Directed Graph Builder

Utilities for building useful directed graphs images from Java code, Java artifacts, or call stacks of running threads.

This project contains utilities for

BUILDING

• Directed graphs - Primarily graphviz files (but also Gephi (gefx) or TGF files)

FROM

• Java code,
• Java artifacts like runtime Spring configuration,
• Call Stacks of Running Threads,
• (Maybe other sources soon.)

WHY

Because the ability to quickly navigate and understand a large software system is essential.

Sample Output Fragment

(Shrunken to protect the guilty.)

http://directedgraphbuilder.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/spring-context-example.png

(This link to this image likes to break. But trust me, the generated diagram for a project with a dozen spring context files hundreds of configured beans looks pretty good and is really useful for understanding the architecture of a system.)

Sample Usage

Can be used to aid generating Graphviz files (that are reasonably-well laid out and colored) from within Java code:

(new Graph()).addEdge("hello", "world").save("helloworld.dot");

See HowToUseGraphJava for more detail usage and examples.

Can be used to generate Graphviz files from runtime spring configuration:

<bean id="graphvizPostProcessor" class="com.directedgraphbuilder.GraphvizPostProcessor"/>

Each node and edge is clustered and colored based on what spring configuration file defines it.

Can be used to generate Graphviz files from executing threads.

    CallGraphBuilder b = new CallGraphBuilder();
    b.add(Thread.currentThread().getStackTrace());     
    Graph g = b.buildGraph();

Alternatively, CallGraphBuilder can also manage the Graph (in a ThreadLocal variable)

    CallGraphBuilder.start();
    CallGraphBuilder.capture();
    Graph g = CallGraphBuilder.stop();
    g.save();

==To Build==

    mvn clean install