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Using regular expressions in PlantUML

· 2 min read
hoh
hoh

I recently discovered that PlantUML supports regular expressions, so I decided to try it out.

For this example, I'm visualizing the following branch naming rules:

Example of Usage​

Here's how you would write the PlantUML regex in MDX:

@startregex
^((feature|bugfix|hotfix)\/\p{issue_id}-\p{summary}-\p{date(yyyymmdd)}|revert\/\p{commit_hash})$
@endregex

Rendered visually, it looks like this:

PlantUML diagram

This visualization makes the regex structure easy to understand and facilitates communication within the team.

Other Useful Applications​

PlantUML can also easily create mind maps:

PlantUML diagram

Being text-based, it allows easy diff checking and is highly suitable for version control.

Comparison with Excel Shapes​

In Japan, it is common to use Excel shapes for design documents, but they have several issues:

  • Text within shapes cannot be searched
  • Requires opening Excel to view documents
  • Difficult to manage with Git

Therefore, adopting text-based tools like PlantUML or Mermaid for design management is recommended.

extra​

Docusaurus is the reason why the sidebar title is still in Japanese when displayed in English.

Caused by

https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/issues/8996

There is a workaround, but it's a hassle and I'll wait for it to be resolved.