1. A computer implemented method for displaying on a display surface an automatically generated graphical display using a symbolic annotation language, the method comprising: receiving a number of symbols to form an alphabet of a compact symbolic language, the compact symbolic language capable of representing a plurality of semantics; capturing a business process flow using at least some of the number of symbols; mapping the at least some of the number of symbols to a plurality of constructs of a markup language, at least some of the constructs to be rendered in a graphical display; and displaying, on a display surface, the business process flow using the graphical display.