Launching PlantUML GUI

  1. Direct Launch by Double-Clicking:
On some operating systems, like Windows and Ubuntu, you can directly double-click on the plantuml.jar file icon to launch the PlantUML GUI. If this method doesn't work or you prefer using the terminal, follow the next steps.

2. Navigate to the Directory: Open a terminal (Command Prompt on Windows, Terminal on macOS and Linux) and navigate to the directory where you've downloaded the plantuml.jar file.

cd path/to/directory/with/plantuml.jar

3. Launch the GUI: To launch the PlantUML GUI without specifying a source directory, enter the following command:

java -jar plantuml.jar -gui

This will open the PlantUML GUI, and you can then select a directory through the interface that will be periodically scanned by PlantUML.

4. Specify Source Directory (Optional): If you want to specify a source directory right away, use the following command with the path to your source directory:

java -jar plantuml.jar -gui /path/to/source/directory

Using the GUI

The PlantUML GUI actively monitors files in the specified directory, focusing on those with extensions listed in the "file extensions" text field. The directory being observed is indicated in the window title.

By default, the monitored extensions include: txt, tex, java, htm, html, c, h, cpp, apt, pu, puml, hpp, hh, md. These can be modified as required.

If you wish to change the directory being monitored, simply click the "Change directory" button.

By leveraging these features, you can seamlessly utilize the PlantUML GUI to both monitor and visualize your UML diagrams.