Dia (software)

Dia

File:Dia logo.jpg
File:Dia 0.97 - Flowchart example.png Dia 0.97 in Norwegian on Windows Vista
Developer(s)	Dia developers
Stable release	0.97 / 2009-5-03
Preview release	0.97-2 / February 16, 2009
Written in	C
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Diagramming software
License	GPL
Website	live.gnome.org/Dia/

Dia (pronounced /ˈdiːə/) is free and open source general-purpose diagramming software, developed as part of the GNOME project's office suite and was originally created by Alexander Larsson. Dia uses a controlled single document interface (CSDI) similar to GIMP and Sodipodi.

Dia has a modular design with several shape packages available for different needs: flowchart, network diagrams, circuit diagrams, and more. It does not restrict symbols and connectors from various categories from being placed together.

Dia can be used to draw many different kinds of diagrams. It has special objects to help draw entity-relationship models (tedia2sql can be used to create the SQL DDL), Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, and simple electrical circuits. It is also possible to add support for new shapes by writing simple XML files, using a subset of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to draw the shape.

Dia loads and saves diagrams to a custom XML format (gzipped by default, to save space) and can print diagrams including very large diagrams that span multiple pages. It can also be scripted using the Python programming language.

Exports

Dia can export diagrams to various formats including the following:

• EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
• SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
• DXF (Autocad's Drawing Interchange format)
• CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile defined by ISO standards)
• WMF (Windows Meta File)
• PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
• JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
• VDX (Microsoft's XML for Visio Drawing)

Development

Dia was originally created by Alexander Larsson but he moved on to work on GNOME and other projects. After him James Henstridge took over as lead developer but also moved on to other projects.

Dia is maintained by a group of developers Hans Breuer, Lars Clausen, Steffen Macke, Sameer Sahasrabuddhe.

Dia is written in C, and has a system of extensions that can be written in Python.

See also

• Inkscape
• List of UML tools
• List of vector graphics editors
• Kivio
• Graphviz
• ATLAS Transformation Language -- Dia diagrams may be generated by ATL model transformations
• Wikipedia:How to draw a diagram with Dia

External links

• Dia Project Homepage
• Dia Tutorial written by Harry George
• Introductory Dia Tutorial
• Dia Shapes for Website Diagrams
• Dia Shapes for Network Diagrams
• Dia for Windows
• Dia for Mac OS X (via Darwin Ports)
• Dia Shape Repository