Procedural flow graph window
The procedural flow graph window draws the Procedural flow graph around a procedure or trigger: the outbound flows, what it calls, runs and raises, or the inbound flows, what reaches it. Use it to see at a glance which code, table operations, events and commits a procedure leads to, or where it is called from. The window title reads Outbound procedural flow-graph or Inbound procedural flow-graph.
Opening it
- In the Object view, select the inbound or the outbound graph button on the immediate insights line above a procedure or trigger.
- Right-click a procedure or trigger and select Show Inbound Procedural Flow-Graph or Show Outbound Procedural Flow-Graph (see the Declaration context menu).
- In Universal Search, choose the same actions on a procedure or trigger.
The workspace needs a code graph, and your license decides whether the commands are offered.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Depth | How many steps from the starting node the graph shows, as a breadth-first search depth. It starts at the greatest depth found; choose a smaller one, or use the arrows, to leave out the nodes farther away. Hidden when every node is at the same depth. |
| 2 | Starting node | The procedure or trigger the graph starts from, highlighted, with the steps leaving it drawn in the accent color. |
| 3 | Procedure | A procedure, marked proc. The line under the name gives the object type, such as COD or TBL, and the object name. |
| 4 | Flow step | An arrow: one step in the procedural flow, such as a call. |
| 5 | Event publisher | An event publisher, marked pub and a lightning symbol. |
| 6 | Table operation | A built-in operation such as Read, Modify or Delete, marked run, with the table under the name. When the operation can run the table's trigger, the word after the name tells whether it does: true, false or maybe. |
| 7 | Table and page trigger events | The events a table operation raises, such as OnBeforeModifyEvent: event publishers framed in yellow. |
| 8 | Event subscriber | A procedure reached from an event publisher: a subscriber to that event. |
| 9 | Trigger run | true after Delete means the operation runs the trigger, so the flow continues to the table's OnDelete trigger, marked trig. An operation that runs a trigger is framed in orange. |
| 10 | Hidden flows | → + on a node means it has outbound flows the graph does not show, because of the depth or the limit on the number of nodes. ← means it has inbound flows that are not shown. |
| 11 | Commit | An explicit Commit the flow reaches, framed in magenta. |
| 12 | Search | Highlights the nodes whose name matches what you type. See Highlight parts of the graph. |
| 13 | Show | What each node shows. See Show options. |
| 14 | Layout | Layout algorithm, edge routing and layer direction. See Layout options. |
| 15 | Save | Saves the graph as an image. See Save the graph. |
The buttons between Layout and Save zoom out, zoom in and fit the graph to the view. Drag the background to pan, and drag a node to move it. Hover over a node for its details.
Show options
| # | Option | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Publisher | Off | Shows the publisher of the node's module. |
| 2 | Name | Off | Shows the name of the node's module. |
| 3 | Version | Off | Shows the version of the node's module. |
| 4 | Custom node cards | On | Draws nodes as cards, as in the screenshot above. Turn it off for plain text labels. |
Publisher, Name and Version are grouped under Module metadata. A change redraws the graph at once, and Prism remembers the options for every procedural flow graph, also after a restart.
Layout options
| # | Option | Default | Other choices |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algorithm | Layered | MDS |
| 2 | Edge routing | Sugiyama splines | Straight line, Spline, Spline bundling, Rectilinear, Rectilinear to center, Smooth curves |
| 3 | Layer direction | Left to right | Right to left, Top to bottom, Bottom to top |
| 4 | Async layout | Off | Lays the graph out in the background, so the window stays responsive while a large graph is laid out. |
A change lays the graph out again at once. The choices last while the window is open.
Node context menu
Right-click a node. Clear Selection and Clear Highlight are also offered when you right-click the background, while there is something to clear.
Highlight parts of the graph
- A node and its neighbors: select a node. The nodes it connects to stay bright and the rest dim. Select it again, or select the background, to undo.
- Nodes by name: type part of a name in Search. Matching nodes are framed in green. Clear the box, or select Clear Selection, to undo.
- A path: right-click a node and select Show Shortest Path.
Save the graph
- Select Save on the toolbar.
- In Save graph to image file, choose a folder and a file name, and select Save.
Prism saves the graph as a PNG at twice the screen resolution, and File Explorer opens with the file selected.