Editing DOT files with Notepad++

Question

Is it possible to use Notepad++ as a sort of IDE for Graphviz?

GVEdit that comes with Graphviz is very inadequate for editing. Notepad++ has already solved many code-editing problems elegantly, but unfortunately there is no "compile this DOT file and show me the result" button in Notepad++ to enable a quick compile/edit cycle.

Answer 1

I made a plugin for the purpose of a quick compile/edit cycle in Notepad++: https://github.com/jrebacz/NppGraphViz, scroll down to the installation section for instructions.

The plugin takes the current tab's document, sends it to a selectable Graphviz layout program (like dot.exe), and displays the resulting image in a preview window. F9 will refresh the window.

Answer 2

Is there a command line you use to compile?

According to this:

Graphviz: How to go from .dot to a graph?

You use dot.exe to compile?

You can set something like this up using the Run command in Notepad and bind it to a shortcut key.

dot -Tps "$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)" -o outfile.ps

Assuming this is your compile command, what is your 'view' command? You should be able to put them into a batch file and call the batch file. In fact it would to describe each of the command line processes, what files they should create and how they are used and you should be able to chain it all up and show any text output in Notepad++ and launch a viewer if required, all using the Run menu or the Plugins\NPPExec menu