Best practice for control flow charts

Question

I wanted to plot a flow chart graph which looks similar to this diagram:

flow chart

that comes from this source.

Which package would be best for that?
I don't want to use pstricks

Thorsten Donig · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-16T19:14:23.613

An example with pgf/tikZ just for your inspiration.

\documentclass{minimal}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning,shapes.geometric}

\begin{document}
  \begin{tikzpicture}[%
    ->,
    shorten >=2pt,
    >=stealth,
    node distance=1cm,
    noname/.style={%
      ellipse,
      minimum width=5em,
      minimum height=3em,
      draw
    }
  ]
    \node[noname] (1)                                             {1};
    \node[noname] (2) [below=of 1]                                {2};
    \node[noname] (4) [node distance=1cm and 3mm,below left=of 2] {4};
    \node[noname] (3) [left=of 4]                                 {3};
    \node[noname] (5) [below=of 4]                                {5};
    \node[noname] (6) [node distance=2cm,right=of 5]              {6};

    \path (1) edge                   node {} (2)
          (2) edge                   node {} (3)
          (2) edge                   node {} (4)
          (2) edge                   node {} (6)
          (3) edge                   node {} (5)
          (4) edge                   node {} (5)
          (5) edge [bend right=20pt] node {} (2);
  \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

More examples in the according tikZ Example Gallery.

alt text

@Leo: I added them just for the case that the connections need some labels later. But you are right. For simple connections they can be dropped. — Thorsten Donig, Jan 16 '11 at 12:50

Leo Liu · Answer 2 · 2011-01-16T12:51:46.997

11

This doesn't need TeX. You can just use graphviz to draw such graph. Of course, many LaTeX packages like pstricks and tikz can draw these graph, but I think graphviz is still easier to use.

It seems an example copied from main page of graphviz will be useful. With graphviz we don't have to tell computer where the nodes are, only edges are needed.

digraph finite_state_machine {
    rankdir=LR;
    size="8,5"
    node [shape = doublecircle]; LR_0 LR_3 LR_4 LR_8;
    node [shape = circle];
    LR_0 -> LR_2 [ label = "SS(B)" ];
    LR_0 -> LR_1 [ label = "SS(S)" ];
    LR_1 -> LR_3 [ label = "S($end)" ];
    LR_2 -> LR_6 [ label = "SS(b)" ];
    LR_2 -> LR_5 [ label = "SS(a)" ];
    LR_2 -> LR_4 [ label = "S(A)" ];
    LR_5 -> LR_7 [ label = "S(b)" ];
    LR_5 -> LR_5 [ label = "S(a)" ];
    LR_6 -> LR_6 [ label = "S(b)" ];
    LR_6 -> LR_5 [ label = "S(a)" ];
    LR_7 -> LR_8 [ label = "S(b)" ];
    LR_7 -> LR_5 [ label = "S(a)" ];
    LR_8 -> LR_6 [ label = "S(b)" ];
    LR_8 -> LR_5 [ label = "S(a)" ];
}

alt text

edited Jan 16 '11 at 12:51

answered Jan 16 '11 at 11:27

Leo Liu

77,365

Could you provide a complete example to make others comprehend how to include that in a LaTeX document? – Thorsten Donig Jan 16 '11 at 13:04
1

graphviz is not a part of TeX. Just use \includegraphics to import the graph. – Leo Liu Jan 16 '11 at 15:19
Thanks. In the meantime I discovered the graphvizzz package. – Thorsten Donig Jan 17 '11 at 10:15
1

@Thorsten I have never use it but it should be useful. This dot2tex can convert xdot output from Graphviz to a series of PSTricks or PGF/TikZ commands – S. Boonto Feb 26 '11 at 16:26
You can convert the dot-file to a 'native' LaTeX tikZ image but running dot2tex on the dot-file. It will yield a .tex file containing the tikZ command you're after – 19h Mar 19 '16 at 11:46

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 16 '11 at 11:41

2

If you want to draw graph (graph theory) diagram, then PSTricks can do this easily.

See this tutorial.

answered Jan 16 '11 at 11:41

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46,933

I think answers on this site should be self-contained. Please add an example from the tutorial. – Seamus Dec 17 '11 at 14:10

Best practice for control flow charts

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