Greatly Improved Tools for UML, ERD, and BPMN

If you need to visualize your software project, document your database setup, or create a process map, your job just got easier.

Make a UML diagram with new templates and tools. Create an ER diagram with more intuitive controls. Make a BPMN diagram with greatly improved automation.

SmartDraw continues to be make drawing smarter and easier, so you can focus on your work.

Greatly Improved Tools for UML, ERD, and BPMN

New UML Diagram Templates

We greatly expanded our UML template collection. You can choose between:

  • UML Activity Diagram
  • UML Class Diagram
  • UML Communication Diagram
  • UML Component Diagram
  • UML Composite Diagram
  • UML Deployment Diagram
  • UML Interaction Diagram
  • UML Object Diagram
  • UML Package Diagram
  • UML Sequence Diagram
  • UML State Diagram
  • UML Timing Diagram
  • UML Use Case Diagram
New UML templates

Build Your Diagrams Quicker

To connect a symbol like one that represents a class or component in UML, a task or gateway in BPMN, or an entity or attribute in an ER diagram to a new symbol, simply draw a line and choose a new symbol from the auto-prompt menu of common symbols for your chosen diagram.

This menu is intelligent and will populate with the last 6 symbols you've used in your diagram, so you'll always have the right symbols at your fingertips.

Add UML symbols

Easy Line and Arrow Styles

Most UML diagrams involve connecting one or more shapes to each other using lines and special arrowheads to indicate relationships like aggregation, dependency, inheritence, composition, and association for classes and interface type for components.

New tools now allows you to quickly select the right line style and arrowhead as needed for your diagram.

Define class relationships easily

Quicker Multiplicity Notations

UML class and ER diagrams often use a multiplicity notation to indicate the number of instances of one class or entity linked to another. For example, one company will have one or more employees, but each employee works for just one company.

You can now show multiplicity by selecting a line and clicking Add Multiplicities in the Lines subsection. This will put a placeholder multiplicity notation at both ends of the selected line.

Add multiplicities

Set Cardinality Easier for ERD

Cardinality is another way of showing the relationship between entities in an ERD diagram.

You can quickly select the right cardinality notation from the new ERD arrowheads modal.

Define cardinality for ERD

New Contextual BPMN Controls

The new BPMN templates have sophisticated contextual controls based on the shape selected to let you quickly set markers and types.

For example, for tasks, you'll be able to set the activity type, task type, and add as many markers as you need.

Set task type

You can add any number of markers to a selected task to note its behavior in the process.

Set task markers

With an event shape selected, you can now quickly change the type of event represented. There are three main types of events: start, intermediate and end. You can also represent the difference between interrupting and non-interrupting events and catching vs throwing events.

Set event type

You can also easily set event triggers as needed.

Set event triggers

Instead of wasting time looking for the right symbol or worrying about having to replace a symbol when all you need to change is the type or marker, these new controls now let you build and edit your diagram more easily.

Specify the gateway type using a drop-down.

There are additional new tools for data objects, choreography, pools, and lines.

Set gateway controls
By continuing to use the website, you consent to the use of cookies.   Read More