# Activity diagram (ActDiag)

ActDiag declares the flow first and the lanes second, then places every activity in the lane that owns it. That is the whole language.

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## What this example shows

* The flow declared once, as a chain.
* Lanes with display labels.
* An activity that belongs to exactly one lane.

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## A worked example

Open it, edit it, or copy the source below.

![Activity diagram (ActDiag)](https://help.gocapable.com/images/att1424883764.svg)

The source, which you can paste into a new diagram and edit:

```
actdiag {
  request -> approve -> provision -> setup -> welcome;

  lane manager {
    label = "Hiring manager";
    request [label = "Raise request"];
  }
  lane hr {
    label = "People team";
    approve [label = "Approve and contract"];
    welcome [label = "Welcome session"];
  }
  lane it {
    label = "IT";
    provision [label = "Provision accounts"];
    setup [label = "Ship laptop"];
  }
}
```

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## Making it your own

* Declare the flow before the lanes, or the layout comes out strangely.
* An activity in two lanes takes the last one declared.
* More than about five lanes and the diagram stops being readable.

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## Related

[Sequence diagram (SeqDiag)The shortest sequence syntax here.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/sequence-diagram-seqdiag.html)

[Network diagram (NWDiag)Networks as bands, with real addresses.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/network-diagram-nwdiag.html)

[More languagesBack to the rest of these examples.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/more-languages.html)

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_Specialists. Borrow one when you need it._