GE Graph Dump Format Specification

Overview

GE (Graph Engine) supports exporting computation graphs in multiple formats, facilitating developers to view, debug and analyze graph structures. This document introduces three dump formats: ge_proto, onnx and readable, and their characteristics and usage methods.

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Dump Format Overview

Format	File Naming	Main Characteristics
ge_proto	ge_proto*.txt	protobuf text format, best information completeness, can be converted to JSON format file for convenient user problem localization
onnx	ge_onnx*.pbtxt	Based on ONNX model description structure, supports Netron and other visualization tools. Detailed explanation see Netron Visualization Instructions
readable	ge_readable*.txt	Similar to Dynamo fx graph style, highest text readability. Detailed format specification please refer to readable_dump.md

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Dump Usage Methods

Automatic Dump via Environment Variables

By setting environment variables, dump files can be automatically generated during graph execution:

# Set graph dump level
export DUMP_GE_GRAPH=1

# Set dump path
export DUMP_GRAPH_PATH=/path/to/dump/directory

# Set dump format
export DUMP_GRAPH_FORMAT="ge_proto|onnx|readable"

Environment Variable Explanation:

Environment Variable	Explanation	Example Value
DUMP_GE_GRAPH	Control graph dump content granularity: - 1: Full dump including edge relationships and data information - 2: Basic version dump excluding weights and other data - 3: Simplified version dump showing only node relationships	1, 2 or 3
DUMP_GRAPH_PATH	dump file save path: - Can be configured as absolute path or relative path to script execution directory - Path supports uppercase/lowercase letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, periods, Chinese characters	/path/to/dump
DUMP_GRAPH_FORMAT	dump format, supports ge_proto, onnx, readable, multiple formats separated by |	readable or ge_proto|onnx (default value)
DUMP_GRAPH_LEVEL	Control number of dump graph compilation stages: - Numeric configuration: - 1: dump graphs from all stages - 2: dump graphs from whitelist stages (default value) - 3: dump final generated graph (after GE optimization and compilation) - 4: dump earliest generated graph (graph after GE parsing and mapping operators) - String configuration: Use | to separate, e.g. "PreRunBegin|AfterInfershape", means dump graphs whose names contain these strings	1, 2, 3, 4 or "PreRunBegin|AfterInfershape"

Export via Graph API

C++

#include "ge/graph.h"

// Create graph
ge::Graph graph("my_graph");
// ... Build graph structure ...

// Export to different formats
graph.DumpToFile(ge::Graph::DumpFormat::kTxt, "suffix");        // ge_proto
graph.DumpToFile(ge::Graph::DumpFormat::kOnnx, "suffix");       // onnx
graph.DumpToFile(ge::Graph::DumpFormat::kReadable, "suffix");   // readable

Python

from ge.graph import Graph, DumpFormat

# Create graph
graph = Graph("my_graph")
# ... Build graph structure ...

# Method 1: Export to file
graph.dump_to_file(format=DumpFormat.kTxt, suffix="suffix")        # ge_proto
graph.dump_to_file(format=DumpFormat.kOnnx, suffix="suffix")       # onnx
graph.dump_to_file(format=DumpFormat.kReadable, suffix="suffix")   # readable

# Method 2: Direct print (only readable format supported)
print(graph)  # Direct print readable format to console to view graph structure
readable_str = str(graph)  # Get readable format string, can be used for saving or further processing

For detailed explanation of ge.graph, please refer to graph module

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Appendix

Netron Visualization Instructions

When opening ge_onnx*.pbtxt file in Netron:

• Node representation: Each node in the graph represents an operator

• Edge relationships: Edge relationships are represented by solid lines with arrows, arrow direction indicates data flow direction (from source node to target node)

• Node information viewing: Click operator node to view operator detailed information, key information includes:

  Attribute Name	Explanation
  type	Operator type
  name	Operator name
  input_desc_dtype:x	Data type of x-th input
  input_desc_layout:x	Data format of x-th input
  input_desc_shape:x	Shape of x-th input
  output_desc_dtype:x	Data type of x-th output
  output_desc_layout:x	Data format of x-th output
  output_desc_shape:x	Shape of x-th output