2.2.9.4 release notes

 2.2.9.4

• Issue 2468 - Graphical preview of Flow metadata

  Inspired by Todd Halfpenny's wonderful work on a graphical viewer for Flow metadata for VS Code, I've implemented similar for IC2. Now by default when you open a *.flow[-meta.xml] file in IC2, the default editor will feature a split view with the Flow XML on the left and a flowchart diagram on the right. This is the same IDE split editor component used for Markdown and SVG files and can be toggled to show only the source, only the preview, or both if desired. The preview is live and automatically updates as the Flow XML file contents change. The JetBrains Markdown (bundled) and Mermaid (freely-available via the plugin marketplace) plugins must be installed for this feature to be enabled. IC2 automatically assists with installation and enablement of these two plugins if necessary when Flow files are opened. The feature can also be disabled completely if desired by unchecking Illuminated Cloud | Configure Application | User Interface | Use preview editor for Flow Files.

  In addition to the standard editor-with-preview view toggle buttons, the split editor toolbar also includes the following toolbar buttons:

  • Show/Hide Details - Toggles whether or not details are displayed for diagram nodes. It can be useful to view the flowchart without details to understand the high-level logic of the Flow, then enable details to understand the node details.
  • Zoom In/Out/Reset - Increases (+10%) , decreases (-10%), or resets (100%) the diagram zoom level. Note that attempts to zoom in and out when the diagram contents are already at the host editor's horizontal width behave strangely, sometimes seeming to zoom in the opposite direction. This seems to be a quirk of Mermaid (or perhaps SVG). I've also noticed that the zoom actions seem to behave quite oddly and slowly on Mac—Windows and Linux are fine—and after a bit of debugging, it appears to be in the IDE's binding to the embedded browser technology (CEF). I'll likely raise this with JetBrains to see what thoughts they have.
  • Export Diagram - Exports the diagram as an SVG file which is opened automatically in a browser. There are a few issues of note here as well:
    • The exported file is generated as a uniquely-named temporary file. I may enhance this action to prompt the user for a final location and name, but at present it's just using the default Mermaid plugin's Export Diagram action, and this is its behavior.
    • There appears to be an issue with vertical node truncation in nodes with details. I have reported this to the Mermaid plugin maintainers, but my guess is that it's a core Mermaid issue and not an issue with the plugin itself. This is a significant enough issue, though, that if a fix or workaround isn't made available shortly, I'll likely try to find another way to export these diagrams with full fidelity.

  I've tried to incorporate an appropriate level of detail into the generated diagrams, but details of some node types are not yet included, e.g., orchestrated stage steps; screen fields, actions, and rules; trigger handlers; likely some others. Please provide feedback on any critical details that are missing, those that are not presented in a useful or accurate manner, etc.