Convert data to diagrams with yEd
Weighting
In flowcharts, it makes sense in terms of improved visualization to show important nodes as enlarged and color-highlighted icons. The viewer can thus see at a glance which instances in the chart handle critical functions. To help you do this, the software has a feature that weights nodes based on the connections existing between them and then displays the results. It also changes the size of the corresponding elements. You can trigger these computations using the Tools | Centrality Measures item.
In the dialog that appears, you can set the criteria that the yEd tool applies for its computations: The options are the number of connected nodes or the edge weighting – that is, the relevance of connections. You also can define whether the application takes account of incoming and outgoing lines in its computations or in just one of these directions.
You can use the dialog in the Result Presentation tab to define how yEd displays the modified chart. You can change the color of the central and remotest elements and use the Size dialog to determine how large or small the central and remote nodes will be in the view.
yEd also shows the corresponding factors by default. If needed, you can disable this by unchecking the Show Result in Node Label option in the Result Presentation tab. This makes extensive charts, in particular, significantly easier to read (Figure 6).
Often designing your own charts for simpler visualization tasks is not worth the work. If templates are available in such cases, you can adapt them to your needs with little effort. For this, yEd includes several templates in the Help | Example Graphs item. They are sorted into subgroups by type and display format.
Formats
The variety of file formats that yEd supports is a further highlight. You can import Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and genealogical data in the standard GEDCOM format [2]. Additionally, text-based GML files [3] for further editing as charts will not faze yEd.
Natively, the software works with the popular XML-based GraphML format [4]. Because common office programs still often do not support this format directly, yEd offers various export capabilities, including BMP, GIF, JPEG, and PNG graphics formats, among others. For direct screening of charts with a projector, you can even convert to PDF if necessary. The software even writes Flash and encapsulated PostScript, which means that you can use the charts with many other applications.
Conclusions
Whether you only occasionally need to visualize figures or want to design professional charts with a variety of content, the yEd graph editor tool is up to most tasks. The easy-to-use program lets you create appealing results quickly. In doing so, yEd is amazingly agile and very stable for a Java program.
« Previous 1 2 3
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.