Capella 7.0.1 Automatic Beautifier - Free one-click diagram auto-layout plugin

[juancar95]

Hi everyone,

I built Capella Beautifier.

Release Capella Beautifier v1.0.1 · juancar95/capella-beautifier

Some time ago,

Effectively beatifying diagrams with automatic functions - HOW?!

I have been trying to understand the different configurations of Capella, to figure out a way to make good looking intuitive models without spending hours on aligning and adjusting lines, ports and the positions of elements. It looks like Sirius has such functionality since they have integrated ELK, but I was unable to find out how and if Sirius can be used for that, in the vanilla Capella software. I tried to download Obeo Community Designer, but I was unable to run it (both on Mac and windows.…

discussed how to effectively beautify Capella diagrams automatically. The discussion pointed towards
ELK Layered as the way to go, and projects like

GitHub - open-modeling/CapellaLayoutPatch: Patch for Capella to add ELK layouts for diagrams.

showed it was possible by modifying .odesign files.

I took a different approach and built Capella Beautifier, a completely standalone plugin that does not modify any Capella internal files. No .odesign patching, no JAR replacements, no risk. It injects the
ELK configuration programmatically at runtime.

What it does

Two new buttons appear in your diagram toolbar: Beautify H (horizontal) and Beautify V (vertical).
Click one and your diagram is instantly rearranged with optimized ELK Layered settings, tight spacing, orthogonal routing, hierarchical container layout, and automatic node sizing to fit label text.

Works on every diagram type: SAB, LAB, PAB, SDFB, OAB, and more. Works on existing diagrams you already have and on new ones you create. Full Ctrl+Z support to undo if you prefer the original layout.

Installation takes less than 10 seconds

1. Download the ZIP from Releases · juancar95/capella-beautifier · GitHub
2. Drop the JAR into your dropins/ folder
3. Copy the ELK plugins to your plugins/ folder (included in the package)
4. Restart Capella → done

No configuration needed. No setup wizards. No dependencies to install manually.

The same JAR works on
macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Results

Hope you can try it and use it in your daily work, and also collaborate in this project with me!

BR,

Juancar.

[Christian]

Hi,
your beautifier works well, but it seems to modify my ports as well:

BR

Christian

[juancar95]

whooops! are you using v1.0.1 ? can you share with me an .aird example to fix that? my email is juancarlopezcalvo@gmail.com

[juancar95]

An example .aird file, if you have one, that doesn’t compromise your work (i.e., nothing non-public/confidential) and that you can share with me—thanks!

[Mojojojo]

Autolayer.aird (103.0 KB)
@juancar95 I got the same issue. Ports are also changing.

[Mojojojo]

One more thing, the layout is not that effective. Can I change parameters for the layout? Are you using the ELK in background?
This is the diagram from context diagram auto layout which is much cleaner and the second screen shot us from your script.

[juancar95]

Hi Mojojojo, thanks for sharing, Its a problem that only happens in windows, not in mac, i am trying to solve it, next release is going to be availbale in a few minutes

mac

windows

Did u install the full-version with the ELK jar right?

(please also feel free to create a branch in repo with any changes you consider needed )

[juancar95]

i am also seeing that in mac auto layout works perfectly but not in windows, i am fixing that too

[juancar95]

Hi @Mojojojo @Christian bug is already fixed in the latest release, could you try it please?

• Physical ports OK
• Diagrams layout improvements

Release v1.0.2 — Fix Windows layout · juancar95/capella-beautifier

(install the different elk .jar in the full zip in case u dont have them or replace again if u want, but only replacing plugin jar should work, BUT i recommend full option)

test in windows:

before

after

BR,
Juancar.

[Mojojojo]

@juancar95 Thanks for the update. Its working at my end. thank you so much.

[juancar95]

@Mojojojo I’m glad to hear that, thank you very much for the feedback.

[tiago]

Hello @juancar95 ,

Is this feature also available for Capella version 7.0.0?

Best regards,

Tiago

[juancar95]

Hi @tiago,

Let me test it this afternoon, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow with a new release if there are any compatibility issues, so you can use it with version 7.0.0.

I will keep you updated in this same thread

Thanks!

[juancar95]

Hi @tiago ,

The new release v1.0.3 is now published and available, with support for Capella 7.0.0 and 7.0.1:

I’ve tested it on macOS with different diagrams in Logical Architecture (LA) and Physical Architecture ¶, including undo with Ctrl+Z, and everything worked well.

I haven’t been able to test it on Windows yet, so if you could try it and share your feedback, that would be a great help. Please download the full package matching your Capella version.

Release v1.0.3 — Capella 7.0.0 and 7.0.1 support · juancar95/capella-beautifier

Thanks for your patience!

[tiago]

Hello!

Thank you for such a quick response and update! I have just tried to use it in Windows and the “Beautify H” and “Beautify V” buttons appear on my screen, which didn’t happen yesterday with your previous version. However, when I click them, nothing happen… the diagrams remain the same.

Could you please look into that?

Thanks again!

Best regards,

Tiago

[juancar95]

Hi @tiago ,

Thanks for testing it and reporting this!

I’ve now tested it on Windows using the Capella example project, and the diagrams I usually test worked correctly there. Could you help me narrow down what happens in your case?

• Do both buttons do nothing on every diagram, or only on specific ones? Which diagram types have you tried (SAB, LAB, PAB, etc.)?
• Which exact Capella version and Beautifier ZIP package are you using?
• Could you check that there is only one Beautifier JAR installed, in dropins, with no older copy remaining in either dropins or plugins, and that all dependency JARs from the matching full ZIP were copied into plugins?

There is a known limitation affecting some complex PAB diagrams with deeply nested deployed components, so the particular diagram structure might also be relevant.

If any messages appear in Capella’s Error Log after clicking a button, please share them. A screenshot would also help. If you’re allowed to share a small, anonymized example project containing no confidential information, that would be especially useful to reproduce and investigate the issue.

Thanks again for your help!

Best regards,
Juancar.

[juancar95]

If you can also try with the example project from capella let me know

[tiago]

Hey!

I found the issue, I had a plugin from the version 1.0.2 that was probably overwriting the one that I pasted from version 1.0.3. So, all good for now! I will not use this feature just yet, but in a few days/weeks I might get back to you with some feedback if I notice something is off.

Thanks a lot

Best regards,

Tiago

[juancar95]

Hi,

Thanks for the update! Glad to hear that removing the old version resolved the issue.

Whenever you get a chance to use it, any feedback would be very welcome. Feel free to come back to this thread if you notice anything unexpected.

Thanks again for testing it on Windows!

Best regards,
Juancar.

[reinahamzeh]

Hello @juancar95
Is this plugin available for Capella 7.1.0?
Thanks in advance,
Reina