[clue-tech] Network Topography Schematic drawing software?

[William]

--- Collins Richey wrote:
> Dia would make an excellent topic for a CLUE presentation. It's got a
> lot of power, but it's fairly clumsy to use for n00bs (like myself). A
> few tips from a "power user" would be welcome.

Just to add material to the Dia question:  I've been using Dia since the recommendations came in
(Dia was the most highly recommended Visio alternative, so I went with it).  I have found that,
while it has an impressive set of stenciles, its UI is unpolished.  For example:

* Changing the view's zoom level is an excersize in frustration as all Text objects lose touch
with their relative font sizes.  Not all text objects behave the same, so you end up with many
different representations of copies of the same object that might be right next to each other. 
The behavior is highly unpredictable.

* Some stencile objects drop onto the page with rediculous size properties resulting in objects
that look only vaguely like what you expected.  You have to resize them manually, each time (while
trivial, this is a waste of time from a management perspective).  Also, if the page-size
guidelines are any indication, then almost all of the objects are way too big.  For the simple
diagram that I've been working on, it'll take at least six pages to print it out.  I know that, in
Visio, I can print the same diagram on just one page using default properties all around.

* In Visio, when you begin drawing connector lines between shapes, the line snaps to the
connection points of the nearby shapes as you click/drag near them.  In Dia, I have yet to figure
out how to attach a line to any shape, at all.  The best I can do is just draw lines and
approximate where they should start/stop.  I see Dia try every now and then to snap the lines to
nearby shapes, but only at the moment I begin drawing a new line, and it always picks a far-away
connection point, not the most obvious, nearby point.

* The workspace window never remembers where you left it between sessions.  The stencil toolbox
does, but not the workspace.  Also, some of the pop-up dialogs (like the Color Chooser) pick
arbitrary locations to appear at -- different almost every time I request the dialog.  I wouldn't
mind if it were popping up on or very near the object for which I'm requesting properties, but
that's not the case.  It'll pop up at (0,0) on the window, or centered, or off-set near where I
double-clicked.  There seems to be no predictable system to it.

Just my observations.  :)

William Kimball, Jr.
"Programming is an art form that fights back!"  =)


		
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