Tesseract is a domain-specific language to model software architecture. It can describe software design blocks and relationships, helps writing down specifications and architecture documentation.
npm install pluce/tesseract will install locally, add a symbolic link to the tesseract.js file in your $PATH to use it everywhere.
A command-line interface is provided in order to:
- browse the model (query objects)
- generate HTML documentation (needs python+pip installed)
- check validity of the model
- read a scenario
Use tesseract -h to read help.
A Tesseract model is a bunch of YAML files in a folder, or just a single YAML file. Use --project option of the CLI to tell where is your model. Please ensure your files describing objects have .defs.yml suffix.
Cannot browse folder recursively yet
Every part of the model is an Object. An Object is always described like this:
kind: KindOfObject
name: UniqueNameOfTheObject
notes: |
A description of the Object, can be a long text if you use YAML notation
todo: An optional TODO field, used in the 'tesseract todos' command
spec:
# This is the specification of the object, fields will vary depending on object kind
key: valueLet me describe each supported Kind at the moment.
These objects are basic building block of software. They can be anything like a code class, a worker, a microservice, an API... anything that belongs to the software you're designing.
To design a sub-component, add a field in the sub-component spec inside: MyParentComponentName.
These objects are software actors outside your scope. You describes them only to have a complete overview of your environment. It can be a SaaS, an API, etc.
These objects represent messages sent asynchronously between Components or ExternalServices, typically through a message bus or ESB.
These objects represent a description of the system behaviour. It describes step-by-step the resolution of a use case.
These objects are functional or technical requirements of the system.
Some samples are available in the samples directory. You may try them easily:
npm install -g serve
tesseract -p samples/slock.yml doc && serve docs