dot graph - chunhualiao/public-docs GitHub Wiki

alternatives: json/networkx format

dot graph: subgraph

Here are some popular GUI applications for creating and visualizing DOT graphs:

Desktop Applications:

  • ZGRViewer - Zoomable, large-graph viewer written in Java; smooth fisheye navigation
  • xdot - A lightweight, interactive DOT graph viewer written in Python. It allows zooming, panning, and basic editing
  • Gephi - A powerful network analysis and visualization platform that can import DOT files and provides extensive layout and styling options
  • Cytoscape - Originally designed for biological networks but works well for general graph visualization with DOT import support
  • yEd - A commercial graph editor with excellent layout algorithms that can import GraphML (convertible from DOT)
  • Graphviz GUI wrappers like GVEdit (comes with some Graphviz distributions) and DotEditor
  • KGraphViewer Polished KDE/Qt viewer: tabs, bird-eye view, auto-reload on file change
  • DotEditor WYSIWYG editor that also shows the raw DOT side-by-side
  • Tulip: Import from GraphViz

Web-based Tools:

  • Viz.js online editors - Browser-based DOT editors that render graphs in real-time
  • Graphviz Visual Editor - Web-based tools that provide a GUI for creating DOT syntax
  • Draw.io/Diagrams.net - While not DOT-native, it's excellent for creating diagrams that could be exported to various formats

IDE/Editor Plugins:

  • VS Code extensions - Several extensions provide DOT syntax highlighting and preview capabilities
  • Sublime Text and Atom plugins for DOT visualization
  • Vim plugins for DOT file editing and preview

Specialized Tools:

  • GraphInsight - Commercial tool focused on large graph analysis
  • Tulip - Open-source graph visualization framework with DOT support, import dot file using GraphViz

For most users, xdot is a great starting point since it's free, lightweight, and specifically designed for DOT files. Gephi is excellent if you need more advanced network analysis features.