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Dia (software)

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Dia
Original author(s)Alexander Larsson
Developer(s)Dia developers
Initial release31 August 1998;26 years ago(31 August 1998)[1]
Stable release
0.97.3[2]Edit this on Wikidata / 5 September 2014
Repositorygitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/dia/(upstream),github/GNOME/dia(mirror)
Written inC
Operating systemWindows,OS X,Linux,Unix
TypeDiagramming software
LicenseGPL-2.0-or-later
WebsiteGNOME Apps

Dia(/ˈdə/)[3] isfree and open sourcegeneral-purpose diagramming software, developed originally by Alexander Larsson.[1]It uses a controlledsingle document interface(SDI) similar toGIMPandInkscape.

Features

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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 has special objects to help drawentity-relationship models,Unified Modeling Language(UML) diagrams,flowcharts,network diagrams, and simple electrical circuits. It is also possible to add support for new shapes by writing simpleXMLfiles, using a subset ofScalable Vector Graphics(SVG) to draw the shape.

Dia loads and saves diagrams in a custom XML format which is, by default,gzippedto save space. It can print large diagrams spanning multiple pages[4]and can also be scripted using thePython programming language.

Exports

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Dia can export diagrams to various formats, including:

  • EPS(Encapsulated PostScript)
  • SVG(Scalable Vector Graphics)
  • DXF(Autocad's Drawing Interchange format)
  • CGM(Computer Graphics Metafile, defined byISO standard8632)
  • WMF(Windows Meta File)
  • PNG(Portable Network Graphics)
  • JPEG(Joint Photographic Experts Group)
  • VDX(Microsoft's XML forVisioDrawing)

Development

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Dia was originally created by Alexander Larsson[3]but he moved on to work onGNOMEand other projects. James Henstridge took over as lead developer, but he also moved on to other projects. He was followed by Cyrille Chepelov, then Lars Ræder Clausen.

Dia is currently maintained by Hans Breuer, Steffen Macke and Sameer Sahasrabuddhe.

It is written in C, and has an extension system which also supports writing extensions inPython.

See also

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References

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  1. ^abLarsson, Alexander (31 August 1998)."Initial revision".GitLab Dia Repository.Retrieved2 August2020.
  2. ^"dia-0.97.3: 2014-09-05".5 September 2014.
  3. ^ab"Dia Frequently Asked Questions".Retrieved2008-08-12.
  4. ^"Dia".ohloh.Geeknet, Inc.Retrieved2010-05-30.
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