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Are there any free tools or software packages that offer functionality similar to MS Visio?

I am looking for something that can create database, most UML and application flow diagrams.

Baum mit Augen
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cwius
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14 Answers14

8

Have a look at DIA

Rad
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  • I don't like DIA, but I don't know a better ones for free... – Xn0vv3r Jan 15 '09 at 14:20
  • What I miss of DIA is a good script to create DIA XML from Java files. – Eldelshell Jan 15 '09 at 14:21
  • I haven't used Dia for a long time, but I remember that I used it to generate UML diagrams in college. You could generate code stubs for C++ (and other languages) by running dia2code "http://dia2code.sourceforge.net/". – onemasse Dec 01 '10 at 17:46
3

Gliffy looks pretty good and is cheap with a free option: http://www.gliffy.com

brendan
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2

Checkout FreelyDraw. It is a professional, easy to use diagramming tool, small compared to visio but still full featured, worth a try. And now it supports Windows and MacOS.

koder chen
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2

Many interesting programs here: http://www.osalt.com/visio

okutane
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It depends of what you mean by functionality. In my opinion Visio is less a drawing than a data manipulating and visualisation tool. Under the surface all elements are made of specialised calculation sheets, which allows to handle the appearance and the behaviour of the shapes. There are plainty better drawing tools, but none that has such a complexe calculating capability.

Geronimo
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Dia works great for me, both for simple drawing and for UML. I know it's not perfect but it really can do the job. For mindmaps (and heck they are useful), I use freemind.

Don´t let the ugly websites fool you, they both are great pieces of software.

Daniel Rodriguez
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1

ARIS Express is a free-of-charge alternative for Visio.

ARIS Community
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1

Argo UML is not visio, but can be used to make UML drawings.

Doug Currie
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Open office draw has boxes with sticky connectors, which I find OK at those times I want just a quick simple diagram with little formalism. Argo UML is a slightly more formally correct, but you're not always there for the formalism.

krosenvold
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For different purposes, different programs.

Application flows are better generated than hand-drawn. Graphviz dot is excellent for it. You can then type something like:

digraph{
  step1 -> step2;
  step2 -> step3;
  step2 -> step4 [label="optional"];
}

A simple domain-specific language for directed graphs. It is well documented and has cross-platform implementations. It is also suitable for generating class-diagrams, but you probably don't want to its DSL directly for it (just write a small program to generate it)

For databases I've used Fabforce DbDesigner. There's also a version with SQL-server support.

http://www.fabforce.net/dbdesigner4/

Stephan Eggermont
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1

StarUML looks nice except it doesn't have any database diagram features.

cwius
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Cacoo is very nice. It's a flash-based web application and is really quite like a more friendly Visio. There are about 20 sets of shapes available, from electronic circuits to office layout to UML. And even iPhone and Android UI shapes. And it's free.

Ridcully
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You can also try my.origramy - it's a free online service for building diagrams, schemes, etc. It is based on a Flash editor/viewer component.

SHM
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0

Check out LucidChart. It's very fast and easy to use. They have a limited free account and their paid accounts are reasonable.

nemophrost
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