nomnoml

nomnoml provides an R interface to nomnoml.js, a tool for drawing sassy UML diagrams based on syntax with customizable styling.

Installation

Install from CRAN:

install.packages("nomnoml")

Or from GitHub using:

install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("rstudio/nomnoml")

You need a chromium based browser installed on your system

In previous releases of nomnoml (prior to v0.3.0) we used the phantom.js headless browser to capture screenshots. In version 0.3.0 we switched to using webshot2.

This means you need a chromium-based browser, e.g. Chromium itself, Chrome, Edge, Vivaldi, Brave, or Opera.

Getting Started

You can create your first diagram by running:

nomnoml::nomnoml("[Hello]-[World!]")

To make the diagram flow vertically, the default at nomnoml.com, add the direction directive:

#direction: down
[Hello]-[World!]

You can also use nomnoml in R Markdown:

---
title: "A Diagram"
output: html_document
---

```{r, setup, include=FALSE}
library(nomnoml)
```

```{nomnoml}
#stroke: orange
#.box: fill=#8f8 dashed visual=ellipse

[A]-[B]-[<box>C]
```

SVG

To render using SVG, add svg = TRUE

nomnoml(diagram, svg = TRUE)

To render a nomnoml chunk in R Markdown, add svg=TRUE to the chunk options

```{nomnoml, svg=TRUE}
#stroke: orange
#.box: fill=#8f8 dashed visual=ellipse

[A]-[B]-[<box>C]
```

Advanced

Notice that much more complex diagrams can be designed using nomnoml by combining association types, classifier types, directives and custom classifier styles.

#stroke: #a86128
#direction: down
[<frame>Decorator pattern|
  [<abstract>Component||+ operation()]
  [Client] depends --> [Component]
  [Decorator|- next: Component]
  [Decorator] decorates -- [ConcreteComponent]
  [Component] <:- [Decorator]
  [Component] <:- [ConcreteComponent]
]

Nomnoml documentation

Association types

-    association
->   association
<->  association
-->  dependency
<--> dependency
-:>  generalization
<:-  generalization
--:> implementation
<:-- implementation
+-   composition
+->  composition
o-   aggregation
o->  aggregation
-o)  ball and socket
o<-) ball and socket
->o  ball and socket
--   note
-/-  hidden
_>   weightless edge
__   weightless dashed edge

Classifier types

[name]
[<abstract> name]
[<instance> name]
[<reference> name]
[<note> name]
[<package> name]
[<frame> name]
[<database> name]
[<pipe> name]
[<start> name]
[<end> name]
[<state> name]
[<choice> name]
[<sync> name]
[<input> name]
[<lollipop> lollipop]
[<sender> name]
[<socket> socket]
[<receiver> name]
[<transceiver> name]
[<actor> name]
[<usecase> name]
[<label> name]
[<hidden> name]
[<table> name| a | 5 || b | 7]

Directives

#import: my-common-styles.nomnoml
#arrowSize: 1
#bendSize: 0.3
#direction: down | right
#gutter: 5
#edgeMargin: 0
#gravity: 1
#edges: hard | rounded
#background: transparent
#fill: #eee8d5; #fdf6e3
#fillArrows: false
#font: Calibri
#fontSize: 12
#leading: 1.25
#lineWidth: 3
#padding: 8
#spacing: 40
#stroke: #33322E
#title: filename
#zoom: 1
#acyclicer: greedy
#ranker: network-simplex | tight-tree | longest-path

Directives only available when using the command line interface

#import: my-common-styles.nomnoml

Custom classifier styles

A directive that starts with “.” define a classifier style.

#.box: fill=#88ff88
#.blob: fill=pink visual=ellipse italic bold dashed
[<box> GreenBox]
[<blob> HideousBlob]

Available key/value pairs:

fill=(any css color)

stroke=(any css color)

align=center
align=left

direction=right
direction=down

visual=actor
visual=class
visual=database
visual=ellipse
visual=end
visual=frame
visual=hidden
visual=input
visual=none
visual=note
visual=package
visual=receiver
visual=rhomb
visual=roundrect
visual=sender
visual=start
visual=table
visual=transceiver

Available modifiers are

center
bold
underline
italic
dashed
empty