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PlantUML Language specification Timing Diagram

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Timing Diagram

A Timing Diagram in UML is a specific type of interaction diagram that visualizes the timing constraints of a system. It focuses on the chronological order of events, showcasing how different objects interact with each other over time. Timing diagrams are especially useful in real-time systems and embedded systems to understand the behavior of objects throughout a given period.

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Declaring element or participant

You declare participant using the following keywords, depending on how you want them to be drawn.

Keyword Description
analog An analog signal is continuous, and the values are linearly interpolated between the given setpoints
binary A binary signal restricted to only 2 states
clock A clocked signal that repeatedly transitions from high to low, with a period, and an optional pulse and offset
concise A simplified concise signal designed to show the movement of data (great for messages)
robust A robust complex line signal designed to show the transition from one state to another (can have many states)

You define state change using the @ notation, and the is verb.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@0
WU is Idle
WB is Idle

@100
WU is Waiting
WB is Processing

@300
WB is Waiting
@enduml

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
clock   "Clock_0"   as C0 with period 50
clock   "Clock_1"   as C1 with period 50 pulse 15 offset 10
binary  "Binary"  as B
concise "Concise" as C
robust  "Robust"  as R
analog  "Analog"  as A


@0
C is Idle
R is Idle
A is 0

@100
B is high
C is Waiting
R is Processing
A is 3

@300
R is Waiting
A is 1
@enduml

[Ref. QA-14631, QA-14647 and QA-11288]

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Binary and Clock

It's also possible to have binary and clock signal, using the following keywords:

  • binary
  • clock

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
clock clk with period 1
binary "Enable" as EN

@0
EN is low

@5
EN is high

@10
EN is low
@enduml

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Adding message

You can add message using the following syntax.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@0
WU is Idle
WB is Idle

@100
WU -> WB : URL
WU is Waiting
WB is Processing

@300
WB is Waiting
@enduml

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Relative time

It is possible to use relative time with @.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "DNS Resolver" as DNS
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@0
WU is Idle
WB is Idle
DNS is Idle

@+100
WU -> WB : URL
WU is Waiting
WB is Processing

@+200
WB is Waiting
WB -> DNS@+50 : Resolve URL

@+100
DNS is Processing

@+300
DNS is Idle
@enduml

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Anchor Points

Instead of using absolute or relative time on an absolute time you can define a time as an anchor point by using the as keyword and starting the name with a :. 

@XX as :<anchor point name>

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
clock clk with period 1
binary "enable" as EN
concise "dataBus" as db

@0 as :start
@5 as :en_high 
@10 as :en_low
@:en_high-2 as :en_highMinus2

@:start
EN is low
db is "0x0000"

@:en_high
EN is high

@:en_low
EN is low

@:en_highMinus2
db is "0xf23a"

@:en_high+6
db is "0x0000"
@enduml

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Participant oriented

Rather than declare the diagram in chronological order, you can define it by participant.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@WB
0 is idle
+200 is Proc.
+100 is Waiting

@WU
0 is Waiting
+500 is ok
@enduml

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Setting scale

You can also set a specific scale.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
concise "Web User" as WU
scale 100 as 50 pixels

@WU
0 is Waiting
+500 is ok
@enduml

When using absolute Times/Dates, 1 "tick" is equivalent to 1 second.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
concise "Season" as S
'30 days is scaled to 50 pixels
scale 2592000 as 50 pixels

@2000/11/01
S is "Winter"

@2001/02/01
S is "Spring"

@2001/05/01
S is "Summer"

@2001/08/01
S is "Fall"
@enduml

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Initial state

You can also define an inital state.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

WB is Initializing
WU is Absent

@WB
0 is idle
+200 is Processing
+100 is Waiting

@WU
0 is Waiting
+500 is ok
@enduml

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Intricated state

A signal could be in some undefined state.

Intricated or undefined robust state

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Signal1" as S1
robust "Signal2" as S2
S1 has 0,1,2,hello
S2 has 0,1,2
@0
S1 is 0
S2 is 0
@100
S1 is {0,1} #SlateGrey
S2 is {0,1}
@200
S1 is 1
S2 is 0
@300
S1 is hello
S2 is {0,2}
@enduml

Intricated or undefined binary state

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
clock "Clock" as C with period 2
binary "Enable" as EN

@0
EN is low
@1
EN is high
@3
EN is low
@5
EN is {low,high}
@10
EN is low
@enduml

[Ref. QA-11936 and QA-15933]

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Hidden state

It is also possible to hide some state.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
concise "Web User" as WU

@0
WU is {-}

@100
WU is A1

@200
WU is {-}

@300
WU is {hidden}

@400
WU is A3

@500
WU is {-}
@enduml

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
scale 1 as 50 pixels

concise state0
concise substate1
robust bit2

bit2 has HIGH,LOW

@state0
0 is 18_start
6 is s_dPause
8 is 10_data
14 is {hidden}

@substate1
0 is sSeq
4 is sPause
6 is {hidden}
8 is dSeq
12 is dPause
14 is {hidden}

@bit2
0 is HIGH
2 is LOW
4 is {hidden}
8 is HIGH
10 is LOW
12 is {hidden}
@enduml

[Ref. QA-12222]

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Hide time axis

It is possible to hide time axis.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
hide time-axis
concise "Web User" as WU

WU is Absent

@WU
0 is Waiting
+500 is ok
@enduml

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Using Time and Date

It is possible to use time or date.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@2019/07/02
WU is Idle
WB is Idle

@2019/07/04
WU is Waiting : some note
WB is Processing : some other note

@2019/07/05
WB is Waiting
@enduml

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@1:15:00
WU is Idle
WB is Idle

@1:16:30
WU is Waiting : some note
WB is Processing : some other note

@1:17:30
WB is Waiting
@enduml

[Ref. QA-7019]

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Change Date Format

It is also possible to change date format.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

use date format "YY-MM-dd"

@2019/07/02
WU is Idle
WB is Idle

@2019/07/04
WU is Waiting : some note
WB is Processing : some other note

@2019/07/05
WB is Waiting
@enduml

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Manage time axis labels

You can manage the time-axis labels.

Label on each tick (by default)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
scale 31536000 as 40 pixels
use date format "yy-MM"

concise "OpenGL Desktop" as OD

@1992/01/01
OD is {hidden}

@1992/06/30
OD is 1.0

@1997/03/04
OD is 1.1

@1998/03/16
OD is 1.2

@2001/08/14
OD is 1.3

@2004/09/07
OD is 3.0

@2008/08/01
OD is 3.0

@2017/07/31
OD is 4.6

@enduml

Manual label (only when the state changes)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
scale 31536000 as 40 pixels

manual time-axis
use date format "yy-MM"

concise "OpenGL Desktop" as OD

@1992/01/01
OD is {hidden}

@1992/06/30
OD is 1.0

@1997/03/04
OD is 1.1

@1998/03/16
OD is 1.2

@2001/08/14
OD is 1.3

@2004/09/07
OD is 3.0

@2008/08/01
OD is 3.0

@2017/07/31
OD is 4.6

@enduml

[Ref. GH-1020]

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Adding constraint

It is possible to display time constraints on the diagrams.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

WB is Initializing
WU is Absent

@WB
0 is idle
+200 is Processing
+100 is Waiting
WB@0 <-> @50 : {50 ms lag}

@WU
0 is Waiting
+500 is ok
@200 <-> @+150 : {150 ms}
@enduml

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Highlighted period

You can higlight a part of diagram.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@0
WU is Idle
WB is Idle

@100
WU -> WB : URL
WU is Waiting #LightCyan;line:Aqua

@200
WB is Proc.

@300
WU -> WB@350 : URL2
WB is Waiting

@+200
WU is ok

@+200
WB is Idle

highlight 200 to 450 #Gold;line:DimGrey : This is my caption
highlight 600 to 700 : This is another\nhighlight
@enduml

[Ref. QA-10868]

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Using notes

You can use the note top of and note bottom of keywords to define notes related to a single object or participant (available only for concise or binary object).

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@0
WU is Idle
WB is Idle

@100
WU is Waiting
WB is Processing
note top of WU : first note\non several\nlines
note bottom of WU : second note\non several\nlines

@300
WB is Waiting
@enduml

[Ref. QA-6877, GH-1465]

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Adding texts

You can optionally add a title, a header, a footer, a legend and a caption:

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
Title This is my title
header: some header
footer: some footer
legend
Some legend
end legend
caption some caption

robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

@0
WU is Idle
WB is Idle

@100
WU is Waiting
WB is Processing

@300
WB is Waiting
@enduml

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Complete example

Thanks to Adam Rosien for this example.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
concise "Client" as Client
concise "Server" as Server
concise "Response freshness" as Cache

Server is idle
Client is idle

@Client
0 is send
Client -> Server@+25 : GET
+25 is await
+75 is recv
+25 is idle
+25 is send
Client -> Server@+25 : GET\nIf-Modified-Since: 150
+25 is await
+50 is recv
+25 is idle
@100 <-> @275 : no need to re-request from server

@Server
25 is recv
+25 is work
+25 is send
Server -> Client@+25 : 200 OK\nExpires: 275
+25 is idle
+75 is recv
+25 is send
Server -> Client@+25 : 304 Not Modified
+25 is idle

@Cache
75 is fresh
+200 is stale
@enduml

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Digital Example

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
scale 5 as 150 pixels

clock clk with period 1
binary "enable" as en
binary "R/W" as rw
binary "data Valid" as dv
concise "dataBus" as db
concise "address bus" as addr

@6 as :write_beg
@10 as :write_end

@15 as :read_beg
@19 as :read_end


@0
en is low
db is "0x0"
addr is "0x03f"
rw is low
dv is 0

@:write_beg-3
 en is high
@:write_beg-2
 db is "0xDEADBEEF"
@:write_beg-1
dv is 1
@:write_beg
rw is high


@:write_end
rw is low
dv is low
@:write_end+1
rw is low
db is "0x0"
addr is "0x23"

@12
dv is high
@13 
db is "0xFFFF"

@20
en is low
dv is low
@21 
db is "0x0"

highlight :write_beg to :write_end #Gold:Write
highlight :read_beg to :read_end #lightBlue:Read

db@:write_beg-1 <-> @:write_end : setup time
db@:write_beg-1 -> addr@:write_end+1 : hold
@enduml

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Adding color

You can add color.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
concise "LR" as LR
concise "ST" as ST

LR is AtPlace #palegreen
ST is AtLoad #gray

@LR
0 is Lowering
100 is Lowered #pink
350 is Releasing
 
@ST
200 is Moving
@enduml

[Ref. QA-5776]

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Using (global) style

Without style (by default)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

WB is Initializing
WU is Absent

@WB
0 is idle
+200 is Processing
+100 is Waiting
WB@0 <-> @50 : {50 ms lag}

@WU
0 is Waiting
+500 is ok
@200 <-> @+150 : {150 ms}
@enduml

With style

You can use style to change rendering of elements.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
<style>
timingDiagram {
  document {
    BackGroundColor SandyBrown
  }
 constraintArrow {
  LineStyle 2-1
  LineThickness 3
  LineColor Blue
 }
}
</style>
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU

WB is Initializing
WU is Absent

@WB
0 is idle
+200 is Processing
+100 is Waiting
WB@0 <-> @50 : {50 ms lag}

@WU
0 is Waiting
+500 is ok
@200 <-> @+150 : {150 ms}
@enduml

[Ref. QA-14340]

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Applying Colors to specific lines

You can use the <style> tags and sterotyping to give a name to line attributes.

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
<style>
timingDiagram {
  .red {
    LineColor red
  }
  .blue {
    LineColor blue
    LineThickness 5
  }
}
</style>

clock clk with period 1
binary "Input Signal 1"  as IS1
binary "Input Signal 2"  as IS2 <<blue>>
binary "Output Signal 1" as OS1 <<red>>

@0
IS1 is low
IS2 is high
OS1 is low
@2
OS1 is high
@4
OS1 is low
@5
IS1 is high
OS1 is high
@6
IS2 is low
@10
IS1 is low
OS1 is low
@enduml

[Ref. QA-15870]

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Compact mode

You can use compact command to compact the timing layout.

By default

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU
robust "Web Browser2" as WB2

@0
WU is Waiting
WB is Idle
WB2 is Idle

@200
WB is Proc.

@300
WB is Waiting
WB2 is Waiting

@500
WU is ok

@700
WB is Idle
@enduml

Global mode with mode compact

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
mode compact
robust "Web Browser" as WB
concise "Web User" as WU
robust "Web Browser2" as WB2

@0
WU is Waiting
WB is Idle
WB2 is Idle

@200
WB is Proc.

@300
WB is Waiting
WB2 is Waiting

@500
WU is ok

@700
WB is Idle
@enduml

Local mode with only compact on element

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
compact robust "Web Browser" as WB
compact concise "Web User" as WU
robust "Web Browser2" as WB2

@0
WU is Waiting
WB is Idle
WB2 is Idle

@200
WB is Proc.

@300
WB is Waiting
WB2 is Waiting

@500
WU is ok

@700
WB is Idle
@enduml

[Ref. QA-11130]

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Scaling analog signal

You can scale analog signal.

Without scaling: 0-max (by default)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
title Between 0-max (by default)
analog "Analog" as A

@0
A is 350

@100
A is 450

@300
A is 350
@enduml

With scaling: min-max

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
title Between min-max
analog "Analog" between 350 and 450 as A

@0
A is 350

@100
A is 450

@300
A is 350
@enduml

[Ref. QA-17161]

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Customise analog signal

Without any customisation (by default)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
analog "Vcore" as VDD
analog "VCC" as VCC

@0
VDD is 0
VCC is 3
@2
VDD is 0
@3
VDD is 6
VCC is 6
VDD@1 -> VCC@2 : "test"
@enduml

With customisation (on scale, ticks and height)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
analog "Vcore" as VDD
analog "VCC" between -4.5 and 6.5 as VCC
VCC ticks num on multiple 3
VCC is 200 pixels height

@0
VDD is 0
VCC is 3
@2
VDD is 0
@3
VDD is 6
VCC is 6
VDD@1 -> VCC@2 : "test"
@enduml

[Ref. QA-11288]

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Order state of robust signal

Without order (by default)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Flow rate" as rate

@0
rate is high

@5
rate is none

@6
rate is low
@enduml

With order

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Flow rate" as rate
rate has high,low,none

@0
rate is high

@5
rate is none

@6
rate is low
@enduml

With order and label

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
robust "Flow rate" as rate
rate has "35 gpm" as high
rate has "15 gpm" as low
rate has "0 gpm" as none

@0
rate is high

@5
rate is none

@6
rate is low
@enduml

[Ref. QA-6651]

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Defining a timing diagram

By Clock (@clk)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
clock "clk" as clk with period 50
concise "Signal1" as S1
robust "Signal2" as S2
binary "Signal3" as S3
 
@clk*0
S1 is 0
S2 is 0

@clk*1
S1 is 1
S3 is high

@clk*2
S3 is down

@clk*3
S1 is 1
S2 is 1
S3 is 1

@clk*4
S3 is down
@enduml

By Signal (@S)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
clock "clk" as clk with period 50
concise "Signal1" as S1
robust "Signal2" as S2
binary "Signal3" as S3

@S1
0 is 0
50 is 1
150 is 1

@S2
0 is 0
150 is 1

@S3
50  is 1
100 is low
150 is high
200 is 0
@enduml

By Time (@time)

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
clock "clk" as clk with period 50
concise "Signal1" as S1
robust "Signal2" as S2
binary "Signal3" as S3

@0
S1 is 0
S2 is 0

@50
S1 is 1
S3 is 1

@100
S3 is low

@150
S1 is 1
S2 is 1
S3 is high

@200
S3 is 0
@enduml

[Ref. QA-9053]

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Annotate signal with comment

🎉 Copied! 

@startuml
binary "Binary Serial Data" as D
robust "Robust" as R
concise "Concise" as C

@-3
D is low: idle
R is lo: idle
C is 1: idle
@-1
D is high: start
R is hi: start
C is 0: start

@0
D is low: 1 lsb
R is lo: 1 lsb
C is 1: lsb

@1
D is high: 0
R is hi: 0
C is 0

@6
D is low: 1
R is lo: 1
C is 1

@7
D is high: 0 msb
R is hi: 0 msb
C is 0: msb

@8
D is low: stop
R is lo: stop
C is 1: stop

@0 <-> @8 : Serial data bits for ASCII "A" (Little Endian)
@enduml

[Ref. QA-15762, and QH-888]

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