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<a class="menuext" href="overview.html" title="How everything fits together">Overview</a>
<a class="menucur" href="features.html" title="Feature list - what is possible with Graph::Easy">Features</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#unicode" title="Graph::Easy supports Unicode">Unicode</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#multinode" title="Nodes with the same text displayed">Multi-Node</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#anon" title="Anonymous and invisible nodes">Anon Nodes</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#multiedge" title="More than one edge from A to B">Multi-Edge</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#selfloops" title="From one node back to itself">Self-Loops</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#edges" title="A node as edge-part">Node-Edges</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#directions" title="Undirected and bidirectional edges">Directions</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#clusters" title="Group things together">Clusters</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#joints" title="Edges that join or split">Joints</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#flow" title="Flow directions">Flow</a>
<a class="menuind" href="#colors" title="Colors, shapes and styles">Colors</a>
<a class="menuext" href="layouter.html" title="How the layouter works">Layouter</a>
<a class="menuext" href="hinting.html" title="Generating specific layouts">Hinting</a>
<a class="menuext" href="output.html" title="Output formats and their limitations">Output</a>
<a class="menuext" href="syntax.html" title="Syntax rules for the text format">Syntax</a>
<a class="menuext" href="attributes.html" title="All possible attributes for graphs, nodes and edges">Attributes</a>
<a class="menuext" href="faq.html" title="Frequently Asked Questions and their answers">F.A.Q.</a>
<a class="menuext" href="tutorial.html" title="Tutorial for often used graph types and designs">Tutorial</a>
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<h1>Graph::Easy - Manual</h1>
<h2>Supported features</h2>
<div class="text">
<p>
Graph::Easy support a wide array of features, below you will find a brief overview
of some of them:
</p>
<a name="unicode">
<h3>Unicode</h3>
</a>
<p>
<code>Graph::Easy</code> has full Unicode support, both in input and output:
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
[ العربية ] -- link --> [ 日本語 ] --> [ 中文 ] -- كوردي --> [ English ]
</pre>
<p class="clear">
The above example contains Japanese, Chinese, Kurdi and a few other characters.
Here is the output of Graph::Easy as HTML (no, this is <b>not</b> an image, use the
text zoom to see it change size :-):
</p>
<table class="graph" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 style="margin-left: 1em; background: white;">
<tr>
<td colspan=4 rowspan=4 class='node'>ﺎﻠﻋﺮﺒﻳﺓ</td>
<td rowspan=4 class="edge ve"></td>
<td colspan=2 rowspan=2 class="edge lh" style="border-bottom: solid 2px black;">link</td>
<td rowspan=2 class="edge" style=" color: black;"><span class="sh">></span></td>
<td colspan=4 rowspan=4 class='node'>日本語</td>
<td rowspan=4 class="edge ve"></td>
<td colspan=2 rowspan=2 class="edge lh" style="border-bottom: solid 2px black;"> </td>
<td rowspan=2 class="edge" style=" color: black;"><span class="sh">></span></td>
<td colspan=4 rowspan=4 class='node'>中文</td>
<td rowspan=4 class="edge ve"></td>
<td colspan=2 rowspan=2 class="edge lh" style="border-bottom: solid 2px black;">ﻙﻭﺭﺪﻳ</td>
<td rowspan=2 class="edge" style=" color: black;"><span class="sh">></span></td>
<td colspan=4 rowspan=4 class='node'>English</td>
</tr>
<tr></tr>
<tr>
<td colspan=10 rowspan=2 class="edge eb"> </td>
<td rowspan=2 class="edge eb"> </td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class="clear">
If you do see little rectangles or diamonds with a question mark inside,
you need to install the missing fonts on your system, or use a browser
</p>
<p>
Here is a screenshot of the graph from above, showing what it looks like
on an Unicode-aware browser:
<br>
<img src="img/unicode.png" alt="Unicode example" title="Unicode example">
</p>
<a name="multinode">
<h3>Nodes with the same text</h3>
</a>
<p>
Since each node is unique, there cannot be two nodes with the same name. Since it is sometimes
desired to have two nodes with the same text appearing in the layout, you can override the
text displayed with a label:
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
[ Bonn ] { label: Berlin; } -> [ Berlin ]
</pre>
<p class="clear">
This will be rendered like this:
</p>
<img src="img/node_label.png" alt="Same node names" title="Same node names" class="float">
<pre class="graph">
+--------+ +--------+
| Berlin | --> | Berlin |
+--------+ +--------+
</pre>
<a name="anon">
<h3 class="clear">Anonymous and Invisible Nodes and Edges</h3>
</a>
<p>
<code>Graph::Easy</code> supports anonymous nodes,
normal invisible nodes (with a minimum size) and truly invisible
nodes (their size is as small as possible), as well as
invisible edges:
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
[ ] { title: Anonymous Node; }
-> [ $sys$Node ] { shape: invisible; title: You don't see me! }
-> [ Buna ]
-> [ Borna ] { shape: point; point-style: invisible; }
-> [ Bremen ]
-> { style: invisible; } [ Bonn ]
-> [ $sys$Node ]
</pre>
<p class="clear"></p>
<img src="img/invisible.png" alt="Invisible and anonymous nodes" title="Invisible and anonymous nodes" class="float">
<pre class="clear graph">
+------------------------------------------+
v |
+------+ +--------+ +------+
--> --> | Buna | --> --> | Bremen | | Bonn |
+------+ +--------+ +------+
</pre>
<p class="clear">
Please see the <a href="syntax.html#anon">chapter about the syntax</a>
for details on anonymous and invisible nodes and edges.
</p>
<a name="multiedge">
<h3>Multi-Edges</h3>
</a>
<p>
Most graphing packages also allow multi-edges. A multi-edge graph simply allows two edges going from the same
starting node to the same target node:
</p>
<pre>
[ Rostock ] -> [ Wismut ]
[ Rostock ] -> [ Wismut ]
</pre>
<img src="img/multi_edges.png" alt="Multi-edges" title="Multi-edges" class="float">
<pre class="graph">
+---------------+
| v
+---------+ +--------+
| Rostock | --> | Wismut |
+---------+ +--------+
</pre>
<p class="clear"> </p>
<a name="selfloops">
<h3>Self-Loops</h3>
</a>
<p>
In addition to that, self-loops are usefull for state-machines and flowcharts.
A self-loop is one edge going from one node back to the same node again:
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
[ Chemnitz ] -> [ Chemnitz ]
</pre>
<img src="img/self_loop.png" alt="Self-loop" title="Self-loop" class="float">
<pre class="graph">
+------+
v |
+----------+
| Chemnitz |
+----------+
</pre>
<p class="clear"> </p>
<a name="edges">
<h3>Edge-parts as endpoint of another edges</h3>
</a>
<p>
Sometimes you want to point an edge towards the label of another edge.
Since tradionally edges can only connect nodes with other nodes,
Graph::Easy features nodes with a shape of <code>edge</code>, these
nodes will fit seamless into an edge and thus create the illusion that
you point the edge at the label of another edge:
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
[ car ] { shape: edge; }
[ Bonn ] -- train --> [ Berlin ] -- [ car ] --> [ Ulm ]
[ rented ] --> [ car ]
</pre>
<pre class="graph">
+------+ train +--------+ car +-----+
| Bonn | -------> | Berlin | -----------------> | Ulm |
+------+ +--------+ +-----+
^
|
|
+--------+
| rented |
+--------+
</pre>
<p class="clear"> </p>
<a name="directions">
<h3>Undirected and bidirectional edges</h3>
</a>
<p>
Another often used feature are undirected or bidirectional edges:
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
[ Hamm ] <--> [ Leverkusen ]
[ Wismut ] -- [ Plauen ]
</pre>
<img src="img/edge_types.png" alt="Edge types undirected and bidirectional" title="Edge types undirected and bidirectional" class="float">
<pre class="graph">
+--------+ +------------+
| Hamm | <--> | Leverkusen |
+--------+ +------------+
+--------+ +------------+
| Wismut | ---- | Plauen |
+--------+ +------------+
</pre>
<p class="clear"> </p>
<a name="clusters">
<h3>Groups (Clusters or Subgraphs)</h3>
</a>
<p>
Also, subgraphs (called "groups" in Graph::Easy) allow you to cluster nodes together:
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
( Capitals: [ Bonn ], [ Berlin ] )
</pre>
<img src="img/group.png" alt="Grouping/Clustering/subgraphs" title="Example of grouping/clustering/subgraphs" class="float">
<pre class="graph">
+ - - - - - - +
' Capitals: '
' '
' +---------+ '
' | Berlin | '
' +---------+ '
' +---------+ '
' | Bonn | '
' +---------+ '
' '
+ - - - - - - +
</pre>
<p class="clear"> </p>
<p>
It is also possible to nest groups (not yet implemented), and to have edges
going from a group to a node, vice versa, or even from a group to another
group.
<br>
See the appropriate chapter about <a href="hinting.html#flow">Hinting</a>
for more details and examples.
</p>
<a name="joints">
<h3>Joints (Edges Splicing and Splitting)</h3>
</a>
<p>
You can also have edges that split or join up:
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
[ Potsdam ], [ Mannheim ]
--> { end: back,0; }
[ Weimar ]
--> { start: front,0; } [ Finsterwalde ], [ Aachen ]
</pre>
<div class="clear"></div>
<img src="img/joints.png" alt="Edge joints" title="Example of edge joints" class="float">
<pre class="graph">
+----------+ +--------+ +--------------+
| Mannheim | ------+-> | Weimar | -+-----> | Finsterwalde |
+----------+ | +--------+ | +--------------+
| |
| |
| |
+----------+ | | +--------------+
| Potsdam | ------+ +-----> | Aachen |
+----------+ +--------------+
</pre>
<p class="clear">
Please see the <a href="hinting.html#joints">section about joints</a> for further reference.
</p>
<a name="flow">
<h3>Flow directions</h3>
</a>
<p>
Graph::Easy allows you to adjust the flow of the entire graph, as well as
on any node, or even on a per edge-basis. Flow can be specified
either <b>absolut</b> (giving absolut directions like <code>south</code> or <code>west</code>),
or <b>relative</b> (directions <code>left</code>, <code>front</code> etc that
are relative to the local flow at that node).
</p>
<pre class="graphtext">
graph { flow: west; }
[ Duisburg ] -> [ Siegen ] { flow: left; }
-> [ Adenau ]
[ Siegen ] -> { flow: up; } [ Monschau ]
</pre>
<img src="img/flow.png" alt="Flow directions (partially supported by dot)" title="Flow directions (partially supported by dot)" class="float">
<pre class="graph">
+----------+
| Monschau |
+----------+
^
|
|
+----------+ +----------+
| Siegen | <-- | Duisburg |
+----------+ +----------+
|
|
v
+----------+
| Adenau |
+----------+
</pre>
<p class="clear"> </p>
<p>
For a complete overview of the possibilities of flow control, please
the see the appropriate chapter about <a href="hinting.html#flow">Hinting</a>.
</p>
<a name="colors">
<h3>Colors and Styles</h3>
</a>
<p>
<code>Graph::Easy</code> supports colors for all objects, many different shapes,
plus a wide array of styles for edges, arrows and borders:
</p>
<style type="text/css">
<!--
table.graph1 .edge {
background: inherit;
border-style: none;
font-family: monospaced, courier-new, courier, sans-serif;
margin: 0.1em;
padding: 0.2em;
}
table.graph1 {
text-align: center;
background: inherit;
empty-cells: show;
margin: 0.5em;
padding: 0.5em;
}
table.graph1 .node {
text-align: center;
border-color: #404060;
border-style: dotted;
border-width: 1px;
background: #aff0a0;
margin: 0.1em;
padding: 0.2em;
padding-left: 0.3em;
padding-right: 0.3em;
}
table.graph1 td {
padding: 2px;
background: inherit;
white-space: nowrap;
}
table.graph1 span.l { float: left; }
table.graph1 span.r { float: right; }
table.graph1 .va {
vertical-align: center;
line-height: 1.5em;
width: 0.4em;
}
table.graph1 .ve { width: 0em; }
table.graph1 .el {
width: 1em;
max-width: 1em;
min-width: 1em;
}
table.graph1 .lh, table.graph1 .lv {
font-size: 0.8em;
padding-left: 0.4em;
}
table.graph1 .v, table.graph1 .hat, table.graph1 .sv {
text-align: left;
height: 0.5em;
line-height: 0.6em;
}
table.graph1 .sv {
position: relative;
left: -0.5em;
overflow: visible;
}
table.graph1 .sh {
position: relative;
top: 0.8em;
vertical-align: bottom;
overflow: visible;
}
table.graph1 .hat {
padding-top: 0.5em;
line-height: 0.5em;
}
table.graph1 .eb {
max-height: 0.4em;
line-height: 0.4em;
}
-->
</style>
<table class="graph1" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 style="float: left;">
<tr>
<td colspan=4 rowspan=4 class='node' style="-moz-border-radius: 100%; border-radius: 100%; height: 4.9em; width: 4.9em">Berlin
<br />(Spree)</td>
<td rowspan=4 class="edge ve"></td>
<td colspan=2 rowspan=2 class="edge lh" style="border-bottom: solid 2px #a0522d;color: #a0522d;">train</td>
<td rowspan=2 class="edge" style=" color: #a0522d;"><span class="sh">></span></td>
<td colspan=4 rowspan=4 class='node' style="background: #faf0e6; border: dashed 1px #b22222">Frankfurt
<br />(Oder)</td>
<td rowspan=4 class="edge ve"></td>
<td colspan=2 rowspan=2 class="edge lh" style="border-bottom: solid 2px black;"> </td>
<td rowspan=2 class="edge" style=" color: black;"><span class="sh">▶</span></td>
<td colspan=4 rowspan=4 class='node' style="background: #8b4513; border: dashed 1px #000080; color: #ffffff">München
<br />(Isaar)</td>
</tr>
<tr></tr>
<tr>
<td colspan=3 rowspan=2 class="edge eb"> </td>
<td colspan=3 rowspan=2 class="edge eb"> </td>
</tr>
</table>
<img src="img/colors.png" alt="Different colors, shapes and styles" title="Different colors, shapes and styles" class="float">
<p>
Please see the chapter about <a href="attributes.html">attributes</a> for possible values and
many examples.
</p>
</div>
<div class="text clear next">
<p>
Please continue with the chapter about the <a href="layouter.html">layouter</a>.
</p>
</div>
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Last update: <span class="date">2006-09-03</span>
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