diff --git a/scripts/ax_init_standard_project.m4 b/scripts/ax_init_standard_project.m4
index bb19163..e8e1944 100644
--- a/scripts/ax_init_standard_project.m4
+++ b/scripts/ax_init_standard_project.m4
@@ -543,11 +543,22 @@ AC_DEFUN([AX_USE_SCRIPTS], [
   AC_CONFIG_FILES([scripts/makefile])
 ])
 
+# use this in configure.ac to support PlantUML in Doxygen generation
+AC_DEFUN([AX_USE_PLANTUML], [
+])
+
 # use this in configure.ac to support Doxygen documentation generation
 AC_DEFUN([AX_USE_DOXYGEN], [
   AC_CHECK_PROG(have_doxygen, doxygen, yes, no)
   AC_CHECK_PROG(have_dot, dot, yes, no)
   AC_CHECK_PROG(have_mscgen, mscgen, yes, no)
+  if test -f "${srcdir}/doc/plantuml.jar"; then
+    PLANTUML="doc/plantuml.jar"
+    AX_SUBST(PLANTUML)
+  else
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([NOT FOUND ac_top_srcdir=${ac_top_srcdir} top_srcdir=${top_srcdir} srcdir=${srcdir}])
+  fi
+  AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_PLANTUML, test -n "$PLANTUML")
   PDF_DOC=${PACKAGE_NAME}-${PACKAGE_VERSION}.pdf
   AC_SUBST(PDF_DOC)
   if test "$have_doxygen" = "no"; then
@@ -569,17 +580,26 @@ AC_DEFUN([AX_USE_DOXYGEN], [
   AX_ADD_MAKEFILE_TARGET_DEP([install-data-am], [install-data-documentation], [doc/makefile.in])
   AX_ADD_MAKEFILE_TARGET_DEP([uninstall-am], [uninstall-documentation], [doc/makefile.in])
   AX_ADD_MAKEFILE_TARGET_DEP([all], [doc], [doc/makefile.in])
-  AX_ADD_MAKEFILE_TARGET_DEP([.PHONY], [pdf], [doc/makefile.in])
+  AX_ADD_MAKEFILE_TARGET_DEP([.PHONY], [pdf images], [doc/makefile.in])
   test -f doc/makefile.in && cat >> doc/makefile.in <<EOF
 #### Begin: Appended by $0
-doc: doxyfile
+doc: doxyfile @HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@ gen-uml-images
 	doxygen doxyfile
 @PEDANTIC_TRUE@	test \! -s doxygen.errors
 
+@HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@gen-uml-images:
+@HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@	test -d gen-uml-images || mkdir gen-uml-images
+@HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@	eval \$\$(sed -n 's, *INPUT *\\(+\\?\\)= *\\(.*\\),INPUT\\1=" \\2",gp' doxyfile); \\
+@HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@	eval \$\$(sed -n 's, *FILE_PATTERNS *\\(+\\?\\)= *\\(.*\\),FILE_PATTERNS\\1=" \\2",gp' doxyfile); \\
+@HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@	SOURCES="**.("\$\$(echo \$\${FILE_PATTERNS} | sed 's,*.,,g;s, ,|,g')")"; \\
+@HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@	for src in \$\$INPUT; do \\
+@HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@	  java  -Djava.awt.headless=true -jar \${top_srcdir}/\${PLANTUML} -v -o \$\$(pwd)/gen-uml-images "\$\$src/\$\$SOURCES"; \\
+@HAVE_PLANTUML_TRUE@	done
+
 clean-documentation:
 	-rm doxygen.errors @PDF_DOC@
 distclean-documentation:
-	-rm -r html
+	-rm -r html gen-uml-images
 	-rm  @PACKAGE_NAME@.doxytag
 maintainer-clean-documentation:
 	-rm makefile.in
diff --git a/scripts/bootstrap.sh b/scripts/bootstrap.sh
index 4eae47d..e9f70d6 100755
--- a/scripts/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/scripts/bootstrap.sh
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ GENERATED FILES
     * doc/header.html.in - if you enabled AX_USE_DOXYGEN
     * doc/footer.html.in - if you enabled AX_USE_DOXYGEN
     * doc/style.css - if you enabled AX_USE_DOXYGEN
+    * doc/plantuml.jar - if you enable AX_USE_PLANTUML
     * test/makefile.am - if you enabled AX_USE_CPPUNIT and AX_USE_CXX
     * test/${DEFAULT_PROJECT_NAME#lib}.cxx - if you enabled AX_BUILD_TEST or AX_USE_CPPUNIT
     * examples/makefile.am - if you enabled AX_BUILD_EXAMPLES
@@ -242,6 +243,11 @@ FILES
       * Enable LibTool library creation: AX_USE_LIBTOOL
       * Enable Scripts: AX_USE_SCRIPTS
       * Enable Doxygen documentation generation: AX_USE_DOXYGEN
+      * Enable PlantUML for Doxygen: AX_USE_PLANTUML
+          Example, add in doxygen documentation:
+                @startuml{overview.png}
+                Alice -> Bob: test
+                @enduml
       * Enable Debian packaging by calling "make deb": AX_USE_DEBIAN_PACKAGING
       * Enable RPM packaging by calling "make rpm": AX_USE_RPM_PACKAGING
       * Enable C++ testing using CppUnit: AX_USE_CPPUNIT
@@ -439,6 +445,9 @@ copy() {
             source="${0%/*}/$1"
         fi
     fi
+    if test "${1%/*}" != "$1"; then
+        test -d "${1%/*}" || svn mkdir "${1%/*}"
+    fi
     run cp "${source}" "$1"
     if test $exists -eq 0; then
         if test -n "${VCS}" -a $novcs -eq 0 && ! contains "$1" "${excludevcs[@]}"; then
@@ -546,6 +555,7 @@ AX_INIT_STANDARD_PROJECT
 #AX_USE_LIBTOOL
 #AX_USE_SCRIPTS
 #AX_USE_DOXYGEN
+#AX_USE_PLANTUML
 #AX_USE_DEBIAN_PACKAGING
 #AX_USE_RPM_PACKAGING
 #AX_USE_CPPUNIT
@@ -965,6 +975,9 @@ to --condition AX_USE_DOXYGEN doc/style.css <<EOF
   margin: 0;
 }
 EOF
+if testtag AX_USE_PLANTUML; then
+    copy doc/plantuml.jar
+fi
 if testtag AX_USE_DOXYGEN; then
     if ! checkfile doc/doxyfile.in || \
         contains doc/doxyfile.in "${rebuildfiles[@]}"; then
@@ -994,6 +1007,11 @@ if testtag AX_USE_DOXYGEN; then
         doxyadd ALIASES '"description=@DESCRIPTION@"'
         doxyadd ALIASES '"readme=@README_HTML@"'
         doxyadd ALIASES '"author=<a href="@AUTHOR_URL@" target="_blank">@AUTHOR_NAME@</a>"'
+        if testtag AX_USE_PLANTUML; then
+            doxyadd ALIASES '"startuml{1}=\\image html \\1\\n\\image latex \\1\\n\\if DontIgnorePlantUMLCode"'
+            doxyadd ALIASES '"enduml=\\endif"'
+            doxyadd IMAGE_PATH '"gen-uml-images"'
+        fi
         doxyreplace ENABLE_PREPROCESSING YES
         doxyreplace MACRO_EXPANSION YES
         doxyadd PREDEFINED '"NAMESPACE=@PACKAGE_NAME@"'
@@ -1067,7 +1085,7 @@ if testtag AX_USE_DEBIAN_PACKAGING; then
 
  -- @AUTHOR@  @BUILD_DATE@
 EOF
-    BUILD_DEPENDS="debhelper, ${VCSDEPENDS} pkg-config, automake, libtool, autotools-dev, pandoc, lsb-release $(if testtag AX_USE_DOXYGEN; then echo -n ", doxygen, graphviz, mscgen"; fi; if testtag AX_USE_CPPUNIT; then echo -n ", libcppunit-dev"; fi; if testtag AX_CXX_QT || testtag AX_CHECK_QT AX_REQUIRE_QT; then echo -n ", qt5-default | libqt4-core | libqtcore4, qt5-qmake | qt4-qmake, qtbase5-dev | libqt4-dev, qtbase5-dev-tools | qt4-dev-tools, qttools5-dev-tools | qt4-dev-tools, qttools5-dev-tools | qt4-dev-tools"; fi)"
+    BUILD_DEPENDS="debhelper, ${VCSDEPENDS} pkg-config, automake, libtool, autotools-dev, pandoc, lsb-release $(if testtag AX_USE_DOXYGEN; then echo -n ", doxygen, graphviz, mscgen"; fi; if testtag AX_USE_PLANTUML; then echo -n ", default-jre-headless|default-jre"; fi; if testtag AX_USE_CPPUNIT; then echo -n ", libcppunit-dev"; fi; if testtag AX_CXX_QT || testtag AX_CHECK_QT AX_REQUIRE_QT; then echo -n ", qt5-default | libqt4-core | libqtcore4, qt5-qmake | qt4-qmake, qtbase5-dev | libqt4-dev, qtbase5-dev-tools | qt4-dev-tools, qttools5-dev-tools | qt4-dev-tools, qttools5-dev-tools | qt4-dev-tools"; fi)"
     to debian/control.in <<EOF
 Source: @PACKAGE_NAME@
 Priority: extra
@@ -1141,7 +1159,11 @@ BuildRoot: %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}-root
 BuildRequires: gnupg, ${VCSDEPENDS} make, automake, autoconf, rpm-build$(
     if testtag AX_USE_DOXYGEN; then
       echo -n ", doxygen";
-    fi)
+    fi
+    if testtag AX_USE_PLANTUML; then
+      echo -n ", default-jre-headless";
+    fi
+)
 %if 0%{?fedora} != 20
 $(if testtag AX_USE_DOXYGEN; then echo -n "BuildRequires: graphviz"; fi)
 %endif
diff --git a/scripts/doc/plantuml.jar b/scripts/doc/plantuml.jar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9502c23
Binary files /dev/null and b/scripts/doc/plantuml.jar differ