Syntax
Nodes
A node is the most basic building block in a flow chart.
Node definitions consist of a name followed by an optional set of properties. For example, Start
is the name of below node and it has an shape
property which is set to oval
.
Start [shape: oval]
Node names are required to be unique.
Nodes support shape
, icon
, color
, and label
properties. More on properties below.
Groups
A group is a container that can encapsulate nodes and groups.
Group definitions consist of a name followed by { }
. For example, Loop
is the name of the below group and it contains Issue1
, Issue2
, and Issue3
nodes.
Loop {
Issue1, Issue2, Issue3
}
Nodes (or groups) inside a group can be enumerated either with ,
or new lines as separators. Below results in the same but uses new lines to separate each node.
Loop {
Issue1
Issue2
Issue3
}
Group names are required to be unique.
Groups can be nested. In the below example, the Outer Loop
group contains the Inner Loop
group.
Outer Loop {
Inner Loop {
Issue1
Issue2
}
Issue3
}
Groups support icon
, color
, and label
properties.
Properties
Properties are key-value pairs enclosed in [ ]
brackets that can be appended to definitions of nodes and groups. Properties are optional.
Here are the properties that are allowed:
Property | Description | Value | Default Value |
---|---|---|---|
shape | Shape of node | Shape names (e.g. diamond or oval ). | rectangle |
icon | Icon | Icon names (e.g. aws-ec2 ). See Icons page for full list. | |
color | Stroke and fill color | Color name (e.g. blue ) or hex code (e.g. #000000 ) | |
label | Text label | Any string. Enclose in double quotes (e.g. "Main Server" ) if containing a space. Allows multiple nodes and groups to have the same label . | Name of node or group |
colorMode | Fill color lightness | pastel , bold , outline | pastel |
styleMode | Embellishments | shadow , plain , watercolor | shadow |
typeface | Text typeface | rough , clean , mono | rough |
Here is the list of shapes:
rectangle
(default),cylinder
,diamond
,document
,ellipse
,hexagon
,oval
,parallelogram
,star
,trapezoid
,triangle
Here are the lists of icon names:
The label
property is useful if you want the node's (or group's) label and name to be distinct. By default, the label
is set as the node name. But because node names are required to be distinct, you will need to use the label
property if you have two nodes with the exact same label.
// Names need to be distinct, but labels can overlap
Start_A [label: start]
Start_B [label: start]
Refer to Styling for more details and examples on the colorMode
, styleMode
, and typeface
properties.
It is possible to set multiple properties by separating them using ,
like shown below:
Start [shape: oval, icon: flag]
Relationships
Connections represent relationships between nodes and groups. They can be created between nodes, between groups, and between nodes and groups.
Here is an example of a connection between two nodes:
Issue > Bug
Here are the types of connectors:
Connector | Syntax | Description |
---|---|---|
> |
Left-to-right arrow | |
< |
Right-to-left arrow | |
<> |
Bi-directional arrow | |
- |
Line | |
-- |
Dotted line | |
--> |
Dotted arrow |
Relationship label
It is possible to add a label to a relationship. Here is an example:
Issue > Bug: Triage
Branching relationships
It is possible to create it is possible to create one-to-many connections in a single statement. Here is an example:
Issue > Bug, Feature
Chained relationships
It is also possible to "chain" a sequence of relationship statements in a single statement
Issue > Bug > Duplicate?
If a connection statement contains a name that has not been previously defined as a node or a group, a blank node with that name will be created.
Icons
Here's a list of all the icons you can use with diagram-as-code.
Escape string
Certain characters are not allowed in node and group names because they are reserved. You can use these characters, you can wrap the entire node or group name in quotes " "
.
User > "https://localhost:8080": GET
Direction
The direction of the flow chart can be changed using the direction
statement. Allowed directions are:
direction down
(default)direction up
direction right
direction left
The direction statement can be placed anywhere in the code like this:
direction right
Styling
Styles can be applied at the diagram level. Below is an overview of the options and syntax. Refer to Styling for more details and examples.
Property | Values | Default value | Syntax example |
---|---|---|---|
colorMode | pastel , bold , outline | pastel | colorMode bold |
styleMode | shadow , plain , watercolor | shadow | styleMode shadow |
typeface | rough , clean , mono | rough | typeface clean |
Updated 6 months ago