Write this and send to mail lists for Graphviz, igraph, graph-tool and networkx.
I am looking for a way to better represent models of systems. I currently use Visio. It is failing my needs for multiple reasons. Some of the specific failures a programmable tool may alleviate may be:
Life-cycle change management – Track what changes through the system life cycle development process.
Hierarchal relationship management – During development, the system starts out as a block diagram, a single block. This is broken down into high level functional blocks. These blocks will undergo further decomposition/refinement. Each refinement is one of many that can be realized. Alternatives are evaluated and eventually selected. Keeping track of these in Visio requires tracking/cataloguing files and their relationships – not an intuitive task. With the associated network for each of these block diagrams, I am guessing there should be a method to store the data along with relationships.
These systems start off with the single system block. They refine to 200 to 5,000 components (nodes) and 5,000 to 20,000 connections (edges). This is probably the greatest advantage of programmable solutions: The ability to present/render layouts to accommodate viewpoints of a variety of stakeholders.
What are the concepts, tools, modules and methods that would help me achieve these goals?
I am looking for info that will help me come up to speed efficiently.
Rayj