Standard UML file format

Question

I have designed UML diagrams in different tools (StarUML, BoUML, Papyrus, Omondo, Rational Rose, etc.) depending on the project and the date (rose was first, after Omondo, then starUMl, ..., now papyrus). However, I see that I cannot open my old UML diagrams because the tool is obsolete.

I would like to know if there is a standard format for UML diagrams. Probably not in production, but at least to know if there is proposal of standard format.

Probably, Eclipse is doing something like that with the M2 project, but do the other tools (not eclipse based) are interested in reading this format.?

Each UML tool uses its own format, but I think the era of proprietary format is over, and open format for diagrams like this should exist.

Answer 1

I have two answers to this:

• In theory the standard exchange format for UML models is XMI but it´s true that each vendor implements a slightly different version so interchange is not a reality. Nevertheless, most tools are converging to at least support the Eclipse MDT-UML2 XMI implementation which in my opinion is becoming de facto XMI standard.

• The OMG is working on a new standard : Diagram Definition that is supposed to fix the problems with the current XMI one (they are working a lot with many of the top vendors to make sure that this time they all go in the same direction) and, also important, it will allow to interchange not only the data (i.e. the info about the model elements) but also the layout and graphical representation so that after the import you get a model exactly as the same you exported in the first place

Answer 2

Have you heard of XMI?

@JordiCabot here adds some interesting details about it.

Answer 3

Besides Jordi's reference to the Diagram Definition standardization activity, please note that there is another action ongoing from OMG: a request for comments has been issued in June 2011 for a CANONICAL XMI format, which is basically a subset and a set of additional rules for writing XMI documents that should limit the possibility of creating different XMI dialects, or at least should allow tools to understand a common dialect (the canonical one).