An introduction to PHP_UML
10 February 2009, by Baptiste Autin
PHP_UML is a PHP parser, an XMI code generator, and a documentation tool.
Practically, with PHP_UML, you will be able to feed a UML CASE tool (like Rational Rose™ or ArgoUml), with a UML representation of an existing PHP application. This way, you get an instant overview of the code, with all the usual functions of your preferred software design tool.
PHP_UML:
- Can generate UML/XMI files in version 1.4, or in version 2.1 (logical, component, and deployment views)
- Can generate an API documentation in HTML format
- Can generate PHP code (code skeleton) from a given XMI file
PHP_UML:
- Parses PHP code, in all versions (classes, interfaces, functions, properties…)
- Interprets the PHP namespacing instructions (
namespaceanduse) - Parses the docblock comments: class (@package), function (@param, @return), property (@var) and header file comments (@package)
- Detects the types as much as possible (by parsing the type hints, and by analyzing the default values)
PHP_UML generates a logical view (the packages and the classes found), a deployment view (that maps the filesystem that has been scanned), and a component view (one component per package).
Example of use
PHP_UML is currently used to generate the API documentation of Typo3 : http://flow3.typo3.org/fileadmin/API/FLOW3/