Reverse Engineering Sequence Diagram from Java Source Code

Sequence diagram can help to represent the interaction between objects in runtime. Since Visual Paradigm for UML 8.0 (VP-UML) enables you to reverse your Java source code into sequence diagram, you can gain a better understanding of Java source code by reading diagram instead of looking to a possibly thousand lines of source code.

August 16, 2010
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Download Sample.zip of this tutorial and extract the zip file to any directory.
Study the source code. Read the register method in RegisterController.java to see how it works.
Start VP-UML.
Create a new project by selecting File > New Project from the main menu. In the New Project dialog box, name the project as Account Registration and click Create Blank Project button.
Select Tools > Instant Reverse > Java to Sequence Diagram... from the main menu.
In the Instant Reverse Java to Sequence Diagram dialog box, click on Add Source Folder... button.
Select the extracted source folder src. Click Next button.
Select the method to visualize. Select src > RegisterController.java > reister(String,int). Click Next button.
You need to select a diagram to visualize the interaction. The Create new sequence diagram option is selected and diagram name is entered by default. Click Finish button.
As a result, a sequence diagram is formed. Let's study the diagram.

When a person invokes RegisterController's register method (message: 1), it creates an account object (message: 1.1). After that, the controller sets the id, name and age to the account object (message 1.2, 1.3, 1.4), and adds itself to the account list (message: 1.5). The invocation ends with a return (message 1.6).