81 - REVIEW
Quickly create and edit drawings with a detailed database of elements that can be merged / placed together to make new images or designs
yEd is a powerful application that can help in the making of complex diagrams, with an automatic layout feature that can arrange elements by itself for huge data sets.
It is a cross-platform Java-enabled program that encases a very rich palette of elements that can be integrated seamlessly into a new diagram. With it, you can also edit existing graphs that can be imported from a variety of sources.
Relying on an intuitive and user-friendly interface, the program organizes its feature set into several menus, accompanied by a quick toolbar with access to the most common functions. Most of the GUI is reserved for the creation of the diagram, while the sidebars provide access to various views, including successors and properties of an element.
The palette of built-in objects is always present to the right of the diagram, delivering the elements inside suggestive categories. Shape nodes, modern nodes, edge types, UML items, flowcharts, entity relationships, and objects related to a computer networks or people can be added with drag and drop to the current workspace.
Diagrams can be created from scratch, but importing data in various formats (such as GraphML, Excel spreadsheets, GML, GEDCOM, and XML) is also possible. Concerning export options, the offer is even richer - formats such as PDF, DWF, SVG, HTML, EPS, BMP, JPG, GIF and PNG are on the table.
With the aid of the automatic layout feature, your efforts to interconnect the elements will be drastically reduced. This option makes use of a complex mathematical algorithm that will arrange objects automatically without significant intervention on the user side.
In conclusion, yEd is everything you need if you deal with diagrams on a daily basis. It can help in a variety of scenarios, for instance in decision-making projects, as well as in development-related activities where a logic scheme is needed.
Features and Highlights
- Interactive Hierarchical Layout can be used to interactively layout hierarchical or pseudo-hierarchical scenarios.
- Hierarchical Layout can be used to perfectly visualize hierarchical or pseudo-hierarchical scenarios.
- Orthogonal Layout produces clear representations of complex networks.
- Organic Layout and Smart Organic Layout produce clear representations of complex diagrams like ER diagrams, UML diagrams, and many more.
- Organic Edge Router reroutes edges in existing drawings organically.
- Orthogonal Edge Router can reroute edges in existing drawings orthogonally.
- Circular Layout portrays interconnected ring and star topologies perfectly.
- Tree Layout can be used to visualize tree-like structures in many different ways.
- The tree layout algorithms can also be used on graphs that are almost like trees.
- a customizable workplace lets you arrange your tool windows to your needs
- table-like property editors allow you to configure the graphical properties easily
- Internationalization: yEd has been localized in English, German, and partially in Japanese
- a sophisticated print preview allows you to preview the printing results (especially useful for poster printing)
- Session Management: yEd remembers and manages your settings
- Undoability support
- Clipboard facility
- Keyboard shortcuts for most of the functions
- Integrated help system
- Full support for the YGF file format. The native file format.
- Full support for the XML-based GraphML file format.
- Full support for the GML graph file format. GML is a popular text-based graph file format.
- Full support for the XML-based GML graph file format. This is a variant of the GML language that uses XML syntax.
- Import of arbitrary XML files. An XSLT stylesheet must be given that transforms the XML input into a valid GraphML. Predefined stylesheets for Ant build scripts, the OWL Web ontology language, and others are included.
- Export to the SVG vector graphics file format.
- Export to the Windows Meta File (WMF) file format. A vector graphics format is used in almost any Windows application.
- Export to JPG and GIF file formats. Export large images as multiple images and HTML tables also supported!
- Export to BMP (on Windows machines) and PNG file formats.