--- name: "graph-easy" section: "1p" platform: "linux" package: "libgraph-easy-perl" version: "0.76-3" release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/graph-easy" --- # graph-easy(1p) render/convert graphs in/from various formats ## NAME graph-easy - render/convert graphs in/from various formats ## SYNOPSIS Convert between graph formats and layout/render graphs: ``` graph-easy [options] [inputfile [outputfile]] echo "[ Bonn ] - car -> [ Berlin ]" | graph-easy graph-easy --input=graph.dot --as_ascii graph-easy --html --output=mygraph.html graph.txt graph-easy graph.txt graph.svg graph-easy graph.txt --as_dot | dot -Tpng -o graph.png graph-easy graph.txt --png graph-easy graph.vcg --dot graph-easy graph.dot --gdl graph-easy graph.dot --graphml ``` ## ARGUMENTS Here are the most important options, more are listed in the full documentation: - \--help Print the full documentation, not just this short overview. - \--input Specify the input file name. Example: ``` graph-easy --input=input.txt ``` The format will be auto-detected, override it with --from. - \--output Specify the output file name. Example: ``` graph-easy --output=output.txt input.txt ``` - \--as Specify the output format. Example: ``` graph-easy --as=ascii input.txt ``` Valid formats are: ``` ascii ASCII art rendering boxart Unicode Boxart rendering html HTML svg Scalable Vector Graphics graphviz the DOT language dot alias for "graphviz" txt Graph::Easy text vcg VCG (Visualizing Compiler Graphs - a subset of GDL) text gdl GDL (Graph Description Language) text graphml GraphML ``` In addition, the following formats are understood and piped through the program specified with the --renderer option (default: dot): ``` bmp Windows bitmap gif GIF hpgl HP-GL/2 vector graphic jpg JPEG pcl PCL printer language pdf PDF png PNG ps Postscript ps2 Postscript with PDF notations (see graphviz documentation) tga Targa bitmap tif TIFF bitmap ``` The default format will be determined by the output filename extension, and is `"ascii"`, if the output filename was not set. You can also use **ONE** argument of the form `"--as_ascii"` or `"--ascii"`. - \--from Specify the input format. Valid formats are: ``` graphviz the DOT language txt Graph::Easy text vcg VCG text gdl GDL (Graph Description Language) text ``` If not specified, the input format is auto-detected. You can also use **ONE** argument of the form `"--from_dot"`, etc. - \--renderer The external program (default: "dot") used to render the output formats like `"png"`, `"jpg"` etc. Some choices are "neato", "twopi", "fdp" or "circo". - \--parse Input will only be parsed, without any output generation. Useful in combination with `"--debug=1"` or `"--stats"`. Example: ``` graph-easy input.txt --parse --debug=1 ``` - \--stats Write various statistics about the input graph to STDERR. Best used in combination with `"--parse"`: ``` graph-easy input.txt --parse --stats ``` - \--timeout Set the timeout **in seconds** for the Graph::Easy layouter that generates ASCII, HTML, SVG or boxart output. If the layout does not finish in this time, it will be aborted. Example: ``` graph-easy input.txt --timeout=500 ``` Conversion to DOT, VCG/GDL, GraphML or plain text ignores the timeout. The default is 240 seconds (4 minutes). - \--verbose Write info regarding the conversion process to STDERR. ## DESCRIPTION `"graph-easy"` reads a description of a graph (a connected network of nodes and edges, not a pie chart :-) and then converts this to the desired output format. By default, the input will be read from STDIN, and the output will go to STDOUT. The input is expected to be encoded in UTF-8, the output will also be UTF-8. It understands the following formats as input: ``` Graph::Easy http://bloodgate.com/perl/graph/manual/ DOT http://www.graphviz.org/ VCG http://rw4.cs.uni-sb.de/~sander/html/gsvcg1.html GDL http://www.aisee.com/ ``` The formats are automatically detected, regardless of the input file name, but you can also explicitly declare your input to be in one specific format. The output can be a dump of the graph in one of the following formats: ``` Graph::Easy http://bloodgate.com/perl/graph/manual/ DOT http://www.graphviz.org/ VCG http://rw4.cs.uni-sb.de/~sander/html/gsvcg1.html GDL http://www.aisee.com/ GraphML http://graphml.graphdrawing.org/ ``` In addition, `"Graph::Easy"` can also create layouts of graphs in one of the following output formats: ``` HTML SVG ASCII BOXART ``` Note that for SVG output, you need to install the module Graph::Easy::As\_svg first. As a shortcut, you can also specify the output format as 'png', this will cause `"graph-easy"` to pipe the input in graphviz format to the `"dot"` program to create a PNG file in one step. The following two examples are equivalent: ``` graph-easy graph.txt --dot | dot -Tpng -o graph.png graph-easy graph.txt --png ``` ## OTHER ARGUMENTS `"graph-easy"` supports a few more arguments in addition to the ones from above: - \--version Write version info and exit. - \--debug=N Set the debug level (1..3). Warning, this will generate huge amounts of hard to understand output on STDERR. Example: ``` graph-easy input.txt --output=test.html --debug=1 ``` - \--png, --dot, --vcg, --gdl, --txt, --ascii, --boxart, --html, --svg Given exactly one of these options, produces the desired output format. ## EXAMPLES ### ASCII output ``` echo "[ Bonn ] -- car --> [ Berlin ], [ Ulm ]" | graph-easy +--------+ car +-----+ | Bonn | -----> | Ulm | +--------+ +-----+ | | car v +--------+ | Berlin | +--------+ ``` ### Graphviz example output ``` echo "[ Bonn ] -- car --> [ Berlin ], [ Ulm ]" | graph-easy --dot digraph GRAPH_0 { edge [ arrowhead=open ]; graph [ rankdir=LR ]; node [ fontsize=11, fillcolor=white, style=filled, shape=box ]; Bonn -> Ulm [ label=car ] Bonn -> Berlin [ label=car ] } ``` ### VCG example output ``` echo "[ Bonn ] -- car --> [ Berlin ], [ Ulm ]" | graph-easy --vcg graph: { title: "Untitled graph" node: { title: "Berlin" } node: { title: "Bonn" } node: { title: "Ulm" } edge: { label: "car" sourcename: "Bonn" targetname: "Ulm" } edge: { label: "car" sourcename: "Bonn" targetname: "Berlin" } } ``` ### GDL example output GDL (Graph Description Language) is a superset of VCG, and thus the output will look almost the same as VCG: ``` echo "[ Bonn ] -- car --> [ Berlin ], [ Ulm ]" | graph-easy --gdl graph: { title: "Untitled graph" node: { title: "Berlin" } node: { title: "Bonn" } node: { title: "Ulm" } edge: { label: "car" source: "Bonn" target: "Ulm" } edge: { label: "car" source: "Bonn" target: "Berlin" } } ``` ### GraphML example output GraphML is XML: ``` echo "[ Bonn ] -- car --> [ Berlin ], [ Ulm ]" | graph-easy --graphml car car ``` ## CAVEATS Please note that it is impossible to convert 100% from one format to another format since every graph language out there has features that are unique to only this language. In addition, the conversion process always converts the input first into an Graph::Easy graph, and then to the desired output format. This means that only features and attributes that are actually valid in Graph::Easy are supported yet. Work in making Graph::Easy an universal format supporting as much as possible is still in progress. Attributes that are not yet supported natively by Graph::Easy are converted to custom attributes with a prefixed `"x-format-"`, f.i. `"x-dot-"`. Upon output to the same format, these are converted back, but conversion to a different format will lose these attributes. For a list of what problems still remain, please see the TODO file in the `"Graph::Easy"` distribution on CPAN: \ If you notice anything wrong, or miss attributes, please file a bug report on \ so we can fix it and include the missing things into Graph::Easy! ## LICENSE This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GPL. See the LICENSE file of Graph::Easy for a copy of the GPL. This product includes color specifications and designs developed by Cynthia Brewer (\). See the LICENSE file for the full license text that applies to these color schemes. ## AUTHOR Copyright (C) 2004 - 2008 by Tels \ ## SEE ALSO More information can be found in the online manual of Graph::Easy: \ See also: Graph::Easy, Graph::Easy::Manual