Alternatives to Graphviz?

Question

I am looking for alternatives to GraphViz. I have been using GraphViz for over ten years now and everything is fine, but the layouts just don't produce publication quality graphs for me, given my raw data. Sometimes my data is really big and complex, and sometimes it is not, but GraphViz never does something beautiful.

What other graph visualization tools do people use? Ideal where GraphViz syntax is used for the input file.

Here, for example, is the input file I'm playing with:

digraph mdc { size="4,8"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0PAN0-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0047-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0048-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0050-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0052-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ16:76:A2:60:6E" -> "JUNK-0413-FOO"; "KJ16:76:A2:60:6E" -> "JUNK-0414-FOO"; "KJE0:D0:13:14:94" -> "GEORGE42-FRED"; "KJE0:D0:13:14:94" -> "MY5-30-FRED"; "KJ50:04:EE:6C:F9" -> "PSPAN-036-FRED"; "KJ50:04:EE:6C:F9" -> "GEORGE02-FRED"; "KJ50:04:EE:6C:F9" -> "GEORGE04-FRED"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D5:BB" -> "JUNK-0047-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D5:BB" -> "JUNK-0048-FOO"; "KJ05:5F:EF:14:PAN" -> "thPAN-PAN-FRED"; "KJ05:5F:EF:14:PAN" -> "cn20-PAN-FRED"; "KJ15:F2-KIM-:E5YF" -> "thPAN-PAN-FRED"; "KJ15:F2-KIM-:E5YF" -> "cn20-PAN-FRED"; "KJ0E:90:D5:E6:5E" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ0E:90:D5:E6:5E" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:DE:F1:07" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:DE:F1:07" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:D5:EE:5E" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:D5:EE:5E" -> "JUNK-0047-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:D5:EE:5E" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ04:ED:66:C7:19" -> "JUNK-0562-FOO"; "KJ04:ED:66:C7:19" -> "JUNK-0561-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9C-PET-67" -> "JUNK-0047-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9C-PET-67" -> "JUNK-0049-FOO"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "JUNK-0PAN4-FOO"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "PSPAN-021-FRED"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "GEORGE38-FRED"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "JUNK-0095-FOO"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "JUNK-PAN18-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" -> "JUNK-0PAN0-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" -> "JUNK-0052-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ26:18:BD:D9:E9" -> "JUNK-0562-FOO"; "KJ26:18:BD:D9:E9" -> "JUNK-0561-FOO"; "KJD0:B7:69:0A-VET" -> "cn4-06-FRED"; "KJD0:B7:69:0A-VET" -> "1039-FRED"; "KJ50:04:EE:6C:F9" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ1E:90:DE:F1:07" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ05:5F:EF:14:PAN" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ26:18:BD:D9:E9" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ1B:B9:9B:D5:BB" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJE0:D0:13:14:94" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ0E:90:D5:E6:5E" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ1E:90:D5:EE:5E" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ1B:B9:9C-PET-67" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ15:F2-KIM-:E5YF" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJD0:B7:69:0A-VET" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ04:ED:66:C7:19" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "KJ16:76:A2:60:6E" [fontsize=96,shape=oval] "JUNK-0009-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "GEORGE38-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0413-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0561-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0050-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "cn20-PAN-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-PAN18-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "1039-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0095-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "PSPAN-021-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0048-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0052-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "GEORGE42-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0049-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "GEORGE04-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "cn4-06-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "thPAN-PAN-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "GEORGE02-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0PAN0-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "MY5-30-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0047-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0562-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0PAN4-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0051-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "PSPAN-036-FRED" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] "JUNK-0414-FOO" [fontsize=96,shape=box3d] } 

(All fontsize=96 is my vain attempt to get graphviz to make the font more readable, but apparently it doesn't work.)

Answer 1

What don't you like there?

I personally won’t use box3d, and my choice of colors probably hurts your eyes ...

(full-size image: http://i.stack.imgur.com/MTe6n.png )

EDIT:

Here's the modified point code - I reorganized it a bit:

 digraph { size="11,11"; layout=neato; overlap=false; splines=true; pack=true; start="random"; sep=0.1; edge [len=2]; node[shape=oval,style=filled,fillcolor="#DCA80A"]; "KJ50:04:EE:6C:F9" "KJ1E:90:DE:F1:07" "KJ05:5F:EF:14:PAN" "KJ26:18:BD:D9:E9" "KJ1B:B9:9B:D5:BB" "KJE0:D0:13:14:94" "KJ0E:90:D5:E6:5E" "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" "KJ1E:90:D5:EE:5E" "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" "KJ1B:B9:9C-PET-67" "KJ15:F2-KIM-:E5YF" "KJD0:B7:69:0A-VET" "KJ04:ED:66:C7:19" "KJ16:76:A2:60:6E" node[shape=box3d,style=filled,fillcolor="#B1C3D4"]; "JUNK-0009-FOO" "GEORGE38-FRED" "JUNK-0413-FOO" "JUNK-0561-FOO" "JUNK-0050-FOO" "cn20-PAN-FRED" "JUNK-PAN18-FOO" "1039-FRED" "JUNK-0095-FOO" "PSPAN-021-FRED" "JUNK-0048-FOO" "JUNK-0052-FOO" "GEORGE42-FRED" "JUNK-0049-FOO" "GEORGE04-FRED" "cn4-06-FRED" "thPAN-PAN-FRED" "GEORGE02-FRED" "JUNK-0PAN0-FOO" "MY5-30-FRED" "JUNK-0047-FOO" "JUNK-0562-FOO" "JUNK-0PAN4-FOO" "JUNK-0051-FOO" "PSPAN-036-FRED" "JUNK-0414-FOO" "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0PAN0-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0047-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0048-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0050-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0052-FOO"; "KJ1E:A6:PAN:9E:3A" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ16:76:A2:60:6E" -> "JUNK-0413-FOO"; "KJ16:76:A2:60:6E" -> "JUNK-0414-FOO"; "KJE0:D0:13:14:94" -> "GEORGE42-FRED"; "KJE0:D0:13:14:94" -> "MY5-30-FRED"; "KJ50:04:EE:6C:F9" -> "PSPAN-036-FRED"; "KJ50:04:EE:6C:F9" -> "GEORGE02-FRED"; "KJ50:04:EE:6C:F9" -> "GEORGE04-FRED"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D5:BB" -> "JUNK-0047-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D5:BB" -> "JUNK-0048-FOO"; "KJ05:5F:EF:14:PAN" -> "thPAN-PAN-FRED"; "KJ05:5F:EF:14:PAN" -> "cn20-PAN-FRED"; "KJ15:F2-KIM-:E5YF" -> "thPAN-PAN-FRED"; "KJ15:F2-KIM-:E5YF" -> "cn20-PAN-FRED"; "KJ0E:90:D5:E6:5E" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ0E:90:D5:E6:5E" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:DE:F1:07" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:DE:F1:07" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:D5:EE:5E" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:D5:EE:5E" -> "JUNK-0047-FOO"; "KJ1E:90:D5:EE:5E" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ04:ED:66:C7:19" -> "JUNK-0562-FOO"; "KJ04:ED:66:C7:19" -> "JUNK-0561-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9C-PET-67" -> "JUNK-0047-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9C-PET-67" -> "JUNK-0049-FOO"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "JUNK-0PAN4-FOO"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "PSPAN-021-FRED"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "GEORGE38-FRED"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "JUNK-0095-FOO"; "PAN:KJ5E:7F:FF:FA" -> "JUNK-PAN18-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" -> "JUNK-0PAN0-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" -> "JUNK-0051-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" -> "JUNK-0052-FOO"; "KJ1B:B9:9B:D3:61" -> "JUNK-0009-FOO"; "KJ26:18:BD:D9:E9" -> "JUNK-0562-FOO"; "KJ26:18:BD:D9:E9" -> "JUNK-0561-FOO"; "KJD0:B7:69:0A-VET" -> "cn4-06-FRED"; "KJD0:B7:69:0A-VET" -> "1039-FRED"; } 

You can see and change it here: http://graph.gafol.net/dLQGPHJRc - this site uses beautiful presets for fonts and fonts.

Please note that I added start=random , so the layout may be different when creating the chart.

Answer 2

Gephi is an amazingly good open source visualization software. It uses a point language like GraphViz.