Graphviz

Graphviz
DevelopersAT&T Labs Research and contributors
Releasebefore 1991; 35 years ago (1991)
Stable release
16.1.0 / 4 September 2026; 37 days ago (4 September 2026)
Written inC
Operating systemLinux, macOS, Windows
TypeGraph visualization
LicenseEclipse Public License
Websitegraphviz.org
Repositorygitlab.com/graphviz/graphviz
A red–black tree plotted by Graphviz
Undirected graph showing adjacency of the 48 contiguous United States
A visualization of a JavaScript life cycle made by using Graphviz

Graphviz (short for Graph Visualization Software) is a package of open-source tools initiated by AT&T Labs Research for drawing graphs (as in nodes and edges, not as in bar charts) specified in DOT language scripts having the file name extension "gv". It also provides libraries for software applications to use the tools. Graphviz is free software licensed under the Eclipse Public License.

Tools

dot
a command-line tool to produce layered graph drawings in a variety of output formats, such as (PostScript, PDF, SVG, annotated text and so on).
neato
useful for undirected graphs up to about 1000 nodes. "Spring model" layout minimizes global energy.
fdp
force-directed graph drawing similar to "spring model", but minimizes forces instead of energy. Useful for undirected graphs.
sfdp
multiscale version of fdp for the layout of large undirected graphs.
twopi
for radial graph layouts. Nodes are placed on concentric circles depending on their distance from a given root node.
circo
circular layout. Suitable for certain diagrams of multiple cyclic structures, such as certain telecommunications networks.
dotty
a graphical user interface to visualize and edit graphs.
lefty
a programmable (in a language inspired by EZ) widget that displays DOT graphs and allows the user to perform actions on them with the mouse. Therefore, Lefty can be used as the view in a model–view–controller GUI application that uses graphs.
gml2gv, gv2gml
convert to/from GML, another graph file format.
graphml2gv
convert a GraphML file to the DOT format.
gxl2gv, gv2gxl
convert to/from GXL, another graph file format.

Applications that use Graphviz

Notable applications of Graphviz include:

Version history

DateVersion
December 15, 20001.7.4
February 7, 20021.8.0
January 31, 20031.9.0
July 3, 20031.10.0
February 23, 20041.11.0
March 1, 20041.12.0
August 30, 20041.14.0
September 14, 20041.16.0
December 11, 20041.18.0
December 11, 20042.0.0
January 19, 20052.2.0
July 20, 20052.4.0
August 28, 20052.6.0
February 3, 20062.8.0
November 27, 20062.10.0
December 5, 20062.12.0
August 2, 20072.14.0
November 9, 20072.16.0
March 10, 20082.18.0
June 20, 20082.20.0
March 3, 20092.22.0
June 16, 20092.24.0
December 10, 20092.26.0
May 6, 20112.28.0
January 13, 20132.30.0
August 1, 20132.32.0
September 6, 20132.34.0
January 11, 20142.36.0
2014-04-132.38.0
2016-12-202.40.0
2019-07-042.42.0
2020-04-082.44.0
2021-01-182.46.0
2021-03-162.47.0
2021-07-172.48.0
2021-08-282.49.0
2021-12-042.50.0
2022-02-263.0.0
2022-05-294.0.0
2022-07-075.0.0
2022-09-116.0.1
2022-10-237.0.0
2023-03-278.0.1
2023-09-119.0.0
2024-02-1010.0.1
2024-04-2811.0.0
2024-07-0412.0.0
2025-06-0813.0.0

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Credits Graphviz".
  2. ↑ Eleftherios Koutsofios and Stephen North. Drawing graphs with dot. Technical Report 910904-59113-08TM, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, September 1991.
  3. ↑ "16.1.0 · graphviz / graphviz · GitLab". Retrieved 5 September 2026.
  4. ↑ The Lefty guide (“Editing Pictures with lefty”), section 3.1, p. 9.
  5. ↑ "argouml-graphviz.tigris.org". argouml-graphviz.tigris.org. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Naumann, Uwe (2012). The Art of Differentiating Computer Programs: An Introduction to Algorithmic Differentiation. SIAM. p. 181. ISBN 9781611972078. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Anderson, Fritz (2014). Xcode 5 Start to Finish: iOS and OS X Development. Addison-Wesley Professional. p. 425. ISBN 9780133751024. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Std DependencyGraph". FreeCAD web. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "OmniGraffle 7.6 Reference Manual for macOS – Opening and Importing Files in OmniGraffle".
  10. ↑ Voit, Karl. "Org tutorial on generating simple process diagrams using dot and tables". orgmode.org. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Gemy, Cedric (2010). Scribus 1.3.5 Beginner's Guide. Packt Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781849513012. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  12. ↑ "GraphvizPlugin". trac-hacks.org. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Zim – a desktop wiki: Diagram Editor". zim-wiki.org. Retrieved 15 January 2018.