Attributes

The table below describes the attributes used by various Graphviz tools. The table gives the name of the attribute, the graph components (node, edge, etc.) which use the attribute and the type of the attribute (strings representing legal values of that type). Where applicable, the table also gives a default value for the attribute, a minimum allowed setting for numeric attributes, and certain restrictions on the use of the attribute.

Note that attribute names are case-sensitive. This is usually true for attribute values as well, unless noted.

All Graphviz attributes are specified by name-value pairs. Thus, to set the color of a node abc, one would use

digraph {
  abc [color = red]
}

Similarly, to set the arrowhead style of an edge abc -> def, one would use:

digraph {
  abc -> def [arrowhead = diamond]
}

Further details concerning the setting of attributes can be found in the description of the DOT language.

At present, most device-independent units are either inches or points, which we take as 72 points per inch.

Note: Some attributes, such as dir or arrowtail, are ambiguous when used in DOT with an undirected graph since the head and tail of an edge are meaningless. As a convention, the first time an undirected edge appears, the DOT parser will assign the left node as the tail node and the right node as the head. For example, the edge A -- B will have tail A and head B. It is the user's responsibility to handle such edges consistently. If the edge appears later, in the format

graph {
  B -- A [taillabel = "tail"]
}

the drawing will attach the tail label to node A. To avoid possible confusion when such attributes are required, the user is encouraged to use a directed graph. If it is important to make the graph appear undirected, this can be done using the dir, arrowtail or arrowhead attributes.

The tools accept standard C representations for int and double types. For the bool type, TRUE values are represented by true or yes (case-insensitive) and any non-zero integer, and FALSE values by false or no (case-insensitive) and zero. In addition, there are a variety of specialized types such as arrowType, color, point and rankdir. Legal values for these types are given at the end.

The Used By column field indicates which graph component(s) the attribute applies to.

In the Notes field, an annotation of write only indicates that the attribute is used for output, and is not used or read by any of the layout programs.

_background

type: xdot, default: <none>

During rendering, the canvas is first filled as described in the bgcolor attribute.

Then, if _background is defined, the graphics operations described in the string are performed on the canvas.

See xdot format page for more information.

digraph G {
  _background="c 7 -#ff0000 p 4 4 4 36 4 36 36 4 36";
  a -> b
}

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "_background"

area

type: double, default: 1.0, minimum: >0

graph {
  layout="patchwork"
  node [style=filled]
  "5c"  [area=  5 fillcolor=silver]
  "10c" [area= 10 fillcolor=silver]
  "20c" [area= 20 fillcolor=silver]
  "50c" [area= 50 fillcolor=silver]
  "$1"  [area=100 fillcolor=gold]
  "$2"  [area=200 fillcolor=gold]
}

• Nodes
• Clusters

Note: patchwork only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "area"

arrowhead

type: arrowType, default: normal

This will only appear if the dir attribute is forward or both.

See the limitation.

See also:

• arrowtail

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "arrowhead"

arrowsize

type: double, default: 1.0, minimum: 0.0

digraph {
  quiver -> "0.5" [arrowsize=0.5]
  quiver -> "1"
  quiver -> "2" [arrowsize=2]
  quiver -> "3" [arrowsize=3]
}

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "arrowsize"

arrowtail

type: arrowType, default: normal

This will only appear if the dir attribute is back or both.

See the limitation.

See also:

• arrowhead

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "arrowtail"

bb

type: rect

• Clusters
• Graphs

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "bb"

beautify

type: bool, default: false

Whether to try to draw leaf nodes uniformly on a circle around the root node.

Prior to Graphviz 8.0.1, this is affected by Issue 2283: rendering one fewer sector than necessary, overlapping the first and last nodes.

Examples:

digraph G {
    layout="sfdp"
    beautify=true

    N0 -> {N1; N2; N3; N4; N5; N6}
}

digraph G {
    layout="sfdp"
    beautify=false

    N0 -> {N1; N2; N3; N4; N5; N6}
}

• Graphs

Note: sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "beautify"

bgcolor

type: color | colorList, default: <none>

When attached to the root graph, this color is used as the background for entire canvas.

When a cluster attribute, it is used as the initial background for the cluster. If a cluster has a filled style, the cluster's fillcolor will overlay the background color.

If the value is a colorList, a gradient fill is used. By default, this is a linear fill; setting style=radial will cause a radial fill. Only two colors are used. If the second color (after a colon) is missing, the default color is used for it. See also the gradientangle attribute for setting the gradient angle.

For certain output formats, such as PostScript, no fill is done for the root graph unless bgcolor is explicitly set.

For bitmap formats, however, the bits need to be initialized to something, so the canvas is filled with white by default. This means that if the bitmap output is included in some other document, all of the bits within the bitmap's bounding box will be set, overwriting whatever color or graphics were already on the page. If this effect is not desired, and you only want to set bits explicitly assigned in drawing the graph, set bgcolor="transparent".

graph {
  bgcolor="lightblue"
  label="Home"
  subgraph cluster_ground_floor {
    bgcolor="lightgreen"
    label="Ground Floor"
    Lounge
    Kitchen
  }
  subgraph cluster_top_floor {
    bgcolor="lightyellow"
    label="Top Floor"
    Bedroom
    Bathroom
  }
}

• Graphs
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "bgcolor"

center

type: bool, default: false

Can be true or false.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "center"

charset

type: string, default: "UTF-8"

The default value is "UTF-8". The other legal values are:

• "utf-8" / "utf8" (default value)
• "iso-8859-1" / "ISO_8859-1" / "ISO8859-1" / "ISO-IR-100" / "Latin1" / "l1" / "latin-1"
• "big-5" / "big5": the Big-5 Chinese encoding

The charset attribute is case-insensitive.

Note that if the character encoding used in the input does not match the charset value, the resulting output may be very strange.

It is not possible to use HTML-like labels in combination with Big-5 encoding.

digraph G {
  charset="UTF-8"
  "🍔" -> "💩"
}

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "charset"

class

type: string, default: ""

Combine with stylesheet for styling SVG output using CSS classnames.

Multiple space-separated classes are supported.

See also:

• stylesheet
• id

Example:

digraph G {
  graph [class="cats"];

  subgraph cluster_big {
    graph [class="big_cats"];

    "Lion" [class="yellow social"];
    "Snow Leopard" [class="white solitary"];
  }
}

• Edges
• Nodes
• Clusters
• Graphs

Note: svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "class"

cluster

type: bool, default: false

Subgraph clusters are rendered differently, e.g. dot renders a box around subgraph clusters, but doesn't draw a box around non-subgraph clusters.

Example:

digraph cats {
  subgraph cluster_big_cats {
    // This subgraph is a cluster, because the name begins with "cluster"
    
    "Lion";
    "Snow Leopard";
  }

  subgraph domestic_cats {
    // This subgraph is also a cluster, because cluster=true.
    cluster=true;

    "Siamese";
    "Persian";
  }

  subgraph not_a_cluster {
    // This subgraph is not a cluster, because it doesn't start with "cluster",
    // nor sets cluster=true.
    
    "Wildcat";
  }
}

• Clusters
• Subgraphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "cluster"

clusterrank

type: clusterMode, default: local

If clusterrank=local, a subgraph whose name begins with cluster is given special treatment.

The subgraph is laid out separately, and then integrated as a unit into its parent graph, with a bounding rectangle drawn about it. If the cluster has a label parameter, this label is displayed within the rectangle.

Note also that there can be clusters within clusters.

The modes clusterrank=global and clusterrank=none appear to be identical, both turning off the special cluster processing.

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "clusterrank"

color

type: color | colorList, default: black

For the latter, use the fontcolor attribute.

For edges, the value can either be a single color or a colorList.

In the latter case, if colorList has no fractions, the edge is drawn using parallel splines or lines, one for each color in the list, in the order given.

The head arrow, if any, is drawn using the first color in the list, and the tail arrow, if any, the second color. This supports the common case of drawing opposing edges, but using parallel splines instead of separately routed multiedges.

If any fraction is used, the colors are drawn in series, with each color being given roughly its specified fraction of the edge.

For example, the graph:

digraph G {
  a -> b [dir=both color="red:blue"]
  c -> d [dir=none color="green:red;0.25:blue"]
}

yields:

digraph G {
  subgraph cluster_yellow {
    color="yellow"
    a [color="red"]
    b [color="green"]
  }
}

yields:

See also:

• colorscheme

• Edges
• Nodes
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "color"

colorscheme

type: string, default: ""

In particular, if a color value has form "xxx" or "//xxx", then the color xxx will be evaluated according to the current color scheme. If no color scheme is set, the standard X11 naming is used.

For example, if colorscheme=oranges9 (from Brewer color schemes), then color=7 is interpreted as color="/oranges9/7", the 7th color in the oranges9 colorscheme.

graph {
  node [colorscheme=oranges9] # Apply colorscheme to all nodes
  1 [color=1]
  2 [color=2]
  3 [color=3]
  4 [color=4]
  5 [color=5]
  6 [color=6]
  7 [color=7]
  8 [color=8]
  9 [color=9]
}

graph {
  node [colorscheme=greens9] # Apply colorscheme to all nodes
  1 [color=1]
  2 [color=2]
  3 [color=3]
  4 [color=4]
  5 [color=5]
  6 [color=6]
  7 [color=7]
  8 [color=8]
  9 [color=9]
}

See also:

• color

• Edges
• Nodes
• Clusters
• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "colorscheme"

comment

type: string, default: ""

Device-dependent.

digraph {
  comment="I am a graph"
  A [comment="I am node A"]
  B [comment="I am node B"]
  A->B [comment="I am an edge"]
}

Outputs SVG with comments:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN"
 "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">
<!-- Generated by graphviz version 2.47.1 (20210417.1919)
 -->
<!-- This is a graph -->
<!-- Pages: 1 -->
<svg width="62pt" height="116pt"
 viewBox="0.00 0.00 62.00 116.00" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
<g id="graph0" class="graph" transform="scale(1 1) rotate(0) translate(4 112)">
<polygon fill="white" stroke="transparent" points="-4,4 -4,-112 58,-112 58,4 -4,4"/>
<!-- A -->
<!-- I am node A -->
<g id="node1" class="node">
<title>A</title>
<ellipse fill="none" stroke="black" cx="27" cy="-90" rx="27" ry="18"/>
<text text-anchor="middle" x="27" y="-86.3" font-family="Times,serif" font-size="14.00">A</text>
</g>
<!-- B -->
<!-- I am node B -->
<g id="node2" class="node">
<title>B</title>
<ellipse fill="none" stroke="black" cx="27" cy="-18" rx="27" ry="18"/>
<text text-anchor="middle" x="27" y="-14.3" font-family="Times,serif" font-size="14.00">B</text>
</g>
<!-- A&#45;&gt;B -->
<!-- I am an edge -->
<g id="edge1" class="edge">
<title>A&#45;&gt;B</title>
<path fill="none" stroke="black" d="M27,-71.7C27,-63.98 27,-54.71 27,-46.11"/>
<polygon fill="black" stroke="black" points="30.5,-46.1 27,-36.1 23.5,-46.1 30.5,-46.1"/>
</g>
</g>
</svg>

• Edges
• Nodes
• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "comment"

compound

type: bool, default: false

See lhead and ltail.

digraph {
  compound=true;

  subgraph cluster_a {
    label="Cluster A";
    node1; node3; node5; node7;
  }
  subgraph cluster_b {
    label="Cluster B";
    node2; node4; node6; node8;
  }

  node1 -> node2 [label="1"];
  node3 -> node4 [label="2" ltail="cluster_a"];
  
  node5 -> node6 [label="3" lhead="cluster_b"];
  node7 -> node8 [label="4" ltail="cluster_a" lhead="cluster_b"];
}

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "compound"

concentrate

type: bool, default: false

This merges multiedges into a single edge and causes partially parallel edges to share part of their paths. The latter feature is not yet available outside of dot.

digraph {
    concentrate=true
    a -> b [label="1"]
    c -> b
    d -> b
}

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "concentrate"

constraint

type: bool, default: true

For example in the graph:

digraph G {
  a -> c;
  a -> b;
  b -> c [constraint=false];
}

the edge b -> c does not add a constraint during rank assignment, so the only constraints are that a be above b and c, yielding the graph:

• Edges

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "constraint"

Damping

type: double, default: 0.99, minimum: 0.0

On each iteration, a node's movement is limited to this factor of its potential motion. By being less than 1.0, the system tends to "cool", thereby preventing cycling.

• Graphs

Note: neato only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "Damping"

decorate

type: bool, default: false

If true, attach edge label to edge by a 2-segment polyline, underlining the label, then going to the closest point of spline.

digraph {
  a -> a [label="AA" decorate=true]
  a -> b [label="AB" decorate=true]
  b -> b [label="BB" decorate=false]
}

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "decorate"

defaultdist

type: double, default: 1+(avg. len)*sqrt(|V|), minimum: epsilon

If set too small, connected components may overlap.

Only applicable if pack=false.

• Graphs

Note: neato only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "defaultdist"

dim

type: int, default: 2, minimum: 2

The maximum value allowed is 10.

• Graphs

Note: neato, fdp, sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "dim"

dimen

type: int, default: 2, minimum: 2

The maximum value allowed is 10.

If both dimen and dim are set, the latter specifies the dimension used for layout, and the former for rendering. If only dimen is set, this is used for both layout and rendering dimensions.

Note that, at present, all aspects of rendering are 2D. This includes the shape and size of nodes, overlap removal, and edge routing. Thus, for dimen > 2, the only valid information is the pos attribute of the nodes.

All other coordinates will be 2D and, at best, will reflect a projection of a higher-dimensional point onto the plane.

• Graphs

Note: neato, fdp, sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "dimen"

dir

type: dirType, default: forward (directed) , none (undirected)

Indicates which ends of the edge should be decorated with an arrowhead.

The actual style of the arrowhead can be specified using the arrowhead and arrowtail attributes.

See limitation.

digraph {
  A->B [dir=forward]
  C->D [dir=back]
  E->F [dir=both]
  G->H [dir=none]
}

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "dir"

diredgeconstraints

type: string | bool, default: false

If true, constraints are generated for each edge in the largest (heuristic) directed acyclic subgraph such that the edge must point downwards.

Only valid when mode="ipsep".

If hier, generates level constraints similar to those used with mode="hier". The main difference is that, in the latter case, only these constraints are involved, so a faster solver can be used.

• Graphs

Note: neato only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "diredgeconstraints"

distortion

type: double, default: 0.0, minimum: -100.0

Positive values cause top part to be larger than bottom; negative values do the opposite.

See also skew.

graph {
  LargeBottom [shape=polygon sides=4 distortion=-.5]
  LargeTop    [shape=polygon sides=4 distortion=.5]
}

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "distortion"

dpi

type: double, default: 96.0, minimum: 0.0

For bitmap output, dpi guarantees that text rendering will be done more accurately, both in size and in placement.

For SVG output, dpi guarantees the dimensions in the output correspond to the correct number of points or inches.

• Graphs

Note: bitmap output, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "dpi"

edgehref

type: escString, default: ""

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "edgehref"

edgetarget

type: escString, default: <none>

If the edge has a URL or edgeURL attribute, edgetarget determines which window of the browser is used for the URL attached to the non-label part of the edge.

Setting edgetarget=_graphviz will open a new window if it doesn't already exist, or reuse it if it does.

If undefined, the value of the target is used instead.

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "edgetarget"

edgetooltip

type: escString, default: ""

• headtooltip.
• labeltooltip.
• tailtooltip.
• tooltip.

• Edges

Note: cmap, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "edgetooltip"

edgeURL

type: escString, default: ""

edgeURL overrides any URL defined for the edge.

Also, edgeURL is used near the head or tail node unless overridden by headURL or tailURL, respectively.

See limitation.

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "edgeURL"

epsilon

type: double, default: .0001 * # nodes (mode == KK) , .0001 (mode == major) , .01 (mode == sgd)

If the length squared of all energy gradients are less than epsilon, the algorithm stops.

• Graphs

Note: neato only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "epsilon"

esep

type: addDouble | addPoint, default: +3

The interpretation is the same as given for sep. esep should normally be strictly less than sep.

• Graphs

Note: neato, fdp, sfdp, osage, circo, twopi only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "esep"

fillcolor

type: color | colorList, default: lightgrey (nodes) , black (clusters)

Assuming style=filled, or a filled arrowhead.

If fillcolor is not defined, color is used. (For clusters, if color is not defined, bgcolor is used.) If this is not defined, the default is used, except for shape=point or when the output format is MIF, which use black by default.

If the value is a colorList, a gradient fill is used. By default, this is a linear fill; setting style=radial will cause a radial fill. At present, only two colors are used. If the second color (after a colon) is missing, the default color is used for it.

See also the gradientangle attribute for setting the gradient angle.

Note that a cluster inherits the root graph's attributes if defined. Thus, if the root graph has defined a fillcolor, this will override a color or bgcolor attribute set for the cluster.

• Nodes
• Edges
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "fillcolor"

fixedsize

type: bool | string, default: false

If false, the size of a node is determined by smallest width and height needed to contain its label and image, if any, with a margin specified by the margin attribute.

The width and height must also be at least as large as the sizes specified by the width and height attributes, which specify the minimum values for these parameters.

If true, the node size is specified by the values of the width and height attributes only and is not expanded to contain the text label. There will be a warning if the label (with margin) cannot fit within these limits.

If the fixedsize attribute is set to shape, the width and height attributes also determine the size of the node shape, but the label can be much larger. Both the label and shape sizes are used when avoiding node overlap, but all edges to the node ignore the label and only contact the node shape. No warning is given if the label is too large.

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "fixedsize"

fontcolor

type: color, default: black

• Edges
• Nodes
• Graphs
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "fontcolor"

fontname

type: string, default: "Times-Roman"

This very much depends on the output format and, for non-bitmap output such as PostScript or SVG, the availability of the font when the graph is displayed or printed. As such, it is best to rely on font faces that are generally available, such as Times-Roman, Helvetica or Courier.

How font names are resolved also depends on the underlying library that handles font name resolution. If Graphviz was built using the fontconfig library, the latter library will be used to search for the font. See the commands fc-list, fc-match and the other fontconfig commands for how names are resolved and which fonts are available. Other systems may provide their own font package, such as Quartz for OS X.

Note that various font attributes, such as weight and slant, can be built into the font name. Unfortunately, the syntax varies depending on which font system is dominant. Thus, using fontname="times bold italic" will produce a bold, slanted Times font using Pango, the usual main font library. Alternatively, fontname="times:italic" will produce a slanted Times font from fontconfig, while fontname="times-bold" will resolve to a bold Times using Quartz. You will need to ascertain which package is used by your Graphviz system and refer to the relevant documentation.

If Graphviz is not built with a high-level font library, fontname will be considered the name of a Type 1 or True Type font file. If you specify fontname=schlbk, the tool will look for a file named schlbk.ttf or schlbk.pfa or schlbk.pfb in one of the directories specified by the fontpath attribute. The lookup does support various aliases for the common fonts.

digraph {
    label="Comic Sans MS"
    fontname="Comic Sans MS"
    subgraph cluster_a {
      label="Courier New"
      fontname="Courier New"
      Arial [fontname="Arial"];
      Arial -> Arial [label="Impact" fontname="Impact"]
    }
}

• Edges
• Nodes
• Graphs
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "fontname"

fontnames

type: string, default: ""

If fontnames is undefined or svg, the output will try to use known SVG fontnames.

For example, the default font Times-Roman will be mapped to the basic SVG font serif. This can be overridden by setting fontnames to ps or hd. In the former case, known PostScript font names such as Times-Roman will be used in the output. In the latter case, the fontconfig font conventions are used. Thus, Times-Roman would be treated as Nimbus Roman No9 L. These last two options are useful with SVG viewers that support these richer fontname spaces.

• Graphs

Note: svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "fontnames"

fontpath

type: string, default: <system-dependent>

Used if Graphviz was not built with the fontconfig library.

If fontpath is not set, the environment variable DOTFONTPATH is checked.

If DOTFONTPATH is not set, GDFONTPATH is checked.

If GDFONTPATH not set, libgd uses its compiled-in font path.

Note that fontpath is an attribute of the root graph.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "fontpath"

fontsize

type: double, default: 14.0, minimum: 1.0

digraph {
    label="40pt Graph Label"
    fontsize="40"
    subgraph cluster_a {
      label="30pt Cluster Label"
      fontsize="30pt"
      "20pt Node" [fontsize="20pt"];
      "20pt Node"-> "20pt Node" [label="10pt Edge" fontsize="10"]
    }
}

• Edges
• Nodes
• Graphs
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "fontsize"

forcelabels

type: bool, default: true

If true, all xlabel attributes are placed, even if there is some overlap with nodes or other labels.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "forcelabels"

gradientangle

type: int, default: 0, minimum: 0

For linear fills, the colors transform along a line specified by the angle and the center of the object. For radial fills, a value of zero causes the colors to transform radially from the center; for non-zero values, the colors transform from a point near the object's periphery as specified by the value.

If unset, the default angle is 0.

• Nodes
• Clusters
• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "gradientangle"

group

type: string, default: ""

If the end points of an edge belong to the same group, i.e., have the same group attribute, parameters are set to avoid crossings and keep the edges straight.

• Nodes

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "group"

head_lp

type: point

In points.

• Edges

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "head_lp"

headclip

type: bool, default: true

Otherwise, the end of the edge goes to the center of the node, or the center of a port, if applicable.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "headclip"

headhref

type: escString, default: ""

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "headhref"

headlabel

type: lblString, default: ""

See limitation.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "headlabel"

headport

type: portPos, default: center

In the default case, the edge is aimed towards the center of the node, and then clipped at the node boundary.

See limitation.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "headport"

headtarget

type: escString, default: <none>

If the edge has a headURL, headtarget determines which window of the browser is used for the URL. Setting headURL=_graphviz will open a new window if the window doesn't already exist, or reuse the window if it does.

If undefined, the value of the target is used.

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "headtarget"

headtooltip

type: escString, default: ""

Used only if the edge has a headURL attribute.

See also:

• edgetooltip.
• labeltooltip.
• tailtooltip.
• tooltip.

• Edges

Note: cmap, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "headtooltip"

headURL

type: escString, default: ""

Also, this value is used near the head node, overriding any URL value.

See limitation.

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "headURL"

height

type: double, default: 0.5, minimum: 0.02

This is taken as the initial, minimum height of the node. If fixedsize is true, this will be the final height of the node. Otherwise, if the node label requires more height to fit, the node's height will be increased to contain the label.

If the output format is dot, the value given to height will be the final value.

If the node shape is regular, the width and height are made identical:

• If both the width and the height are set explicitly, the maximum of the two values is used.
• If one of width or height is set explicitly, that value is used for both width and height.
• If neither is set explicitly, the minimum of the two default values is used.

digraph G {
  "default"
  "1in" [height=1]
  "2in" [height=2]
}

See also:

• width

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "height"

href

type: escString, default: ""

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Graphs
• Clusters
• Nodes
• Edges

Note: map, postscript, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "href"

id

type: escString, default: ""

Allows the graph author to provide an identifier for graph objects which is to be included in the output.

Normal \N, \E, \G substitutions are applied.

If provided, it is the responsibility of the provider to keep id values unique for its intended downstream use.

Note, in particular, that \E does not provide a unique id for multi-edges.

If no id attribute is provided, then a unique internal id is used. However, this value is unpredictable by the graph writer.

If the graph provides an id attribute, this will be used as a prefix for internally generated attributes. By making internally-used attributes distinct, the user can include multiple image maps in the same document.

• Graphs
• Clusters
• Nodes
• Edges

Note: map, postscript, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "id"

image

type: string, default: ""

The image file must be in one of the recognized formats, typically JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, SVG, or Postscript, and be able to be converted into the desired output format.

The file must contain the image size information:

• Bitmap formats usually already contain image size.
• PostScript files must contain a line starting with %%BoundingBox: followed by four integers specifying the lower left x and y coordinates and the upper right x and y coordinates of the bounding box for the image, the coordinates being in points.
• An SVG image file must contain width and height attributes, typically as part of the svg element. The values for these should have the form of a floating point number, followed by optional units, e.g., width="76pt". Recognized units are in, px, pc, pt, cm and mm for inches, pixels, picas, points, centimeters and millimeters, respectively. The default unit is points.

Unlike with the shapefile attribute, the image is treated as node content rather than the entire node. In particular, an image can be contained in a node of any shape, not just a rectangle.

Only paths to local resources are supported. If you want to use a URL to a remote resource, see the dot_url_resolve.py script.

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "image"

imagepath

type: string, default: ""

When specified by the image attribute or using the IMG element in HTML-like labels.

imagepath should be a list of (absolute or relative) pathnames, each separated by a semicolon ; (for Windows) or a colon : (all other OS).

The first directory in which a file of the given name is found will be used to load the image.

If imagepath is not set, relative pathnames for the image file will be interpreted with respect to the current working directory.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "imagepath"

imagepos

type: string, default: "mc"

imagepos only has an effect when the image is smaller than the containing node.

The default is to be centered both horizontally and vertically.

Valid values:

• tl - Top Left
• tc - Top Centered
• tr - Top Right
• ml - Middle Left
• mc - Middle Centered (the default)
• mr - Middle Right
• bl - Bottom Left
• bc - Bottom Centered
• br - Bottom Right

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "imagepos"

imagescale

type: bool | string, default: false

In general, the image is given its natural size, (cf. dpi), and the node size is made large enough to contain its image, its label, its margin, and its peripheries.

Its width and height will also be at least as large as its minimum width and height. If, however, fixedsize=true, the width and height attributes specify the exact size of the node.

• During rendering, in the default case (imagescale=false), the image retains its natural size.
• If imagescale=true, the image is uniformly scaled (i.e., its aspect ratio is preserved) to fit inside the node. At least one dimension of the image will be as large as possible given the size of the node.
• When imagescale=width, the width of the image is scaled to fill the node width.
• The corresponding property holds when imagescale=height.
• When imagescale=both, both the height and the width are scaled separately to fill the node.

In all cases, if a dimension of the image is larger than the corresponding dimension of the node, that dimension of the image is scaled down to fit the node.

As with the case of expansion, if imagescale=true, width and height are scaled uniformly.

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "imagescale"

inputscale

type: double, default: <none>

For layout algorithms that support initial input positions (specified by the pos attribute), this attribute can be used to appropriately scale the values.

By default, fdp and neato interpret the x and y values of pos as being in inches. (NOTE: neato -n(2) treats the coordinates as being in points, being the unit used by the layout algorithms for the pos attribute.) Thus, if the graph has pos attributes in points, one should set inputscale=72. This can also be set on the command line using the -s flag.

If unset, no scaling is done and the units on input are treated as inches.

inputscale=0 is equivalent to inputscale=72.

• Graphs

Note: neato, fdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "inputscale"

K

type: double, default: 0.3, minimum: 0

It roughly corresponds to an ideal edge length (in inches), in that increasing K tends to increase the distance between nodes.

Note that the edge attribute len can be used to override this value for adjacent nodes.

• Graphs
• Clusters

Note: fdp, sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "K"

label

type: lblString, default: "\N" (nodes) , "" (otherwise)

If a node's shape is record, then the label can have a special format which describes the record layout.

Note that a node's default label is "\N", so the node's name or ID becomes its label.

Technically, a node's name can be an HTML string but this will not mean that the node's label will be interpreted as an HTML-like label. This is because the node's actual label is an ordinary string, which will be replaced by the raw bytes stored in the node's name.

To get an HTML-like label, the label attribute value itself must be an HTML string.

graph {
  label="Vincent van Gogh Paintings"

  subgraph cluster_self_portraits {
    label="Self-portraits"

    spwgfh [label="Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat"]
    spaap [label="Self-Portrait as a Painter"]
  }
  
  subgraph cluster_flowers {
    label="Flowers"

    sf [label="Sunflowers"]
    ab [label="Almond Blossom"]
  }
}

• Edges
• Nodes
• Graphs
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "label"

label_scheme

type: int, default: 0, minimum: 0

• The default, label_scheme=0, produces no effect.
• If label_scheme=1, sfdp uses a penalty-based method to make that kind of node close to the center of its neighbor.
• With label_scheme=2, sfdp uses a penalty-based method to make that kind of node close to the old center of its neighbor.
• Finally, label_scheme=3 invokes a two-step process of overlap removal and straightening.

• Graphs

Note: sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "label_scheme"

labelangle

type: double, default: -25.0, minimum: -180.0

Determines, along with labeldistance, where the headlabel / taillabel are placed with respect to the head / tail in polar coordinates.

The origin in the coordinate system is the point where the edge touches the node. The ray of 0 degrees goes from the origin back along the edge, parallel to the edge at the origin.

The angle, in degrees, specifies the rotation from the 0 degree ray, with positive angles moving counterclockwise and negative angles moving clockwise.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labelangle"

labeldistance

type: double, default: 1.0, minimum: 0.0

The default distance is 10 points.

labeldistance multiplies that default.

See labelangle for more details.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labeldistance"

labelfloat

type: bool, default: false

In particular, it may appear on top of other edges.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labelfloat"

labelfontcolor

type: color, default: black

If not set, defaults to edge's fontcolor.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labelfontcolor"

labelfontname

type: string, default: "Times-Roman"

Font used for headlabel and taillabel.

If not set, defaults to edge's fontname.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labelfontname"

labelfontsize

type: double, default: 14.0, minimum: 1.0

Font size, in points, used for headlabel and taillabel.

If not set, defaults to edge's fontsize.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labelfontsize"

labelhref

type: escString, default: ""

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labelhref"

labeljust

type: string, default: "c"

• If labeljust=r, the label is right-justified within bounding rectangle
• If labeljust=l, left-justified
• Else the label is centered.

Note that a subgraph inherits attributes from its parent. Thus, if the root graph sets labeljust=l, the subgraph inherits this value.

digraph {
  label="l"
  labeljust=l
  a
}

digraph {
  label="r"
  labeljust=r
  b
}

digraph {
  subgraph cluster_l {
    label="l"
    labeljust=l
    a
  }
  subgraph cluster_c {
    label="c"
    labeljust=c
    b
  }
  subgraph cluster_r {
    label="r"
    labeljust=r
    c
  }
}

• Graphs
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labeljust"

labelloc

type: string, default: "t" (clusters) , "b" (root graphs) , "c" (nodes)

For graphs and clusters, only labelloc=t and labelloc=b are allowed, corresponding to placement at the top and bottom, respectively.

By default, root graph labels go on the bottom and cluster labels go on the top.

Note that a subgraph inherits attributes from its parent. Thus, if the root graph sets labelloc=b, the subgraph inherits this value.

For nodes, this attribute is used only when the height of the node is larger than the height of its label.

If labelloc=t, labelloc=c, labelloc=b, the label is aligned with the top, centered, or aligned with the bottom of the node, respectively.

By default, the label is vertically centered.

digraph {
  labelloc="t"
  label="Title"
  a -> b
}

digraph {
  labelloc="b"
  label="Title"
  a -> b
}

digraph {
  label="Graph Title"
  subgraph cluster_t {
    labelloc="t"
    label="Cluster Top"
    a -> b
  }
  subgraph cluster_b {
    labelloc="b"
    label="Cluster Bottom"
    c -> d
  }
}

digraph {
  t [labelloc=t]
  c [labelloc=c]
  b [labelloc=b]
}

• Nodes
• Graphs
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labelloc"

labeltarget

type: escString, default: <none>

If the edge has a URL or labelURL attribute, this attribute determines which window of the browser is used for the URL attached to the label.

Setting labeltarget=_graphviz will open a new window if it doesn't already exist, or reuse it if it does.

If undefined, the value of the target is used.

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labeltarget"

labeltooltip

type: escString, default: ""

• edgetooltip.
• headtooltip.
• tailtooltip.
• tooltip.

• Edges

Note: cmap, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labeltooltip"

labelURL

type: escString, default: ""

labelURL overrides any URL defined for the edge.

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "labelURL"

landscape

type: bool, default: false

Synonymous with rotate=90 or orientation=landscape.

digraph {
  landscape=true
  a -> b
}

See also:

• rotate
• orientation

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "landscape"

layer

type: layerRange, default: ""

• Edges
• Nodes
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "layer"

layerlistsep

type: string, default: ","

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "layerlistsep"

layers

type: layerList, default: ""

The graph is then output in separate layers. Only those components belonging to the current output layer appear.

See How to use drawing layers (overlays).

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "layers"

layerselect

type: layerRange, default: ""

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "layerselect"

layersep

type: string, default: ":\t "

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "layersep"

layout

type: string, default: ""

Specifies the name of the layout engine to use, such as dot or neato.

Normally, graphs should be kept independent of a type of layout. In some cases, however, it can be convenient to embed the type of layout desired within the graph.

For example, a graph containing position information from a layout might want to record what the associated layout engine was.

This attribute takes precedence over the -K flag or the actual command name used.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "layout"

len

type: double, default: 1.0 (neato) , 0.3 (fdp)

See also:

• minlen

• Edges

Note: neato, fdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "len"

levels

type: int, default: INT_MAX, minimum: 0.0

• Graphs

Note: sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "levels"

levelsgap

type: double, default: 0.0

Specifies strictness of level constraints in neato when mode="ipsep" or mode=hier.

Larger positive values mean stricter constraints, which demand more separation between levels. On the other hand, negative values will relax the constraints by allowing some overlap between the levels.

• Graphs

Note: neato only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "levelsgap"

lhead

type: string, default: ""

When compound is true, if lhead is defined and is the name of a cluster containing the real head, the edge is clipped to the boundary of the cluster.

digraph {
  compound=true;

  subgraph cluster_a {
    label="Cluster A";
    node1; node3; node5; node7;
  }
  subgraph cluster_b {
    label="Cluster B";
    node2; node4; node6; node8;
  }

  node1 -> node2 [label="1"];
  node3 -> node4 [label="2" ltail="cluster_a"];
  
  node5 -> node6 [label="3" lhead="cluster_b"];
  node7 -> node8 [label="4" ltail="cluster_a" lhead="cluster_b"];
}

See limitation.

• Edges

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "lhead"

lheight

type: double

• Graphs
• Clusters

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "lheight"

linelength

type: int, default: 128, minimum: 60

Example, where an 80-character long string ("a " * 40) is broken up onto two lines, when printed as canonical output:

$ echo 'digraph G { linelength=60; N0 [label="a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a "]; }' | dot -Tcanon
digraph G {
        graph [linelength=60];
        node [label="\N"];
        N0      [label="a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a \
a a a a a a a a a a "];
}

The text overflows when the label reaches the given size.

Despite the linelength name, this is the length of the attribute string, not the length of the overall line (which includes the node ID and attribute key).

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "linelength"

lp

type: point

Label center position, in points.

• Edges
• Graphs
• Clusters

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "lp"

ltail

type: string, default: ""

When compound=true, if ltail is defined and is the name of a cluster containing the real tail, the edge is clipped to the boundary of the cluster.

digraph {
  compound=true;

  subgraph cluster_a {
    label="Cluster A";
    node1; node3; node5; node7;
  }
  subgraph cluster_b {
    label="Cluster B";
    node2; node4; node6; node8;
  }

  node1 -> node2 [label="1"];
  node3 -> node4 [label="2" ltail="cluster_a"];
  
  node5 -> node6 [label="3" lhead="cluster_b"];
  node7 -> node8 [label="4" ltail="cluster_a" lhead="cluster_b"];
}

See limitation.

• Edges

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "ltail"

lwidth

type: double

• Graphs
• Clusters

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "lwidth"

margin

type: double | point, default: <device-dependent>

If the margin is a single double, both margins are set equal to the given value.

Note that the margin is not part of the drawing but just empty space left around the drawing. The margin basically corresponds to a translation of drawing, as would be necessary to center a drawing on a page. Nothing is actually drawn in the margin. To actually extend the background of a drawing, see the pad attribute.

For clusters, margin specifies the space between the nodes in the cluster and the cluster bounding box. By default, this is 8 points.

For nodes, this attribute specifies space left around the node's label. By default, the value is 0.11,0.055.

graph {
  "1.5x0.5" [shape=rect margin="1.5,0.5"] # in inches
  "0.5x1.5" [shape=rect margin="0.5,1.5"] # in inches
  "1.5x1.5" [shape=rect margin="1.5"]     # in inches
}

graph {
    bgcolor=lightgray
    margin=0 # in inches
    
    subgraph cluster_one {
      margin=8 # in points
      a
      b
    }
    subgraph cluster_two {
      margin=16 # in points
      c
      d
    }
}

• Nodes
• Clusters
• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "margin"

maxiter

type: int, default: 100 * # nodes (mode == KK) , 200 (mode == major) , 30 (mode == sgd) , 600 (fdp)

• Graphs

Note: neato, fdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "maxiter"

mclimit

type: double, default: 1.0

Multiplicative scale factor used to alter the MinQuit (default = 8) and MaxIter (default = 24) parameters used during crossing minimization.

These correspond to the number of tries without improvement before quitting and the maximum number of iterations in each pass.

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "mclimit"

mindist

type: double, default: 1.0, minimum: 0.0

• Graphs

Note: circo only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "mindist"

minlen

type: int, default: 1, minimum: 0

See also:

• len

• Edges

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "minlen"

mode

type: string, default: major

neato supports modes:

• mode="major": neato uses stress majorization¹.
• mode="KK": neato uses the Kamada-Kawai² version of the gradient descent method. KK is sometimes appreciably faster for small (number of nodes < 100) graphs. A significant disadvantage is that KK may cycle.
• mode="sgd": neato uses a version of the Stochastic Gradient Descent³ method. sgd's advantage is faster and more reliable convergence than both the previous methods, while sgd's disadvantage is that it runs in a fixed number of iterations and may require larger values of maxiter in some graphs.

There are two experimental modes in neato:

• mode="hier", which adds a top-down directionality similar to the layout used in dot, and
• mode="ipsep", which allows the graph to specify minimum vertical and horizontal distances between nodes. (See the sep attribute.)

• Graphs

Note: neato only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "mode"

model

type: string, default: shortpath

The distance matrix specifies the ideal distance between every pair of nodes. neato attempts to find a layout which best achieves these distances. By default, it uses the length of the shortest path, where the length of each edge is given by its len attribute.

• If model="circuit", neato uses the circuit resistance model to compute the distances. This tends to emphasize clusters.
• If model="subset", neato uses the subset model. This sets the edge length to be the number of nodes that are neighbors of exactly one of the end points, and then calculates the shortest paths. This helps to separate nodes with high degree.

For more control of distances, one can use model=mds. In this case, the len of an edge is used as the ideal distance between its vertices.

A shortest path calculation is only used for pairs of nodes not connected by an edge. Thus, by supplying a complete graph, the input can specify all of the relevant distances.

• Graphs

Note: neato only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "model"

newrank

type: bool, default: false

The original ranking algorithm in dot is recursive on clusters. This can produce fewer ranks and a more compact layout, but sometimes at the cost of a head node being place on a higher rank than the tail node. It also assumes that a node is not constrained in separate, incompatible subgraphs. For example, a node cannot be in a cluster and also be constrained by rank=same with a node not in the cluster.

This allows nodes to be subject to multiple constraints. Rank constraints will usually take precedence over edge constraints.

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "newrank"

nodesep

type: double, default: 0.25, minimum: 0.02

For other layouts, nodesep affects the spacing between loops on a single node, or multiedges between a pair of nodes.

digraph {
    nodesep=0.1;
    node1; node2; node3;
}

digraph {
    nodesep=0.5;
    node1; node2; node3;
}

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "nodesep"

nojustify

type: bool, default: false

By default, the justification of multi-line labels is done within the largest context that makes sense. Thus, in the label of a polygonal node, a left-justified line will align with the left side of the node (shifted by the prescribed margin). In record nodes, left-justified line will line up with the left side of the enclosing column of fields. If nojustify=true, multi-line labels will be justified in the context of itself.

For example, if nojustify is set, the first label line is long, and the second is shorter and left-justified, the second will align with the left-most character in the first line, regardless of how large the node might be.

See this example containing the \l (left-justify) escape-string:

digraph G {
  node [width=3 shape=box]
  a [nojustify=false label="The first line is longer\nnojustify=false\l"]
  b [nojustify=true label="The first line is longer\nnojustify=true\l"]
  a -> b
}

digraph G{
  c [nojustify=false shape=record label="{Records Example - Long Line\n | Title - Shorter Line\nnojustify=false\l}"]
  d [nojustify=true shape=record label="{Records Example - Long Line\n | Title - Shorter Line\nnojustify=true\l}"]
  c -> d
}

• Graphs
• Clusters
• Nodes
• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "nojustify"

normalize

type: double | bool, default: false

So that the first point is at the origin, and then rotates the layout so that the angle of the first edge is specified by the value of normalize in degrees.

If normalize is not a number, it is evaluated as a bool, with true corresponding to 0 degrees.

NOTE: Since the attribute is evaluated first as a number, 0 and 1 cannot be used for false and true.

• Graphs

Note: neato, fdp, sfdp, twopi, circo only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "normalize"

notranslate

type: bool, default: false

By default, the final layout is translated so that the lower-left corner of the bounding box is at the origin.

This can be annoying if some nodes are pinned or if the user runs neato -n.

To avoid this translation, set notranslate=true.

• Graphs

Note: neato only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "notranslate"

nslimit

type: double

nslimit is used in computing node x coordinates.

If defined, # iterations = nslimit * # nodes; otherwise, # iterations = INT_MAX.

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "nslimit"

nslimit1

type: double

nslimit1 is used for ranking nodes.

If defined, # iterations = nslimit * # nodes; otherwise, # iterations = INT_MAX.

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "nslimit1"

oneblock

type: bool, default: false

Observe two examples of rendering the same graph:

digraph G {
    layout="circo"
    oneblock=false

    N0 -> N1
    N1 -> N2
    N2 -> N3
    N3 -> N4
    N4 -> N0
    
    N4 -> N5
    N5 -> N6
    N6 -> N7
    N7 -> N8
    N8 -> N5
}

digraph G {
    layout="circo"
    oneblock=true

    N0 -> N1
    N1 -> N2
    N2 -> N3
    N3 -> N4
    N4 -> N0
    
    N4 -> N5
    N5 -> N6
    N6 -> N7
    N7 -> N8
    N8 -> N5
}

• Graphs

Note: circo only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "oneblock"

ordering

type: string, default: ""

If ordering="out", then the outedges of a node, that is, edges with the node as its tail node, must appear left-to-right in the same order in which they are defined in the input.

If ordering="in", then the inedges of a node must appear left-to-right in the same order in which they are defined in the input.

If defined as a graph or subgraph attribute, the value is applied to all nodes in the graph or subgraph.

Note that the graph attribute takes precedence over the node attribute.

• Graphs
• Nodes

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "ordering"

orientation

type: double | string, default: 0.0, "", minimum: -360.0

When used on nodes: Angle, in degrees, to rotate polygon node shapes. For any number of polygon sides, 0 degrees rotation results in a flat base. When used on graphs: If "[lL]*", sets graph orientation to landscape.

Used only if rotate is not defined.

digraph {
  layout=neato       # Render in a circular layout
  node [shape=house] # Make all nodes have 'house' shape

    0 [orientation=0]
   45 [orientation=45]
   90 [orientation=90]
  135 [orientation=135]
  180 [orientation=180]
  225 [orientation=225]
  270 [orientation=270]
  315 [orientation=315]
  0 -> 45 -> 90 -> 135 -> 180 -> 225 -> 270 -> 315 -> 0
}

digraph {
  orientation=L
  a -> b
}

See also:

• orientation
• rotate

• Nodes
• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "orientation"

outputorder

type: outputMode, default: breadthfirst

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "outputorder"

overlap

type: string | bool, default: true

Nodes are first enlarged using the sep attribute. If true , overlaps are retained. If the value is "scale", overlaps are removed by uniformly scaling in x and y. If the value converts to "false", and it is available, Prism, a proximity graph-based algorithm, is used to remove node overlaps. This can also be invoked explicitly with overlap=prism. This technique starts with a small scaling up, controlled by the overlap_scaling attribute, which can remove a significant portion of the overlap. The prism option also accepts an optional non-negative integer suffix. This can be used to control the number of attempts made at overlap removal. By default, overlap="prism" is equivalent to overlap="prism1000". Setting overlap="prism0" causes only the scaling phase to be run.

If Prism is not available, or the version of Graphviz is earlier than 2.28, "overlap=false" uses a Voronoi-based technique. This can always be invoked explicitly with "overlap=voronoi".

If overlap="scalexy", x and y are separately scaled to remove overlaps.

If overlap="compress", the layout will be scaled down as much as possible without introducing any overlaps, obviously assuming there are none to begin with.

N.B. The remaining allowed values of overlap correspond to algorithms which, at present, can produce bad aspect ratios. In addition, we deprecate the use of the "ortho*" and "portho*".

If the value is "vpsc", overlap removal is done as a quadratic optimization to minimize node displacement while removing node overlaps.

If the value is "orthoxy" or "orthoyx", overlaps are moved by optimizing two constraint problems, one for the x axis and one for the y. The suffix indicates which axis is processed first. If the value is "ortho", the technique is similar to "orthoxy" except a heuristic is used to reduce the bias between the two passes. If the value is "ortho_yx", the technique is the same as "ortho", except the roles of x and y are reversed. The values "portho", "porthoxy", "porthoxy", and "portho_yx" are similar to the previous four, except only pseudo-orthogonal ordering is enforced.

If the layout is done by neato with mode="ipsep", then one can use overlap=ipsep. In this case, the overlap removal constraints are incorporated into the layout algorithm itself. N.B. At present, this only supports one level of clustering.

Except for fdp and sfdp, the layouts assume overlap="true" as the default. Fdp first uses a number of passes using a built-in, force-directed technique to try to remove overlaps. Thus, fdp accepts overlap with an integer prefix followed by a colon, specifying the number of tries. If there is no prefix, no initial tries will be performed. If there is nothing following a colon, none of the above methods will be attempted. By default, fdp uses overlap="9:prism". Note that overlap="true", overlap="0:true" and overlap="0:" all turn off all overlap removal.

By default, sfdp uses overlap="prism0".

Except for the Voronoi and prism methods, all of these transforms preserve the orthogonal ordering of the original layout. That is, if the x coordinates of two nodes are originally the same, they will remain the same, and if the x coordinate of one node is originally less than the x coordinate of another, this relation will still hold in the transformed layout. The similar properties hold for the y coordinates. This is not quite true for the "porth*" cases. For these, orthogonal ordering is only preserved among nodes related by an edge.

• Graphs

Note: fdp, neato, sfdp, circo, twopi only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "overlap"

overlap_scaling

type: double, default: -4, minimum: -1e+10

When overlap=prism, the layout is scaled by this factor, thereby removing a fair amount of node overlap, and making node overlap removal faster and better able to retain the graph's shape.

• If overlap_scaling is negative, the layout is scaled by -1*overlap_scaling times the average label size.

• If overlap_scaling is positive, the layout is scaled by overlap_scaling.

• If overlap_scaling is zero, no scaling is done.

• Graphs

Note: prism, neato, sfdp, fdp, circo, twopi only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "overlap_scaling"

overlap_shrink

type: bool, default: true

• Graphs

Note: prism only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "overlap_shrink"

pack

type: bool | int, default: false

If pack has an integral value, this is used as the size, in points,of a margin around each part; otherwise, a default margin of 8 is used.

If pack is interpreted as false, the entire graph is laid out together. The granularity and method of packing is influenced by the packmode attribute.

For layouts which always do packing, such as twopi, the pack attribute is just used to set the margin.

pack is treated as true if the value of pack is true (case-insensitive) or a non-negative integer.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "pack"

packmode

type: packMode, default: node

(cf packMode). Note that defining packmode will automatically turn on packing as though one had set pack=true.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "packmode"

pad

type: double | point, default: 0.0555 (4 points)

If pad is a single double, both the x and y pad values are set equal to the given value. This area is part of the drawing and will be filled with the background color, if appropriate.

Normally, a small pad is used for aesthetic reasons, especially when a background color is used, to avoid having nodes and edges abutting the boundary of the drawn region.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "pad"

page

type: double | point

If only a single value is given, this is used for both the width and height.

If page is set and is smaller than the size of the layout, a rectangular array of pages of the specified page size is overlaid on the layout, with origins aligned in the lower-left corner, thereby partitioning the layout into pages. The pages are then produced one at a time, in pagedir order.

At present, page only works for PostScript output. For other types of output, use another tool to split the output into multiple output files, or use viewport to generate multiple files.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "page"

pagedir

type: pagedir, default: BL

Used only if page is set and applicable.

Limited to one of the 8 row or column major orders.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "pagedir"

pencolor

type: color, default: black

If pencolor is not defined, color is used.

If color is not defined, bgcolor is used.

If bgcolor is not defined, the default is used.

Note that a cluster inherits the root graph's attributes if defined. Thus, if the root graph has defined a pencolor, this will override a color or bgcolor attribute set for the cluster.

• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "pencolor"

penwidth

type: double, default: 1.0, minimum: 0.0

including the boundaries of edges and clusters.

penwidth value is inherited by subclusters, and has no effect on text.

Previous to 31 January 2008, the effect of penwidth=W was achieved by including setlinewidth(W) as part of a style specification.

If both attributes are set, penwidth will be used.

• Clusters
• Nodes
• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "penwidth"

peripheries

type: int, default: <shape default> (nodes) , 1 (clusters) , minimum: 0

Note that user-defined shapes are treated as a form of box shape, so the default peripheries value is 1 and the user-defined shape will be drawn in a bounding rectangle. Setting peripheries=0 will turn this off.

peripheries=1 is the maximum value for clusters.

• Nodes
• Clusters

Search the Graphviz codebase for "peripheries"

pin

type: bool, default: false

If true and the node has a pos attribute on input, neato or fdp prevents the node from moving from the input position. This property can also be specified in the pos attribute itself (cf. the point type).

Note: Due to an artifact of the implementation, previous to 27 Feb 2014, final coordinates are translated to the origin. Thus, if you look at the output coordinates given in the (x)dot or plain format, pinned nodes will not have the same output coordinates as were given on input. If this is important, a simple workaround is to maintain the coordinates of a pinned node. The vector difference between the old and new coordinates will give the translation, which can then be subtracted from all of the appropriate coordinates.

After 27 Feb 2014, this translation can be avoided in neato by setting notranslate=true. However, if the graph specifies node overlap removal or a change in aspect ratio, node coordinates may still change.

• Nodes

Note: neato, fdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "pin"

pos

type: point | splineType

For nodes, the position indicates the center of the node. On output, the coordinates are in points.

In neato and fdp, pos can be used to set the initial position of a node. By default, the coordinates are assumed to be in inches. However, the -s command line flag can be used to specify different units. As the output coordinates are in points, feeding the output of a graph laid out by a Graphviz program into neato or fdp will almost always require the -s flag.

When the -n command line flag is used with neato, it is assumed the positions have been set by one of the layout programs, and are therefore in points. Thus, neato -n can accept input correctly without requiring a -s flag and, in fact, ignores any such flag.

• Edges
• Nodes

Note: neato, fdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "pos"

quadtree

type: quadType | bool, default: normal

• quadtree=true aliases quadtree=normal
• quadtree=false aliases quadtree=none
• quadtree=2 aliases quadtree=fast

• Graphs

Note: sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "quadtree"

quantum

type: double, default: 0.0, minimum: 0.0

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "quantum"

rank

type: rankType

• If rank="same", all nodes are placed on the same rank.
• If rank="min", all nodes are placed on the minimum rank.
• If rank="source", all nodes are placed on the minimum rank, and the only nodes on the minimum rank belong to some subgraph with rank="source" or rank="min".

Analogous criteria hold for rank="max" and rank="sink".

(Note: the minimum rank is topmost or leftmost, and the maximum rank is bottommost or rightmost.)

For more information check this answer in Stack Overflow

• Subgraphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "rank"

rankdir

type: rankdir, default: TB

For example, if rankdir="LR", and barring cycles, an edge T -> H; will go from left to right. By default, graphs are laid out from top to bottom.

This attribute also has a side-effect in determining how record nodes are interpreted. See record shapes.

digraph {
    rankdir="TB"
    a -> b -> c;
}

digraph {
    rankdir="BT"
    a -> b -> c;
}

digraph {
    rankdir="LR"
    a -> b -> c;
}

digraph {
    rankdir="RL"
    a -> b -> c;
}

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "rankdir"

ranksep

type: double | doubleList, default: 0.5 (dot) , 1.0 (twopi) , minimum: 0.02

In dot, sets the desired rank separation, in inches.

This is the minimum vertical distance between the bottom of the nodes in one rank and the tops of nodes in the next. If the value contains equally, the centers of all ranks are spaced equally apart. Note that both settings are possible, e.g., ranksep="1.2 equally".

In twopi, this attribute specifies the radial separation of concentric circles. For twopi, ranksep can also be a list of doubles. The first double specifies the radius of the inner circle; the second double specifies the increase in radius from the first circle to the second; etc. If there are more circles than numbers, the last number is used as the increment for the remainder.

• Graphs

Note: dot, twopi only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "ranksep"

ratio

type: double | string

Note that this is adjusted before the size attribute constraints are enforced.

In addition, the calculations usually ignore the node sizes, so the final drawing size may only approximate what is desired.

If ratio is numeric, ratio is taken as the desired aspect ratio. Then, if the actual aspect ratio is less than the desired ratio, the drawing height is scaled up to achieve the desired ratio; if the actual ratio is greater than that desired ratio, the drawing width is scaled up.

If ratio="fill" and the size attribute is set, node positions are scaled, separately in both x and y, so that the final drawing exactly fills the specified size. If both size values exceed the width and height of the drawing, then both coordinate values of each node are scaled up accordingly. However, if either size dimension is smaller than the corresponding dimension in the drawing, one dimension is scaled up so that the final drawing has the same aspect ratio as specified by size. Then, when rendered, the layout will be scaled down uniformly in both dimensions to fit the given size, which may cause nodes and text to shrink as well. This may not be what the user wants, but it avoids the hard problem of how to reposition the nodes in an acceptable fashion to reduce the drawing size.

If ratio="compress" and the size attribute is set, dot attempts to compress the initial layout to fit in the given size. This achieves a tighter packing of nodes but reduces the balance and symmetry. This feature only works in dot.

If ratio="expand", the size attribute is set, and both the width and the height of the graph are less than the value in size, node positions are scaled uniformly until at least one dimension fits size exactly. Note that this is distinct from using size as the desired size, as here the drawing is expanded before edges are generated and all node and text sizes remain unchanged.

If ratio="auto", the page attribute is set and the graph cannot be drawn on a single page, then size is set to an "ideal" value.

In particular, the size in a given dimension will be the smallest integral multiple of the page size in that dimension which is at least half the current size. The two dimensions are then scaled independently to the new size. This feature only works in dot.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "ratio"

rects

type: rect

• Nodes

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "rects"

regular

type: bool, default: false

If true, the vertices of the polygon will lie on a circle whose center is the center of the node.

digraph {
    "pentagon1" [shape="pentagon"];
    "pentagon2" [shape="pentagon" regular=true]
    "hexagon1" [shape="hexagon"];
    "hexagon2" [shape="hexagon" regular=true];
}

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "regular"

remincross

type: bool, default: true

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "remincross"

repulsiveforce

type: double, default: 1.0, minimum: 0.0

force directed model. Values larger than 1 tend to reduce the warping effect at the expense of less clustering.

• Graphs

Note: sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "repulsiveforce"

resolution

type: double, default: 96.0, minimum: 0.0

• Graphs

Note: bitmap output, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "resolution"

root

type: string | bool, default: <none> (graphs) , false (nodes)

The center of the layout will be the root of the generated spanning tree.

• As a graph attribute, this gives the name of the node.
• As a node attribute, it specifies that the node should be used as a central node.

In twopi, root will actually be the central node. In circo, the block containing the node will be central in the drawing of its connected component. If not defined, twopi will pick a most central node, and circo will pick a random node.

If the root attribute is defined as the empty string, twopi will reset it to name of the node picked as the root node.

For twopi, it is possible to have multiple roots, presumably one for each component. If more than one node in a component is marked as the root, twopi will pick one.

• Graphs
• Nodes

Note: twopi, circo only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "root"

rotate

type: int, default: 0

digraph {
  rotate=90
  a -> b
}

See also:

• landscape
• orientation

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "rotate"

rotation

type: double, default: 0

• Graphs

Note: sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "rotation"

samehead

type: string, default: ""

This has no effect on loops.

Prior to Graphviz 8.0.1, each node can have at most 5 unique samehead values.

See limitation.

See also sametail.

• Edges

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "samehead"

sametail

type: string, default: ""

This has no effect on loops.

Prior to Graphviz 8.0.1, each node can have at most 5 unique sametail values.

See limitation.

See also samehead.

• Edges

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "sametail"

samplepoints

type: int, default: 8 (output) , 20 (overlap and image maps)

Used if the input graph defines the vertices attribute, and output is dot or xdot.

It plays the same role in neato, when adjusting the layout to avoid overlapping nodes, and in image maps.

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "samplepoints"

scale

type: double | point

If only a single number is given, that number scales both width and height.

• Graphs

Note: neato, twopi only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "scale"

searchsize

type: int, default: 30

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "searchsize"

sep

type: addDouble | addPoint, default: +4

This guarantees a minimal non-zero distance between nodes.

If the attribute begins with a plus sign '+', an additive margin is specified. That is, "+w,h" causes the node's bounding box to be increased by w points on the left and right sides, and by h points on the top and bottom.

Without a plus sign, the node is scaled by 1 + w in the x coordinate and 1 + h in the y coordinate.

If only a single number is given, this is used for both dimensions.

If unset but esep is defined, the sep values will be set to the esep values divided by 0.8. If esep is unset, the default value is used.

graph {
    layout="fdp"
    sep="0"
    A -- B
    B -- C
    C -- D
    D -- A
}

graph {
    layout="fdp"
    sep="3"
    A -- B
    B -- C
    C -- D
    D -- A
}

• Graphs

Note: fdp, neato, sfdp, osage, circo, twopi only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "sep"

shape

type: shape, default: ellipse

digraph {
    "pentagon" [shape="pentagon"];
    "hexagon" [shape="hexagon"];
}

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "shape"

shapefile

type: string, default: ""

(Deprecated).

Sets the node's shape="box". The image in the shapefile must be rectangular. The image formats supported as well as the precise semantics of how the file is used depends on the output format. For further details, see Image Formats and External PostScript files.

There is one exception to this usage: If shape="epsf", shapefile gives a filename containing a definition of the node in PostScript. The graphics defined must be contain all of the node content, including any desired boundaries. For further details, see External PostScript files.

Only paths to local resources are supported. If you want to use a URL to a remote resource, see the dot_url_resolve.py script.

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "shapefile"

showboxes

type: int, default: 0, minimum: 0

Print guide boxes in PostScript at the beginning of routesplines if showboxes=1, or at the end if showboxes=2. (Debugging, TB mode only!)

• Edges
• Nodes
• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "showboxes"

sides

type: int, default: 4, minimum: 0

graph {
  Triangle  [shape=polygon sides=3]
  Rectangle [shape=polygon sides=4]
  Pentagon  [shape=polygon sides=5]
  Hexagon   [shape=polygon sides=6]
}

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "sides"

size

type: double | point

If only a single number is given, this is used for both the width and the height.

If defined and the drawing is larger than the given size, the drawing is uniformly scaled down so that it fits within the given size.

If size ends in an exclamation point "!", then size is taken to be the desired minimum size. In this case, if both dimensions of the drawing are less than size, the drawing is scaled up uniformly until at least one dimension equals its dimension in size.

There is some interaction between the size and ratio attributes.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "size"

skew

type: double, default: 0.0, minimum: -100.0

Positive values skew top of polygon to right; negative to left.

See also distortion.

graph {
  SkewLeft  [shape=polygon sides=4 skew=-.5]
  SkewRight [shape=polygon sides=4 skew=.5]
}

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "skew"

smoothing

type: smoothType, default: "none"

• Graphs

Note: sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "smoothing"

sortv

type: int, default: 0, minimum: 0

If packmode indicates an array packing, sortv specifies an insertion order among the components, with smaller values inserted first.

• Graphs
• Clusters
• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "sortv"

splines

type: bool | string

If splines=true, edges are drawn as splines routed around nodes; if splines=false, edges are drawn as line segments. If splines=none or splines="", no edges are drawn at all.

(1 March 2007) splines=line and splines=spline can be used as synonyms for splines=false and splines=true, respectively.

In addition, splines=polyline specifies that edges should be drawn as polylines.

(28 Sep 2010) splines=ortho specifies edges should be routed as polylines of axis-aligned segments. Currently, the routing does not handle ports or, in dot, edge labels.

(25 Sep 2012) splines=curved specifies edges should be drawn as curved arcs.

splines=none splines=""	splines=line splines=false
splines=polyline	splines=curved
splines=ortho	splines=spline splines=true

By default, splines is unset. How this is interpreted depends on the layout engine. For dot, the default is to draw edges as splines. For all other layouts, the default is to draw edges as line segments.

Note that for these latter layouts, if splines="true", this requires non-overlapping nodes (cf. overlap). If fdp is used for layout and splines="compound", then the edges are drawn to avoid clusters as well as nodes.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "splines"

start

type: startType, default: ""

If unset, the nodes are randomly placed in a unit square with the same seed is always used for the random number generator, so the initial placement is repeatable.

The following examples have the same graph, but render differently due to their start values:

graph {
    layout="fdp"
    start=1
    A -- B; B -- C; C -- D; D -- A
}

graph {
    layout="fdp"
    start=2
    A -- B; B -- C; C -- D; D -- A
}

• Graphs

Note: neato, fdp, sfdp only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "start"

style

type: style, default: ""

For cluster subgraphs, if style="filled", the cluster box's background is filled.

If the default style attribute has been set for a component, an individual component can use style="" to revert to the normal default. For example, if the graph has

digraph {
  edge [style="invis"]
  a -> b
}

making all edges invisible, the b->c edge can override this via:

digraph {
  edge [style="invis"]
  a -> b
  b -> c [style=""]
}

Of course, the component can also explicitly set its style attribute to the desired value.

• Edges
• Nodes
• Clusters
• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "style"

stylesheet

type: string, default: ""

Combine with class to style elements using CSS selectors.

See also:

• class
• id

• Graphs

Note: svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "stylesheet"

tail_lp

type: point

The position indicates the center of the label.

• Edges

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "tail_lp"

tailclip

type: bool, default: true

otherwise, the end of the edge goes to the center of the node, or the center of a port, if applicable.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "tailclip"

tailhref

type: escString, default: ""

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "tailhref"

taillabel

type: lblString, default: ""

See limitation.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "taillabel"

tailport

type: portPos, default: center

See limitation.

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "tailport"

tailtarget

type: escString, default: <none>

If the edge has a tailURL, tailtarget determines which window of the browser is used for the URL.

Setting tailtarget=_graphviz will open a new window if it doesn't already exist, or reuse it if it does.

If undefined, the value of the target is used.

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "tailtarget"

tailtooltip

type: escString, default: ""

Used only if the edge has a tailURL attribute.

• edgetooltip.
• headtooltip.
• labeltooltip.
• tooltip.

• Edges

Note: cmap, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "tailtooltip"

tailURL

type: escString, default: ""

Also, this value is used near the tail node, overriding any URL value.

See limitation.

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

• Edges

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "tailURL"

target

type: escString | string, default: <none>

See W3C documentation.

• Edges
• Nodes
• Graphs
• Clusters

Note: map, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "target"

TBbalance

type: string, default: ''

Valid options:

• "min": Move floating (loose) nodes to minimum rank.
• "max": Move floating (loose) nodes to maximum rank.
• Otherwise, floating nodes are placed anywhere.

Despite the name TBbalance ("Top-Bottom Balance"), this also works with left-right ranks, e.g. rankdir=LR.

Examples:

digraph {
    layout="dot"

    { rank="min"; "min" }
    { rank="max"; "max" }
    "min" -> "middle" -> "max"
    
    "Floater 1"
    "Floater 2"
}

digraph {
    layout="dot"
    TBbalance="min"

    { rank="min"; "min" }
    { rank="max"; "max" }
    "min" -> "middle" -> "max"
    
    "Floater 1"
    "Floater 2"
}

digraph {
    layout="dot"
    TBbalance="max"

    { rank="min"; "min" }
    { rank="max"; "max" }
    "min" -> "middle" -> "max"
    
    "Floater 1"
    "Floater 2"
}

• Graphs

Note: dot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "TBbalance"

tooltip

type: escString, default: ""

If tooltip is unset, Graphviz will use the object's label if defined.

Note that if the label is a record specification or an HTML-like label, the resulting tooltip may be unhelpful. In this case, if tooltips will be generated, the user should set a tooltip attribute explicitly.

digraph {
  label="Graph Label"
  tooltip="Graph Tooltip"
  subgraph cluster_a {
    label="Cluster Label"
    tooltip="Cluster Tooltip"
    Node1 [tooltip="Node1 Tooltip"]
    Node1 -> Node2 [label="Edge" tooltip="Edge Tooltip"]
  }
}

See also:

• edgetooltip.
• headtooltip.
• labeltooltip.
• tailtooltip.

• Nodes
• Edges
• Clusters
• Graphs

Note: cmap, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "tooltip"

truecolor

type: bool

color palette.

If truecolor is unset, truecolor is not used unless there is a shapefile property for some node in the graph. The output model will use the input model when possible.

Use of color palettes results in less memory usage during creation of the bitmaps and smaller output files.

Usually, the only time it is necessary to specify the truecolor model is if the graph uses more than 256 colors. However, if one uses bgcolor=transparent with a color palette, font antialiasing can show up as a fuzzy white area around characters. Using truecolor=true avoids this problem.

• Graphs

Note: bitmap output only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "truecolor"

URL

type: escString, default: <none>

At present, used in ps2, cmap, i*map and svg formats. For all these formats, URLs can be attached to nodes, edges and clusters. URL attributes can also be attached to the root graph in ps2, cmap and i*map formats. This serves as the base URL for relative URLs in the former, and as the default image map file in the latter.

For svg, cmapx and imap output, the active area for a node is its visible image. For example, an unfilled node with no drawn boundary will only be active on its label. For other output, the active area is its bounding box. The active area for a cluster is its bounding box. For edges, the active areas are small circles where the edge contacts its head and tail nodes. In addition, for svg, cmapx and imap, the active area includes a thin polygon approximating the edge. The circles may overlap the related node, and the edge URL dominates. If the edge has a label, this will also be active. Finally, if the edge has a head or tail label, this will also be active.

For edges, the attributes headURL, tailURL, labelURL and edgeURL allow control of various parts of an edge.

if active areas of two edges overlap, it is unspecified which area dominates.

See also:

• edgehref, edgeURL
• headhref, headURL
• labelhref, labelURL
• tailhref, tailURL
• href, URL

graph {
  label="Vincent van Gogh Paintings"
  URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh"

  subgraph cluster_self_portraits {
    URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portraits_of_Vincent_van_Gogh"
    label="Self-portraits"

    "Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat" [URL="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0016V1962"]
    "Self-Portrait as a Painter" [URL="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0022V1962"]
  }
  
  subgraph cluster_flowers {
    URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflowers_(Van_Gogh_series)"
    label="Flowers"

    "Sunflowers" [URL="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-sunflowers"]
    "Almond Blossom" [URL="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0176V1962"]
  }
}

• Edges
• Nodes
• Graphs
• Clusters

Note: map, postscript, svg only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "URL"

vertices

type: pointList

Used if the node is polygonal, and output is dot or xdot.

If the node is an ellipse or circle, the samplepoints attribute affects the output.

• Nodes

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "vertices"

viewport

type: viewPort, default: ""

viewport supersedes any size attribute. The width and height of the viewport specify precisely the final size of the output.

• Graphs

Search the Graphviz codebase for "viewport"

voro_margin

type: double, default: 0.05, minimum: 0.0

Factor to scale up drawing to allow margin for expansion in Voronoi technique. dim' = (1+2*margin)*dim.

• Graphs

Note: neato, fdp, sfdp, twopi, circo only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "voro_margin"

weight

type: int | double, default: 1, minimum: 0(dot,twopi), 1(neato,fdp)

In dot, the heavier the weight, the shorter, straighter and more vertical the edge is.

For twopi, weight=0 indicates the edge should not be used in constructing a spanning tree from the root.

For other layouts, a larger weight encourages the layout to make the edge length closer to that specified by the len attribute.

Weights in dot must be integers.

digraph {
  root -> a
  root -> b [weight=2]
  root -> c [weight=3]
}

• Edges

Search the Graphviz codebase for "weight"

width

type: double, default: 0.75, minimum: 0.01

This is taken as the initial, minimum width of the node. If fixedsize is true, this will be the final width of the node. Otherwise, if the node label requires more width to fit, the node's width will be increased to contain the label.

If the output format is dot, the value given to width will be the final value.

If the node shape is regular, the width and height are made identical:

• If either the width or the height is set explicitly, that value is used.
• If both the width or the height are set explicitly, the maximum of the two values is used.
• If neither is set explicitly, the minimum of the two default values is used.

digraph {
  "d" # default
  "1in" [width=1]
  "2in" [width=2]
}

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "width"

xdotversion

type: string

Only used for xdot output.

If unset, graphviz will set this attribute to the xdot version used for output.

• Graphs

Note: xdot only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "xdotversion"

xlabel

type: lblString, default: ""

• For nodes, the label will be placed outside of the node but near it.
• For edges, the label will be placed near the center of the edge. This can be useful in dot to avoid the occasional problem when the use of edge labels distorts the layout.
• For other layouts, the xlabel attribute can be viewed as a synonym for the label attribute.

These labels are added after all nodes and edges have been placed.

The labels will be placed so that they do not overlap any node or label. This means it may not be possible to place all of them. To force placing all of them, set forcelabels=true.

digraph {
  "⚡" [xlabel="Sparks"]
  "🔥" [xlabel="Fires"]
  "⚡"->"🔥" [xlabel="Sometimes" label="Cause"]
}

• Edges
• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "xlabel"

xlp

type: point

The position indicates the center of the label.

• Nodes
• Edges

Note: write only.

Search the Graphviz codebase for "xlp"

z

type: double, default: 0.0, minimum: -MAXFLOAT, -1000

Deprecated: Use pos attribute, along with dimen and/or dim to specify dimensions.

If the graph has dim set to 3 (or more), neato will use a node's z value for the z coordinate of its initial position if its pos attribute is also defined.

Even if no z values are specified in the input, it is necessary to declare a z attribute for nodes, e.g, using node[z=""] in order to get z values on output. Thus, setting dim=3 but not declaring z will cause neato -Tvrml to layout the graph in 3D but project the layout onto the xy-plane for the rendering. If the z attribute is declared, the final rendering will be in 3D.

• Nodes

Search the Graphviz codebase for "z"