Ubuntu Manpage: dot - filter for drawing directed graphs

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NAME

       dot - filter for drawing directed graphs
       neato - filter for drawing undirected graphs
       twopi - filter for radial layouts of graphs
       circo - filter for circular layout of graphs
       fdp - filter for drawing undirected graphs

SYNOPSIS

       dot  [-(G|N|E)name=value]  [-Tlang] [-l libfile] [-o outfile] [-v] [-V]
       [files]
       neato [-(G|N|E)name=value] [-Tlang] [-l libfile] [-n[1|2]] [-o outfile]
       [-v] [-V] [files]
       twopi [-(G|N|E)name=value] [-Tlang] [-l libfile] [-o outfile] [-v] [-V]
       [files]
       circo [-(G|N|E)name=value] [-Tlang] [-l libfile] [-o outfile] [-v] [-V]
       [files]
       fdp  [-(G|N|E)name=value]  [-Tlang] [-l libfile] [-o outfile] [-v] [-V]
       [files]

DESCRIPTION

       dot draws directed graphs.  It works well on DAGs and other graphs that
       can  be  drawn  as  hierarchies.   It  reads attributed graph files and
       writes drawings.  By default, the output format dot is the  input  file
       with layout coordinates appended.

       neato  draws  undirected graphs using ‘‘spring’’ models (see Kamada and
       Kawai, Information Processing Letters 31:1, April 1989).   Input  files
       must  be  formatted  in the dot attributed graph language.  By default,
       the output  of  neato  is  the  input  graph  with  layout  coordinates
       appended.

       twopi  draws  graphs  using a radial layout (see G. Wills, Symposium on
       Graph Drawing GD’97, September, 1997).  Basically, one node  is  chosen
       as the center and put at the origin.  The remaining nodes are placed on
       a sequence of concentric circles centered  about  the  origin,  each  a
       fixed  radial  distance from the previous circle.  All nodes distance 1
       from the center are placed on the first circle; all  nodes  distance  1
       from a node on the first circle are placed on the second circle; and so
       forth.

       circo draws graphs using a circular layout (see Six and Tollis, GD  ’99
       and  ALENEX  ’99, and Kaufmann and Wiese, GD ’02.)  The tool identifies
       biconnected components and draws  the  nodes  of  the  component  on  a
       circle.  The  block-cutpoint  tree  is  then laid out using a recursive
       radial algorithm. Edge crossings  within  a  circle  are  minimized  by
       placing  as  many  edges  on  the  circle’s  perimeter as possible.  In
       particular, if the component is outerplanar, the component will have  a
       planar layout.

       If  a  node belongs to multiple non-trivial biconnected components, the
       layout puts the node in one of them. By default, this is the first non-
       trivial component found in the search from the root component.

       fdp  draws  undirected  graphs using a ‘‘spring’’ model. It relies on a
       force-directed approach in the spirit of Fruchterman and Reingold  (cf.
       Software-Practice & Experience 21(11), 1991, pp. 1129-1164).

OUTPUT FORMATS

       -Tps  (PostScript),  -Tsvg  -Tsvgz  (Structured Vector Graphics), -Tfig
       (XFIG graphics), -Tmif (FrameMaker graphics), -Thpgl (HP pen plotters),
       and  -Tpcl  (Laserjet  printers),  -Tpng  -Tjpg -Tgif (pixel graphics),
       -Timap (imagemap files for httpd servers that mark out  rectangles  for
       each  node that has a non-null "href" attribute.), -Tcmapx (client-side
       imagemap for use in html and xhtml).  (There are  also  two  deprecated
       imagemap  formats:  -Tismap  and -Tcmap. Additional less common or more
       special-purpose     output     formats     can     be     found      at
       http://www.graphviz.org/cvs/doc/info/output.html.)

GRAPH FILE LANGUAGE

       Here  is a synopsis of the graph file language, traditionally using the
       extension .dot, for graphs:

       [strict] (graph|digraph) name { statement-list }
       Is the top level graph. If the graph is strict then multiple edges  are
       not  allowed  between  the  same  pairs  of nodes.  If it is a directed
       graph, indicated by digraph, then the edgeop must be "->". If it is  an
       undirected graph then the edgeop must be "--".  Statements may be:

       name=val;
       node [name=val];
       edge [name=val];
       Set  default graph, node, or edge attribute name to val.  Any subgraph,
       node, or edge appearing after this inherits the new default attributes.

       n0 [name0=val0,name1=val1,...]; Creates node n0 (if it does not already
       exist) and sets its attributes according to the optional list.

       n0 edgeop n1 edgeop ... edgeop nn [name0=val0,name1=val1,...];
       Creates edges between nodes n0, n1, ..., nn and sets  their  attributes
       according to the optional list.  Creates nodes as necessary.

       [subgraph name] { statement-list }
       Creates  a  subgraph.  Subgraphs may be used in place of n0, ..., nn in
       the above statements to create edges.  [subgraph name] is optional;  if
       missing, the subgraph is assigned an internal name.

       Comments may be /*C-like*/ or //C++-like.

       Attribute  names  and  values  are  ordinary  (C-style)  strings.   The
       following sections describe attributes that control graph layout.

GRAPH ATTRIBUTES

       size="x,y" sets bounding box of drawing in inches.

       page="x,y" sets the PostScript pagination unit.

       ratio=f sets the aspect ratio to  f  which  may  be  a  floating  point
       number, or one of the keywords fill, compress, or auto.

       margin=f sets the page margin (included in the page size).

       nodesep=f sets the minimum separation between nodes.

       ranksep=f sets the minimum separation between ranks.

       ordering=out  constrains  order of out-edges in a subgraph according to
       their file sequence.

       rankdir=LR|RL|BT requests a left-to-right, right-to-left, or bottom-to-
       top, drawing.

       pagedir=[TBLR][TBLR] sets the major and minor order of pagination.

       rank=same  (or min or max) in a subgraph constrains the rank assignment
       of its nodes.   If a subgraph’s name has the prefix cluster, its  nodes
       are  drawn  in  a  distinct  rectangle  of the layout.  Clusters may be
       nested.

       rotate=90  sets  landscape   mode.    (orientation=land   is   backward
       compatible but obsolete.)

       center=n a non-zero value centers the drawing on the page.

       nslimit=f  or  mclimit=f  adjusts  the  bound  on the number of network
       simplex or mincross  iterations  by  the  given  ratio.   For  example,
       mclimit=2.0 runs twice as long.

       layers="id:id:id:id"  is  a  sequence  of layer identifiers for overlay
       diagrams.   The  PostScript  array  variable  layercolorseq  sets   the
       assignment  of  colors to layers. The least index is 1 and each element
       must be a 3-element array to be interpreted as a color coordinate.

       color=colorvalue sets foreground color (bgcolor for background).

       href="url" the default url for image map files;  in  PostScript  files,
       the  base URL for all relative URLs, as recognized by Acrobat Distiller
       3.0 and up.

       URL="url" ("URL" is a synonym for "href".)

       stylesheet="file.css" includes a reference to a stylesheet in -Tsvg and
       -Tsvgz outputs.  Ignored by other formats.

       (neato-specific attributes)
       start=val.   Requests  random  initial  placement  and seeds the random
       number generator.  If val is not an integer, the process ID or  current
       time is used as the seed.

       epsilon=n.  Sets the cutoff for the solver.  The default is 0.1.

       splines=boolean.  Setting  this  to  true  causes  edges to be drawn as
       splines if nodes don’t overlap. The default is false.

       (twopi-specific attributes)
       root=ctr. This specifies the node to be  used  as  the  center  of  the
       layout.  If  not  specified,  twopi will randomly pick one of the nodes
       that are furthest from a leaf node, where a leaf  node  is  a  node  of
       degree  1.  If  no  leaf  nodes  exists, an arbitrary node is picked as
       center.

       ranksep=val. Specifies  the  radial  distance  in  inches  between  the
       sequence of rings. The default is 0.75.

       overlap=mode. This specifies what twopi should do if any nodes overlap.
       If mode is "false", the program uses Voronoi  diagrams  to  adjust  the
       nodes  to  eliminate  overlaps.  If  mode  is  "scale",  the  layout is
       uniformly scaled up, preserving  node  sizes,  until  nodes  no  longer
       overlap.   The  latter  technique  removes  overlaps  while  preserving
       symmetry  and  structure,  while  the  former  removes  overlaps   more
       compactly but destroys symmetries.  If mode is "true" (the default), no
       repositioning is done.

       splines=true/false. If set to true, twopi will use  the  graphviz  path
       planning library to draw edges as splines avoiding nodes.  If the value
       is false, or some nodes overlap,  edges  are  drawn  as  straight  line
       segments connecting nodes.  This is also the default style.

       (circo-specific attributes)
       root=nodename.  Specifies  the  name  of  a  node occurring in the root
       block. If the graph is disconnected, the root  node  attribute  can  be
       used to specify additional root blocks.

       mindist=value.  Sets  the  minimum separation between all nodes. If not
       specified then circo uses a default value of 1.0.

       splines=true/false. If set to true, circo will use  the  graphviz  path
       planning library to draw edges as splines avoiding nodes.  If the value
       is false, or some nodes overlap,  edges  are  drawn  as  straight  line
       segments connecting nodes.  This is also the default style.

       (fdp-specific attributes)
       K=val. Sets the default ideal node separation in the layout.

       maxiter=val.  Sets  the maximum number of iterations used to layout the
       graph.

       start=val. Adjusts the  random  initial  placement  of  nodes  with  no
       specified  position.   If  val is is an integer, it is used as the seed
       for the random number generator.  If val is not an  integer,  a  random
       system-generated  integer,  such  as the process ID or current time, is
       used as the seed.

       splines=val. If val is "true", edges are  drawn  as  splines  to  avoid
       nodes. By default, edges are draw as line segments.

NODE ATTRIBUTES

       height=d   or   width=d   sets   minimum   height   or  width.   Adding
       fixedsize=true forces these to be the  actual  size  (text  labels  are
       ignored).

       shape=record polygon epsf builtin_polygon
       builtin_polygon  is  one  of: plaintext ellipse circle egg triangle box
       diamond trapezium parallelogram house hexagon octagon.   (Polygons  are
       defined   or  modified  by  the  following  node  attributes:  regular,
       peripheries, sides, orientation, distortion and skew.)  epsf  uses  the
       node’s shapefile attribute as the path name of an external EPSF file to
       be automatically loaded for the node shape.

       label=text where text may include escaped newlines 
, \l,  or  
  for
       center, left, and right justified lines.  The string ’\N’ value will be
       replaced by the node name.  Record labels  may  contain  recursive  box
       lists  delimited  by  { | }.  Port identifiers in labels are set off by
       angle  brackets  <  >.   In  the  graph  file,  use  colon  (such   as,
       node0:port28).

       fontsize=n sets the label type size to n points.

       fontname=name sets the label font family name.

       color=colorvalue  sets the outline color, and the default fill color if
       style=filled and fillcolor is not specified.

       fillcolor=colorvalue sets the fill color  when  style=filled.   If  not
       specified,  the  fillcolor when style=filled defaults to be the same as
       the outline color.

       fontcolor=colorvalue sets the label text color.

       A colorvalue may be  "h,s,v"  (hue,  saturation,  brightness)  floating
       point numbers between 0 and 1, or an X11 color name such as white black
       red green blue yellow magenta cyan or burlywood, or a  "#rrggbb"  (red,
       green, blue, 2 hex characters each) value.

       style=filled solid dashed dotted bold invis or any Postscript code.

       layer=id  or  id:id  or "all" sets the node’s active layers.  The empty
       string means no layers (invisible).

       The following attributes apply only to polygon shape nodes:

       regular=n if n is non-zero then  the  polygon  is  made  regular,  i.e.
       symmetric  about  the  x and y axis, otherwise the polygon takes on the
       aspect ratio of the  label.   builtin_polygons  that  are  not  already
       regular  are made regular by this attribute.  builtin_polygons that are
       already  regular  are  not  affected  (i.e.   they   cannot   be   made
       asymmetric).

       peripheries=n  sets  the  number  of  periphery  lines drawn around the
       polygon.  This value  supercedes  the  number  of  periphery  lines  of
       builtin_polygons.

       sides=n  sets  the  number  of  sides to the polygon. n<3 results in an
       ellipse.  This attribute is ignored by builtin_polygons.

       orientation=f sets the orientation of the first  apex  of  the  polygon
       counterclockwise  from  the  vertical, in degrees.  f may be a floating
       point number.  The orientation  of  labels  is  not  affected  by  this
       attribute.   This  attribute  is  added  to  the initial orientation of
       builtin_polygons.

       distortion=f sets the amount of broadening of the top and narrowing  of
       the  bottom  of  the  polygon  (relative to its orientation).  Floating
       point values between -1  and  +1  are  suggested.   This  attribute  is
       ignored by builtin_polygons.

       skew=f  sets  the  amount  of  right-displacement  of the top and left-
       displacement  of  the  bottom  of  the   polygon   (relative   to   its
       orientation).   Floating  point values between -1 and +1 are suggested.
       This attribute is ignored by builtin_polygons.

       href="url" sets the url for the node in imagemap,  PostScript  and  SVG
       files.  The substring ’\N’ is substituted in the same manner as for the
       node label attribute.

       URL="url" ("URL" is a synonym for "href".)

       target="target" is a target string for client-side imagemaps  and  SVG,
       effective  when  nodes  have  a  URL.   The  target  string  is used to
       determine which window of the browser is used for the URL.  Setting  it
       to  "_graphviz"  will open a new window if it doesn’t already exist, or
       reuse it if it does.  If the target string is empty, the default,  then
       no  target  attribute is included in the output.  The substring ’\N’ is
       substituted in the same manner as for the node label attribute.

       tooltip="tooltip" is a tooltip string  for  client-side  imagemaps  and
       SVG,  effective  when nodes have a URL.  The tooltip string defaults to
       be the same as the label  string,  but  this  attribute  permits  nodes
       without  labels  to  still have tooltips thus permitting denser graphs.
       The substring ’\N’ is substituted in the same manner as  for  the  node
       label attribute.

       (circo-specific attributes)
       root=true/false.  This  specifies  that  the block containing the given
       node be treated as the root of the spanning tree in the layout.

       (fdp-specific attributes)
       pin=val. If val  is  "true",  the  node  will  remain  at  its  initial
       position.

EDGE ATTRIBUTES

minlen=n where n is an integer factor that applies to the edge length
(ranks for normal edges, or minimum node separation for flat edges).

weight=n where n is the integer cost of the edge. Values greater than
1 tend to shorten the edge. Weight 0 flat edges are ignored for
ordering nodes.

label=text where text may include escaped newlines
, \l, or
for
centered, left, or right justified lines. If the substring ’\T’ is
found in a label it will be replaced by the tail_node name. If the
substring ’\H’ is found in a label it will be replaced by the head_node
name. If the substring ’\E’ value is found in a label it will be
replaced by: tail_node_name->head_node_name or by:
tail_node_name--head_node_name for undirected graphs.

fontsize=n sets the label type size to n points.

fontname=name sets the label font family name.

fontcolor=colorvalue sets the label text color.

style=solid dashed dotted bold invis

color=colorvalue sets the line color for edges.

color=colorvaluelist a ’:’ separated list of colorvalue creates
parallel edges, one edge for each color.

dir=forward back both none controls arrow direction.

tailclip,headclip=false disables endpoint shape clipping.

href="url" sets the url for the node in imagemap, PostScript and SVG
files. The substrings ’\T’, ’\H’, and ’\E’ are substituted in the same
manner as for the edge label attribute.

URL="url" ("URL" is a synonym for "href".)

target="target" is a target string for client-side imagemaps and SVG,
effective when edges have a URL. If the target string is empty, the
default, then no target attribute is included in the output. The
substrings ’\T’, ’\H’, and ’\E’ are substituted in the same manner as
for the edge label attribute.

tooltip="tooltip" is a tooltip string for client-side imagemaps
effective when edges have a URL. The tooltip string defaults to be the
same as the edge label string. The substrings ’\T’, ’\H’, and ’\E’ are
substituted in the same manner as for the edge label attribute.

arrowhead,arrowtail=none, normal, inv, dot, odot, invdot, invodot, tee,
empty, invempty, open, halfopen, diamond, odiamond, box, obox, crow.

arrowsize (norm_length=10,norm_width=5,
inv_length=6,inv_width=7,dot_radius=2)

headlabel,taillabel=string for port labels.
labelfontcolor,labelfontname,labelfontsize for head and tail labels.
The substrings ’\T’, ’\H’, and ’\E’ are substituted in the same manner
as for the edge label attribute.

headhref="url" sets the url for the head port in imagemap, PostScript
and SVG files. The substrings ’\T’, ’\H’, and ’\E’ are substituted in
the same manner as for the edge label attribute.

headURL="url" ("headURL" is a synonym for "headhref".)

headtarget="headtarget" is a target string for client-side imagemaps
and SVG, effective when edge heads have a URL. The headtarget string
is used to determine which window of the browser is used for the URL.
If the headtarget string is empty, the default, then headtarget
defaults to the same value as target for the edge. The substrings
’\T’, ’\H’, and ’\E’ are substituted in the same manner as for the edge
label attribute.

headtooltip="tooltip" is a tooltip string for client-side imagemaps
effective when head ports have a URL. The tooltip string defaults to
be the same as the headlabel string. The substrings ’\T’, ’\H’, and
’\E’ are substituted in the same manner as for the edge label
attribute.

tailhref="url" sets the url for the tail port in imagemap, PostScript
and SVG files. The substrings ’\T’, ’\H’, and ’\E’ are substituted in
the same manner as for the edge label attribute.

tailURL="url" ("tailURL" is a synonym for "tailhref".)

tailtarget="tailtarget" is a target string for client-side imagemaps
and SVG, effective when edge tails have a URL. The tailtarget string
is used to determine which window of the browser is used for the URL.
If the tailtarget string is empty, the default, then tailtarget
defaults to the same value as target for the edge. The substrings
’\T’, ’\H’, and ’\E’ are substituted in the same manner as for the edge
label attribute.

tailtooltip="tooltip" is a tooltip string for client-side imagemaps
effective when tail ports have a URL. The tooltip string defaults to
be the same as the taillabel string. The substrings ’\T’, ’\H’, and
’\E’ are substituted in the same manner as for the edge label
attribute.

labeldistance and port_label_distance set distance; also labelangle (in
degrees CCW)

decorate draws line from edge to label.

samehead,sametail aim edges having the same value to the same port,
using the average landing point.

constraint=false causes an edge to be ignored for rank assignment.

layer=id or id:id or "all" sets the edgess active layers. The empty
string means no layers (invisible).

(neato-specific attributes)
w=f sets the weight (spring constant) of an edge to the given floating
point value. The default is 1.0; greater values make the edge tend
more toward its optimal length.

len=f sets the optimal length of an edge. The default is 1.0.

(fdp-specific attributes)
weight=f sets the weight of an edge to the given floating point value.
The default is 1.0; greater values make the edge tend more toward its
optimal length.

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

       -G sets a default graph attribute.
       -N sets a default node attribute.
       -E sets a default edge attribute.   Example:  -Gsize="7,8"  -Nshape=box
       -Efontsize=8

       -lfile  loads  custom  PostScript  library files.  Usually these define
       custom shapes or styles.  If  -l  is  given  by  itself,  the  standard
       library is omitted.

       -Tlang sets the output language as described above.

       -n[1|2]   (no-op)  If  set,  neato  assumes  nodes  have  already  been
       positioned and all nodes have a pos attribute giving the positions.  It
       then  performs  an  optional  adjustment  to  remove node-node overlap,
       depending on the value of the  overlap  attribute,  computes  the  edge
       layouts, depending on the value of the splines attribute, and emits the
       graph in the appropriate format.  If num  is  supplied,  the  following
       actions occur:
           num = 1
       Equivalent to -n.
           num > 1
       Use node positions as specified, with no adjustment to remove node-node
       overlaps, and use  any  edge  layouts  already  specified  by  the  pos
       attribute.   neato  computes  an edge layout for any edge that does not
       have a pos attribute.  As usual, edge layout is guided by  the  splines
       attribute.

       -v (verbose) prints delta energy every 100th iteration.

       -V (version) prints version information and exits.

       -? prints the usage and exits.

EXAMPLES

CAVEATS

       Edge splines can overlap unintentionally.

       Flat  edge  labels  are  slightly broken.  Intercluster edge labels are
       totally broken.

       Because unconstrained optimization is employed, node boxes can possibly
       overlap  or  touch unrelated edges.  All existing spring embedders seem
       to have this limitation.

       Apparently reasonable attempts to pin nodes or adjust edge lengths  and
       weights can cause instability.

AUTHORS

       Stephen C. North <north@research.att.com>
       Emden R. Gansner <erg@research.att.com>
       John C. Ellson <ellson@research.att.com>

       The   bitmap   driver   (PNG,   GIF   etc)   is   by   Thomas  Boutell,
       <http://www.boutell.com/gd>

       The Truetype font renderer is from the Freetype Project (David  Turner,
       Robert  Wilhelm, and Werner Lemberg) (who can be contacted at freetype-
       devel@lists.lrz-muenchen.de).