Notes

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

Declaration

Notes are declared with the command word note.

Example: Note Declaration

@startuml
'Example: Note Declaration

'Create an actor and a use_case.
:Zarek:
(Stock)

'Create an association between the actor and use_case.
Zarek -- Stock

'Create a note to the right of the actor.
note right of Zarek: Note Text

@enduml

Properties

Sequence diagram notes contain three properties.

• position - determines the location of the note

• color - determines the background color of the note

• text - the text that appears on the note

Position

There are four options for the position property. They must be followed by the use case description or actor name. If either has an alias, use the alias.

• right of - appears to the right of the named entity

• left of - appears to the left of the named entity

• top of - appears to the top of the named entity

• bottom of - appears to the bottom of the named entity

Example: Note Position

'Example: Note Position

'Create an actor.
:Zarek:

'Create a note to the right of the actor.
note right of Zarek: Right

'Create a note above the actor.
note top of Zarek: Top

'Create a note to the left of the actor.
note left of Zarek: Left

'Create a note below the actor.
note bottom of Zarek: Bottom

@enduml

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.

Example: Note Color

@startuml
'Example: Note Color

'Create an actor.
:Zarek:

'Create a note to the left of the actor.
'Add a color.
note left of Zarek #Red : Note

'Create a note to the right of the actor.
'Add a gradient color.
note right of Zarek #561D5E/FF0000 : Note

@enduml

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 markup language for color and emphasis. You can define colors with a standard color name or hex code. The text property does not support bold, italics, or monospace in markup. 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 actor.
:Zarek:

'Make a note to the left of the actor.
'Add color and emphasis.
note left of Zarek: <color #561D5E>Note <b>Text</b></color>

'Make a note with multiple lines of text to the right of the actor.
'Leave one empty line.
note right of Zarek
Multiline

Note
Text
end note

@enduml

Attached Notes

Attached notes have an alias instead of a position. **** The position is determined by the entities the note is attached to.

Properties

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.

• text - the text that appears on the note

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

• 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 markup language for color and emphasis. You can define colors with a standard color name or hex code. The text property does not support bold, italics, or monospace in markup. 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 Note With Alias and Text

'Create three actors.
:Zarek:
:Ivy:
:Sean:

'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.
'Leave one empty line.
note as noteAlias_2
Multiline

Note
Text
end note

'Attach the first note to the first and second actors.
Zarek .. noteAlias_1
Ivy .. noteAlias_1

'Attach the second note to the second and third actors.
Ivy .. noteAlias_2
Sean .. noteAlias_2

@enduml

Color

The color property is the only optional property. Place the 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 Note With Color

@startuml
'Example: Note Text

'Create three actors.
:Zarek:
:Ivy:
:Sean:

'Make a note with an alias.
'Add a background color.
note "Text" as noteAlias_1 #Red

'Make a multiple line note with an alias.
'Leave one empty line.
'Add a background color gradient.
note as noteAlias_2 #561D5E/FF0000
Multiline

Note
Text
end note

'Attach the first note to the first and second actors.
Zarek .. noteAlias_1
Ivy .. noteAlias_1

'Attach the second note to the second and third actors.
Ivy .. noteAlias_2
Sean .. noteAlias_2

@enduml