Having some kind of XML/Json file to compile into Graphiz / Finite State Automaton. Any suggestions?

Question

I have a task where I need to take some existing pictures[ which show some automata (DFA, NFA, Turing machines)] and somehow convert them into a format, which enables me to use the data to represent it as an automata as well as compile it into some graphical representation. Has any of you done something similar before? Are there any Python libs/frameworks which let me present some automata data graphically?

Answer 1

Graphviz can provide a solution. The data representation for a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) is direct and simple from the picture. It can readily be "read" off the diagram if you are doing it by hand as your comment suggests. The representation of a complex diagram (several distinct panels each containing an independent DAG is listed below. As @Constantin says, DFA and NFA can be represented as DAGs. I'm not sure about what notation is used for Turing machines, but several sorts of structured diagram can be read off in a similar fashion, eg tree structures; undirected graphs. I also attach a copy of the resulting diagram. The individual lines of the .dot file are the data items you are seeking.

    Digraph {
graph [label="Problem Frame\nmapping editor\n",labelloc=t,fontsize=18,compound=true];
node[shape = record,fontsize = 10];
edge[arrowtail=none,arrowhead=none,arrowsize=0.8,color=ivory4,fontsize=8];

subgraph "cluster0" {
graph [label = "Model Fragment"];
A01 [label = "{Domain|class::marking\lisTemplate::boolean default false\lname::name\ltype::domain type\l}"];
A02 [label = "{Requirement|isTemplate::boolean default false\lname::name\l}"];
A03 [label = "{Requirement Reference\n\<\<associative\>\>|content::name\lis template::boolean default false\ltype::requirement reference type\l}",shape=Mrecord,style=dotted];
A04 [label = "{Shared Phenomena Set\n\<\<associative\>\>|content::name\lis template::boolean default false\ltype::phenomena type\l}",shape=Mrecord,style=dotted];

/* 1:1-0:M */
edge[dir=both,arrowhead=crowodot,arrowtail=none];
A01 -> A03 [style=dashed];
A01 -> A04 [style = dashed];
A01 -> A04 [style = dashed];
A02 -> A03 [style = dashed];
}

subgraph "cluster1" {
graph [label = "\>\>\>",fontsize = 24];
B01 [label = "{Domain}"];
B02 [label = "{Requirement}"];
B03 [label = "{Requirement\nReference\n}",shape=Mrecord,style=dotted];
B04 [label = "{Shared\nPhenomena\nSet\n}",shape=Mrecord,style=dotted];
F01 [label = "{C0001|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.isTemplate\]\l}"];
F02 [label = "{C0002|if not \[-\> controls -\> describes.isTemplate\]\l}"];
F03 [label = "{C0003|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.type = designed\]\l}"];
F04 [label = "{C0004|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.type = given\]\l}"];
F05 [label = "{C0005|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.type = machine\]\l}"];
F06 [label = "{C0006|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.marking = biddable\]\l}"];
F07 [label = "{C0007|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.marking = causal\]\l}"];
F08 [label = "{C0008|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.marking = lexical\]\l}"];
F09 [label = "{C0009|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.marking = null\]\l}"];
F10 [label = "{C0010|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.isTemplate\]\l}"];
F11 [label = "{C0011|if not \[-\> controls -\> describes.isTemplate\]\l}"];
F12 [label = "{C0012|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.isTemplate\]\l}"];
F13 [label = "{C0013|if not \[-\> controls -\> describes.isTemplate\]\l}"];
F14 [label = "{C0014|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.type = non-constraining\]\l}"];
F15 [label = "{C0015|if not \[-\> controls -\> describes.type = constraining\]\l}"];
F16 [label = "{C0016|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.isTemplate\]\l}"];
F17 [label = "{C0017|if not \[-\> controls -\> describes.isTemplate\]\l}"];
F18 [label = "{C0018|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.type = causal\]\l}"];
F19 [label = "{C0019|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.type = event\]\l}"];
F20 [label = "{C0020|if \[-\> controls -\> describes.type = symbolic\]\l}"];

edge [style = solid];
B01 -> F01 -> F02 -> F03 -> F04 -> F05 -> F06 -> F07 -> F08 -> F09;
B02 -> F10 -> F11;
B03 -> F12 -> F13 -> F14 -> F15;
B04 -> F16 -> F17 -> F18 -> F19 -> F20;

edge [style = invis];
B01 -> B02 -> B03 -> B04;
}

subgraph "cluster2" {
graph [label = "\<\<\<",fontsize = 24];
C01 [label = "{Edge|name := Constraining Reference\larrowtail := normal\ldir := both\lpermitted node1 := domain icon\lpermitted node2 := requirement icon\lstyle := dotted\l}"];
D02 [label = "{Attribute|name::oName\lvalue::-\> describes\l-\> described by.content\l}"];
C02 [label = "{Diagram|name := Frame Diagram\l}"];
C03 [label = "{Node|name := Domain Icon\lcolor = gray\lfillcolor = gold\lfontsize := 12\llabel := describes.preLabel\l + oName + describes.postLabel\lshape := Mrecord\lstyle := filled\l}"];
D03 [label = "{Attribute|name::oClass\lvalue :=-\> describes\l-\> described by.class\l}"];
D04 [label = "{Attribute|name::oName\lvalue := -\> describes\l-\> described by.name\l}"];
D05 [label = "{Attribute|name::postlabel\lvalue := \}\"\l}"];
D06 [label = "{Attribute|name::postlabel\lvalue := \|\{\|b\}\}\"\l}"];
D07 [label = "{Attribute|name::postlabel\lvalue := \|\{\|c\}\}\"\l}"];
D08 [label = "{Attribute|name::postlabel\lvalue := \|\{\|x\}\}\"\l}"];
D09 [label = "{Attribute|name::prelabel\lvalue := \"\{\|\l}"];
D10 [label = "{Attribute|name::prelabel\lvalue := \"\{\l}"];
D11 [label = "{Attribute|name::prelabel\lvalue := \"\{\|\|\l}"];
D12 [label = "{Attribute|name::oType\lvalue := -\> describes \l-\> described by.type\l}"];
C04 [label = "{Holding Box|name := Domain Template\lcolor := slategray\lfillcolor := white\lfontcolor := slategray\lfontsize := 9\llabel := oName\lreadonly := true\l}"];
D13 [label = "{Attribute|name::oName\lvalue := -\> describes \l-\> described by.name\l}"];
C05 [label = "{Edge|name := Edge Template\lcolor := white\llabel = oName\lstyle := invis\l}"];
D14 [label = "{Attribute|name::oName\lvalue := -\> describes \l-\> described by.contents\l}"];
C06 [label = "{Node|name := Phenomena\l}"];
D15 [label = "{Attribute|name::oName\lvalue::-\> describes\l\-\> described by.contents\l}"];
C07 [label = "{Edge|name := Reference\l}"];
D16 [label = "{Attribute|name::oName\lvalue := -\> describes \l-\> described by.contents\l}"];
C08 [label = "{Node|name := Requirement Icon\l}"];
D17 [label = "{Attribute|name::oName\lvalue := -\> describes \l-\> described by.name\l}"];
C09 [label = "{Edge|name := Shared Phenomena\l}"];
D18 [label = "{Attribute|name::oName\lvalue := -\> describes \l-\> described by.contents\l}"];
D19 [label = "{Attribute|name::oType\lvalue := C\l}"];
D20 [label = "{Attribute|name::oType\lvalue := E\l}"];
D21 [label = "{Attribute|name::oType\lvalue := Y\l}"];

C01 -> D02;
C03 -> D03 -> D04 -> D05 -> D06 -> D07 -> D08 -> D09 -> D10 -> D11 -> D12;
C04 -> D13;
C05 -> D14;
C06 -> D15;
C07 -> D16;
C08 -> D17;
C09 -> D18 -> D19 -> D20 -> D21;

edge[style="invis"];
C01 -> C02 -> C03 -> C04 -> C05 -> C06 -> C07 -> C08 -> C09;
}

subgraph "cluster5" {
graph [label = "Editor Elements"];
E01 [label = "{Node\n|color::color\lfillcolor::fillcolor\lfontname::font\lfontsize::fontsize\llabel::name\lname::name\lreadonly::boolean default false\lshape::shape\lstyle::style\l}"];
E02 [label = "{Edge\n|arrowtail::edge end\ldir::dir\lname::name\lpermitted node1::name\lpermitted node2::name\lstyle::style\l}"];
E03 [label = "{Attribute\n|name::name\lvalue::text\l}"];
E04 [label = "{Diagram\n|defaults::attributes\ledge defaults::attributes\lname::name\lnode attributes::attributes\l}"];
E05 [label = "{Holding Box|color::color\lfillcolor::fillcolor\lfontname::font\lfontsize::fontsize\llabel::name\lname::name\lreadonly::boolean default false\lshape::shape\lstyle::style\l}"];

/* 0:1-N:M */
E01 -> E02 [arrowhead = crowodot, label = "links", taillabel = " 2:2"];

/* 1:1-0:M  */
edge[dir=both,arrowtail=none,arrowhead=crowodot];
E04 -> E01 [label = nodes];
E04 -> E02 [label = edges];
E04 -> E05 [label = "holding boxes"];

/* 0:1-0:M  */
edge[dir=both,arrowtail=odot,arrowhead=crowodot];
E05 -> E01 [label = "contained nodes"];
E05 -> E02 [label = "contained edges"];
E05 -> E05 [label = contains];

/* 0:1-0:M  */
edge[dir=both,arrowtail=odot,arrowhead=crowodot];
E01 -> E03 [label = characteristics];
E02 -> E03 [label = parameters];
E04 -> E03 [label = attributes];
E04 -> E03 [label = attributes];
E04 -> E03 [label = attributes];
}

{rank = min B01 C01}

edge[style="solid"];
F01 -> C04 [ltail = cluster1];
F02 -> C03 [ltail = cluster1];
F03 -> D09 [ltail = cluster1];
F04 -> D10 [ltail = cluster1];
F05 -> D11 [ltail = cluster1];
F06 -> D06 [ltail = cluster1];
F07 -> D07 [ltail = cluster1];
F08 -> D08 [ltail = cluster1];
F09 -> D05 [ltail = cluster1];
F10 -> C04 [ltail = cluster1];
F11 -> C06 [ltail = cluster1];
F11 -> C08 [ltail = cluster1];
F12 -> C05 [ltail = cluster1];
F14 -> C07 [ltail = cluster1];
F15 -> C01 [ltail = cluster1];
F16 -> C05 [ltail = cluster1];
F17 -> C06 [ltail = cluster1];
F17 -> C09 [ltail = cluster1];
F18 -> D19 [ltail = cluster1];
F19 -> D20 [ltail = cluster1];
F20 -> D21 [ltail = cluster1]; 
}