CPM Network Diagram Generator

This project is a Critical Path Method (CPM) network diagram generator for project management.
It reads activity data from a CSV file, computes scheduling metrics (ES, EF, LS, LF, TF), and produces a clean network diagram with critical paths highlighted.

The diagrams are rendered with Graphviz in a grid-like layout with orthogonal connectors.

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Features

• Computes:
  • Earliest Start (ES)
  • Earliest Finish (EF)
  • Latest Start (LS)
  • Latest Finish (LF)
  • Total Float (TF)
• Highlights the critical path (zero float) in red
• Outputs diagrams as PNG, SVG, or PDF
• Grid-based layout with square connectors for clarity
• Simple CSV input format

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Installation

We recommend using conda to manage the environment.

# Create a new environment
conda create -n cpm-diagram python=3.10 -y
conda activate cpm-diagram

# Install dependencies
pip install pandas graphviz

Make sure you have the Graphviz binaries installed. On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get install graphviz

On macOS (with Homebrew):

brew install graphviz

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Usage

1. Prepare your CSV file

Example project.csv:

id,description,duration,predecessors
A,Kickoff,1,
B,Design,5,A
C,Procurement,4,A
D,Implementation,7,B,C
E,Testing,3,D

• id: Unique activity ID (letters/numbers)
• description: Short task description
• duration: Task duration in days
• predecessors: Comma-separated list of task IDs (leave blank if none)

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2. Run the program

python cpm_network_diagram.py project.csv output.png

This generates output.png with the full CPM network diagram.

You can also output to SVG or PDF by changing the file extension:

python cpm_network_diagram.py project.csv output.svg
python cpm_network_diagram.py project.csv output.pdf

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Example Output

For the demo CSV above, the generated diagram looks like this:

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License

MIT License – feel free to use and adapt this tool in your own projects.