Metric-based selective representation of UML diagrams

UML diagrams are widely employed for modeling of object-oriented software systems. In addition to their application in forward engineering, it is also possible to use them for the re-documentation of existing programs. However, the inherent structure of UML diagrams, which consists of graphical as well as textual information, makes it difficult to read and oversee large diagrams generated from complex systems. The view on such diagrams can be compared by taking a look at a detailed map: the reader has to decide whether to read the fine details or to view the whole structure. We present approaches to overcome this problem by using object-oriented metrics for program analysis and location of submodules in diagrams that belong together in terms of coupling. The techniques described were implemented into our reverse engineering tool idea, which allows interactive selection and isolation of coherent regions of class diagrams.