UML way to display relationships between applications and files

Question

I've got a bunch of applications for generating specific datafiles. These applications often use the output from another application as their input. Overall its quite complex and I would want to create some sort of overview which shows how the applications interact with each other and which files are used as in/output.

As an example here is a fictional non-UML diagram which shows a bit what type of presentation I'm searching:

I wonder if there is an UML diagram type to achieve this?

Answer 1

No, there is not a recognized standard UML model for representing this class of data. However, whilst UML has a strict set of rule, it does not mean that you should not bend them! The only exception is if you are using UML to generate your code, which is not the case here.

I would suggest reviewing the UML structural diagrams to see if any suite your needs. However, having said that, the diagram you have provided is quite clear and un-cluttered, so I would be inclined to go with that!

(Don't use UML just because you think it makes you look smart!)