Software for Making Company Diagrams? 59
gaudenz asks: "We have a network with Linux, Solaris, Mac and Windows and need a software to paint simple diagrams, such as used in deployment. The actual requirements are simple: The tool must export to postscript, support fonts, boxes with multiple lines of text, and connections between these boxes. We found Visio with VMWare to be the best solution, JGraphpad 5 looks promising, too. Since diagrams are a common thing in development companies I was hoping others have made a comparison, too, and may come up with some other ideas to solve this problem."
xfig (Score:4, Informative)
Damn, AC, you did beat me to that! ;-) (Score:3, Informative)
And modern XFig even has libraries of simbols for standard network/computer/rack/whatever equipment.
Paul B.
P.S. The best part is that the storage format is all plain-text ASCII, I've done a number of "Increase all font sizes to 14 pt" with sed and/or awk.
Re:Damn, AC, you did beat me to that! ;-) (Score:2)
In addition, there seems to be Cygwin compiled version for use on windows which, while not being an easy install, will at least allow cross platform.
Certainly it is worth further investigation. After all, it cannot be any worse than the version I was 'using' 10 years, or so, ago
Re:xfig (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Get used to it (Score:1)
He's looking for a product. Do you know of one?
And I don't think Word does what he's looking for.
Re:Get used to it (Score:2)
Visio is a good product, but expensive, as is the Windows license it needs as well.
Word is also expensive and no better than OpenOffice. In fact, in a modern environment OO can often win because of being cross platform.
This person needs to add up all the costs, put his brain in gear, and then make a posting. If he is still happy with spe
Re:Get used to it (Score:2)
I have just quietly introduced Ghostscript as the workaround. The Visio viewer is really just an IE plugin so not much use when viewing a Word document.
Re:Get used to it (Score:2)
This can be done simply and cheaply under windows by installing a postscript printer (I use LaserWriterII), printing through the driver to a file, then using 'ps2pdf' under cygwin. This usually does the trick for me although there are probably simpler methods available
Re:Get used to it (Score:2)
LWN Strikes Again (Score:4, Informative)
Re:LWN Strikes Again (Score:1)
If you're planning to do any serious work, you'll find yourself recapitulating LWN's research.
That said, the reviews do make for a good list of candidate programs to try.
FreeMind (Score:2, Informative)
Re:FreeMind (Score:2)
Re:FreeMind (Score:1)
Use it initially for the brainstorming, then take your brainstorming results and clean it up, make any changes you need to, put that in a new mind map, and you've got most of your presentation planned out and done.
Re:FreeMind (Score:2)
Re:FreeMind (Score:1)
Closest to Visio at the moment.. (Score:5, Interesting)
I am not claiming it is a great app. I happen to think it needs a lot of work. However for a quick drawing, to do flow chart type work, you should find it viable.
Good luck.
-Rusty
Dia is NOT a visio replacement. (Score:2)
It's not a presentation tool or graphical design tool.
Visio is a cross between a diagramming tool, a VB environment, and Illustrator. That's a hard act to follow. (And it wasn't originally a Microsoft product either).
Re:Dia is NOT a visio replacement. (Score:1)
Kivio Works for me (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Kivio Works for me (Score:2)
* It's for KDE, so you can print directly to postscript or a PDF.
* Connect objects permanently and re-arrange them on the page without losing your connection lines.
* Use any font face/size installed on KDE.
* Multiple lines of text.
* Create multiple pages in a single document.
* Use any of 16 built-in arrowhead types.
* Control line width and color.
* Use object shapes and graphics from a huge collection of stencils.
* Open source and free.
I just poked arou
Dia (Score:4, Informative)
Recently, I was creating an OpenOffice.org document and needed a couple of diagrams.. After
searching through the menu for a few moments, I came across Dia. [gnome.org]
Dia fits all of the listed requirements from what I can tell. Its interface and features are very
similar to Visio IMO.. In addition, It loads much much faster than Visio.
I created two mini-network diagrams quite easily on my first use. I exported those to PNG
(EPS is available in a couple of formats) and inserted/scaled them into my document.
Overall, I was quite impressed.
Re:Dia (Score:1)
I had been linked to that website from the Slashdot story on FreeBSD Printing. [slashdot.org]
huh? (Score:2)
Re:huh? (Score:2, Insightful)
Besides, if you are using Linux and all, it would be easyer and nice to have a good native app, a lot of overhead and so, then again, nobody cares about efficiency and such anymore, we'll just get a new CPU + ram right?
Graphviz (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/graphviz [att.com]
I've used the mac os x port and found it will create graphs from possibly script-generated input files in a simple syntax.
Re:Graphviz (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Graphviz (Score:2)
Re:Graphviz (Score:2)
Re:Graphviz (Score:2)
When in doubt, always remember . . (Score:2, Informative)
Also has the charting functions you'd be looking for.
Re:When in doubt, always remember . . (Score:1)
tools (Score:1)
Visual Thought (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Visual Thought (Score:1)
William
Re:ascii diagrams (Score:2)
'nuff said.
Company diagrams? (Score:4, Funny)
Of course, they won't be able to do managerial or organizational charts...
Re:Company diagrams? (Score:2)
Postscript. (Score:4, Funny)
kivio by thekompany.com (Score:2)
OpenOffice (Score:2)
At the time I was working with a combination of DocBook (try XMLmind - brilliant) and OpenOffice.
Much to my surprise, the diagram editing facilities in the wordprocessor are quite acceptable, if limited. For quick, and sometimes moderatley complicated, diagrams it does quite well. What it loses in power is often made up for by convenience. I'd certainly give it a try if you are writing with OpenOffice already.
T
Re:OmniGraffle (Score:1)
Re: company diagrams (Score:3, Interesting)
OpenOffice Draw is so perfect for this job that it's not even an interesting question. Imagine something like Visio, but better, Free, and native to linux. Doesn't crash like Dia, easier to use, more versatile, and handles all the "linked boxes with translucent backgrounds and text some of which is in different colours or styles" that you'll ever need.
I assume that "print to file" generates some sort of postscript output, but it certainly supports saving as PDF, in addition to bitmap output options. You do know that ImageMagick makes it trivial to convert between images, PS, and PDF from the command-line?
OmniGraffle (Score:1)
OpenOffice.org Draw (Score:1, Interesting)
It's wacky OpenGL 3D-effect objects are a big hit with the PHBs, too.
Open Office (Score:1)
ConceptDraw (Score:3, Interesting)