2008-2009-UML Editor

Open Space UML-Editor Project

by Herbert Kruitbosch and Matthew van der Zwan

Human beings have very complex and dedicated hardware they can use to pick up objects and relocate them extremely accurately; their thumbs and index fingers. In contrast to other creatures, this allows them to draw and engineer very small but also very ingenious things. This is why animals cannot do software engineering. Their claws and wings are to clumsy to draw UML diagrams. Unfortunately, the software engineered to design UML diagrams often involve a mouse, allowing a precise localization of the mouse pointer, but also introducing tedious mouse clicking and dragging. Moreover, usually only one mouse is used, where two hands exists, since handling two often does not compute for the humans.

Humans find drawing with a pencil a lot less tedious, but also analog and unfortunately also rather volatile; mistakes do not correct easily. Furthermore, where some people have the talent to do this, others draw something only their mind can understand. Unfortunately, technical persons often tend to be this way. Furthermore these processes don't get better when performed by a group of humans. Messy and informal collaborations end up in a messy diagram. So the bottom line is that all these methods work and have their own pro's, they all also have annoying cons.

Therefore, we have designed and partially implemented an UML editor which can be controlled by human's dedicated and precise hands. The software tracks both thumbs and both index fingers, such that that each hand can pinch on objects to edit or move them. This allows the humans to create boxes, and when using both hands, draw lines between them; very typical actions for drawing a UML diagram. When both hands pinch their index and thumb in a single object a dasher is called to input text in the object. One hand then is used to dash whilst the other is used to control the dasher and for example pause it.

This makes it very accessible for a user to not only draw the UML diagram. Moreover when used with a projector, which is a typical setting, collaboration with others works. But only one human is doing the job, the others can only see what he does and correct or mentally assist him/her when needed. In the upper image, one can see how a person has started a line to be connected to another activation bar, where in the lower image one can see that a person is dashing.