NAME

Makefile::GraphViz - Draw building flowcharts from Makefiles using GraphViz

Table of Contents

• NAME
• VERSION
• SYNOPSIS
• DESCRIPTION
• SAMPLE PICTURES
• INSTALLATION
• The Makefile::GraphViz Class
• METHODS
  • INTERNAL FUNCTIONS
• TODO
• CODE COVERAGE
• SOURCE CONTROL
• BUGS
• SEE ALSO
• AUTHOR
• COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

VERSION

This document describes Makefile::GraphViz 0.21 released on 7 December 2014.

SYNOPSIS

use Makefile::GraphViz;

$parser = Makefile::GraphViz->new;
$parser->parse('Makefile');

# plot the tree rooted at the 'install' goal in Makefile:
$gv = $parser->plot('install');  # A GraphViz object returned.
$gv->as_png('install.png');

# plot the tree rooted at the 'default' goal in Makefile:
$gv = $parser->plot;
$gv->as_png('default.png');

# plot the forest consists of all the goals in Makefile:
$gv = $parser->plot_all;
$gv->as_png('default.png');

# you can also invoke all the methods
# inherited from the Makefile::Parser class:
@targets = $parser->targets;

DESCRIPTION

This module uses Makefile::Parser to render user's Makefiles via the amazing GraphViz module. Before I decided to write this thing, there had been already a CPAN module named GraphViz::Makefile which did the same thing. However, the pictures generated by GraphViz::Makefile is oversimplified in my opinion, so a much complex one is still needed.

For everyday use, the gvmake utility is much more convenient than using this module directly. :)

WARNING This module is highly experimental and is currently at alpha stage, so production use is strongly discouraged right now. Anyway, I have the plan to improve this stuff unfailingly.

For instance, the following makefile

all: foo
all: bar
        echo hallo

any: foo hiya
        echo larry
        echo howdy
any: blah blow

foo:: blah boo
        echo Hi
foo:: howdy buz
        echo Hey

produces the following image via the plot_all method:

<p><img src="http://agentzh.org/misc/multi.png" border=0 alt="image hosted by agentzh.org"/></p>
<p>Image hosted by <a href="http://agentzh.org">agentzh.org</a></p>

Back to TOC

SAMPLE PICTURES

Browse http://search.cpan.org/src/AGENT/Makefile-GraphViz-0.16/samples.html for some sample output graphs.

Back to TOC

INSTALLATION

Prerequisites GraphViz and Makefile::Parser should be installed to your Perl distribution first. Among other things, the GraphViz module needs tools "dot", "neato", "twopi", "circo" and "fdp" from the Graphviz project (http://www.graphviz.org/ or http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/graphviz/). Hence you have to download an executable package of AT&T's Graphviz for your platform or build it from source code yourself.

Back to TOC

The Makefile::GraphViz Class

This class is a subclass inherited from Makefile::Parser. So all the methods (and hence all the functionalities) provided by Makefile::Parser are accessible here. Additionally this class also provides some more methods on its own right.

Back to TOC

METHODS

• $graphviz = plot($target, ...)

  This method is essential to the class. Users invoke this method to plot the specified Makefile target. If the argument is absent, the default target in the Makefile will be used. It will return a GraphViz object, on which you can later call the as_png or as_text method to obtain the final graphical output.

  The argument can both be the target's name and a Makefile::Target object. If the given target can't be found in Makefile, the target will be plotted separately.

  This method also accepts several options.

    $gv = $parser->plot(undef, normal_nodes => ['mytar']);
    $gv = $parser->plot(
        'cmintester',
        exclude  => [qw(
            all hex2bin.exe exe2hex.pl bin2asm.pl
            asm2ast.pl ast2hex.pl cod2ast.pl
        )],
        end_with => [qw(pat_cover.ast pat_cover)],
        normal_nodes => ['pat_cover.ast'],
        vir_nodes => ['pat_cover'],
        trim_mode => 0,
    );
  

  • cmd_style

    This option controls the style of the shell command box. The default appearance for these nodes are gray ellipses.

  • edge_style

    This option's value will be passed directly to GraphViz's add_edge method. It controls the appearance of the edges in the output graph, which is default to red directed arrows.

      $gv = $parser->plot(
          'install',
          edge_style => {
              style => 'dotted',
              color => 'seagreen',
          },
      );
    

  • end_with

    This option takes a list ref as its value. The plot method won't continue to iterate the subtree rooted at entries in the list. It is worth noting that the entries themselves will be displayed as usual. This is the only difference compared to the exclude option.

    Here is an example:

      $gv = $parser->plot(
          'cmintester',
          end_with => [qw(pat_cover.ast pat_cover)],
      );
    

  • exclude

    This option takes a list ref as its value. All the entries in the list won't be displayed and the subtrees rooted at these entries won't be displayed either.

      $parser->plot(
          'clean',
          exclude=>[qw(foo.exe foo.pl)]
      )->as_png('clean.png');
    

  • gv

    This option accepts user's GraphViz object to render the graph.

      $gv = GraphViz->new(width => 30, height => 20,
                          pagewidth => 8.5, pageheight => 11);
      $parser->plot('install', gv => $gv);
      print $gv->as_text;
    

  • init_args

    This option takes a hash ref whose value will be passed to the constructor of the GraphViz class if the option gv is not specified:

      $parser->plot(
          'install',
          init_args => {
              width => 30, height => 20,
              pagewidth => 8.5, pageheight => 11,
          },
      )->as_png('a.png');
    

  • normal_nodes

    The entries in this option's list are forced to be the normal nodes. Normal nodes are defined to be the Makefile targets corresponding to disk files. In contrast, virtual nodes are those Makefile targets with no real files corresponding to them.

  • normal_node_style

    Override the default style for the normal nodes. By default, normal nodes are yellow rectangles with black border.

      $gv = $parser->plot(
          'install',
          normal_node_style => {
             shape => 'circle',
             style => 'filled',
             fillcolor => 'red',
          },
      );
    

  • trim_mode

    When this option is set to a true value, no shell command nodes will be plotted.

  • vir_nodes

    The entries in this option's list are forced to be the virtual nodes. Virtual nodes are those Makefile targets with no real files corresponding to them, which are generally called "phony targets" in the GNU make Manual and "pseudo targets" in MS NMAKE's docs.

  • vir_node_style

    Override the default style for the virtual nodes.

      $gv = $parser->plot(
          'install',
          virtual_node_style => {
             shape => 'box',
             style => 'filled',
             fillcolor => 'blue',
          },
      );
    

    By default, virtual nodes are yellow rectangles with no border.

• $graphviz = $object->plot_all()

  Plot all the (root) goals appeared in the Makefile.

Back to TOC

INTERNAL FUNCTIONS

Internal functions should not be used directly.

• _gen_id

  Generate a unique id for command node.

• _trim_path

  Trim the path to a more readable form.

• _trim_cmd

  Trim the shell command to a more friendly size.

• _find

  If the given element is found in the given list, this function will return 1; otherwise, a false value is returned.

Back to TOC

TODO

• Add support for the various options provided by the plot method to the plot_all method.
• Use Params::Util to check the validity of the method arguments.
• Use the next generation of Makefile::Parser to do the underlying parsing job.

Back to TOC

CODE COVERAGE

I use Devel::Cover to test the code coverage of my tests, below is the Devel::Cover report on this module test suite.

---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
File                           stmt   bran   cond    sub    pod   time  total
---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
.../lib/Makefile/GraphViz.pm  100.0   93.2   71.4  100.0  100.0   61.5   92.1
---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------

Back to TOC

SOURCE CONTROL

For the very latest version of this module, check out the source from the Git repository below:

https://github.com/agentzh/makefile-graphviz-pm

There is anonymous access to all. If you'd like a commit bit, please let me know. :)

Back to TOC

BUGS

Please report bugs or send wish-list to https://github.com/agentzh/makefile-graphviz-pm/issues.

Back to TOC

SEE ALSO

gvmake, GraphViz, Makefile::Parser.

Back to TOC

AUTHOR

Yichun "agentzh" Zhang (章亦春) <[email protected]>

Back to TOC

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (c) 2005-2014 by Yichun "agentzh" Zhang (章亦春).

This module is licensed under the terms of the BSD license.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
• Neither the name of the authors nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Back to TOC