dumping-workflows.rst

.. index::
    single: Workflow; Dumping Workflows

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;
• Mermaid CLI, provides the mmdc command;
• PlantUML, provides the plantuml.jar file (which requires Java).

.. versionadded:: 5.3

    The ``mermaid`` dump format was introduced in Symfony 5.3.

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

# 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

# using Mermaid.js CLI
$ php bin/console workflow:dump workflow_name --dump-format=mermaid | mmdc -o graph.svg

The DOT image will look like this:

The Mermaid image will look like this:

The PlantUML image will look like this:

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);

# 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:

• a color name from PlantUML's color list;
• an hexadecimal color (both #AABBCC and #ABC formats are supported).

Note

The Mermaid dumper does not support coloring the arrow heads with arrow_color as there is no support in Mermaid for doing so.

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

.. configuration-block::

    .. code-block:: yaml

        # 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

    .. code-block:: xml

        <!-- 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: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>

    .. code-block:: php

        // config/packages/workflow.php
        use Symfony\Config\FrameworkConfig;

        return static function (FrameworkConfig $framework) {
            // ...
            $pullRequest = $framework->workflows()->workflows('pull_request');

            $pullRequest
                ->type('state_machine')
                ->supports(['App\Entity\PullRequest'])
                ->initialMarking(['start']);

            $pullRequest->markingStore()
                ->type('method')
                ->property('currentPlace');

            $pullRequest->place()->name('start');
            $pullRequest->place()->name('coding');
            $pullRequest->place()->name('test');
            $pullRequest->place()
                ->name('review')
                ->metadata(['description' => 'Human review']);
            $pullRequest->place()->name('merged');
            $pullRequest->place()
                ->name('closed')
                ->metadata(['bg_color' => 'DeepSkyBlue',]);

            $pullRequest->transition()
                ->name('submit')
                    ->from(['start'])
                    ->to(['test']);

            $pullRequest->transition()
                ->name('update')
                    ->from(['coding', 'test', 'review'])
                    ->to(['test'])
                    ->metadata(['arrow_color' => 'Turquoise']);

            $pullRequest->transition()
                ->name('wait_for_review')
                    ->from(['test'])
                    ->to(['review'])
                    ->metadata(['color' => 'Orange']);

            $pullRequest->transition()
                ->name('request_change')
                    ->from(['review'])
                    ->to(['coding']);

            $pullRequest->transition()
                ->name('accept')
                    ->from(['review'])
                    ->to(['merged'])
                    ->metadata(['label' => 'Accept PR']);

            $pullRequest->transition()
                ->name('reject')
                    ->from(['review'])
                    ->to(['closed']);

            $pullRequest->transition()
                ->name('accept')
                    ->from(['closed'])
                    ->to(['review']);
        };

The PlantUML image will look like this: