DRAKON helps people understand programs.
To learn more about the DRAKON language, go to the docs folder.
Some tutorials can be found in the examples folder. Open the .drn files with the DRAKON Editor.
Q: Where is the "Save" button?
A: DRAKON Editor does not have one. It saves your changes as you do them.
Q: How can I scroll the main window?
A: There are two ways to do it: 1. Drag with the mouse wheel pressed. 2. Scroll your mouse wheel (with and without the Shift key pressed).
Q: Does DRAKON Editor use a proprietary binary file format?
A: No. DRAKON Editor keeps your data in an Sqlite database file. There are free viewers that can browse and edit such files. See docs/drn_file_format.html for details.
Q: Can I write real programs with DRAKON Editor?
A: Yes! Currently, Java, C#, Plain C, C++, Python, Tcl, Javascript, Lua and Erlang are supported. Tutorials can be found in the examples/language folders.
Q: Export to PNG does not work and hangs. I hate you!
A: Export to PNG works, but on Windows it is ungodly slow. We apologize. Please do not minimize or place any other windows on top of the DRAKON Editor in the process.
Q: How to change the fonts?
A: To change the screen font, go to File/File properties... and choose the Canvas font.
To change the font in the exported PDF:
DRAKON Editor does not require any installation besides unzipping. It requires, however, tcl to be present on your computer:
Windows: double click on the drakon_editor.tcl file.
Linux and Mac OS: run the following command from the terminal:
tclsh8.5 drakon_editor.tcl
or, to open a specific file:
tclsh8.5 drakon_editor.tcl [file name]
Mac users use Command instead of Control for the following shortcuts.
Action | Shortcut |
Scroll/pan | Move mouse with the wheel or middle button pressed. |
Scroll/pan up and down | Mouse wheel. |
Scroll/pan left and right | Shift + Mouse wheel. |
Zoom in and out | Control + Mouse wheel. |
Smart mode | Drag items with the mouse when the Shift key is pressed. |
Edit text | Double click on text. |
Select all | Control + A |
Delete selected objects | Del or Backspace |
Copy | Control + C |
Cut | Control + X |
Paste | Control + V |
Undo | Control + Z |
Redo | Control + Y |
Edit diagram description | Control + D |
Show/hide search panel | Control + F |
Jump to diagram | Control + G |
Jump to item | Control + I |
Verify diagram | Control + R |
Generate code | Control + B |
Action item | A |
If item | I |
Horizontal line | H |
Vertical line | V |
Loop start item | L |
Loop end item | E |
Select item | S |
Case item | C |
Branch item | B |
Address item | D |
Insertion item | N |
Tidy up | Control + T |
drakon_gen.tcl is a command-line utility that generates code from a .drn file.
Usage example:
tclsh8.5 drakon_gen.tcl -in examples/Python/python_demo.drn
This one will generate a file called python_demo.py in examples/Python.
tclsh8.5 drakon_gen.tcl -in examples/Python/python_demo.drn -out .
This one will generate a file called python_demo.py and put it in the current folder.
In order for code generation to work, the .drn files must have a programming language selected in its properties.
To choose the language for the .drn file, open it in DRAKON Editor, go to File / File properties...
Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Please write to
drakon.editor@gmail.com
DRAKON Editor is PUBLIC DOMAIN except some third-party components (pdf4tcl, Liberation fonts).
DRAKON Editor was written by Stepan Mitkin.
http://drakon-editor.sourceforge.net/
drakon.editor@gmail.com
August 2012.