Export to C4-PlantUML: External persons rendered as internal persons about export HOT 4 CLOSED

Hi @dirkgroot

yes, it works without UpdateElementStyle() too (maybe an export option could be useful)

(but if you want the same structurizr colors, ... then you can use it;
and if you use additional styles/tags in DSL you get automatically matching colors too)

BR Helmut

from export.

Possible solutions:

in plantuml-stdlib/C4-PlantUML#228 I found following problems

1. update/creates of the required tag definitions (based on the styles) in C4-PlantUML is missing.
2. add the tags in reverse order that the most detailed is the first one:
   first tag has the highest priority (e.g. if 2 styles/tags define a background color the first wins)
3. mark "External_xxx" with new "External_xxx" tags

Maybe additional changes could be done (or in another PR?):

4. activate SHOW_PERSON_OUTLINE()
   4a. and if description of the person is empty add \n\n or <25 char add \n to it that the y-dimension of the shape is higher. If required I could add the \n support in C4-PlantUML itself)

It could be that https://github.com/cloudflightio/structurizr-export-c4plantuml solves most of the problems already and only the PR has to be completed. @klu2: can you please check my assumption?

e.g. with all changes based on following DSL

workspace {
    model {
        enterprise "Customer" {
            dwh_user = person "DWH User" "User of some DWH" "Internal user"
            dwh_developer = person "DWH Developer" "Developer of some DWH" 
        }

        dhw_user = person "DHW User" "User of DataHandwerk Toolkit" "External user"
        // "External_Person" is only used as workaround atm
        dhw_developer = person "DHW Developer" "Developer of DataHandwerk Toolkit" "External_Person"       
    }
    views {
        systemlandscape "SystemLandscape" {
             include *
             autoLayout
        }
        styles {
            element "Person" {
                shape Person
                background #2222CC
            }
            element "External_Person" {
                shape Person
                background #FFCCCC
            }            
            element "Internal user" {
                shape Person
                background #4444FF
            }
            element "External user" {
                shape Person
                background #FF4444
            }            
        }
    }
}

with the new rules the generator would create something like

@startuml
title System Landscape for Customer

top to bottom direction

!include https://raw.githubusercontent.com/plantuml-stdlib/C4-PlantUML/master/C4.puml
!include https://raw.githubusercontent.com/plantuml-stdlib/C4-PlantUML/master/C4_Context.puml

' additional changes: 4. activate person outline
SHOW_PERSON_OUTLINE()

' additional changes: 1. update existing tags/styles if required
UpdateElementStyle("person", #2222CC, $ELEMENT_FONT_COLOR)
' additional changes: if SHOW_PERSON_OUTLINE() is not used, structurizr sprite could be used too
UpdateElementStyle("external_person", #FFCCCC, $ELEMENT_FONT_COLOR, $sprite="person2")
' additional changes: 1. create new tags/styles if required
AddElementTag("Internal user", "#4444FF", $ELEMENT_FONT_COLOR)
AddElementTag("External user", "#FF4444", $ELEMENT_FONT_COLOR, $sprite="person2")

Enterprise_Boundary(enterprise, "Customer") {
  ' additional changes: 2. invert tag order that most detailed tag wins
  ' additional changes: (as workaround) 4a. add \n
  Person(DWHUser, "DWH User", "Userof some DWH\n", $tags="Internal user+Person+Element")
  Person(DWHDeveloper, "DWH Developer", "Developer of some DWH\n", $tags="Person+Element")
}

' additional changes: 2. invert tag order that most detailed tag wins
' additional changes: 3. use External_Person instead of Person
Person_Ext(DHWDeveloper, "DHW Developer", "Developer of DataHandwerk Toolkit", $tags="External_Person+Element")
Person_Ext(DHWUser, "DHW User", "User of DataHandwerk Toolkit", $tags="External user+External_Person+Element")

SHOW_LEGEND()
@enduml

@simonbrowndotje: can you accept klu2 PR if everything is working?

Thank you and best regards
Helmut

from export.

I've been fiddling around with this, and the simplest fixes seem to be to just prefix the $tags for a person with External_Person, or to not use the tags at all and rely on C4-PlantUML defaults.

@kirchsth Customisation using UpdateElementStyle and/or the usage of tags is not necessary if you just want to use the default styling provided by C4-PlantUML, right?

@simonbrowndotje I'm curious: Could you clarify what your purpose is with putting Structurizr tags in the PlantUML files?

from export.

I'm curious: Could you clarify what your purpose is with putting Structurizr tags in the PlantUML files?

It was a response to this issue -> structurizr/java-extensions#51

from export.