Sequence Diagram Tool

[jlokanis]

What is your favorite tool for creating sequence diagrams?   I am looking for more of a design tool to plan my message sequence before I create it, rather than a tool that creates a diagram from my code execution.

Me current method is pencil and paper.  I have looked around the interwebs for some solutions but most of them involve a lot of typing in archaic pseudo-code to generate a diagram.

I want something where I can drag elements onto the screen.  Click-drag to draw arrows and the only typing I need to do is to label things or add notes.  It should also auto-grow and auto-sort so I do not have to manually rearrange things.

I hope this exists somewhere and is available for cheap or free.  But, I am willing to pay if it is a perfect fit.

thanks for your suggestions!

-John

[LVB]

There have been a few posts on this, I believe PIantUML is the most popular.

• Here is an example of a sequence diagram I created using PlantUML: https://decibel.ni.com/content/message/46192#46192
• AF Sequence Diagram Logger - https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-28748#comment-29087

FYI, I find PlantUML to be much faster than graphical based tools.

-Brian

[tst]

You can also try StarUML or more general diagramming tools like Dia or yEd (both have UML palettes), which should all be free. There should be others as well.

If you have PowerPoint or Visio or their equivalent, you could probably use those too.

[jlokanis]

Thanks for the tips.  I am trying out the eval version of this tool:

http://www.visual-paradigm.com/solution/sequencediagram/

So far, so good.  And it is only $99 for the basic version.