Which Software is Best for Designing Flow Charts in Ubuntu?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the selection of software for designing flow charts specifically for use on Ubuntu. Participants share their experiences and preferences regarding various tools, considering factors such as ease of use, functionality, and the level of detail required in flow charts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions using Matlab and seeks recommendations for flow chart software that can effectively describe scripts without delving into code specifics.
  • Another suggests Visio and various automatic generators, inquiring about the level of detail needed for the flow charts.
  • A participant shares their experience with All Clear flowcharter, noting a shift from flow charts to pseudo-code for internal documentation, using flow charts mainly for external presentations.
  • Some participants propose OpenOffice Draw as a suitable option for creating flow charts without needing extensive detail.
  • Concerns are raised about the limitations of many drawing programs, particularly their inability to maintain connections between objects when edited, which can complicate the flow chart creation process.
  • Inkscape is recommended for its ability to maintain connector links and its "avoid" property for routing connector lines around objects.
  • Dia is mentioned as another viable option, with links provided for downloading and examples of flowcharts created using the software.
  • One participant recommends Visio Toolbox as a user-friendly diagramming software for flow charts.
  • OpenOffice is noted to be compatible with Ubuntu, further broadening the options available for users on that platform.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions on the best software for flow chart creation, with no clear consensus on a single tool. Multiple competing views remain regarding the effectiveness and usability of different software options.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight limitations in drawing programs related to object connections and editing, but these issues are not universally acknowledged across all suggested software.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for individuals seeking software recommendations for flow chart creation on Ubuntu, particularly those involved in programming or technical documentation.

FutureScience
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I've been programming a lot for my thesis in Matlab.

I've to include a technical description for my job without being too specific about the code used. So my intention is to use nice flowcharts to describe what my scripts are doing.

What kind of software do you suggest me for drawing proper flow charts?

Thanks in advance!
 
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The last time I used a flow charting tool, I used All Clear flowcharter. You wrote pseudo-code and it would generate the flow chart (you had a choice of "styles", and could post edit the created flow chart). After our group had used it for a while, some of us in the group convinced the remainder in the group that the psuedo code did a better job of explaining what was going on than the flow charts, so the group switched to just using pseudo code for most of our work, and only using flow charts for some external presentations.
 
I don't need to go deep in detail, but to give to the reader a brief idea of how the programm is working.
 
Then visio, or even open office draw, should suffice.
 
story645 said:
Then visio, or even open office draw, should suffice.

Perfect, I think I'm going with OpenOffice Draw!

Thanks!
 
The issue with most drawing programs is they have no knowledge of connections between the objects in your flow chart, making it very time consuming to edit them. If you move an object around on your flow chart, none of the connections will move with it and you'll have to redraw those as well.
 
rcgldr said:
The issue with most drawing programs is they have no knowledge of connections between the objects in your flow chart, making it very time consuming to edit them. If you move an object around on your flow chart, none of the connections will move with it and you'll have to redraw those as well.

http://inkscape.org/" (open source) maintains connector links when moving objects. A feature I really like is the "avoid" property that can be toggled for individual objects, so connector lines pass through, or are routed around the object.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
rcgldr said:
The issue with most drawing programs is they have no knowledge of connections between the objects in your flow chart, making it very time consuming to edit them. If you move an object around on your flow chart, none of the connections will move with it and you'll have to redraw those as well.

So does open office...
 
  • #10
Another program is http://live.gnome.org/Dia" .
The Windows version can be downloaded http://dia-installer.de/" .

Example flowcharts created in Dia:
https://commons.lbl.gov/display/LPR/DrawingWithDia"
http://dipot.com/2009/01/how-i-post/"

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVsvsrzxmnI"
Explains everything from download to creating first diagrams

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmue3vltass"

---

Besides, http://programmersjournal.blogspot.com/2008/03/dia-vs-visio.html" of Visio (commercial program), Dia and Open Office.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #11
There are many software available by which you can draw flow charts, however, I will recommend opt for http://www.visiotoolbox.com/2010/" as it is one of the best diagramming software to create flow charts and other diagrams, also it is simple and easy to use.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #12
What software do you suggest for ubuntu? Dia looks fairly good to me.
 
  • #13
open office also works on ubuntu
 

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