Visualisation¶

JobShopLab provides powerful visualization tools to help understand and analyze scheduling results. This tutorial covers the available visualization options and how to use them effectively.

Visualization Methods¶

JobShopLab supports three main visualization backends:

1. Dashboard: Interactive Gantt chart visualization using Dash

2. Debug CLI: Rich text-based visualization for debugging

3. Simulation: 3D visualization of the production environment

Basic Usage¶

To visualize scheduling results, use the render method:

# Create and run environment
env = JobShopLabEnv(config=config)

# Run simulation
done = False
while not done:
    action = env.action_space.sample()  # or your policy
    obs, reward, truncated, terminated, info = env.step(action)
    done = truncated or terminated

# Visualize results with default backend
env.render()

# Or specify a backend
env.render(mode="dashboard")  # Gantt chart
env.render(mode="debug")      # CLI table
env.render(mode="simulation") # 3D visualization

Configuring Visualization¶

Set the default visualization method in your config file:

env:
  render_backend: "render_in_dashboard"  # Default backend

render_backend:
  render_in_dashboard:
    port: 8050
    debug: False

  cli_table:
    loglevel: "warning"

  simulation:
    port: 8051
    bind_all: False
    json_dump_dir: "data/tmp/simulation_interface.json"

Gantt Chart Dashboard¶

The Gantt chart dashboard is the most comprehensive visualization tool:

# Show dashboard
env.render(mode="dashboard")

Example of the JobShopLab Gantt chart dashboard showing job schedules and machine utilization

Dashboard Features:

• Interactive timeline of all operations

• Color-coded jobs and machines

• Zooming and panning

• Detailed tooltips with operation information

• Table view of job and machine status

When using the dashboard:

• The dashboard runs as a web application on the specified port (default: 8050)

• In Jupyter notebooks, it displays inline

• Otherwise, it opens in your default web browser

CLI Debug Visualization¶

For quick debugging or when working in terminal environments:

# Show CLI table
env.render(mode="debug")

The CLI visualization provides:

• A text-based representation of the schedule

• Machine timelines with operation codes

• Job completion status

• Current system state

This mode is particularly useful for: - Debugging scheduling behavior - Working in remote or terminal-only environments - Quick checks during development

3D Simulation¶

For a more immersive visualization of the production environment:

# Show 3D simulation
env.render(mode="simulation")

The 3D simulation shows:

• Physical layout of machines

• Job movements between operations

• Transport resources (AGVs, conveyors)

• Buffers and queues

This visualization helps understand: - Spatial aspects of scheduling - Transport logistics - Resource contentions