Graphviz

Graphviz (short for Graph Visualization Software) is a package of open-source tools initiated by AT&T Labs Research for drawing graphs specified in DOT language scripts. It also provides libraries for software applications to use the tools. Graphviz is free software licensed under the Eclipse Public License.

Architecture

Graphviz consists of a graph description language named the DOT language^[2] and a set of tools that can generate and/or process DOT files:

dot 

a command-line tool to produce layered drawings of directed graphs in a variety of output formats (PostScript, PDF, SVG, annotated text and so on).

neato 

for "spring model" layout (in Mac OS version called "energy minimised")

twopi 

for radial graph layouts.

circo 

for circular graph layouts.

fdp 

another layout engine for undirected graphs.

dotty 

a graphical user interface to visualize and edit graphs.

lefty 

a programmable (in a language inspired by EZ^[3]) widget that displays DOT graphs and allows the user to perform actions on them with the mouse. Lefty can therefore be used as the view in a model-view-controller GUI application that uses graphs.

Applications

• AsciiDoc can embed Graphviz syntax as a diagram
• ArgoUML's alternative UML Diagram rendering called argouml-graphviz
• ConnectedText has a Graphviz plugin.
• DokuWiki GraphViz Plugin
• Doxygen uses Graphviz to generate diagrams including class hierarchies and collaboration for computer program source code.
• GRAMPS uses Graphviz to create family trees
• GraphViz - MediaWiki Graphviz Extension
• KGraphViewer/KGraphEditor - KDE graph-viewer and -editor
• Linguine Maps Java API to Graphviz
• lisp2dot converts Lisp-like program trees to DOT language. Designed for use with genetic programming.
• MoinMoin wiki Graphviz Extension
• OmniGraffle 5 uses the Graphviz engine for automatically laying out graphs
• PlantUML creates UML diagrams from textual description
• Puppet can produce DOT resource graphs which can be viewed with Graphviz^[4]
• QuickGraph can use Graphviz to render the graphs.
• Scribus is an Open Source DTP program that can use Graphviz to render graphs by using its internal editor in a special frame type called render frame.
• Sphinx is a documentation generator that can use Graphviz to embed graphs in documents.
• Trac wiki has a Graphviz plugin
• UMLGraph creates UML class and sequence diagrams from declarative specifications
• WinGraphviz is a older third party native win32 platform build.
• WikidPad uses Graphviz as a plugin

See also

• Graph (mathematics)
• Graph drawing
• Graph theory
• Dot language

Related software

• Microsoft Automatic Graph Layout - A .NET library for laying out graphs
• yEd Graph Editor - Java-based general-purpose diagram editor

References

External links

• Graphviz Homepage
• Graphviz, Projects & Software Page, AT&T Labs Research
• An Introduction to Graphviz and dot (M. Simionato, 2004)
• Create relationship diagrams with Graphviz (Shashank Sharma, 2005)
• Visualize function calls with Graphviz (M. Tim Jones, 2005)
• Use Graphviz in a web browser without downloading any software