Need a freeware tool for graphical representation of system design.

Try UMLet. Sorry it is in Java.

Chris

Maybe something like

You don't want some vague circles and arrows, you want UML. And since UML is established, why don't you try doing a web search on "UML editor"?

Personally I just use OpenOffice Draw. But then, personally, I've never seen aids that work for organized people turn disorganized people into organized people.

--
Tim Wescott 
Control system and signal processing consulting 
www.wescottdesign.com

The typical answer is Visio, but it costs money and doesn't come with the Office bundles that most people have. Microsoft offers a 60-day free trial of Visio Pro 2013 that may be of interest.

Tip: When working with Visio, save files in its native format, but also occasionally save/print to PDF or other non-secret format. The Visio file format has been secret for a long time; free tools tend not to be able to open it.

The open-source version of Visio is probably Dia,

. I've used it and it works OK for simple diagrams - dunno about hierarchies 10 levels deep and other fancy things, but the lines will follow the boxes. Your favorite Linux distribution will have it available, or download a Windows build at .

Standard disclaimers apply: I don't get money or other consideration from any companies mentioned.

Matt Roberds

Inkscape. But I doubt it will do any good for this person.

Now if you want to draw signal flow graphs, then that is the tool.

On Sat, 12 Apr 2014 13:56:26 -0700 in sci.electronics.design, miso wrote,

I am just getting started with inkscape. How do you link a line to a circle in inkscape so that when you adjust the position of the bubble the lines will follow?

I never did that, but I think you need to group the items.

Inkscape seems to have been written in a very general manner, as opposed to doing a specific task. You can make it do what you want, but the answer isn't always obvious.

Be sure to look around the internet for pre-built components. For instance, there is one for electronic symbols.

If you can stand youtube, there are all sorts of inkscape demos. The problem with youtube is all demos are not created equal, so you often have to look at video from less than optimal instructors.

For signal flow graphs, inkscape is great. Often you are tweaking the graph a path at a time. So you can make the general flow graph, then copy to a new file each time you change a path gain.

Tim,

Have you found anything that does work? (Serious question, but silly answers also accepted; this is USENET, after all. )

Frank McKenney

--
  As [Sir] Arthur Conan Doyle once said, "Once you eliminate the 
  impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the 
  truth." This is sound logic, but we have a lot of trouble 
  distinguishing the impossible from the highly improbable and 
  sometimes get in trouble when we try to make too fine a distinction. 

                    -- Nate Silver / The Signal and the Noise

Like I said, I always use OpenOffice Draw. I have talked to exactly one person who has used CASE tools (including a state diagram to C++ translator) in a project, but I've never done it myself.

--
Tim Wescott 
Control system and signal processing consulting 
www.wescottdesign.com

Visio is what I use to create mazes, tangled webs, and board room art that nobody reads: After the initial learning and swearing curve, Visio works quite well.

Yeah, that sucks. Another irritation is that object properties are only accessible using the Internet Explorer browser because of the heavy use of Active-X. If you look at the above URL in IE, it shows all kinds of cool viewing and searching options in a side bar. You can also click on a shape to view it's properties. None of that works in Firefox, Chrome, etc. Bummer.

For Windoze, there's Open Office Draw (free). The problem is that there isn't an easy way to import or export Visio stencils. It is possible to save the Visio VSD file as a CGM (computer graphics metafile) which will mostly import into OO Draw, but that requires Visio. Otherwise, most everything has to be done from scratch. I cheat and use JPG's (as in the above example), but that gets old fast. Here's a good start:

Sub-standard disclaimer: Money, geek toys, samples, and tech goodies are graciously accepted. Email for my product endorsement rate card.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

Hello,

Le Sat, 12 Apr 2014 09:26:37 +0200, mike a =E9crit:=

I am using Diagram Designer 1.26, a graphics Freeware for Windows =

98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7/8

offered by Meesoft

There are different template object palettes e.g for flowchart etc.

HTH

Peter Greuter

-- =

my oldies at

Answering again, from a different direction:

Yes, the one thing that I've found to work is strict discipline on the part of everyone in the development team. If someone doesn't care or doesn't understand how to be organized, then they will succeed and being splatter-ass no matter what tool you attempt to constrain them to. If someone does care, and does understand, then they'll do fine with paper and pencil.

If you have one or two people who can contribute in spite of being splatter-ass then they can be worked around -- but only at the cost of someone else on the team (like our poor doomed OP) working to impose that discipline on them from outside, at a cost to their efficiency.

Unfortunately, the splatter-ass quick coder will make far more apparent progress at the beginning of a project, while the disciplined team members will appear to be plodding along, stuck in "analysis paralysis". Unless management understands the value of building a foundation before you build a house, this can lead to the rewards going to the very people who are sabotaging the project from within early on.

--

Tim Wescott 
Wescott Design Services 
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Getting far off topic, but...

Management understands that they're behind in some market and set an impossible schedule that guarantees they'll be late, with a product riddled with shortcuts, bad decisions, missed targets. They'll spend whatever it takes to get it patched up just in time to realize that they're even later to the next big thing and set another unachievable goal...repeat in ever-more-desperate infinite loop as they cast aside those who failed them in the past in favor of those who will fail them in the future.

Management has no concern for foundations. They care about curb appeal and how fast they can flip it.

Back on topic. Thanks for the inputs. I hooked him up with StarUML and created a foundation example. The comm link has gone silent. That's the objective, but I fear for the wrong reasons.