
# Project Improvement Suggestions for mvn-tree-visualizer

This document outlines potential improvements and new features for the `mvn-tree-visualizer` project. These are intended to be constructive suggestions to enhance the project's appeal, usability, and maintainability.

## 🚀 Features & Functionality

### 1. Support for Multiple Output Formats

**Status:** ✅ Done

*   **Description:** Currently, the tool only outputs an HTML file with a Mermaid diagram. Adding support for other formats would greatly increase its versatility and appeal to a wider audience.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   **JSON:** A structured JSON output of the dependency tree would allow for easy integration with other tools and scripts.
    *   **GraphML/GEXF/Graphviz (DOT):** These are standard graph formats that can be used with various graph visualization and analysis tools like Gephi, Cytoscape, or Graphviz. This would allow for more advanced analysis and visualization of the dependency graph.
    *   **Plain Text:** A simple, indented text representation of the dependency tree.
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Add a `--format` option to the CLI to specify the output format.
    *   Create separate functions for generating each output format.

### 2. Dependency Highlighting and Filtering

*   **Description:** In large projects, the dependency graph can be overwhelming. Allowing users to highlight or filter specific dependencies would make the visualization much more useful.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   `--highlight <dependency>`: Highlight a specific dependency and its direct and transitive dependencies in the graph.
    *   `--filter <dependency>`: Show only a specific dependency and its direct and transitive dependencies.
    *   `--exclude <dependency>`: Exclude a specific dependency from the graph.
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Add the corresponding options to the CLI.
    *   Modify the `_convert_to_mermaid` function to handle the highlighting and filtering logic. This might involve adding CSS classes to the Mermaid diagram and styling them in the HTML template.

### 3. Display Dependency Versions

*   **Description:** The current diagram only shows the artifact IDs of the dependencies. Displaying the versions would provide more context and be very useful for identifying version conflicts.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   Add an option `--show-versions` to display the version of each dependency in the diagram.
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Modify the `_convert_to_mermaid` function to include the version number in the node labels.

### 4. "Watch" Mode

*   **Description:** A "watch" mode that automatically regenerates the diagram whenever the `maven_dependency_file` changes would be a great convenience for developers.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   Add a `--watch` flag to the CLI.
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Use a library like `watchdog` to monitor the file system for changes.

## ✨ User Experience & Usability

### 1. Improved Visual Appearance

*   **Description:** While the current diagram is functional, its visual appearance could be improved to make it more modern and appealing.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   **Customizable Themes:** Allow users to choose from different color themes for the diagram.
    *   **Better Layout:** Experiment with different Mermaid layout options to find the one that works best for dependency graphs.
    *   **Interactive Features:** Add features like tooltips to show more information about a dependency when the user hovers over it.
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Add a `--theme` option to the CLI.
    *   Modify the `TEMPLATE.py` file to include different CSS styles for the themes.
    *   Explore the Mermaid.js documentation for more advanced features.

### 2. Informative Error Messages

*   **Description:** The tool could benefit from more informative error messages to help users diagnose problems.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   If the `maven_dependency_file` is not found, provide a clear message indicating the expected file name and location.
    *   If there is an error parsing the dependency tree, provide a message that helps the user identify the problematic line in the file.
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Add more specific `try...except` blocks to the code to catch different types of errors and provide custom messages.

## 🛠️ Code Quality & Maintainability

### 1. Unit Tests

**Status:** ✅ Done

*   **Description:** The project currently lacks unit tests. Adding tests would improve the code's reliability and make it easier to refactor and add new features in the future.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   Use the `unittest` or `pytest` framework to write tests for the core logic of the application, especially the `_convert_to_mermaid` function.
    *   Create a `tests` directory to store the test files.
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Create a `tests/test_diagram.py` file with tests for the `_convert_to_mermaid` function.
    *   Use mock objects to simulate file I/O and other external dependencies.

### 2. Code Modularity

*   **Description:** The code is generally well-structured, but it could be made more modular by separating concerns.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   Create a separate module for parsing the Maven dependency tree. This would make the code easier to test and reuse.
    *   Move the `HTML_TEMPLATE` to a separate `.html` file and load it using a template engine like Jinja2. This is already being done, which is great!
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Create a new file `src/mvn_tree_visualizer/parser.py` and move the dependency parsing logic into it.

### 3. Type Hinting

*   **Description:** Adding type hints to the code would improve its readability and allow for static analysis, which can help catch bugs before they make it into production.
*   **Suggestions:**
    *   Add type hints to all function signatures and variable declarations.
*   **Implementation:**
    *   Use the `typing` module to add type hints to the code.

## 📚 Documentation & Community

**Status:** ✅ Done

We have enhanced the `README.md`, and created the `CONTRIBUTING.md`, `CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md`, and `ROADMAP.md` files.
