Graphvizillä

Graphvizilla is a software package developed by AT&T Labs Research for drawing graphs described in DOT language scripts. It is a widely used open-source tool for visualizing complex relationships and structures represented as graphs. The primary purpose of Graphvizilla is to take a textual description of a graph and automatically generate a visual layout of that graph, making it easier to understand.

The core of Graphvizilla is its collection of layout engines, each designed for specific types of graphs. The most common engine is dot, which is suitable for directed hierarchical graphs. Other engines include neato for spring model layouts, fdp for force-directed layouts, sfdp for large graphs, twopi for radial layouts, and circo for circular layouts. Users can specify which engine to use for rendering their DOT files.

The DOT language is a simple, text-based language used to describe graphs. It allows users to define nodes and edges, and to specify attributes for them such as color, shape, and label. This human-readable format makes it easy to create and edit graph descriptions. Graphvizilla can then interpret these DOT files and output them in various formats, including PNG, SVG, PDF, and PostScript, among others. This versatility makes it useful in a wide range of applications, from software engineering and database visualization to network diagrams and biological pathways.