NAME

perl_graph_usage - generate graph with usage patterns from Perl packages

SYNOPSIS

./gen_graph --inc=lib/ --format=graphviz --output=usage_graph
./gen_graph --nocolor --inc=lib --format=ascii
./gen_graph --recurse=Graph::Easy
./gen_graph --recurse=Graph::Easy --format=graphviz --ext=svg
./gen_graph --recurse=var --format=graphviz --ext=jpg
./gen_graph --recurse=Math::BigInt --skip='^[a-z]+\z'
./gen_graph --use=Graph::Usage::MySubClass --recurse=Math::BigInt

Options:

--color=X		0: uncolored output
			1: default, colorize nodes on how much packages they use
			2: colorize nodes on how much packages use them
--nocolor		Sets color to 0 (like --color=0, no color at all)

--inc=path[,path2,..]	Path to source tree or a single file
			if not specified, @INC from Perl will be used
--recurse=p[,p2,..]	recursively track all packages from package "p"
--skip=regexp		Skip packages that match the given regexp. Example:
			  -skip='^[a-z]+\z'		skip all pragmas
			  -skip='^Math::BigInt\z'	skip only Math::BigInt
			  -skip='^Math'			skip all Math packages

--output		Base-name of the output file, default "usage".
--format		The output format, default "graphviz", valid are:
			  ascii (via Graph::Easy)
			  html (via Graph::Easy)
			  svg (via Graph:Easy)
			  dot (via Graph:Easy)
			  graphviz (see --generator below)
--generator		Feed the graphviz output to this program, default "dot".
			It must be installed and in your path.
--extension		Extension of the output file. For "graphviz" it will
			change the format of the output to produce the appr.
			file type.  For all other formats it will merely set
			the filename extension. It defaults to:
			  Format	Extension
			  ascii		txt
			  html		html
			  svg		svg
			  dot		dot
			  graphviz	png
--flow			The output flows into this direction. Default "south".
			Possible are:
			  north
			  west
			  east
			  south
--versions		include package version number in graph nodes.

--debug			print some timing and statistics info.

Help and version:

--help			print this help and exit
--version		print version and exit

DESCRIPTION

This script traces the usage of Perl packages by other Perl packages from use and require statements and plots the result as a graph.

Due to the nature of the parsing it might miss a few connections, or even generate wrong positives. However, the goal is to provide a map of what packages your module/package really uses. This can be quite different from what the dependency-tree in Makefile.PL states.

TODO

Output formats

Formats rendered via Graph::Easy (HTML, ASCII and SVG) have a few limitations and only work good for small to medium sized graphs.

The output format graphviz is rendered via dot or other programs and can have arbitrary large graphs.

However, for entire source trees like the complete Perl source, the output becomes unlegible and cramped even when using dot.

I hope I can improve this in time.

LICENSE

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms of the GPL version 2. See the LICENSE file for information.

AUTHOR

(c) 2005 by Tels bloodgate.com.