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If we want to know which version of PlantUML we are using we can use the command line option -version. PlantUML will print the version and also some extra information like the machine name, memory and more. But we can also create a PlantUML definition with the command version and we can transform it to a graphical presentation like a PNG image. This can be handy if we use PlantUML in an environment like Asciidoctor with diagram support and we want to know which version of PlantUML is used.

In our first example we run PlantUML from the command line and use the -version option:

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PlantUML has a fun command to create a Sudoku puzzle. We must use sudoku in our PlantUML definition and a random puzzle is generated. We can even give a seed value for a given Sudoku so it is generated again. In the following example PlantUML definition we use the sudoku command:

@startuml
sudoku
@enduml

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With PlantUML we can include external files in our definition with the !include directive. We specify the file name and the content is included in our PlantUML definition. The included file can also have multiple @startuml ... @enduml sections and we can refer to individual sections with the !include directive. We must append to the include file name an exclamation mark (!) followed by either a number or identifier. If we use a number we specify which section we want to include, where section are numbered starting from 0. So to get the second section from a file commons.puml we would write !include commons.puml!1. Alternatively we can use identifiers in the include file. We append to @startuml an identifier as (id=idValue). Then from the definition that is including the file we refer to the identifier after an exclamation mark (!). If our included file commons.puml has a section with id user then we would include it as !include commons.puml!user.

In the following example PlantUML definition we define the file to be included. We have two sections with @startuml ... @enduml which both have an identifier:

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To change the styling of our generated diagrams with PlantUML we can use the skinparam command. We can set for example font size, style, color, background colors and much more. We can change the style for a specific element or for the whole diagram. We can even set specific styling options for stereotypes. The settings for the stereotype are then applied to all elements in our diagram with that stereotype. We must append <<stereotype name>> to the skin parameter name.

In the following example PlantUML description we apply custom background colors to each stereotype:

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When we write a PlantUML definition the generated graphical diagram is laid out by PlantUML. In a previous post we learned how to move elements using the length of the connection. But we can also use a together block with all elements that should be at the same level. PlantUML will try to keep the elements together when the diagram is drawn.

In the following sample PlantUML definition we want the PostgresDB and Mail elements to be at the same level, so we group them using a together block:

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By default elements in a PlantUML generated diagram have shadows. To disable shadows we must set the skin parameter shadowing to the value false. PlantUML will then not create shadows on elements.

In the following sample PlantUML definition we use the value false for the skin parameter shadowing:

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The default colors of PlantUML use red and yellow to draw the diagram elements. If we want our diagram to be in black, grey and white we can simply set skin parameter monochrome to true. The generated graphical diagram will now have black, grey and white colors.

In the following sample PlantUML definition we set the diagram skin parameter monochrone to true:

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Drawing diagrams with PlantUML is fun and easy. We use text to describe the diagram and the we get a graphical representation. Especially in combination with Asciidoctor with PlantUML integration we have a winning combination to write technical documentation. Because our text is transformed into a graphical format like PNG we don't have much influence on the layout. There are options to indicate positions of elements, but we can also use the length of lines to influence the position of elements.

In the following sample we have a PlantUML diagram description with standard lines. We use two hyphens (--) to define a line:

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IntelliJ IDEA 2016.3 introduces the option to delegate the IDE build and run actions to Gradle. So if we invoke the Build Project action from the Build menu IntelliJ IDEA invokes the correct tasks using Gradle. Also the Run and Debug actions from the Run menu are executed with Gradle.

If we want this behaviour we need to changed the preferences of IntelliJ IDEA. We must open the preferences dialog window and then go to Build, Execution, Deployment | Build Tools | Gradle | Runner. Here we check the option Delegate IDE build/run actions to gradle and we close the window:

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IntelliJ IDEA 2016.3 re-introduced the Grails view for Grails 3 applications. Grails 2 applications already were supported with a Grails view in IDEA. Using this view we get an overview of all the Grails artifacts like controller, services, views and more. We can easily navigate to the the class files we need. Now this view is also available for Grails 3 applications. To enable the view we must click on the view selector in the project view:

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In a previous post we learned how to create a class that extends RuleSource with methods that define rules on how to create and change objects in the Gradle model space. With the model configuration block in a build file we can also define creation rules for Rule based model configuration.

In the following build file we define a model block and define a creation rule for creating the object versionInfo of type VersionFile. Also we add a new task to the tasks object of type ModelMap<Task>:

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