How to Dump Workflows

To help you debug your workflows, you can generate a visual representation of them as SVG or PNG images. First, install any of these free and open source applications needed to generate the images:

  • Graphviz, provides the dot command;
  • PlantUML, provides the plantuml.jar file (which requires Java).

If you are defining the workflow inside a Symfony application, run this command to dump it as an image:

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# using Graphviz's 'dot' and SVG images
$ php bin/console workflow:dump workflow-name | dot -Tsvg -o graph.svg

# using Graphviz's 'dot' and PNG images
$ php bin/console workflow:dump workflow-name | dot -Tpng -o graph.png

# using PlantUML's 'plantuml.jar'
$ php bin/console workflow:dump workflow_name --dump-format=puml | java -jar plantuml.jar -p  > graph.png

# highlight 'place1' and 'place2' in the dumped workflow
$ php bin/console workflow:dump workflow-name place1 place2 | dot -Tsvg -o graph.svg

The DOT image will look like this:

../_images/blogpost.png

The PlantUML image will look like this:

../_images/blogpost_puml.png

If you are creating workflows outside of a Symfony application, use the GraphvizDumper or StateMachineGraphvizDumper class to create the DOT files and PlantUmlDumper to create the PlantUML files:

// Add this code to a PHP script; for example: dump-graph.php
$dumper = new GraphvizDumper();
echo $dumper->dump($definition);

# if you prefer PlantUML, use this code:
# $dumper = new PlantUmlDumper();
# echo $dumper->dump($definition);

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# replace 'dump-graph.php' by the name of your PHP script
$ php dump-graph.php | dot -Tsvg -o graph.svg
$ php dump-graph.php | java -jar plantuml.jar -p  > graph.png

Styling

You can use metadata with the following keys to style the workflow:

  • for places:
    • bg_color: a color;
    • description: a string that describes the state.
  • for transitions:
    • label: a string that replaces the name of the transition;
    • color: a color;
    • arrow_color: a color.

Strings can include \n characters to display the contents in multiple lines. Colors can be defined as:

Below is the configuration for the pull request state machine with styling added.

  • YAML
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    # config/packages/workflow.yaml
framework:
    workflows:
        pull_request:
            type: 'state_machine'
            marking_store:
                type: 'method'
                property: 'currentPlace'
            supports:
                - App\Entity\PullRequest
            initial_marking: start
            places:
                start: ~
                coding: ~
                test: ~
                review:
                    metadata:
                        description: Human review
                merged: ~
                closed:
                    metadata:
                        bg_color: DeepSkyBlue
            transitions:
                submit:
                    from: start
                    to: test
                update:
                    from: [coding, test, review]
                    to: test
                    metadata:
                        arrow_color: Turquoise
                wait_for_review:
                    from: test
                    to: review
                    metadata:
                        color: Orange
                request_change:
                    from: review
                    to: coding
                accept:
                    from: review
                    to: merged
                    metadata:
                        label: Accept PR
                reject:
                    from: review
                    to: closed
                reopen:
                    from: closed
                    to: review
  • XML
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    <!-- config/packages/workflow.xml -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:framework="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/symfony"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services https://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd
        http://symfony.com/schema/dic/symfony https://symfony.com/schema/dic/symfony/symfony-1.0.xsd"
>

    <framework:config>
        <framework:workflow name="pull_request" type="state_machine">
            <framework:marking-store>
                <framework:type>method</framework:type>
                <framework:property>currentPlace</framework:property>
            </framework:marking-store>

            <framework:support>App\Entity\PullRequest</framework:support>

            <framework:initial_marking>start</framework:initial_marking>

            <framework:place>start</framework:place>
            <framework:place>coding</framework:place>
            <framework:place>test</framework:place>
            <framework:place name="review">
                <framework:metadata>
                    <framework:description>Human review</framework:description>
                </framework:metadata>
            </framework:place>
            <framework:place>merged</framework:place>
            <framework:place name="closed">
                <framework:metadata>
                    <framework:bg_color>DeepSkyBlue</framework:bg_color>
                </framework:metadata>
            </framework:place>
            </framework:place>

            <framework:transition name="submit">
                <framework:from>start</framework:from>

                <framework:to>test</framework:to>
            </framework:transition>

            <framework:transition name="update">
                <framework:from>coding</framework:from>
                <framework:from>test</framework:from>
                <framework:from>review</framework:from>

                <framework:to>test</framework:to>

                <framework:metadata>
                    <framework:arrow_color>Turquoise</framework:arrow_color>
                </framework:metadata>
            </framework:transition>

            <framework:transition name="wait_for_review">
                <framework:from>test</framework:from>

                <framework:to>review</framework:to>

                <framework:metadata>
                    <framework:color>Orange</framework:color>
                </framework:metadata>
            </framework:transition>

            <framework:transition name="request_change">
                <framework:from>review</framework:from>

                <framework:to>coding</framework:to>
            </framework:transition>

            <framework:transition name="accept">
                <framework:from>review</framework:from>

                <framework:to>merged</framework:to>

                <framework:metadata>
                    <framework:label>Accept PR</framework:label>
                </framework:metadata>
            </framework:transition>

            <framework:transition name="reject">
                <framework:from>review</framework:from>

                <framework:to>closed</framework:to>
            </framework:transition>

            <framework:transition name="reopen">
                <framework:from>closed</framework:from>

                <framework:to>review</framework:to>
            </framework:transition>

        </framework:workflow>

    </framework:config>
</container>
  • PHP
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    // config/packages/workflow.php
$container->loadFromExtension('framework', [
    // ...
    'workflows' => [
        'pull_request' => [
            'type' => 'state_machine',
            'marking_store' => [
                type: 'method',
                property: 'currentPlace',
            ],
            'supports' => ['App\Entity\PullRequest'],
            'initial_marking' => 'start',
            'places' => [
                'start',
                'coding',
                'test',
                'review' => [
                  'metadata' => [
                      'description' => 'Human review',
                  ],
                ],
                'merged',
                'closed' => [
                  'metadata' => [
                      'bg_color' => 'DeepSkyBlue',
                  ],
                ],
            ],
            'transitions' => [
                'submit'=> [
                    'from' => 'start',
                    'to' => 'test',
                ],
                'update'=> [
                    'from' => ['coding', 'test', 'review'],
                    'to' => 'test',
                    'metadata' => [
                        'arrow_color' => 'Turquoise',
                    ],
                ],
                'wait_for_review'=> [
                    'from' => 'test',
                    'to' => 'review',
                    'metadata' => [
                        'color' => 'Orange',
                    ],
                ],
                'request_change'=> [
                    'from' => 'review',
                    'to' => 'coding',
                ],
                'accept'=> [
                    'from' => 'review',
                    'to' => 'merged',
                    'metadata' => [
                        'label' => 'Accept PR',
                    ],
                ],
                'reject'=> [
                    'from' => 'review',
                    'to' => 'closed',
                ],
                'reopen'=> [
                    'from' => 'start',
                    'to' => 'review',
                ],
            ],
        ],
    ],
]);

The PlantUML image will look like this:

../_images/pull_request_puml_styled.png