[instaviz-users] Graphing Software for "Dummies"

Sun Mar 22 19:40:02 CDT 2009

>
> On Mar 21, 2009, at 14:17, Roger Taylor wrote:
>
> >
> > > Is anyone out there able to make (or know of) a Mac/Windows/Linux
> > > version of the iPhone Instaviz software?
> > >
> > > I'd like to buy copies of something like this for the people in my
> > > lab here at Vanderbilt.
> >
> > Instaviz uses the Graphviz engine, so just download Graphviz for Mac,
> > Windows or Linux. It's free.
> >
> > http://graphviz.org/
> >
> > This doesn't include the finger-drawing stuff which is unique to
> > Instaviz. With Graphviz proper, you write text files that describe
> > the relationships of nodes in your graph, and Graphviz draws them.
> >
>
>
> Thanks, but I'm not a programmer, so I'd need something with a modern GUI.
>
> Someone mentioned OmniGraffle, which I already have (and love).
> Unfortunately it is Mac only and it  doesn't allow exporting to .dot files.
>
> I do educational research in poor K-12 schools, and they don't have the
> funds to buy the dozens of copies of "Inspiration" - which is the only
> comparable cross-platform software on the market.
>
> Here's my dream software: A cross-platform open-source program that uses
> the
> .dot language, but is easy enough for normal users.
>
> Is there a "Firefox/Thunderbird/Gimp" equivalent for graphs?
>
> Thanks,
> Roger
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:55:10 +1100
> From: Daniel May <daniel at thedanielmay.com>
> Subject: Re: [instaviz-users] Instaviz, but on computers
> To: Instaviz Users <instaviz-users at pixelglow.com>
> Message-ID:
>        <354baaa90903221355p52a25adeoc7ba753a215251a2 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Ditto Roger's comments, but adding that having it run from the cloud would
> be good ;)
>
>
>
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:19:23 +0900
> From: Andy Dent <dent at oofile.com.au>
> Subject: Re: [instaviz-users] Instaviz, but on computers
> To: Instaviz Users <instaviz-users at pixelglow.com>
> Message-ID: <5F5C6B69-1F4A-4A2A-8ADA-5439D0C30914 at oofile.com.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
>
> On 23/03/2009, at 4:50 AM, Roger Taylor wrote:
>
> > Thanks, but I'm not a programmer, so I'd need something with a
> > modern GUI.
>
> The only "programmer-like" requirement is having to type in DOT
> syntax. Are you confused by the command-line tools and language on the
> main Graphviz site? The presence of a GUI version is a little obscure
> as I don't think the Windows one has been released other than in
> development snapshots .

Having to rely on syntax for graphical design is not very efficient,
especially for quickly adjusting layouts. I guess after enough time one can
become proficient at this approach, but it's like going back to using DOS.

> > Here's my dream software: A cross-platform open-source program that
> > uses the .dot language, but is easy enough for normal users.
> Exactly what do you mean by "easy enough" - not having to enter or
> understand dot?
>
> I blogged about this, whilst writing this response, so you can see an
> example picture and DOT at
> http://aussiedesignedsoftware.com/blog/?p=72
>

That's very nice, but how do I change the shape of the ovals and move one of
them over a 'smidge'?

>
> > Is there a "Firefox/Thunderbird/Gimp" equivalent for graphs?
>
> There are a range of web-side Graphviz processing solutions. Are you
> looking for something to drop into an existing server, run totally
> within a single web-page, able to run offline?
>
> See http://www.graphviz.org/Resources.php
>

I'd like to be able to sit a classroom of 5th graders down and quickly have
them make concept maps of an ecosystem (and comparable things).

> regards
>
> Andy Dent
> Freelance Designer-Developer - C++,  C#, Objective-C, Python, REALbasic
>
>
>
>
> >>>
> >>> This doesn't include the finger-drawing stuff which is unique to
> >>> Instaviz. With Graphviz proper, you write text files that describe
> >>> the relationships of nodes in your graph, and Graphviz draws them.
> >>
> >> Thanks, but I'm not a programmer, so I'd need something with a
> >> modern GUI.
>
> I would say you do not need to be a programmer to create Graphviz
> graph description files. Then again, I am a programmer, so perhaps
> I'm a bad judge of this. But it doesn't seem too difficult to create
> a text file that reads:
>
> digraph {
>        a->b
>        a->c
> }
>
> And to open that in the Mac OS X GUI Graphviz viewer to get the
> resulting image:

Thanks, but this is what I hoped to be able to find:
http://www.inspiration.com/Inspiration

> There are probably viewers for other operating systems available, and
> the command line utilities are certainly available.
>
>
> >> Someone mentioned OmniGraffle, which I already have (and love).
> >> Unfortunately it is Mac only and it  doesn't allow exporting
> >> to .dot files.
>
> I thought the latest version of OmniGraffle just gained Graphviz
> support in some way. So I thought it would support Graphviz files
> (the proper extension for which, by the way, has recently changed
> from .dot to .gv). I haven't used OmniGraffle myself but a friend who
> does sent me a screenshot from the latest release notes, which
> mentioned Graphviz, because he knows I'm interested in Graphviz.
>
>
> >> I do educational research in poor K-12 schools, and they don't
> >> have the funds to buy the dozens of copies of "Inspiration" -
> >> which is the only comparable cross-platform software on the market.
> >>
> >> Here's my dream software: A cross-platform open-source program
> >> that uses the .dot language, but is easy enough for normal users.
> >>
> >> Is there a "Firefox/Thunderbird/Gimp" equivalent for graphs?
>
>
> Since this is for schools, you could make it part of your lesson to
> first teach students about open-source software, how to get and
> install it, how to locate the available documentation, and then read
> it together and use it to write the graph description files Graphviz
> needs. Why not teach the next generation from an early age about the
> alternatives that open-source software offers and how to help
> themselves use it?

For older kids this would be possible, but these are elementary school
children.

> > Ditto Roger's comments, but adding that having it run from the
> > cloud would be good ;)
>
>
> Meaning, as I understand it: you would like to be able to use the
> functionality without having to install a program, and for the
> computationally-intensive tasks to occur on a server instead of on
> your computer, and you would access the functionality via, say, a web
> browser.
>
> Webdot is available which you can install on a server to do the
> Graphviz rendering. I am working on a new version of Webdot to
> modernize it a bit and offer some features I need for another
> project, which is that I am working on integrating Graphviz with the
> Google Visualization API.
>
> http://code.google.com/apis/visualization/
>
> Google Visualizations allow you to describe your data in a simple
> spreadsheet format and then display it using any number of available
> visualization algorithms, from bar, line and pie charts all the way
> to, soon, Graphviz graphs. So instead of writing the graph
> description file I showed above, you could get the same output by
> creating a spreadsheet containing something like:
>
> tail    head
> a       b
> a      c
>
> Would this meet your needs?
>
>
>
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>
> End of instaviz-users Digest, Vol 7, Issue 11
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