument in quotes, especially when it contains spaces.
Use this option multiple times in a single command, if necessary.

Example

java -jar plantuml.jar "-PsvgSize=<U+1F610> XX" "-PsvgSize=<U+1F611> I" -Tsvg <file.puml>

References

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Interactive SVG

svgInteractive allows you to comprehend better complicated diagrams:

When you click on a diagram element, all other elements that are not connected to it, are dimmed out.
When you click the same element twice, all elements are restored to their original visibility.

Try the example interactive.svg, or any of the examples below by opening them in the PlantUML server (remember to select SVG output!)

Reference:

QA-13350

On Class, Object, UseCase or Deployment diagram

On Sequence diagram

@startuml
!pragma svginteractive true

Alice -> Bob: Authentication Request

alt successful case

Bob -> Alice: Authentication Accepted

else some kind of failure

Bob -> Alice: Authentication Failure
    group My own label
    Alice -> Log : Log attack start
        loop 1000 times
            Alice -> Bob: DNS Attack
        end
    Alice -> Log : Log attack end
    end

else Another type of failure

Bob -> Alice: Please repeat

end
|||
Alice -> Bob : message 1
Alice -> Bob : message 2
Alice -> Bob : message 3
Alice -> Bob : message 4
Alice -> Bob : message 5
Alice -> Bob : message 6
Alice -> Bob : message 7
Alice -> Bob : message 8
Alice -> Bob : message 9
|||
Alice -> Bob : message 10
Alice -> Bob : message 11
Alice -> Bob : message 12
Alice -> Bob : message 13
Alice -> Bob : message 14
Alice -> Bob : message 15
Alice -> Bob : message 16
Alice -> Bob : message 17
Alice -> Bob : message 18
Alice -> Bob : message 19
|||
Alice -> Bob : message 20
Alice -> Bob : message 21
Alice -> Bob : message 22
Alice -> Bob : message 23
Alice -> Bob : message 24
Alice -> Bob : message 25
Alice -> Bob : message 26
Alice -> Bob : message 27
Alice -> Bob : message 28
Alice -> Bob : message 29
@enduml

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Option for SVG [`svgTitle`, `svgDesc`]

You can add <title> and <desc> tags on SVG output by using svgTitle and svgDesc options:

[Ref. GH-2292]

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