Notes

Notes give you the ability to digitally stick notes onto your object 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 objects with two fields.
object Object1 {
  Field1A
  Field1B
}

object Object2 {
  Field2A
  Field2B
}

'Create a relation between the two objects.
Object1 -> Object2 : A Relation

'Create a note.
note left of Object1 : 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 an object with two fields.
object Object1 {
  Field1A
  Field1B
}

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

'Create a second object with two fields.
object Object2 {
  Field2A
  Field2B
}

'Create a relation between the two objects.
Object1 -> Object2 : A Relationship

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

'Create a note below Object2.
note bottom of Object2 : Yet Another Note

@enduml

Note Orientation

Anchor

Anchors determine where a notes orientation originates. Anchors can be objects, or links.

Example: Note Anchors

@startuml
'Example: Note Anchors

'Create an object with two fields.
object Object1 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a second object with the same two fields.
object Object2 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a relation between the two objects.
Object1 --> Object2 : A Relation

'Create a note to the left of Object1.
note left of Object1
  A Note
end note

'Create a note on the previous relation.
note on link : Another 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 an object with two fields.
object Object1 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a second object with the same two fields.
object Object2 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a relation between the two objects.
Object1 --> Object2 : A Relationship

'Create a note to the left of Object1 with a color.
note left of Object1 #E6E6E7/561D5E : A Note

'Create a note on the previous relation 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 an object with two fields.
object Object1 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a second object with the same two fields.
object Object2 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a relation between the two objects.
Object1 --> Object2 : A Relation

'Create a note to the left of Object1.
'Use creole for text emphasis.
note left of Object1 : **A Note**

'Create a multiline note on the previous relation.
'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

object Object1 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

object Object2 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

Object1 --> Object2 : A Relation

note left of Object1 #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 an object with two fields.
object Object1 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a second object with the same two fields.
object Object2 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a relation between the two objects.
Object1 --> Object2 : A Relation

'Make a note with an alias.
'Add color and emphasis.
note "<color #CD1E1E><b>A Note</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 objects.
Object1 .. noteAlias_1
Object2 .. 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 an object with two fields.
object Object1 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a second object with the same two fields.
object Object2 {
  FieldA
  FieldB
}

'Create a relation between the two objects.
Object1 --> Object2 : A Relation

'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.
Object1 .. noteAlias_1
Object2 .. noteAlias_1

@enduml

Attached Notes Color