===========
Usage guide
===========
.. _invoking-dot2tex:
Invoking dot2tex from the command line
======================================
Syntax::
dot2tex [options] [inputfile]
Input data is read from standard input if no input file is specified. Output is written to standard output unless a destination file is set with the ``-o`` option.
Dot2tex can also be loaded as a module for use in other Python program. See the section :ref:`using-dot2tex-as-a-module` for more details.
Dot2tex relies on the `xdot format`_ generated by Graphviz. Dot2tex will automatically run ``dot`` on the input data if it is in the plain dot format. If you want to use other layout tools like ``neato`` and ``circo``, use the ``--prog`` option. You can pass options to the layout program with the ``--progoptions`` option.
.. _xdot format: http://www.graphviz.org/doc/info/output.html#d:xdot
A few examples on how to invoke dot2tex:
Read a file from standard input and write the result to the file ``test.tex``::
$ dot -Txdot test.dot | dot2tex > test.tex
$ neato -Txdot -Gstart=rand test.dot | dot2tex > test.tex
Load ``test.dot``, convert it to xdot format and output the resulting graph using the ``tikz`` output format to ``testpgf.tex``::
$ dot2tex -ftikz test.dot > testtikz.tex
The same as above, but use neato for graph layout::
$ dot2tex --prog=neato -ftikz test.dot > testtikz.tex
.. admonition:: Invoking dot2tex
If you are on Windows and have installed dot2tex from source, you have to type ``python dot2tex`` to invoke the program.
.. _command-line-options:
Command line options
====================
The following options are available:
-h, --help
Display help message.
-f fmt, --format fmt
Set output format. The following values of `fmt` are supported:
``pgf``
PGF/TikZ. Default.
``pstricks`` or ``pst``
Use PSTricks.
``tikz``
TikZ format.
-t mode, --texmode mode
Text mode. Specify how text is converted.
``verbatim``
Text is displayed with all special TeX chars escaped (default).
``math``
Output all text in math mode $$.
``raw``
Output text without any processing.
Note that you can locally override the text mode by assigning a special ``texlbl`` attribute to a graph element, or by using the ``texmode`` attribute. See :ref:`labels` for details.
-s, --straightedges
Draw edges using straight lines. Graphviz uses bezier curves to draw straight edges. Use this option to force the use of line to operations instead of curves. Does not work in ``duplicate`` mode.
-o filename, --output filename
Write output to file.
-d, --duplicate
Duplicate the xdot output. Uses the drawing information embedded in the xdot output to draw nodes and edges.
--template filename
Use template from file. See the :ref:`templates` section for more details.
-V, --version
Print version information and exit.
-w, --switchdraworder
Switch drawing order of nodes and edges. By default edges are drawn before nodes.
-c, --crop
Use ``preview.sty`` to crop the graph. Currently only implemented for the ``pgf`` and ``tikz`` output format.
--figonly
Output the graph without a document preamble. Useful if the graph is to be included in a master document.
--codeonly
Output only the drawing commands, without wrapping it in a ``tikzpicture`` or ``pspicture`` environment. Useful when used with the dot2texi package.
--preproc
Preprocess the graph through LaTeX using the preview_ package. Will generate a new dot file where the height and widths of nodes and edge labels are set based on the results from preview_.
--autosize
Preprocess the graph and run Graphviz on the output. Equivalent to::
$ dot2tex --preproc ex1.dot | dot2tex
--prog program
Set graph layout program to use when the input is in plain dot format. Allowed values:
- ``dot`` (default)
- ``neato``
- ``circo``
- ``fdp``
- ``twopi``
--progoptions options
Pass options to graph layout program.
--usepdflatex
Use pdflatex instead of latex for preprocessing the graph.
--nominsize
Ignore minimum node sizes during preprocessing.
--valignmode mode
Vertical alignment of node labels, where ``mode`` can have the values:
``center``
Labels are placed in the middle of the node (default).
``dot``
Use the coordinate given by the xdot output from Graphviz.
(``pgf`` and ``pstricks`` only)
--alignstr
Used to pass a default alignment string to the PSTricks ``\rput`` command::
\rput[alignstr] ...
Only works for the PSTricks format. PGF/TikZ users can instead pass an ``anchor=...`` style using the ``graphstyle`` option.
--tikzedgelabels
Bypass Graphviz' edge label placement and use PGF/TikZ instead (``tikz`` and ``pgf`` formats only).
--styleonly
Use TikZ only styles when drawing nodes. No ``draw`` or ``shape`` option is added (``tikz`` format only).
--nodeoptions tikzoptions
Wrap node code in a ``scope`` environment with ``tikzoptions`` as parameter (``tikz`` format only).
--edgeoptions tikzoptions
Wrap edge code in a ``scope`` environment with ``tikzoptions`` as parameter (``tikz`` format only).
--debug
Write detailed debug information to the file dot2tex.log in the current directory.
--pgf118
Generate code compatible with PGF 1.18 and earlier.
--pgf210
Generate code compatible with PGF 2.10.
The following options are used by the output :ref:`templates <templates>`.
-e encoding, --encoding encoding
Set text encoding. Supported encodings are:
- ``utf8``
- ``latin1``
--docpreamble TeXcode
Insert TeX code in the document preamble.
--figpreamble TeXcode
Insert TeX code in the figure preamble.
--figpostamble TeXcode
Insert TeX code in the figure postamble.
--graphstyle style
Sets the ``<<graphstyle>>`` tag.
--margin margin
Set margin around the graph when using ``preview.sty``. ``margin`` must be a valid TeX unit. By default ``margin`` is set to ``0pt``.
.. _output-formats:
Output formats
==============
The output format is specified with the ``-f fmt`` or ``--format fmt`` command line option. The following output formats
are available form the command line. Additionally there is a special :ref:`positions output format <positions-output-format>` only available when
using dot2tex as Python module.
.. _output-fomat-pgf:
PGF
---
This is the default output format. Generates code for the `Portable Graphics Format`_ (PGF) package . Mixes both PGF and TikZ commands.
.. _Portable Graphics Format: http://www.ctan.org/pkg/pgf
.. _output-fomat-pstricks:
PSTricks
--------
Generates code for the PSTricks_ package.
.. _output-fomat-tikz:
TikZ
----
The ``tikz`` output format also uses the PGF and TikZ package. However, it relies on TikZ node and edge mechanisms to draw nodes and edges, instead of using the drawing information provided by Graphviz. This allows much tighter integration with TikZ and in some cases prettier results.
Advantages of the ``tikz`` format:
- The generated code is very compact and clean.
- Easy to modify the output.
- Labels will fit inside nodes without preprocessing.
- Full access to the power of PGF and TikZ.
You can find more details in the section: :ref:`use-tikz-format`.
.. note:: The ``tikz`` output format requires detailed knowledge of the PGF and TikZ package. Some of Graphviz' features will not work with this output format.
.. _labels:
Labels
======
The main purpose of dot2tex is to allow text and labels to be typeset by LaTeX. Labels are treated differently according to the current TeX mode:
``verbatim``
Text is displayed with all special TeX chars escaped (default).
``math``
Output all text in math mode $$.
``raw``
Output text without any processing.
The TeX mode can be set on the command line using the ``-t`` option. It can also be set locally in a graph by using the special ``texmode`` attribute.
You can also use the special ``texlbl`` attribute on a graph element, which is interpreted as ``raw`` TeX string. If a ``texlbl`` attribute is found, it will be used regardless of the current TeX mode. It also has precedence over the ``label`` attribute.
.. note:: The ``\`` character needs to be escaped with ``\\`` if used in the ``label`` attribute.
Note that only position and alignment information is converted. Any font information is lost. This may result in some odd behavior. Some tweaking may be necessary to get it right. See the section :ref:`vertical-label-alignment` for tips.
.. note:: If you use ``texlbl`` for edges, you have to provide a dummy ``label`` attribute. Otherwise Graphviz will not generate the necessary code for placing edge labels.
Label examples
--------------
Consider the following graph:
.. sourcecode:: dot
digraph G {
a_1-> a_2 -> a_3 -> a_1;
}
Converting the graph using::
$ dot2tex -tmath ex1.dot > ex1.tex
gives the result shown in the left hand side of the figure below. The default rendering is shown to the right. Using the ``raw`` mode will result in a compilation error because of the underscore character.
.. figure:: img/ex1comb.*
:alt: Difference between math and verbatim mode
Example of using ``texlbl``:
.. sourcecode:: dot
digraph G {
a_1 [texlbl="$\frac{\gamma}{x^2}$"];
a_1-> a_2 -> a_3 -> a_1;
}
.. figure:: img/ex2.*
:alt: Using the special texlbl attribute
Example of using the ``texmode`` attribute:
.. sourcecode:: dot
digraph G {
a_1 [texlbl="$\frac{\gamma}{2x^2+y^3}$"];
a_1 -> a_2 -> a_3 -> a_1
node [texmode="math"];
a_1 -> b_1 -> b_2 -> a_3;
b_1 [label="\\frac{\\gamma}{x^2}"];
node [texmode="verbatim"]
b_4 [label="\\beta"]
a_3 -> b_4 -> a_1;
}
.. figure:: img/texmode.*
:alt: Using the special texmode attribute
The above example shows two important things:
- The backslash ``\`` character needs to be written as ``\\`` in the ``label`` attribute.
- Using LaTeX markup in the ``label`` attribute gives oversized nodes. A workaround is to use the ``texlbl`` attribute, and manually pad the ``label`` attribute to an appropriate length. A much better solution is to use the ``--preproc`` option.
Preprocessing the above graph with::
$ dot2tex --preproc ex4.dot | dot2tex > ex4.tex
gives correctly sized nodes:
.. figure:: img/texmodeb.*
:alt: Preprocessing the graph to get correct node sizes.
Read more about preprocessing in the `Preprocessing graphs`_ section.
.. _vertical-label-alignment:
Vertical label alignment
------------------------
Dot2tex relies on the xdot format for drawing nodes and placing node labels. The fonts that Graphviz and LaTeX use are different, so using the label coordinates from Graphviz does not always give good results. Dot2tex's default behavior is to place node labels in the middle of the node. However, you can change this behavior by setting the ``valignmode`` option to ``dot``. Labels will then be placed using the coordinates supplied by Graphviz.
Here is an example graph where it is necessary to use the ``valignmode`` option:
.. sourcecode:: dot
digraph G {
node0 [label="{left|right}", shape=record];
node1 [shape=rectangle, label="node 1"];
node0 -> node1;
rankdir=LR;
}
For record nodes dot2tex has to use Graphviz coordinates. This is shown in the following figure rendered with::
$ dot2tex valign.dot
.. figure:: img/valignmode0.*
:alt: Vertical alignment for record shapes
To get the same vertical alignment for both nodes, you can use::
$ dot2tex --valignmode=dot valign.dot
.. figure:: img/valignmode1.*
:alt: Vertical alignment with --valignmode=dot
Now the labels are aligned, but the labels are still placed too low. The reason for this is that both PSTricks and PGF by default centers text vertically on the current coordinate. The alignment point should in this case be set to the baseline. For PGF/TikZ you can use the ``--graphstyle`` option like this::
$ dot2tex --valignmode=dot --graphstyle="anchor=base" valign.dot
PSTricks users have to use the ``--alingstr`` option::
$ dot2tex --valignmode=dot --alignstr=B valign.dot
.. figure:: img/valignmode2.*
:alt: blabla
The result is better, but to get even better alignment you have to change the node font size. Graphviz' default font size is 14pt, which is larger than the typical 10pt or 11pt used in LaTeX documents. By changing the node font size to 10pt we can trick Graphviz to give us a better alignment:
.. sourcecode:: dot
digraph G {
node [fontsize=10];
node0 [label="{left|right}", shape=record];
node1 [shape=rectangle, label="node 1"];
node0 -> node1;
rankdir=LR;
}
.. figure:: img/valignmode3.*
:alt: blabla
.. _preprocessing-graphs:
Preprocessing graphs
====================
A problem with using LaTeX for typesetting node and edge labels, is that Graphviz does not know the sizes of the resulting labels. To circumvent this problem, you can use the ``--preproc`` or ``--autosize`` option. The following will then happen:
1. Node and edge labels are extracted and the corresponding LaTeX markup is saved to a temporary file.
2. The file is typeset with LaTeX and information about sizes is extracted using the preview_ package.
3. A new dot file is created where node and edge label sizes are set using the dot language's ``width`` and ``height`` attributes.
4. The generated graph can now be processed using Graphviz and dot2tex. Label sizes will now correspond with the output from LaTeX.
Widths and heights of nodes are handled the in same way as Graphviz does it. The ``width`` and ``height`` attributes set the minimum size of the node. If label size + margins is larger that the minimum size, the node size will grow accordingly. Default values are width=0.75in and height=0.5in.
Node margins are set using the `margin`_ attribute. This also works for edge labels. ``margin==value`` sets both the horizontal and vertical margin to ``value``, ``margin=="hvalue,vvalue"`` sets the horizontal and vertical margins respectively.
.. note:: All sizes are given in inches.
If you do not want a minimum node size, you can use the '--nominsize' option. Dot2tex will then use size of label + margins as node size.
Nodes with ``fixedsize=True`` attributes are not processed.
Limitations:
- Does not work for HTML-labels
- Does not work for record-based nodes
.. _preprocessing-examples:
Examples
--------
Consider the following graph:
.. sourcecode:: dot
digraph G {
node [shape=circle];
a_1 [texlbl="$x^2+\frac{\sin y}{y^2+\cos \beta}+\gamma_3$"];
a_1 -> a_2 [label=" ", texlbl="$x_1+x_3^2+z+c+v~~$"];
a_2 -> a_1;
}
Rendered with::
$ dot2tex -tmath example.dot > example.tex
the graph will look like this:
.. figure:: img/preproc1a.*
:alt: Graph with oversized edge and node labels
You could improve the result by adding a longer ``label`` attribute or setting a fixed width. A better solution is to preprocess the graph like this::
$ dot2tex -tmath --preproc example.dot > exampletmp.dot
$ dot2tex exampletmp.dot > example.tex
You can also chain the commands::
$ dot2tex -tmath --preproc example.dot | dot2tex > example.tex
A shorter alternative is::
$ dot2tex -tmath --autosize example.dot > example.tex
The resulting graph now has correctly sized nodes and edge labels:
.. figure:: img/preproc1b.*
:alt: Graph with preprocessed labels
Modifying node sizes using the ``widht/height`` and ``margin`` attributes can be a bit counterintuitive. A few examples will hopefully make it clearer:
.. sourcecode:: dot
digraph G {
node [shape=rectangle];
a_1 [margin="0"];
a_2 [margin="0.7,0.4"];
a_3 [width="2",height="1"];
a_1-> a_2 -> a_3 -> a_1;
}
Processing the graph with::
$ dot2tex -tmath --preproc example.dot | dot2tex > example.tex
gives
.. figure:: img/nodewidth1.*
:alt: Graph with preprocessed labels
Setting the margin of ``a_1`` to 0 has no effect because of the minimum node width. Processing the graph with::
$ dot2tex -tmath --preproc --nominsize example.dot | dot2tex > example.tex
gives a different graph, where only label widths and margins affect the node sizes:
.. figure:: img/nodewidth2.*
:alt: Graph with preprocessed labels
.. _margin: http://graphviz.org/doc/info/attrs.html#d:margin
.. include:: common.inc
