PlantUML network, Archimate, Ditaa diagrams — three special architectural views

puml.online
  2026-07-29 15:55 2026-07-29 15:55 Created   2026-08-14 21:34:29 2026-08-14 21:34:29 Updated    

Beyond standard UML, PlantUML draws three special-purpose diagrams: network topologies, Archimate enterprise architecture, Ditaa ASCII-to-SVG. These three cover many scenarios that standard UML class/component diagrams can’t.

Network diagrams

IT infrastructure topology: servers, routers, firewalls, switches, load balancers.

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@startuml
nwdiag {
  network DMZ {
    address = "10.0.0.0/24"
    router [address = "10.0.0.1"];
    proxy [address = "10.0.0.2"];
    web1 [address = "10.0.0.10"];
    web2 [address = "10.0.0.11"];
    api1 [address = "10.0.0.20"];
  }
  network INTERNAL {
    address = "10.0.1.0/24"
    db1 [address = "10.0.1.10"];
    cache1 [address = "10.0.1.20"];
    queue1 [address = "10.0.1.30"];
  }
  router -- proxy;
  proxy -- web1;
  proxy -- web2;
  web1 -- api1;
  web2 -- api1;
  api1 -- db1;
  api1 -- cache1;
  api1 -- queue1;
}
@enduml

Key syntax:

  • nwdiag { ... } starts a network diagram
  • network X { address = "..." } defines a subnet
  • node_name [address = "..."] declares a node
  • -- represents direct network link

Grouping nodes

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@startuml
nwdiag {
  network dc1 {
    address = "10.0.0.0/16"
    router1 [address = "10.0.0.1"]
    rack01 [address = "10.0.0.10", title = "app-rack-01"]
    rack02 [address = "10.0.0.11", title = "app-rack-02"]
  }
  
  group application {
    color = "#FFE4B5"
    web01 [address = "10.0.0.100"];
    web02 [address = "10.0.0.101"];
    apiserver1 [address = "10.0.0.110"];
  }
  
  router1 -- rack01 -- web01;
  router1 -- rack01 -- apiserver1;
}
@enduml

group clusters nodes with a shared color.

Archimate

Enterprise architecture modeling. PlantUML supports the archimate keyword:

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@startuml
title Business architecture

archimate #Business "Customer"
archimate #Business "Operations"
archimate #Business "Order processing"
archimate #Business "Payment processing"
archimate #Application "Order system"
archimate #Application "Payment gateway"
archimate #Application "Risk control"
archimate #Data "Order database"

Customer --> Order processing
Operations --> Order processing
Order processing --> Payment processing

Order processing -- Order system
Payment processing -- Payment gateway
Payment processing -- Risk control
Order system -- Order database

@enduml

Layers:

  • #Business — business processes, actors, roles
  • #Application — systems, services, components
  • #Data — databases, tables, files
  • #Technology — infrastructure
  • #Motivation — goals, principles
  • #Strategy — capabilities

Combined view:

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@startuml
title TOGAF business capability map

archimate #Business "Customer mgmt"
archimate #Business "Order mgmt"
archimate #Business "Payment mgmt"
archimate #Business "Inventory mgmt"

archimate #Application "Web frontend"
archimate #Application "API gateway"
archimate #Application "Order service"
archimate #Application "Payment service"
archimate #Application "Inventory service"

archimate #Data "User DB"
archimate #Data "Order DB"
archimate #Data "Payment DB"

archimate #Technology "AWS Cloud"
archimate #Technology "PostgreSQL"
archimate #Technology "Kafka"

Customer mgmt -.-> Web frontend
Order mgmt -.-> API gateway
Payment mgmt -.-> API gateway

API gateway -- Order service
API gateway -- Payment service
Order service -- Inventory service

Order service -- Order DB
Payment service -- Payment DB

Order DB -. PostgreSQL
Order DB -. AWS Cloud

@enduml

-.-> is the “realization” relation (business realized by application).

Ditaa ASCII-to-SVG

Ditaa converts ASCII drawings to SVG. PlantUML supports it:

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@startditaa
           +---------------+
           |               |
           |   Client      |
           |               |
           +---------------+
                  |
                  v
           +---------------+
           |               |
           |    Server     |
           |               |
           +---------------+
                  |
       +----------+----------+
       |          |          |
       v          v          v
  +--------+ +--------+ +--------+
  | Redis  | |  MySQL | |KafkaMQ |
  +--------+ +--------+ +--------+

@endditaa

ASCII rules:

  • + - | are box lines
  • :label: puts text on the box
  • Color tags cRED, cBLU, etc. fill backgrounds
  • {io}, {tr}, {di}, {ds} control alignment

Real: data-flow diagram

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@startditaa
  +--------------+        +---------------+
  |  Browser     | HTTPS  |  LoadBalancer |
  |  Client      +------->+  (ALB)        |
  +--------------+        +-------+-------+
                                   |
                          +--------+--------+
                          |                 |
                  +-------v------+  +-------v------+
                  | Web Server   |  | Web Server   |
                  | (nginx)      |  | (nginx)      |
                  +-------+------+  +-------+------+
                          |                 |
                          +--------+--------+
                                   |
                          +--------v--------+
                          |  App Server     |
                          |  (Go service)   |
                          +---+------+------+
                              |      |
                  +-----------+      +-----------+
                  |                                  |
            +-----v------+                  +------v-----+
            | PostgreSQL |                  |   Redis    |
            | (primary)  |                  |  (cache)   |
            +------------+                  +------------+

@endditaa

ASCII looks crude but the advantage is zero learning curve — every editor handles plain text, edit anywhere.

Color and alignment

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+-------+
|  cRED | {tr}
|       |
| cBLU  | {c}
|       | {tl}
+-------+

Network vs Archimate vs Ditaa

Scenario Pick
IT physical topology network
Enterprise architecture / TOGAF / business capabilities Archimate
Crude ASCII-style sketches Ditaa
Microservice internals (fine-grained components) component / deployment
Flow / state / sequence sequence / activity / state

All three share the PlantUML output (SVG, diffable in git).

Real example: enterprise architecture landscape

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@startuml
title Full landscape

' Business
archimate #Business "Customer"
archimate #Business "Marketing"
archimate #Business "Shopping"
archimate #Business "Order"

' Application
archimate #Application "Web frontend"
archimate #Application "Order service"
archimate #Application "Payment service"
archimate #Application "Inventory service"
archimate #Application "Recommendation"

' Data
archimate #Data "Order DB"
archimate #Data "User DB"
archimate #Data "Product DB"

' Technology
archimate #Technology "Kubernetes"
archimate #Technology "PostgreSQL"
archimate #Technology "Kafka"

' Business relations
Marketing -. Shopping
Shopping -. Order

' Business to Application
Customer -- Web frontend
Shopping -- Web frontend
Web frontend -. Order service
Web frontend -. Recommendation
Order service -. Payment service
Order service -. Inventory service

' Application to Data
Order service -- Order DB
Web frontend -- User DB
Recommendation -- Product DB

' Application to Technology
Order service -. Kubernetes
Payment service -. Kubernetes
Order DB -. PostgreSQL

@enduml

Network example: small data center

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@startuml
nwdiag {
  network internet {
    address = "public"
    user [shape = "actor"]
  }

  network edge {
    address = "public IP block"
    firewall [address = "1.1.1.1"]
  }

  network dmz {
    address = "10.0.0.0/24"
    nginx [address = "10.0.0.10"]
    lb [address = "10.0.0.11"]
  }
  
  network cluster {
    address = "10.0.1.0/24"
    pod1 [address = "10.0.1.10"]
    pod2 [address = "10.0.1.11"]
    db1 [address = "10.0.1.100"]
  }

  user -- firewall;
  firewall -- nginx;
  nginx -- lb;
  lb -- pod1;
  lb -- pod2;
  pod1 -- db1;
  pod2 -- db1;
}
@enduml

Anti-patterns

1. Network — only one layer shown

A real environment has at minimum five layers: CDN, firewall, load balancer, app, DB. One layer doesn’t convey enough.

2. Archimate — all nodes on one diagram

Stacking business + application + data + technology in one image gets cluttered. Split into 2-3 diagrams, one per layer.

3. Ditaa — use it for everything

Ditaa is simple but limited: boxes and lines. It can’t express actors, use cases, association arrows. Use PlantUML standard diagrams for richer logic.

Review checklist

Network

  • Subnet addresses and node IPs labeled?
  • Topology layered — edge -> firewall -> app -> data?
  • Node names consistent?

Archimate

  • Correct layer used?
  • Business layer lightest?
  • Application layer ≤ 20 nodes?

Ditaa

  • ASCII box lines aligned?
  • Colors not overused?
  • ≤ 12 nodes per diagram?
  • Title: PlantUML network, Archimate, Ditaa diagrams — three special architectural views
  • Author: puml.online
  • Created at : 2026-07-29 15:55:00
  • Updated at : 2026-08-14 21:34:29
  • Link: https://puml.online/blog/plantuml-network-archimate-ditaa-en/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
On this page
PlantUML network, Archimate, Ditaa diagrams — three special architectural views
  1. Network diagrams
    1. Grouping nodes
  2. Archimate
  3. Ditaa ASCII-to-SVG
    1. Real: data-flow diagram
    2. Color and alignment
  4. Network vs Archimate vs Ditaa
  5. Real example: enterprise architecture landscape
  6. Network example: small data center
  7. Anti-patterns
    1. 1. Network — only one layer shown
    2. 2. Archimate — all nodes on one diagram
    3. 3. Ditaa — use it for everything
  8. Review checklist
    1. Network
    2. Archimate
    3. Ditaa