Reports and exports

Start with what you need next. A ticket or slide usually needs the picture on screen. A spreadsheet needs the data behind a lens. Graph tooling needs either the graph you shaped or the complete acquired model. A review needs one Architecture Report that can stand on its own.

AtlasArc keeps those outputs separate because they preserve different things. This page is the quick reference for choosing the right one.

Pick the output for the job

Output	Use it for	What it captures	Available from
Snapshot as PNG	Slides, tickets, and a quick visual handoff	The visible lens canvas, including its current focus, zoom, and colour treatment	Every lens you can access
Data as CSV	Spreadsheet or notebook work on plotted bubble data	The Subsystems or Hotspots dataset	Subsystems and Hotspots
Data as TSV	Sorting and inspecting dependency cells	The Matrix package or source-folder dependency grid	Package Matrix
View as DOT	Continuing the graph you shaped in Graphviz tooling	The current semantic Topology projection	Topology Graph
Model as DOT	Taking the underlying acquired architecture data elsewhere	The complete retained acquisition graph before policy or view interpretation	Shared Download menu
Topology & Governance Summary	A free one-page handoff and durable record of current topology and intent	One whole-model Graph, raw counts, the read-only repository governance register, and Free provenance	Shared Download menu
Full Architecture Report	Deep reviews, handoff, planning, and a durable architecture record	Selected global, subject, current-investigation, governance, metric, and cycle evidence	Shared Download menu

Snapshot as PNG is available from every lens you can use, including Free Topology. The Topology & Governance Summary is also Free. The full workspace adds CSV/TSV, both DOT exports, and the full Architecture Report.

Save what you see with Snapshot as PNG

Open Export in the active lens and choose Snapshot as PNG. The snapshot preserves the visible canvas, including the current focus, zoom, and colour treatment. It is the right answer when the visual itself is the evidence.

Every lens can make a PNG. That does not mean every lens exposes every structured format. The rest of the exports are matched to the data each lens actually owns.

Screenshot: active-lens Export menu showing Snapshot as PNG alongside the structured formats available for that lens

Export the lens when the current view is the evidence. The menu offers only the formats that make sense for the active lens.

Take lens data with you as CSV or TSV

Subsystems and Hotspots export their plotted data as CSV.
Package Matrix exports its package or source-folder dependency grid as TSV.
Topology Graph uses View as DOT when you need structured graph output.
Composition has Snapshot as PNG, but no CSV or TSV export in v1.

Use these files when the next step is sorting, filtering, calculating, or incorporating the lens data into another document.

Choose the graph you actually mean

AtlasArc has two DOT exports, and they are deliberately not synonyms.

View as DOT: the Topology graph you shaped

Open Export in Topology and choose View as DOT. It exports the semantic nodes and dependencies in the current Topology projection after focus, view-only exclusions, Hide isolated, cycle filtering, selected-cycle focus, expansion, and opened package internals.

It does not encode pixel geometry, pan, zoom, hover, selection, or animation. DOT tooling gets the graph membership you interpreted, not a screenshot of the canvas.

Model as DOT: the underlying acquired model

Open the shared Download menu and choose Model as DOT. This is the raw-data escape hatch: every retained architecture unit and dependency, plus directly acquired metrics where the backend supports them.

Model DOT is intentionally earlier than repository scope, governance, Safe Havens, cycle settings, focus, filters, and other view state. Use it when you want the acquired model directly, not AtlasArc's current policy or visual interpretation of it.

Screenshot: shared Download menu showing Model as DOT and Generate Report

Use the shared menu for model-wide output. Model DOT takes the acquisition graph; Generate Report assembles selected architectural evidence.

Generate the Free Topology & Governance Summary

Open the shared Download menu and choose Generate Report…. In Free, AtlasArc generates one fixed, self-contained summary on demand: a canonical whole-model Topology figure, raw structural counts, the read-only repository scope and cycle-governance register, and clear Free-edition provenance.

The summary deliberately does not inherit the added lenses, metrics, focused report modes, or dedicated Cycle Evidence. “Read-only” describes the generated HTML; cycle-governance authoring and maintenance remain available in the Free plugin.

Leave one complete architectural record

A full Architecture Report is not five screenshots glued together. In the full workspace, open the shared Download menu and choose Generate Report…, then select the evidence the review needs. AtlasArc prepares the report from the analysis model without switching the lens you are working in.

Compare four complete generated examples in the Architecture Report Showcases.

Report choice	What it adds
Global architecture model	The canonical whole-model overview and common evidence. Selected by default.
Subject audit	Pinned-neighbourhood and boundary evidence for one selected package or source folder.
Current investigation	The active lens, focus, filters, heatmap, and structural posture that made the current finding meaningful.
Governance audit	The complete repository decision register, including rationale, ticket fields, evaluation status, and current structural context.

Whole-model report content respects repository scope and durable governance, but it does not inherit temporary view state. Current investigation is the deliberate exception: choose it when the active lens setup is part of what you need to hand over.

If you leave out the global model and select a focused section, AtlasArc still adds a lightweight Architecture Overview so the evidence has a readable basis.

Screenshot: Generate Report dialog with Global architecture model, Subject audit, Current investigation, and Governance audit choices

Choose the evidence the review needs. Focused sections can stand alone because AtlasArc adds the lightweight overview they need for context.

One report, browsable and printable

AtlasArc writes one report folder with an index.html entry, linked chapter files, and a Printable Version that combines the selected content into one continuous document. Open the index to browse by chapter; open Printable Version when the next step is a PDF or a meeting packet.

Screenshot: generated Architecture Report index showing its overview, selected chapters, and Printable Version action

Browse by chapter or print one continuous record. The generated index is the handoff point for both paths.

Explore the Architecture Report Showcases for complete generated HTML reports.

The strongest report starts with a decision. Use a global review for a project baseline, Subject audit for one architecture unit, Current investigation for a handoff, or Governance audit when the decision register itself needs review.

Where to go next

Run a repeatable review with the Project architecture health review, learn where the controls live on The AtlasArc interface, or read how repository scope and governance affect whole-model evidence.