Reverse Engineering Tool

A simplified and accessible alternative to Enterprise Architect for generating UML diagrams from student code.

This project provides an intuitive tool designed to support both instructional review and student learning at MSOE. It streamlines the workflow for faculty and students by making UML diagram generation from Java code straightforward and efficient.

Table of Contents

• Known Issues
• Releases
• Key Technologies
• Getting Started
• Usage
• Examples
• Project Team

Known Issues

• IntelliJ Plugin - This may be broken by newer IntelliJ Platform SDK versions.
• If you want to add a “latest” supported SDK version, uncomment the untilBuild command in line 26 of /modules/intellij-plugin/build.gradle, and specify the desired SDK version.

Releases

This project has automated releases. A release is triggered on a successful commit to the main branch. You may find the latest releases here.

Each automated release provides downloads to the following artifacts:

• reveng-cli.jar: Fat JAR containing the Reverse Engineering CLI Tool

• Reveng CLI JAR

• reveng-desktop.jar: Fat JAR containing the Reverse Engineering Tool desktop app.

• Reveng Desktop JAR

• reveng-desktop.msi: MSI installer for the Reverse Engineering Tool desktop app.

• Reveng Desktop MSI

• reveng-desktop-linux.tar.gz: Linux Reverse Engineering Tool desktop app (app-image).

• Download Linux Desktop (tar.gz)

• reveng-cli-linux.tar.gz: Linux CLI executable (bash wrapper + JAR, useful for GitHub Actions).

• Download Linux CLI (tar.gz)

• reveng-intellij-plugin.zip: ZIP archive containing the IntelliJ IDEA plugin for the Reverse Engineering Tool plugin.

• Reveng IntelliJ Plugin ZIP

NOTE: If you are using a non-Windows system, ensure that Graphviz is installed because it is a required dependency for all release artifacts.

Key Technologies

• Java 21 - Primary programming language
• Gradle 8.14 - Build automation and dependency management
• ANTLR 4.13.1 - Parser generation for code analysis
• PlantUML 1.2024.6 - UML diagram generation from textual descriptions

Basic Flow

This project reads the raw text of inputted code files. The raw text is passed through ANTLR, which uses specific grammar files to creates a parse tree representing the code. We have our own code which visits the parse tree, reading information about classes and their contents from the code. Once we’ve collected this information, we convert that information into a PlantUML file, and run that through PlantUML’s tools to create UML diagrams which we can save, or pass to one of our tools to display to users.

Rejected Alternatives

• Pydot - This is a library for using Graphviz through Python. Rejected due to lacking experience with Python.
• Doxygen - This is a tool designed to help document projects. It needs to be installed for each project, and doesn’t provide the level of customization we desired.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Verify that Java 21 is installed on your system and that the JAVA_HOME environment variable points to it, or that its directory is included in your system PATH

Building the Project

Core Module Build Instructions

Run the following command to build the Core module:

./gradlew modules:core:build

This will build a Fat JAR, located in modules/core/build/libs/.

Run the JAR using:

java -jar modules/core/build/libs/reveng-cli.jar

Desktop App Module Build Instructions

Run the following command to build the Desktop App module:

./gradlew modules:desktop-app:build

This will build a Fat JAR, located in modules/desktop-app/build/libs/.

Run the JAR using:

java -jar modules/desktop-app/build/libs/reveng-desktop.jar

IntelliJ Plugin Module Build Instructions

Run the following command to build the IntelliJ Plugin module:

./gradlew modules:intellij-plugin:buildPlugin

This will create a zip distributable, located in modules/intellij-plugin/build/distributions/.

Install the plugin in IntelliJ:

1. Navigate to Settings >> Plugins >> ⚙ (next to Installed) >> Install Plugin from Disk
2. Select the generated zip.

Test Instructions

We added comprehensive JUnit tests for:

• JavaCodeParserTest — Validates parsing logic for .java files, malformed input handling, and extension checks.
• JavaCodeStructureVisitorTest — Tests the visitor’s ability to detect Java constructs and handle invalid syntax.
• AbstractCodeParserTest — Ensures the abstract parser correctly initializes and manages parsing processes.

To run the unit tests, execute the following command:

./gradlew :modules:core:test

Test Resources

All sample Java files used for testing are located in the src/test/resources directory.

Outcome

All parser-related tests passed successfully, confirming that:

• Parsing behavior is correct and consistent.
• The system handles malformed input safely.
• Directory parsing and invalid input scenarios are managed appropriately.

Running Tests

Testing documentation coming soon.

Running the IntelliJ Plugin

You can run the plugin in a sandbox IntelliJ IDE using any of these methods:

Method 1: From Gradle Tool Window

1. Navigate to View → Tool Windows → Gradle
2. Expand: reveng → Tasks → intellij platform → runIde
3. Double-click runIde

Method 2: From Terminal

./gradlew runIde

For comprehensive plugin documentation, see docs/RUNNING_THE_PLUGIN.md.

Usage

Command Syntax

./reveng <input.java> <output1> [output2...] [outputLocation] [--print]

Parameters

Examples

Generate a PlantUML file

./reveng TestClass.java TestDiagram.puml

Generate a PNG diagram

./reveng TestClass.java TestDiagram.png

Generate multiple outputs with console output

./reveng TestClass.java TestDiagram.puml TestDiagram.png ./output --print

This command generates both PlantUML and PNG files in the ./output folder and prints class details to the console.

Project Team

Product Owner

Jonathon Flynn, Ph.D.
Professor at MSOE
flynn@moe.edu

Spring 2026 Development Team

Fall 2025 Development Team

Important Notes

• Input Java file must contain exactly one public class
• Output folders are created automatically if they don’t exist
• Without the --print flag, only file creation confirmations are displayed

License

License information coming soon.