Metagraph (visualizing a notation)

A metagraph declaration renders the structure of a notation itself as a diagram. Because a notation is a graph (its NodeTypes are vertices and its EdgeTypes are edges), it can be visualized directly — useful for documentation, teaching, and seeing how a vnotation you just defined will actually look.

Syntax:

metagraph <NotationName> ["<optional_label>"]

• No id, no body — just the notation name and an optional label.
• If the label is omitted, it defaults to "<NotationName> Meta Model".
• A file contains either one vgraph or one metagraph (not both).
• vnotation blocks may precede a metagraph, so you can declare and visualize a custom notation in one file.
• Each node in the result is styled exactly as it would appear in a real diagram using that notation — the metagraph is self-documenting.

Example — built-in notation:

metagraph Timeline

Renders the Timeline notation's structure: TimePoint and Event nodes connected by sequence and influence edges, styled as Timeline styles them.

Example — custom label:

metagraph ConceptMap "How ConceptMaps are built"

Example — user-defined notation:

vnotation MyNotation extends ConceptMap {
    node type: Hypothesis [nodeStyle: iconWithText; icon: lightbulb.fill]
    edge type: supports from: Hypothesis to: Concept
}
metagraph MyNotation

Renders the full structure of MyNotation — inherited ConceptMap types plus the new Hypothesis node type and supports edge type.