Overview

PomGrapher visualizes multi-module and parent-child relationships of Maven projects (POMs).
Useful if you need a quick overview of a non-trivial multi-module project.
PomGrapher does not look into artefact dependencies, use other tools like maven-reporting or m2eclipse to understand artefact dependeny.

Output

Here is an excerpt of the structure of Apache Geronimo:

Black lines denote sub-modules,
orange lines denote parent project (inheritance) relations.

Here is the full output:
apache-geronimo.pdf

Usage

1. Get PomGrapher.jar (look right)
2. Get GraphViz
3. Run it:

usage: java -jar pomgrapher....jar  -b <base directory> [-c] [-h] [-o
       <file>] [-p]
 -b,--base <base directory>   base directory of project containing root
                              pom.xml
 -c,--concentrate             concentrate graph edges
 -h,--help                    print this help
 -o <file>                    output file name
 -p,--postprocess             invoke graphviz to postprocess output

Unless you specify "-p", the output will be a GraphViz directed graph. If you are unfamilliar with GraphViz, you may want to start with

dot -Tpdf <youroutput.dot> >madlycomplicatedproject.pdf

If you specify "-p", PG will pipe it's output directly into GraphViz, saving you this step. Output will be a PDF document.

Requirements

PomGrapher requires

• Java 1.5 or better
• The fabolous GraphViz (available for Mac, Linux, Window): here

Restrictions

• PomGrapher is unaware of MAVEN POM semantics, it simply parses XML documents. This can lead to unexpected results, for example if you define modules inside of a profile PG will not pick those up.
• Error handling is almost non-existing. Current strategy is mostly "complain and continue".
• The automatic invokation of GraphViz (via option "-p") is only supported on unix-ish operating system. On Windows you have to [invoke GraphViz manually]
• Bugs? Nah!
  Seriously I know that it makes mistakes, so you don't want to base your lawsuit against your IT supplier on this output.

License

PomGrapher is provided under Apache License 2.0

Quick Access

• Download latest PomGrapher jar
• Source via SVN
• help, bugs, contributions: For the time being. simply mail me