links objects as in a diagram
Hi,
I have followed he tutorials yesterday and have been very impressed with Inkscape.
I am trying to figure out how I could use it to make nice diagrams. I know Inkscape is not specificaly designed for that (I know Dia is) but I don't think I need a lot.
* Is it easy to make boxes that auto adjust its size to the text contained in the box?
* I have two box shapes, and then I want to link them i a way I can drag a box, the other box do not move but the path between the two adapts and stays linked to both shapes. How easy it is to do or emulate that?
At worst, for the latter, I will use the grid and easily reconnects the boxes each time I move them (after all it just doubles the number of drags'n drops). As you see, I will be satisfied with tricky/unorthodox/creative ways to do those.
* Would you say I am on the wrong way using Inkscape to do diagrams or you yourself regularly make diagrams with Inkscape.
Cheers,
It sure is a great product.
- Is it easy to make boxes that auto adjust its size to the text
contained in the box?
no
- I have two box shapes, and then I want to link them i a way I can
drag a box, the other box do not move but the path between the two adapts and stays linked to both shapes. How easy it is to do or emulate that?
it isn't
At worst, for the latter, I will use the grid and easily reconnects the boxes each time I move them (after all it just doubles the number of drags'n drops). As you see, I will be satisfied with tricky/unorthodox/creative ways to do those.
- Would you say I am on the wrong way using Inkscape to do diagrams or
you yourself regularly make diagrams with Inkscape.
i'm sorry, i'd like inkscape to know the things dia does, but it really isn't meant for diagrams... the grid is probably the best solution.
btw, dia can export to svg, but it uses some strange techniques... (the oval corners get exported as separate curves for example :)
regards, bostjan
On Fri, May 27, 2005 at 10:14:36AM +0200, Bo??tjan ??peti?? wrote:
At worst, for the latter, I will use the grid and easily reconnects the boxes each time I move them (after all it just doubles the number of drags'n drops). As you see, I will be satisfied with tricky/unorthodox/creative ways to do those.
- Would you say I am on the wrong way using Inkscape to do diagrams or
you yourself regularly make diagrams with Inkscape.
i'm sorry, i'd like inkscape to know the things dia does, but it really isn't meant for diagrams... the grid is probably the best solution.
When we founded Inkscape, we set the project with the goal of gaining these things, so while it isn't great at diagramming currently, it's definitely within scope for our development efforts and plans.
What we really need is more folks focusing on implementing these capabilities. I think at least half of the current developers focus on more of the hard core "artistic" capabilities of Inkscape, and another large chunk has been focusing on structural issues (gtkmm, memory management, extensions, etc.) Thus I think we could really use a few more team members with interest working on diagramming features (and a lot of other stuff!)
Btw, if anyone's interested, but aren't sure of their C skills, there is a discussion thread on the inkscape-devel@ list about learning coding. Some new coders have asked about how to get started in coding, and the developers are sharing about tools, books, and techniques. If you've ever had a desire to learn C/C++, this'd be a good opportunity. Since there's others also learning the same, you won't feel out of place and I bet there's going to be some good basic discussions through the summer about coding, that you'd be afraid to ask otherwise. ;-)
I can't emphasize enough the value of learning coding while working on an Open Source project (I myself learned much of my development skills working with other folks online one summer break back in my college years.) In an online project you benefit from being able to do real, tangible work, learn from existing code, and get direct feedback from some very skilled coders. You also learn a lot that you won't find in a programming book, like source code management, working with others, going through release cycles, and interacting with users. Plus it's extremely fun. :-)
btw, dia can export to svg, but it uses some strange techniques... (the oval corners get exported as separate curves for example :)
Bostjan, can you report these as bugs to dia?
Bryce
On May 27, 2005, at 1:31 AM, Rob Wilco wrote:
- I have two box shapes, and then I want to link them i a way I
can drag a box, the other box do not move but the path between the two adapts and stays linked to both shapes. How easy it is to do or emulate that?
This has come up a bit now, and a few people have actually started some work on it. As other things progress, at least some basic connectors, etc. should be getting in.
Don't expect it next month or anything, but enough's been done to let us know at least some diagramming features won't be too hard to implement.
On Fri, May 27, 2005 at 09:43:19AM -0700, Jon A. Cruz wrote:
On May 27, 2005, at 1:31 AM, Rob Wilco wrote:
- I have two box shapes, and then I want to link them i a way I
can drag a box, the other box do not move but the path between the two adapts and stays linked to both shapes. How easy it is to do or emulate that?
This has come up a bit now, and a few people have actually started some work on it. As other things progress, at least some basic connectors, etc. should be getting in.
Don't expect it next month or anything, but enough's been done to let us know at least some diagramming features won't be too hard to implement.
Also, if anyone would be interested in working on helping get this feature implemented in the near term, Peter (pjrm) is the guy that's done most of the groundwork for it and I'm sure would be willing to give some pointers and directions on what's left to be done. I think he's tied up with some other things at the moment, so like Jon says this one may be delayed a bit.
I think the two areas that needs help is in sorting out how to actually present linking behavior to the user, and then (of course) coding it. I'd guess that this is going to require someone with C skill and an understanding of how other drawing applications do snapping. I'm guessing it's on the order of a few week's work, perhaps longer depending on your skill level.
Bryce
On Fri, May 27, 2005 at 10:31:21AM +0200, Rob Wilco wrote:
Hi,
I have followed he tutorials yesterday and have been very impressed with Inkscape.
I am trying to figure out how I could use it to make nice diagrams. I know Inkscape is not specificaly designed for that (I know Dia is) but I don't think I need a lot.
I've found that with Inkscape you can make much better _looking_ diagrams than is possible with dia, however it's much less convenient, since many things that are done automatically by dia have to be done more manually in Inkscape.
- Is it easy to make boxes that auto adjust its size to the text
contained in the box?
Unfortunately, no.
- I have two box shapes, and then I want to link them i a way I can
drag a box, the other box do not move but the path between the two adapts and stays linked to both shapes. How easy it is to do or emulate that?
It's not really feasible currently. Deep inside the code there is a 'linking' feature but there's no UI built for it. This is an area where if it is really important, then other drawing tools will be more suitable.
At worst, for the latter, I will use the grid and easily reconnects the boxes each time I move them (after all it just doubles the number of drags'n drops). As you see, I will be satisfied with tricky/unorthodox/creative ways to do those.
Yeah, that's what I normally do. By the way, be forewarned that there are two kinds of snapping in Inkscape - snap to point (what you will want) and snap to bounding box. The latter seems to be the default so you often will need to turn it off and turn snap by point on. Also, make sure to experiment around with the snap settings. It seems that the defaults are too "weak" for diagram drawing and some things don't snap easily, and I like to ratchet it up really high. Oh, and learn the '#' shortcut key for turning the grid on and off. :-)
- Would you say I am on the wrong way using Inkscape to do diagrams or
you yourself regularly make diagrams with Inkscape.
I regularly use Inkscape for diagrams, and like the results, however I am honest with folks that it's more work than other tools, and possibly too much extra work.
But here is a situation where my cautioning was wrong: About a year ago co-worker needed to make some diagrams for a technical paper she was writing, and asked about Inkscape. I showed her that it doesn't do the above stuff, and convinced her dia would be simpler, and she did her diagrams in it. However, when it came time to put the diagrams into the paper, she ran into all manner of issues. She found she needed to resize the items in the image, alter font sizes, control the png exporting (anti-aliasing, etc.), and adjust the line sizes, and had great difficulties doing these things in dia. For several of the diagrams she ended up redoing them in Inkscape, and even though it was a bit more work to draw, it was a cinch by comparison to make all the adjustments needed to get it to fit well with the paper.
So... Sometimes even though inkscape lacks the more handy diagramming features, it makes up for it with its scalability and flexibility. :-)
Bryce
participants (4)
-
Boštjan Špetič -
Bryce Harrington -
Jon A. Cruz -
Rob Wilco