Customize code maps by editing the DGML files

Article
03/10/2023

To customize a code map, you can edit its Directed Graph Markup Language (.dgml) file. For example, you can edit elements to specify custom styles, assign properties and categories to code elements and links, or link documents or URLs to code elements or to links. For more information about DGML elements, see Directed Graph Markup Language (DGML) reference.

Edit the code map's .dgml file in a text or XML editor. If the map is part of your Visual Studio solution, select it in Solution Explorer, open the shortcut menu, and choose Open With, XML (Text) Editor.

Note

To create code maps, you must have Visual Studio Enterprise edition. When you edit a code map in Visual Studio, it cleans up any unused DGML elements and attributes by deleting them when you save the .dgml file. It also creates code elements automatically when you manually add new links. When you save the .dgml file, any attributes that you added to an element might rearrange themselves in alphabetical order.

Group code elements

You can add new groups or convert existing nodes into a group.

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.
To convert a code element to a group, find the <Node/> element for that code element.

- or -

To add a new group, find the <Nodes> section. Add a new <Node/> element.

In the <Node/> element, add a Group attribute to specify whether the group appears expanded or collapsed. For example:

<Nodes>
   <Node Id="MyFirstGroup" Group="Expanded" />
   <Node Id="MySecondGroup" Group="Collapsed" />
</Nodes>

In the <Links> section, make sure that a <Link/> element that has the following attributes exist for each relationship between a group code element and its child code elements:
- A Source attribute that specifies the group code element
- A Target attribute that specifies the child code element
- A Category attribute that specifies a Contains relationship between the group code element and its child code element
  
  For example:
```
<Links>
   <Link Category="Contains" Source="MyFirstGroup" Target="FirstGroupChildOne" />
   <Link Category ="Contains" Source="MyFirstGroup" Target="FirstGroupChildTwo" />
   <Link Category ="Contains" Source="MySecondGroup" Target="SecondGroupChildOne" />
   <Link Category="Contains" Source="MySecondGroup" Target="SecondGroupChildTwo" />
</Links>
```
For more information about the Category attribute, see Assign categories to code elements and links.

Change the style of the map

You can change the background color and border color of the map by editing the map's .dgml file. To change the style of code elements and links, see Change the style of code elements and links.

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.

In the <DirectedGraph> element, add any of the following attributes to change its style:

Background color

Background="ColorNameOrHexadecimalValue"

Border color

Stroke="StrokeValue"

For example:

<DirectedGraph Background="Green" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/vs/2009/dgml" >
   ...
   ...
</DirectedGraph>

Change the style of code elements and links

You can apply custom styles to the following code elements:

Single code elements and links
Groups of code elements and links
Groups of code elements and links based on certain conditions

Tip

If you have repeating styles across many code elements or links, you might consider applying a category to those code elements or links, and then applying a style to that category. For more information, see Assign Categories to Code elements and Links and Assign Properties to Code elements and Links.

To apply a custom style to a single code element

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.

Find the code element's <Node/> element. Add any of these attributes to customize its style:

Background color

Background="ColorNameOrHexadecimalValue"

Outline

Stroke="ColorNameOrHexadecimalValue"

Outline thickness

StrokeThickness="StrokeValue"

Text color

Foreground="ColorNameOrHexadecimalValue"

Icon

Icon="IconFilePathLocation"

Text size

FontSize="FontSizeValue"

Text type

FontFamily="FontFamilyName"

Text weight

FontWeight="FontWeightValue"

Text style

FontStyle="FontStyleName"

For example, you can specify Italic as the text style.

Texture

Style="Glass"

-or-

Style="Plain"

Shape

To replace the shape with an icon, set the Shape property to None and set the Icon property to the path with the icon file.

Shape="ShapeFilePathLocation"

For example:

<Nodes>
   <Node Id="MyNode" Background="#FF008000" Stroke="#FF000000"
   Foreground="#FFFFFFFF" Icon="...\Icons\Globe.png"/>
</Nodes>

To apply a custom style to a single link

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.
Find the <Link/> element that contains both the names of the source code element and target code element.

In the <Link/> element, add any of the following attributes to customize its style:

Outline and arrowhead color

Stroke="ColorNameOrHexadecimalValue"

Outline thickness

StrokeThickness="StrokeValue"

Outline style

StrokeDashArray="StrokeArrayValues"

For example:

<Links>
   <Link Source="MyFirstNode" Target="MySecondNode" Background="Green" Stroke="#FF000000" StrokeDashArray="2,2"/>
</Links>

To apply custom styles to a group of code elements or links

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.
If a <Styles></Styles> element does not exist, add one under the <DirectedGraph></DirectedGraph> element after the <Links></Links> element.
In the <Styles></Styles> element, under the <Style/> element and specify the following attributes:
- TargetType="Node | Link | Graph"
- GroupLabel=" NameInLegendBox "
- ValueLabel=" NameInStylePickerBox "
  
  To apply a custom style to all target types, do not use a condition.

To apply a conditional style to groups of code elements or links

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.

In the <Style/> element, add a <Condition/> element that contains an Expression attribute to specify an expression that returns a Boolean value.

For example:

<Condition Expression="MyCategory"/>

-or-

<Condition Expression="MyCategory > 100"/>

-or-

<Condition Expression="HasCategory('MyCategory')"/>

This expression uses the following Backus-Naur Form (BNF) syntax:

<Expression> ::= <BinaryExpression> | \<UnaryExpression> | "("<Expression>")" | <MemberBindings> | <Literal> | \<Number>

<BinaryExpression> ::= <Expression> <Operator> <Expression>

<UnaryExpression> ::= "!" <Expression> | "+" <Expression> | "-" <Expression>

<Operator> ::= "<" | "<=" | "=" | ">=" | ">" | "!=" | "or" | "and" | "+" | "*" | "/" | "-"

<MemberBindings> ::= <MemberBindings> | <MemberBinding> "." <MemberBinding>

<MemberBinding> ::= <MethodCall> | <PropertyGet>

<MethodCall> ::= <Identifier> "(" <MethodArgs> ")"

<PropertyGet> ::= <Identifier>

<MethodArgs> ::= <Expression> | <Expression> "," <MethodArgs> | <empty>

<Identifier> ::= [^. ]*

<Literal> ::= single or double-quoted string literal

<Number> ::= string of digits with optional decimal point

You can specify multiple <Condition/> elements, which must all be true to apply the style.

On the next line after the <Condition/> element, add one or multiple <Setter/> elements to specify a Property attribute and a fixed Value attribute or a computed Expression attribute to apply to the map, code elements, or links that meet the condition.

For example:
```
<Setter Property="BackGround" Value="Green"/>
```
As a simple complete example, the following condition specifies that a code element appears green or red based on whether its Passed category is set to True or False:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<DirectedGraph xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/vs/2009/dgml">
   <Nodes>
      <Node Id="MyFirstNode" Passed="True" />
      <Node Id="MySecondNode" Passed="False" />
   </Nodes>
   <Links>
   </Links>
   <Styles>
      <Style TargetType="Node" GroupLabel="Passed" ValueLabel="True">
         <Condition Expression="Passed='True'"/>
         <Setter Property="Background" Value="Green"/>
      </Style>
      <Style TargetType="Node" GroupLabel="Passed" ValueLabel="False">
         <Condition Expression="Passed='False'"/>
         <Setter Property="Background" Value="Red"/>
      </Style>
   </Styles>
</DirectedGraph>

The following table includes some example conditions that you can use:

Set the font size as a function of the number of lines of code, which also changes the size of the code element. This example uses a single conditional expression to set multiple properties, FontSize and FontFamily.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<DirectedGraph xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/vs/2009/dgml">
<Nodes>
   <Node Id="Class1" LinesOfCode ="200" />
   <Node Id="Class2" LinesOfCode ="1000" />
   <Node Id="Class3" LinesOfCode ="20" />
</Nodes>
<Properties>
   <Property Id="LinesOfCode" Label="LinesOfCode" Description="LinesOfCode" DataType="System.Int32" />
</Properties>
<Styles>
   <Style TargetType="Node" GroupLabel="LinesOfCode" ValueLabel="Function">
      <Condition Expression="LinesOfCode > 0" />
      <Setter Property="FontSize" Expression="Math.Max(9,Math.Sqrt(LinesOfCode))" />
      <Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Papyrus" />
   </Style>
</Styles>
</DirectedGraph>

Set the background color of a code element based on the Coverage property. The styles are evaluated in the order that they appear, similar to if-else statements.

In this example:

If Coverage is > 80, then set the Background property to green.
Else if Coverage is > 50, then set the Background property to a shade of orange based on the value of the Coverage property.
Else set the Background property to a shade of red based on the value of the Coverage property.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<DirectedGraph xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/vs/2009/dgml">
<Nodes>
   <Node Id="Class1" Coverage="58" />
   <Node Id="Class2" Coverage="95" />
   <Node Id="Class3" Coverage="32" />
</Nodes>
<Properties>
   <Property Id="Coverage" Label="Coverage" Description="Code coverage as a percentage of blocks" DataType="Double" />
</Properties>
<Styles>
   <Style TargetType="Node" GroupLabel="Coverage" ValueLabel="Good">
      <Condition Expression="Coverage > 80" />
      <Setter Property="Background" Value="Green" />
   </Style>
   <Style TargetType="Node" GroupLabel="Coverage" ValueLabel="OK">
      <Condition Expression="Coverage > 50" />
      <Setter Property="Background" Expression="Color.FromRgb(180 * Math.Max(1, (80 - Coverage) / 30), 180, 0)" />
   </Style>
   <Style TargetType="Node" GroupLabel="Coverage" ValueLabel="Bad">
      <Setter Property="Background" Expression="Color.FromRgb(180, 180 * Coverage / 50, 0)" />
   </Style>
</Styles>
</DirectedGraph>

Set the Shape property to None so that the icon replaces the shape. Use the Icon property to specify the location of the icon.

<DirectedGraph xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/vs/2009/dgml">
<Nodes>
   <Node Id="Automation" Category="Test" Label="Automation" />
   <Node Id="C# Provider" Category="Provider" Label="C# Provider" />
</Nodes>
<Categories>
   <Category Id="Provider" Icon="...\Icons\Module.png" Shape="None" />
   <Category Id="Test" Icon="...\Icons\Page.png" Shape="None" />
</Categories>
<Properties>
   <Property Id="Icon" DataType="System.String" />
   <Property Id="Label" Label="Label" Description="Displayable label of an Annotatable object" DataType="System.String" />
   <Property Id="Shape" DataType="System.String" />
</Properties>
<Styles>
   <Style TargetType="Node" GroupLabel="Group" ValueLabel="Has category">
      <Condition Expression="HasCategory('Group')" />
      <Setter Property="Background" Value="#80008080" />
   </Style>
   <Style TargetType="Node">
      <Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Center" />
   </Style>
</Styles>
</DirectedGraph>

Assign properties to code elements and links

You can organize code elements and links by assigning properties to them. For example, you can select code elements that have specific properties so that you can group them, change their style, or hide them.

To assign a property to a code element

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.
Find the <Node/> element for that code element. Specify the name of the property and its value. For example:
```
<Nodes>
   <Node Id="MyNode" MyPropertyName="PropertyValue" />
</Nodes>
```
Add a <Property/> element to the <Properties> section to specify attributes such as its visible name and data type:
```
<Properties>
   <Property Id="MyPropertyName" Label="My Property" DataType="System.DataType"/>
</Properties>
```

To assign a property to a link

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.
Find the <Link/> element that contains both the names of the source code element and target code element.

In the <Node/> element, specify the name of the property and its value. For example:

<Links>
   <Link Source="MyFirstNode" Target="MySecondNode" MyPropertyName="PropertyValue" />
</Links>

Add a <Property/> element to the <Properties> section to specify attributes such as its visible name and data type:

<Properties>
   <Property Id="MyPropertyName" Label="My Property Name" DataType="System.DataType"/>
</Properties>

Assign categories to code elements and links

The following sections demonstrate how you can organize code elements by assigning categories to them, and how you can create hierarchical categories that help you organize code elements and add attributes to child categories by using inheritance.

To assign a category to a code element

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.
Find the <Node/> element for the code element that you want.
In the <Node/> element, add a Category attribute to specify the name of the category. For example:
```
<Nodes>
   <Node Id="MyNode" Category="MyCategory" />
</Nodes>
```
Add a <Category/> element to the <Categories> section so that you can use the Label attribute to specify the display text for that category:
```
<Categories>
   <Category Id="MyCategory" Label="My Category" />
</Categories>
```

To assign a category to a link

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.
Find the <Link/> element that contains both the names of the source code element and target code element.
In the <Link/> element, add a Category attribute to specify the name of the category. For example:
```
<Links>
   <Link Source="MyFirstNode" Target="MySecondNode" Category="MyCategory"
</Links>
```
Add a <Category/> element to the <Categories> section so that you can use the Label attribute to specify the display text for that category:
```
<Categories>
   <Category Id="MyCategory" Label="My Category" />
</Categories>
```

To create hierarchical categories

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.

Add a <Category/> element for the parent category, and then add the BasedOn attribute to the child category's <Category/> element.

For example:

<Nodes>
   <Node Id="MyFirstNode" Label="My First Node" Category= "MyCategory" />
   <Node Id="MySecondNode" Label="My Second Node" />
</Nodes>
<Links>
   <Link Source="MyFirstNode" Target="MySecondNode" />
</Links>
<Categories>
   <Category Id="MyCategory" Label="My Category" BasedOn="MyParentCategory"/>
   <Category Id="MyParentCategory" Label="My Parent Category" Background="Green"/>
</Categories>

In this example, the background of MyFirstNode is green because its Category attribute inherits the Background attribute of MyParentCategory.

Link documents or URLs to code elements and links

You can link documents or URLs to code elements or to links by editing the map's .dgml file and adding a Reference attribute to the <Node/> element for a code element or the <Link/> element for a link. You can then open and view that content from the code element or link. The Reference attribute specifies the path of that content. This can be a path relative to the location of the .dgml file or an absolute path.

Caution

If you use relative paths, and the .dgml file is moved to a different location, then those paths will no longer resolve. When you try to open and view the linked content, an error stating that the content cannot be viewed will occur.

For example, you might want to link the following code elements:

To describe the changes to a class, you might link the URL of a work code element, document, or another .dgml file to the code element for a class.
You might link a dependency diagram to a group code element that represents a layer in the software's logical architecture.
To show more information about a component that exposes an interface, you might link a component diagram to the code element for that interface.
Link a code element to a Team Foundation Server work item or bug, or some other information that is related to the code element.

To link a document or URL to a code element

Open the .dgml file in a text or XML editor.
Find the <Node/> element for the code element that you want.
Perform one of the tasks in the following table:

A single code element
- In the <Node/> or <Link/> element, add a Reference attribute to specify the location of the code element.
  
  Note
  
  You can have only one Reference attribute per element.
  
  For example:
```
<Nodes>
   <Node Id="MyNode" Reference="MyDocument.txt" />
</Nodes>
<Properties>
   <Property Id="Reference" Label="My Document" DataType="System.String" IsReference="True" />
</Properties>
```
Multiple code elements
1. In the <Node/> or <Link/> element, add a new attribute to specify the location of each reference.
2. In the <Properties> section:
  1. Add a <Property/> element for each new type of reference.
  2. Set the Id attribute to the name of the new reference attribute.
  3. Add the IsReference attribute and set it to True to make the reference appear on the code element's Go To Reference shortcut menu.
  4. Use the Label attribute to specify the display text on the code element's Go To Reference shortcut menu.
  For example:
```
<Nodes>
   <Node Id="MyNode" SequenceDiagram="MySequenceDiagram.sequencediagram" ActiveBugs="MyActiveBugs.wiq"/>
</Nodes>
<Properties>
   <Property Id="SequenceDiagram" Label="My Sequence Diagram" DataType="System.String" IsReference="True" />
   <Property Id="ActiveBugs" Label="Active Bugs" DataType="System.String" IsReference="True" />
</Properties>
```
On the map, the name of the code element appears underlined. When you open the shortcut menu for the code element or the link, you will see a Go To Reference shortcut menu that contains the linked code elements for you to choose.

Use the ReferenceTemplate attribute to specify a common string, such as a URL, that is used by multiple references instead of repeating that string in the reference.

The ReferenceTemplate attribute specifies a placeholder for the value of the reference. In the following example, the {0} placeholder in the ReferenceTemplate attribute will be replaced by the values of the MyFirstReference and MySecondReference attributes in the <Node/> element to produce a full path:

<Nodes>
   <Node Id="MyNode" MyFirstReference="MyFirstDocument" MySecondReference="MySecondDocument"/>
   <Node Id="MySecondNode" MyFirstReference="AnotherFirstDocument" MySecondReference="AnotherSecondDocument"/>
</Nodes>
<Properties>
   <Property Id="MyFirstReference" Label="My First Document" DataType="System.String" IsReference="True" ReferenceTemplate="http://www.Fabrikam.com/FirstDocuments/{0}.asp"/>
   <Property Id="MySecondReference" Label="My Second Document" DataType="System.String" IsReference="True" ReferenceTemplate=" http://www.Fabrikam.com/SecondDocuments/{0}.asp"/>
</Properties>

To view the referenced code element or code elements from the map, open the shortcut menu for the code element or the link. Choose Go To Reference and then the code element.

Share via

Customize code maps by editing the DGML files

Group code elements

Change the style of the map

Change the style of code elements and links

To apply a custom style to a single code element

To apply a custom style to a single link

To apply custom styles to a group of code elements or links

To apply a conditional style to groups of code elements or links

Assign properties to code elements and links

To assign a property to a code element

To assign a property to a link

Assign categories to code elements and links

To assign a category to a code element

To assign a category to a link

To create hierarchical categories

Link documents or URLs to code elements and links

To link a document or URL to a code element

Feedback

Additional resources

Share via

Customize code maps by editing the DGML files

Group code elements

Change the style of the map

Change the style of code elements and links

To apply a custom style to a single code element

To apply a custom style to a single link

To apply custom styles to a group of code elements or links

To apply a conditional style to groups of code elements or links

Assign properties to code elements and links

To assign a property to a code element

To assign a property to a link

Assign categories to code elements and links

To assign a category to a code element

To assign a category to a link

To create hierarchical categories

Link documents or URLs to code elements and links

To link a document or URL to a code element

Related content

Feedback

Additional resources