Tools for drawing block diagrams

[BigEd]

A pencil and paper, or a whiteboard, can be very productive ways to capture or explore a system organisation using a block diagram.

Elsewhere, new member Dave said:

cospan wrote:

I use this tool http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_download.html to create block diagrams of my projects to share with clients, in my opinion it creates very professional looking block diagrams that really help people get the high level idea of my designs.

and I'd like to hear other recommendations for tools.

For my part, I've been attracted to the ASCII tools at
http://asciiflow.com/
http://www.asciidraw.com/
and the prettification tool at http://ditaa.sourceforge.net/ which can turn basic ASCII diagrams into something presentable. (There used to be an online ditaa service, but it's gone - you need to download and run locally, or find it inside Emacs)

Here's an example of Ditaa input and output:

Code: Select all

    +-----------+        +---------+  
    |    PLC    |        |         |                
    |  Network  +<------>+   PLC   +<---=---------+ 
    |    cRED   |        |  c707   |              | 
    +-----------+        +----+----+              | 
                              ^                   | 
                              |                   | 
                              |  +----------------|-----------------+
                              |  |                |                 |
                              v  v                v                 v
      +----------+       +----+--+--+      +-------+---+      +-----+-----+       Windows clients
      |          |       |          |      |           |      |           |      +----+      +----+
      | Database +<----->+  Shared  +<---->+ Executive +<-=-->+ Operator  +<---->|cYEL| . . .|cYEL|
      |   c707   |       |  Memory  |      |   c707    |      | Server    |      |    |      |    |
      +--+----+--+       |{d} cGRE  |      +------+----+      |   c707    |      +----+      +----+
         ^    ^          +----------+             ^           +-------+---+
         |    |                                   |                        
         |    +--------=--------------------------+                    
         v                                                             
+--------+--------+                                                         
|                 |                                                         
| Millwide System |            -------- Data ---------                      
| cBLU            |            --=----- Signals ---=--                      
+-----------------+

[lordbubsy]

Thanks Ed! I normally use MS PowerPoint, but that isn’t nearly as comfortable as the ones you present.

[BigDumbDinosaur]

If I need to draw block diagrams or flow charts for publication I do them in a mechanical drafting program, usually DeltaCad, and then convert the drawing to GIF or JPEG.

——————————
Edit 2020/07/27: Update link.

[8BIT]

I like to use the free Expresspcb.com software for schematic and PCB creation. The schematic drawing program also allows for basic block diagram creation. My SBC-3 and SBC-4 block diagrams were generated from this. Here's one example:

http://sbc.rictor.org/info4.html

Not professional presentation quality, but it gets the job done using an existing tool.

Daryl

Edited: fixed "Expresspcb.com"

[PaulF]

I find the drawing tool included in OpenOffice makes good block diagrams - especially as it's free!

[ElEctric_EyE]

I like yed!
As a first time user, it worked very well with lines that show up for aligning boxes vertically and horizontally and for creating boxes of the same size. It's easy to use, very flexible and makes great diagrams IMO.

Here's a sample pic from a still yet to be completed diagram. I'm still learning some of the features, so it's not perfect.

[jdb2]

I've been using JavE to draw ASCII art / "graphics" for this article on the HP Museum forums and I must say that JavE has a very nice UI and is easy to use.

jdb2

[jdb2]

PaulF wrote:

I find the drawing tool included in OpenOffice makes good block diagrams - especially as it's free!

I agree One of my friends who needed to draw complicated block diagrams for his master's thesis was pulling his hair out trying to get several different block diagram programs to work correctly. He then found that the newest version of LibreOffice Writer had one of the best block diagram editors which included the ability to add special symbols to and in-between blocks, including mathematical symbols and the like.

jdb2

EDIT: I just realized that I had mentioned the wrong LIbreOffice app. I think my friend used LIbreOffice Draw or Impress.

[SteveMoody]

I find Dia a good tool for block diagrams. Easy to use and open source.

[BigEd]

Just seen a catalogue:

• Online text to diagram tools

Edit: now also found at https://xosh.org/text-to-diagram/ (via)