COLLEGE OF COMPUTER STUDIES

Columban College, Inc. Olongapo City 2200

DIA
A Manual Guide Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Course Requirements in Open Source
Submitted by:

Vincent Hernandez Bennex Louis Edquiba

Submitted to:
Mr. Paulo Mauricio
Professor

Submitted on:
March 26, 2012

COLLEGE OF COMPUTER STUDIES

Columban College, Inc. Olongapo City 2200

DIA
A Manual Guide Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Course Requirements in Open Source
Submitted by:

Vincent Hernandez Bennex Louis Edquiba

Submitted to:
Mr. Paulo Mauricio
Professor

Submitted on:
March 26, 2012

Dia is a graphical based program. It is designed not just for drawing, but also commonly used for diagramming. Dia's object based tools allow users to diagram anything from networks to electrical currents. This graphical program also allows for fast and easy use for the user because of the easy to understand tools that Dia offers. In addition, many shapes and objects can be use. Dia began as a part of the Gnome projects office suite of applications and was originally created by Alexander Larsson. The success of Dia comes from a solid application that serves a need, diagramming. Dia also uses a controlled single document interface similar to the Gimp Image Editor and other popular graphic applications. Dia can be used with many different shape packages each containing different shapes and symbols which can be used together to create a diagram or other project. Dia is flexible enough to create many different types of diagrams and projects but has special objects to help draw entity relationship diagrams, UML diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, and more. Dia users can also add support for new shapes by writing a simple XML file and using a subset of SVG graphics to draw the shape. The Dia diagramming application can export files in a few different formats. Formats include EPS, SVG, DXF, CGM, WMF, PNG, JPEG, and VDX. Dia is also capable of printing documents including large documents that span multiple pages. EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) DXF (AutoCADs Drawing Interchange format) CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile defined by ISO standards) WMF (Windows Meta File) PNG (Portable Network Graphics) JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) VDX (Microsoft's XML for Visio Drawing)

DIA Installation on UBUNTU

To install Dia first click on Applications --- Add/Remove.

On the Add/Remove Applications window type "dia" into the search box in the top right corner. Then click the checkbox next to the Dia Diagram Editor then on the Apply button in the bottom right corner.

Click Apply again to confirm the changes.

Wait while the Dia diagramming software is installed.

This confirms Dia as been installed successfully.

After checking in the menu under Applications --- Graphics --- Dia Diagram Editor we can open Dia and begin making diagrams.

Dia Installation on Windows

Save the .exe file to your computer.

Located the Dia .exe file and double click on it.

Select the language you want to use.

The first screen on the Dia setup is an intoduction. Click Next.

On this screen agree to the License Agreement by clicking Next.

Choose what components you want to include with the dia installation. Click Next.

Now lets choose where to save the .exe file. Then click Install.

Here you can see Dia in the process of being installed.

Dia has finished being installed. Select the Run Dia checkbox to start the program right away.

Here's the final result of our installation. Dia 0.97 on windows XP.

Screenshots
Main Window

The main window of Dia.

Class Properties Window

Editing class properties in an UML diagram.

Properties Window for a Non-UML Object

For the moment, the property-handling code within Dia is different for UML objects than for non-UML objects. This picture shows the properties window of a non-UML object - "Train 2, angled upward" from the "Map, Isometric" sheet.

Object Sheet Editor

DIA MENU

Dia is a graphical based program designed not just for drawing but also commonly used for various types of diagramming. Dia's object based tools allow users to diagram anything from networks to electrical currents. This graphical program also allows for fast and easy use for the user because of the straight forward tool selection offered. The File Menu has all of the basic functions that a user would use concerning the status of your document. New, Open, Save, Save As, Export, Page Setup, Print, Close, and Quit are all available in the File Menu.

The Edit Menu displays all of the main editing tools that most other programs would have. Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Undo, and Redo are all involved in this Menu. Other options include Duplicate, Delete, Copy, Cut and Paste Text.

Clicking Diagram on the menu brings Properties and Layers options.

In the View Menu, users may Zoom in and out and enable grid view abilities.

The Objects Menu under the Option Menu has several choices concerning the objects that have been selected in the Dia diagram. From this menu users may send a selected object to the back of the diagram or move it to the front. Other options include grouping and properties.

The Select menu item brings users select all, none, invert, transitive, connected and same type options. Also appearing here are union, replace, intersection, remove, inverse, and select by options.

The Tools menu item contains all of the tools appearing on the toolbox.

Choose an input method ehre, System(Simple) is the default and sufficient for begiinners.

The Dialog menu item allows users to view the group properties.

DIA TOOLBOX
The Drawing Toolbar has many functions that help users create diagrams in Dia. The Drawing Toolbar is located directly underneath the Menu Bar. It holds approximately fourteen functions.

The Modify Object tool is used to select certain objects that are in the diagram. Once these objects are selected, the Modify Object tool is able to move these objects around on the Dia diagram. By default, after every tool or function that is used, Dia selects the Modify Object tool after finishing performing the task(s).

The Magnify tool on the Drawing Toolbar allows a user to zoom in and out on a particular part of the current diagram. Remember, to print a diagram or resize it, the original size will be used not the magnified view. For example, if you print a diagram after you zoom in on it, the diagram will not print like it displays on the screen.

The Scroll tool, located third from the left at the top of the Drawing Toolbar is used to scroll around the diagram. Click this tool, click anywhere on the diagram, hold the mouse button down and drag to scroll throughout the entire diagram. Another way to accomplish this task is by using the scroll bars on the side and bottom of the screen. The Scroll tool allows for quicker and easier navigation throughout the project .

The Create Text tool, located fourth from the left on the top row of the Drawing Toolbar, is used to insert text into the diagram. After clicking the Create Text tool, select where the text is to be positioned and click that spot on the diagram. Once the particular spot is clicked, begin to type the content of the text. When finished typing, the user is still capable of positioning the text. To format the text, double click the small green box directly under the text that was entered. A small Standard Text Properties window appears. At this point format and configure the text that was entered.

The Create Box tool, located left most in the second row of the Drawing Toolbar, allows boxes, rectangles, and squares of any size to be created. After creating a box in the Dia diagram, a user is able to format and configure the box using the small green squares surrounding the box. Click and drag one of these small squares to resize the box in the diagram.

The Create Ellipse tool, located second from the left in the second row of the Drawing Toolbar, allows users to create circled and ellipses. After clicking the Create Ellipse tool, click on the diagram and drag the mouse to create any elliptical shape desired. A user is now able to format and configure the ellipse using the small green squares surrounding the shape. Click and drag one of these small squares to resize the ellipse of circle in the diagram. Remember , double click the object to format and configure the properties of the ellipse by changing the line width, color, and background.

The Create Polygon tool, located second from the right in the second row of the Drawing Toolbar, allows users to create triangles of any nature. After a user activates the Polygon tool, they are able to click and drag their mouse inside of the Dia diagram to create some sort of a triangle. After doing this the triangle can be formatted very easily using the green resizing squares that are surrounding the triangle when it is selected. user can also double click the triangle to display the properties of the shape. In these properties, change line width line style and fill color.

The Create Beziergon tool, located rightmost in the second row of the Drawing Toolbar, allows users to create objects that can be twisted or distorted. After activating the Beziergon tool, click the diagram and drag to create what appears to be some sort of ellipse. After releasing the mouse button, slightly different formating options are available. Notice that there are small green sizing squares for increasing and decreasing width of the circle, and also small red formatting squares. These allow users to twist the lines of the circle to create whatever shape needed. Again, by double clicking the object, the object properties appear in a small window where users can change line width, line style, line color, and fill color.

The Create Line tool, located leftmost in the third row of the Drawing Toolbar, allows a user to create a line of any length, width, and size. After activating the Create Line tool click in an area in the Dia diagram that you are working on. Drag the mouse until a length of the line is created. After finishing, there is still the option to resize the line with the small green resizing squares at the endpoints of the line. Last, double click the line to view it's properties. From here change line width, line color, line style, start arrow size, and end arrow size.

The Create Arc tool, located second from the left on the third row of the Drawing Toolbar, allows users to construct an arc with any size and any steep of a curve. After activating this tool by clicking on it, click and drag in the Dia diagram area to create this object. Again red and green sizing tools are available. Use these to format your object. Also you can display a properties window by double clicking on the

The Create ZigZagLine tool, located second from the right on the third row of the Drawing Toolbar, a user is able to create lines with two vertices and two end points. Click and drag inside the diagram to construct the zigzag line. Use the green and red sizing and shaping tools to format the object to your liking. Also double click the object to view the properties of the line. Customize the line by changing some of the options in the ZigZag Line Properties window.

The Create Polyline tool, located rightmost on the third row of the Drawing Toolbar, works much in the same way as the Create Line tool. Activate the PolyLine tool and then click and drag in the Dia diagram area. Release the mouse button when finished constructing the line. Use the small green resizing boxes to format the line. Double click to view its properties.

The Create Bezierline tool, located on the right in the fourth row of the Drawing Toolbar, allows users to create double curved lines. Instead of only one single curve, a user can insert two curves into one single line and format these curves as desired with the small red and green sizing and positioning boxes. Double click the line to view its properties in the Bezierline Properties window.

The Create Image tool, located on the right in the fourth row of the Drawing Toolbar, allows ythe user to insert an image into the Dia diagram. The steps to do this are simple. Double click the Create Image tool icon. A small dialog box appears. From here enter the filename of the file to insert. Or click browse to look for the specific file that will be contained in the diagram.

The Color and Line Toolbar allows for many formatting options for the user.

The Color Choice option, located on the left of the Color and Line Toolbar, allows users to select from a wide variety of colors. To do this, click onthe foreground or background button and select a color from the color wheel.

The Line Width option, located on the right of the Color and Line Toolbar, allows users to choose from five different widths of lines. Click on one of the lines and that width will appear.

The Object Library, which is located in the middle of the Dia startup window, allows users to insert objects and pictures into the Dia diagram that they are working on. Dia offers an excellent selection of categories that a user has the option of choosing from. After choosing a specific category, objects appear in the Object Display Box. From here you can choose objects to be inserted into your diagram. The Object Categories include: Chronogram, Circuit, Civil, ER, Electric, FS, Flowchart, GRAFCET, Jigsaw, Ladder, Logic, MSE, Misc, Network, Hydraulic, SADT/IDEF0, SDL, Sybase, and UML

In this example the Network category was chosen from the Object Library.

The Detailed Arrows Toolbar, located at the very bottom of the Dia window upon startup, allows the user to insert detailed lines and arrows into the Dia diagram.

The Detailed Arrows Toolbar provides the user with a wide selection of different forms of arrows. The left button displays all of the detailed left arrows. The middle button displays all of the choices for detailed lines to insert with the arrows that you choose . The right button displays all of the arrows pointing to the right that a user can insert into the Dia diagram. In this example, a few of the detailed arrows and lines have been used.

SAVING and EXPORTING

After you create a fantastic diagramm using the Dia application you'll want to be able to save or export it. Fortunately, Dia has quite a few options for this. Now that I have something worth keeping, lets save this file.

Click File --- Save or Save As. Then choose a filename and click Save.

To save the diagram with another type of extension click on File --- Export.

The Export Diagram window includes a place to enter the filename we want to save this diagram as, where we want to save it, and what type of extension to save it as.

Click on the dropdown next to Determine file type and you'll see a large list (a few shown below) of the extensions you can export your diagram as. Xfig and Visio formats included.

REFERENCES
http://beginlinux.com/appsm/dia_m/filemenu_m http://live.gnome.org/Dia/Screenshots http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dia_(software) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_draw_a_diagram_with_Dia

http://www.osalt.com/dia http://dia-installer.de