To change the styling of our generated diagrams with PlantUML we can use the skinparam command. We can set for example font size, style, color, background colors and much more. We can change the style for a specific element or for the whole diagram. We can even set specific styling options for stereotypes. The settings for the stereotype are then applied to all elements in our diagram with that stereotype. We must append <<stereotype name>> to the skin parameter name.

In the following example PlantUML description we apply custom background colors to each stereotype:

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When we write a PlantUML definition the generated graphical diagram is laid out by PlantUML. In a previous post we learned how to move elements using the length of the connection. But we can also use a together block with all elements that should be at the same level. PlantUML will try to keep the elements together when the diagram is drawn.

In the following sample PlantUML definition we want the PostgresDB and Mail elements to be at the same level, so we group them using a together block:

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By default elements in a PlantUML generated diagram have shadows. To disable shadows we must set the skin parameter shadowing to the value false. PlantUML will then not create shadows on elements.

In the following sample PlantUML definition we use the value false for the skin parameter shadowing:

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The default colors of PlantUML use red and yellow to draw the diagram elements. If we want our diagram to be in black, grey and white we can simply set skin parameter monochrome to true. The generated graphical diagram will now have black, grey and white colors.

In the following sample PlantUML definition we set the diagram skin parameter monochrone to true:

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Drawing diagrams with PlantUML is fun and easy. We use text to describe the diagram and the we get a graphical representation. Especially in combination with Asciidoctor with PlantUML integration we have a winning combination to write technical documentation. Because our text is transformed into a graphical format like PNG we don't have much influence on the layout. There are options to indicate positions of elements, but we can also use the length of lines to influence the position of elements.

In the following sample we have a PlantUML diagram description with standard lines. We use two hyphens (--) to define a line:

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IntelliJ IDEA 2016.3 introduces the option to delegate the IDE build and run actions to Gradle. So if we invoke the Build Project action from the Build menu IntelliJ IDEA invokes the correct tasks using Gradle. Also the Run and Debug actions from the Run menu are executed with Gradle.

If we want this behaviour we need to changed the preferences of IntelliJ IDEA. We must open the preferences dialog window and then go to Build, Execution, Deployment | Build Tools | Gradle | Runner. Here we check the option Delegate IDE build/run actions to gradle and we close the window:

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IntelliJ IDEA 2016.3 re-introduced the Grails view for Grails 3 applications. Grails 2 applications already were supported with a Grails view in IDEA. Using this view we get an overview of all the Grails artifacts like controller, services, views and more. We can easily navigate to the the class files we need. Now this view is also available for Grails 3 applications. To enable the view we must click on the view selector in the project view:

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In a previous post we learned how to create a class that extends RuleSource with methods that define rules on how to create and change objects in the Gradle model space. With the model configuration block in a build file we can also define creation rules for Rule based model configuration.

In the following build file we define a model block and define a creation rule for creating the object versionInfo of type VersionFile. Also we add a new task to the tasks object of type ModelMap<Task>:

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Rule based model configuration in Gradle allows us to have a graph of objects with dependencies that are resolved by Gradle. To make this work Gradle needs to know about the object in this model space. The model space is populated with objects of our own and with objects from Gradle. At time of writing this blog post we can not interact with the Gradle Project object in our rule based model configuration. It is not officially part of the model space. Probably in the future this might change and will the Project object managed by Gradle be part of the model space. Which means we can use then a Project object as input parameter for any rule methods we have. For now the official way to pass project information to the rule based model space is via the model configuration block in our build script. The model configuration block can be used to set properties on objects with values from our Project object.

In the following example we have VersionFile object that is part of the model space.

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Rule based model configuration gives Gradle more knowledge about the objects and their dependencies. This information can be used by Gradle to optimise the build process. We define rules on how we want Gradle to create objects and how we want to mutate objects in a class that extends RuleSource. We can also add rules to validate objects available in the Gradle model space. We use the @Validate annotation on methods that have validation logic. The first argument of the method is of the type of the object we want to validate. This type must be managed by Gradle.

In the following example we use the sample from a previous post. In this sample we have a VersionFile class that is managed by Gradle. The class has a version and outputFile property. The version must be set and must start with a v. The outputFile property is also required.

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Gradle 3.2 deprecates the << operator to add actions to a task. The << operator maps to the leftShift method of a task. This operator confuses a lot people that are new to Gradle. Because without the operator we are configuring a task instead of adding actions. I can tell from experience the mistake is easily made. If we use the << in our build script with Gradle 3.2 we get a warning on the console. The warning message already mentions a solution: use the doLast method to add actions.

In the following example build script we define the task deprecatedSample using the << operator. The other task newSample uses the doLast method to add an action:

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When we use Rule based model configuration in our Gradle project we can give Gradle rules on how to manage objects from the model space. These rules are defined in a class that extends RuleSource. When we want to set some default values for properties of a model object (in Gradle terms this is a subject) we can use the @Defaults annotation. Rules annotated with @Defaults are invoked right after the object is created and before any other methods that can mutate the state of the object.

The method, to set the default values, must have the type of the object as first parameter. Other parameters are considered input parameters and can be used to set a default value based on other model objects.

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