https://www.ilograph.com/blog/ Recent content on Ilograph Blog Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us © 2022 Ilograph LLC Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/avoid-fan-traps-in-system-diagrams/ Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/avoid-fan-traps-in-system-diagrams/ A fan trap in data modeling occurs when multiple 1:N relations are joined on the “1” side, resulting in information loss. To the uninitiated, this is easiest understood by example: imagine a university with many colleges, each with many departments, which in turn have many professors. If modeled incorrectly, where the professors are given 1:N relations with colleges instead of departments, the result is a fan trap: In data modeling, a fan-trap occurs when relations between entities is ambiguous. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/fixing-aws-diagrams-ai-document-processing/ Tue, 16 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/fixing-aws-diagrams-ai-document-processing/ Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a vast library of solutions to everyday business problems. In this series, we critique the architecture diagrams included in these solutions and attempt to expand and improve on them. Read the previous entries here and here. Below is the architecture diagram for AWS’s Intelligent Document Processing sample solution. It comes directly from the linked repository. The system is a serverless, AI-driven application for classifying and extracting information from loan application documents. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-in-ilograph-sub-sequences/ Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-in-ilograph-sub-sequences/ Ilograph 2.1.0 is a major new release for all Ilograph environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud) that adds sub-sequences to sequence perspectives. Sub-sequences are steps-within-steps in sequence diagrams. When rendered, they appear as colored boxes that viewers can zoom in to: A sequence perspective with four sub-sequences Sub-sequences are great for including sub-processes and other details while keeping the bigger picture clear. To create a sub-sequence, use the new subSequence keyword in a sequence step: https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-in-ilograph-embedded-perspectives/ Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-in-ilograph-embedded-perspectives/ Ilograph 2.0.1 is a major new release for all Ilograph environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud) that adds the following enhancements: Embedded perspectives Perspectives can now be directly embedded in other perspectives. When embedded, perspectives appear as boxes showing the perspective in minature, and users can expand an embedded perspective to browse it: An embedded perspective To embed a perspective, reference it by name (with the Perspective:: prefix) anywhere you would a resource. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-in-ilograph-via-relations/ Thu, 08 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-in-ilograph-via-relations/ Ilograph 1.9.8 is a major new release for all Ilograph environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud) that adds the following enhancements and bug fixes: Via relations The new via property on relations allows diagram authors to create relations that go through other resources: Via relations are handy for preserving explicit relations between two resources while showing their connection is handled by intermediary resources. Importantly, these resources preserve their coupling when selected or highlighted: https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-in-ilograph-scale-overrides/ Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-in-ilograph-scale-overrides/ Ilograph 1.9.4 (all environments) adds a new feature called scale overrides. Scale overrides allows diagram editors to adjust the size of resources on a per-perspective basis: Resource scale being adjusted The new scale property in the perspective overrides section adjusts the scale of resource(s) relative to their default size. Default resource sizes are determined by how many relations they have in a perspective (this behavior remains unchanged). Read more about scale overrides in the docs. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/breaking-up-the-master-diagram/ Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/breaking-up-the-master-diagram/ Below is a “master” architecture diagram of Ilograph’s back end deployed on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is a relatively simple serverless back end that handles CRUD operations for the Ilograph web app but also serves Ilograph Desktop and the Export API. Here it is: Ilograph's serverless back-end architecture (click to enlarge). Simple, right? Well, no. Not when presented like that. Regardless of your experience, your reaction should be, “This is too much to understand. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/diagrams-ai-can-and-cannot-generate/ Tue, 12 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/diagrams-ai-can-and-cannot-generate/ By now, generative artificial intelligence’s ability to create text and images is well known. Generating system architecture diagrams would seem to be a natural extension of this. In this article, we examine three use cases for AI-generated system architecture diagrams. We will evaluate AI’s ability to create generic diagrams focused on technology, whiteboard diagrams for planned or proposed future systems, and system diagrams that detail real-life, existing systems. Generating generic AI diagrams First, a definition: generic diagrams in this context are diagrams not associated with source code or a deployed solution, present or future. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_8_1/ Tue, 13 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_8_1/ Ilograph 1.8.1 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Markdown support in arrow descriptions When diagramming, the arrows between resources are just as important as the resources themselves. This is why we’ve added enhanced support for documenting these relations. Descriptions for relations and sequence steps now support multiple lines and markdown, including links: There is no length limit; the pop-up window will scroll when descriptions become large. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_7_6/ Mon, 24 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_7_6/ Ilograph 1.7.6 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Routed arrows In one of the biggest layout improvements in Ilograph’s history, arrows will now route around other resources when space permits: Previously, these arrows would “jump” over resources that were in their way. The result was not always very pleasing, as this comparison demonstrates: The number of arrows that are “routed” like this is intentionally limited. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/generate-aws-diagrams-with-resource-explorer-and-ilograph/ Mon, 29 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/generate-aws-diagrams-with-resource-explorer-and-ilograph/ Welcome. This article shows how to generate architecture diagrams from resources in an AWS account (or multiple accounts). The techniques used here make use of only free tools and don’t require giving access to your AWS account(s). The diagrams will be interactive and show the resources from multiple perspectives: Along with source code and written documentation, system architecture diagrams are excellent tools for documentation, onboarding, and knowledge-sharing. Viewers can quickly scan architecture diagrams to ascertain the system’s scope, scale, and patterns. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_7_3/ Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_7_3/ Ilograph 1.7.3 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Truncated names To improve visual consistency, resource names will now truncate in certain scenarios, such as when they are written vertically and have an icon: Resource names are truncated when rendered vertically with an icon Inline renaming Resources can now be quickly renamed by clicking on the new pencil icon that appears next to the name on mouse-over: https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_7_1/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_7_1/ Ilograph 1.7.1 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Relative references When defining relations, resources can now be referenced relative to other resources. This can significantly cut down on repetition when creating perspectives with lots of redundancy. For example, the perspective in the image below can be created with just two relations: perspectives: - name: Routing relations: - from: [Firewall] to: . https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_9/ Sun, 25 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_9/ Ilograph 1.6.9 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Truncated labels To improve layouts and ensure that labels are readable, very long arrow labels will now be truncated. When truncated, the full label can be seen on mouse-over (or, on mobile, tap): A long label being truncated Bug fixes Fixed “add notes to perspective” link not working Fixed resources remaining in tiled state when switching to a sequence perspective Fixed find box showing resources not selectedable due to pins Fixed links in parent resource descriptions not clickable in certain scenarios Fixed parent resources un-pinning in certain scenarios Happy Diagramming! https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_8/ Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_8/ Ilograph 1.6.8 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Pinned resources Ilograph diagram viewers can now pin resources while browsing diagrams. When a resource is pinned, only resources that are related to it will be visible; unrelated resources will be hidden. Viewers can then go on to select resources to further focus on what resources they’re interested in exploring. In the view below, the resource S3 (in green, on the right) is pinned: https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_7/ Sun, 28 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_7/ Ilograph 1.6.7 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Find resources Ilograph diagram viewers can now search for resources in the current perspective. This feature can be found under the top-right menu (under the ‘Go’ menu in Ilograph Desktop): This tool is very handy for finding resources in complex perspectives. All resources in the current perspective (and context) can be found, even if they are not currently visible. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/why-ilograph-added-contexts/ Tue, 16 Jan 2024 07:02:11 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/why-ilograph-added-contexts/ In this article, we’ll look at the importance of contexts in system architecture diagrams and recent enhancements to how they are handled in Ilograph. Defining diagram “contexts” System architecture diagrams visually document complex technical systems. Most come in the form of either relational or sequence diagrams, with boxes representing system resources, and arrows representing relations (or steps) between them. Like in the example below, the boxes (or nodes) with lines going between them are typically the main focus. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_4/ Sun, 07 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_4/ Ilograph 1.6.4 is a major new release now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Contexts Ilograph diagram authors can now define contexts. Contexts allow users to dynamically change the “background” resources in a diagram, revealing important new contextual information: Accounts, regions, services, and security groups are just a few example use cases. Click here to view a sample Ilograph diagram with contexts. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/better-aws-architecture-diagrams-distributed-load-testing/ Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/better-aws-architecture-diagrams-distributed-load-testing/ Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a vast library of solutions to everyday business problems. In this series, we critique the architecture diagrams included in these solutions and attempt to expand and improve on them. Read the previous entry here. This article has been updated. Below is AWS’s architecture diagram for their Distributed Load Testing on AWS solution. It comes directly from the linked repository. While the solution is excellent, the architecture diagram accompanying it exhibits a number of problems that limit its use as a technical resource. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_1/ Sun, 12 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_1/ Note: Starting with release 1.5.8, release announcements will be posted to the Ilograph blog. Release announcements prior to this version can be be found on the Ilograph Twitter account. Release information specific to Ilograph Desktop can be found in the release notes. Ilograph 1.6.1 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: Layout and rendering adjustments This release includes the following layout adjustments: https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/better-aws-architecture-diagrams-vod/ Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/better-aws-architecture-diagrams-vod/ Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a vast library of solutions to everyday business problems. In this series, we critique the architecture diagrams included in these solutions and attempt to expand and improve on them. This article has been updated to include new perspectives. Below is AWS’s architecture diagram for their Video-On-Demand service featuring AWS Elemental solution. It comes directly from the linked guide. While the guide itself is excellent, the architecture diagram is not very useful. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_0/ Sat, 28 Oct 2023 12:03:24 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_6_0/ Note: Starting with release 1.5.8, release announcements will be posted to the Ilograph blog. Release announcements prior to this version can be be found on the Ilograph Twitter account. Release information specific to Ilograph Desktop can be found in the release notes. Ilograph 1.6.0 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: New “Bold Arrows” mode Viewers can now toggle between regular and bold arrows and labels: https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/architecture-center/ Wed, 25 Oct 2023 19:19:41 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/architecture-center/ Ilograph is excited to announce the launch of the Ilograph Architecture Center. The Ilograph Architecture Center is the central location to find highly-detailed system architecture diagrams built with Ilograph. It is an excellent recource for those looking to learn about system design and architecture by example. Available diagrams include those featuring AWS, Azure, and on-premise resources. The Ilograph Architecture Center is also an excellent resource when creating your own Ilograph diagrams. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_5_9/ Tue, 05 Sep 2023 17:03:24 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_5_9/ Note: Starting with release 1.5.8, release announcements will be posted to the Ilograph blog. Release announcements prior to this version can be be found on the Ilograph Twitter account. Release information specific to Ilograph Desktop can be found in the release notes. Ilograph 1.5.9 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It includes the following enhancements: New “De-select” button on selected resources When a resource is selected, it can now be de-selected by clicking the “close” button in its top-right corner: https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_5_8/ Sun, 09 Jul 2023 11:12:39 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/release_1_5_8/ Note: Starting with release 1.5.8, release announcements will be posted to the Ilograph blog. Release announcements prior to this version can be be found on the Ilograph Twitter account. Release information specific to Ilograph Desktop can be found in the release notes. Ilograph 1.5.8 is now available in all environments (web, desktop, and Confluence Cloud). It is a small maintenance release with the following enhancements and fixes: Fixed resources not forming tiles when stacked with similar resources Previously, if resources were stacked together, they would not form into tiles when space got tight. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/concrete-diagramming-models/ Mon, 13 Feb 2023 07:32:11 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/concrete-diagramming-models/ “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” – Ernest Hemingway This article introduces the concept of concrete diagramming models. It details what they are, how they’re created and used, and their benefits. It also compares and contrasts concrete diagramming models with C4 diagramming models. What are diagramming models? Model-based diagramming is a technique for bringing structure and consistency to technical system diagramming. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/confluence-coming-feb-7/ Wed, 01 Feb 2023 18:38:22 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/confluence-coming-feb-7/ Ilograph LLC is excited to announce that Ilograph will soon be available for Confluence Cloud. Ilograph Interactive Diagrams for Confluence will be released on February 7th. This is a standalone Confluence app that allows organizations to store, share, and collaborate on their Ilograph diagrams entirely within a Confluence Cloud instance. Check back on the 7th for the release! https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-demo-datacenter/ Thu, 18 Aug 2022 20:12:18 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-demo-datacenter/ A new Ilograph demo diagram is now available. Unlike previous demos that have focused on cloud environments, this demo is of a physical datacenter (specifically, Stack Overflow’s architecture circa 2016). It is adapted with permission from Nick Craver’s series of posts on the same topic. This diagram makes great use of Ilograph’s new multi-reference matching capability to reduce repetition in the diagram code. It also shows off the new “Networking” icons that now come built-in to all Ilograph environments. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/its-time-to-drop-drag-and-drop-diagram-tools/ Tue, 22 Feb 2022 07:56:45 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/its-time-to-drop-drag-and-drop-diagram-tools/ Late last week, Google Cloud released an architecture diagramming tool for its service. While its stable of developer advocates were predictably excited beyond all rationality, the tool itself doesn’t feel like a meaningful improvement over the technology it is built on (Excalidraw). Simon Brown, the creator of the C4 model, made a broader point on its shortcomings: His criticism, while not detailed, is spot-on. The world did not need another drag-and-drop diagramming tool, and in the 2020s these aren’t the right tools for creating architecture diagrams anyway. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/why-create-system-architecture-diagrams/ Tue, 18 Jan 2022 07:35:50 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/why-create-system-architecture-diagrams/ Building a working system is a big part of an engineer’s job. Just as, if not more important, is documenting that system so others can understand, maintain, and expand it. That documentation can come in many forms, including source code, written documentation, and architecture diagrams. In this post, we’ll focus on system architecture diagrams, what they’re good at, and their role in the documentation landscape. Wait – is source code really documentation? https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/beyond-whiteboarding-creating-expert-system-architecture-diagrams/ Wed, 03 Nov 2021 07:30:22 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/beyond-whiteboarding-creating-expert-system-architecture-diagrams/ Expert system architecture diagrams (ESADs) are diagrams created to deliver long-term documentary value. Relative to casual “whiteboard” diagrams, they are more precise, comprehensive, and maintainable. ESADs promote and demonstrate clear thinking about technical systems. Because they are long-term documentation, ESADs are useful both for onboarding new hires and as a reference for established employees. In this post, we’ll look at the elements that make up ESADs (Intent, Precision, Comprehensiveness, Maintainability) and the tools and techniques used to create them. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/multiperspective-diagramming-guide/ Tue, 14 Sep 2021 06:05:02 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/multiperspective-diagramming-guide/ Welcome. This guide is designed for engineers of all kinds who want to use multiperspective diagrams to document and share how their systems work. What are multiperspective diagrams? Multiperspective diagrams are diagrams that have multiple perspectives of the same resources. The resources (boxes) are defined in a model independent from these perspectives. The diagram author then uses the resources in the model to create perspectives. These perspectives visually show how the resources are related and interact in different ways. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/update-2021/ Mon, 23 Aug 2021 11:55:27 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/update-2021/ It’s been a busy 2021 so far for Ilograph. Many key features have recently been released with more still to come. Here’s a summary of what’s new and what’s next for Ilograph in 2021! What’s New Ilograph Desktop Released earlier this year, Ilograph Desktop delivers all the power of Ilograph in a local environment. Ilograph Desktop is perfect for organizations and individuals that want total control of their diagrams and/or wish to use Ilograph without internet access or behind firewalls. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/the-two-fundamental-types-of-architecture-diagrams/ Tue, 09 Mar 2021 07:27:37 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/the-two-fundamental-types-of-architecture-diagrams/ There are two fundamental types of architecture diagrams from which all others derive. Together, they form a duality; their purposes and capabilities are opposite and complementary. Understanding both is critical for creating clear, informative, and relevant architecture diagrams for technical systems. First, what is an architecture diagram? Before continuing, we must first define “architecture diagram.” According to alibabcloud “An architectural diagram is a system diagram used to abstract the overall outline of the software system and the relationships, constraints, and boundaries between components. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/how-typescript-inspired-ilograph/ Wed, 21 Oct 2020 07:30:07 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/how-typescript-inspired-ilograph/ Ilograph is written in Typescript because of the productivity and safety benefits it provides over standard Javascript. Over time, however, it has proven valuable in an unexpected, and big, way. Typescript has gone beyond being just the language Ilograph is written in; here are four ways it has actually influenced Ilograph’s very design. Influence #1: At-Home Good (or, The Problem With “Easy”) In REWORK, the founders of 37Signals (now called Basecamp) describe products that are “at-home good”. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/february2020-update/ Mon, 10 Feb 2020 07:08:23 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/february2020-update/ Ilograph has had a busy winter. A host of key features has landed (more below), and Ilograph saw a large uptick in adoption and use. Also, Ilograph remains on track to see full collaboration support land in Q1. If you haven’t visited your Ilograph diagram(s) in a while, be sure to visit the app and see the improvements for yourself. What’s New Full Documentation Ilograph now has full, dedicated documentation for both browsing and editing Ilograph diagrams. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/diagram-mistakes/ Tue, 14 Jan 2020 07:07:44 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/diagram-mistakes/ When creating a technical architecture diagram, your goal is to give understanding to your audience. You want to honestly inform viewers about your system rather than merely make an impression. Mistakes made when creating diagrams can undermine this goal, however. Here are seven common mistakes to avoid when making technical architecture diagrams. Mistake #1: Making a theoretical diagram First, a definition: theoretical (or abstract) architecture diagrams demonstrate how a generic solution might look and run. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-homepage-2020/ Wed, 01 Jan 2020 14:59:26 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/new-homepage-2020/ A lot of key features are planned for Ilograph in 2020: diagram history, collaboration tools and team workspaces are just a few that can be named. To kick off 2020, the Ilograph home page got a much-needed refresh. It uses iframes to embed the actual Ilograph app to render all the demos. Check it out! https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/fall-update/ Sun, 10 Nov 2019 16:48:52 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/fall-update/ Hi everyone, Here’s what’s new this Fall for Ilograph. I’d like to start by again thanking everyone for their amazing feedback and suggestions; your feedback helps me know exactly what features to prioritize. In fact, all of the improvements mentioned below were explicitly recommended by you! Here is what’s new and what’s next for Ilograph: What’s new GitHub Integration Ilograph is now fully integrated with GitHub! Use your existing GitHub repos to store and share your Ilograph diagrams. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/september-update/ Mon, 02 Sep 2019 13:57:44 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/september-update/ August was a busy month for Ilograph. Closed beta is nearing completion and adoption has been strong. The direct feedback you have given has been extremely valuable. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch! Additionally, the amazing diagrams you all have created have helped highlight strengths and expose bugs and shortcomings in the product. In all, the closed beta has been a huge success. Thanks to the aforementioned feedback, Ilograph has seen a number of improvements in the past month. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/feature-spotlight-walkthroughs/ Mon, 29 Jul 2019 07:10:18 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/feature-spotlight-walkthroughs/ Good diagrams facilitate understanding. That’s their primary purpose. Information about a system can be conveyed in many ways, but the goal of a diagram is to help others understand a system. In order to facilitate this understanding, Ilograph diagrams now support guided walkthroughs. Using Ilograph’s walkthroughs, diagram authors can now share their architecture with others one step at a time. At each step, authors can isolate and zoom in on the parts of their architecture they want to explain (the explainer text appears on the right): https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-5/ Sat, 27 Jul 2019 15:19:33 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-5/ This is part 5 of a series of posts on the Ilograph diagramming language (IDL). In part 3, we looked at the Ilograph resource tree. The resource tree defines your organization’s resources, and these resources are then used in perspectives. In this post, we’ll explore the intermediate topic of resource inheritance. Often, resource trees will have multiple instances of the same kind of resource, leading to lots of repetition. For example, when diagramming a computer network, you might have many identical network switches, each with the same number of ports. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/summer-update/ Mon, 24 Jun 2019 19:29:25 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/summer-update/ Big news: the Ilograph private beta begins soon! Sign up at the bottom the homepage if you haven’t already. It’s been a lot of work to get here, but I’m excited to get Ilograph into your hands. Ilograph gives you the power to create diagrams unlike any before, and I eagerly look forward to seeing what everyone can do. Here are more details on what’s new since the last update: https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-4/ Thu, 13 Jun 2019 17:30:33 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-4/ This is part 4 of a series of posts on the Ilograph diagramming language (IDL). In part 3, we looked at the Ilograph resource tree. As discussed there, the resource tree not only helps organize resources, but it enables context nodes in perspectives. There are multiple perspectives in an Ilograph, but only one resource tree, so by default all perspectives will have the same context nodes. We can, however, override this on a per-perspective basis using perspective overrides. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-3/ Sun, 09 Jun 2019 18:08:00 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-3/ This is part 3 of a series of posts on the Ilograph diagramming language (IDL). If you haven’t already, please see the introduction to the IDL in part 1 and the IDL spec in part 2. This post covers Ilograph resources in more depth. Resources are the building blocks of an Ilograph; they define the “what” that an Ilograph models. While a resource is defined only once in an Ilograph, it can appear in multiple perspectives (this is probably the most important feature of Ilograph diagrams). https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-spec/ Sun, 02 Jun 2019 14:57:56 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-spec/ This is part 2 of a series of posts on the Ilograph diagramming language (IDL). If you haven’t already, please see the introduction to the IDL in part 1. This post contains the current specification for the IDL; in part 3, we’ll look at some more advanced features. Note: this spec was last updated on December 27, 2019. While this is a good reference, getting acquainted with the IDL is probably best done by viewing an IDL example. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-1/ Sun, 19 May 2019 08:44:27 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/idl-1/ Ilograph diagrams look like this: Unlike traditional diagrams, Ilograph diagrams are interactive. Users can click on resources to “focus” them, for instance. Doing this shows more details about that resource and hides resources that are not related to it: Resources can also appear in multiple perspectives which the user can switch between: Because Ilograph diagrams are interactive, Ilograph authors cannot simply place entities on a canvas. Instead, as an author, you declare your resources and the relationships between them. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/spring-update/ Tue, 02 Apr 2019 07:15:22 -0400 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/spring-update/ Ilograph is marching steadily towards closed beta (sign up at the bottom the homepage to get early access). Major rendering features are complete and I’ve turned my attention to the online editing experience. I’m excited to get Ilograph into your hands! Here are more details on what’s done and what’s next: What’s done Much of the recent work has been devoted to the layout engine. I want Ilograph diagrams to render in a predictable, accurate and pleasing way most of the time, even when perspectives have “unusual” relation structures such as cycles. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/feature-spotlight-perspectives/ Thu, 21 Feb 2019 16:59:29 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/feature-spotlight-perspectives/ In my first post, I staked Ilograph’s claim in the diagramming tool landscape, saying Ilograph diagrams treat perspectives as first-class citizens. With Ilograph, viewing a system from multiple perspectives is a built-in concept. The same resource can appear in two different perspectives, and those perspectives are then linked together visually. Perspectives are Ilograph’s most salient feature (rivaled only, perhaps, by interactivity). It does, however, require additional effort and forethought to create a multi-perspective diagram, so the benefits better be worth it (beyond simply being “neat”). https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/druapl-now-live/ Wed, 06 Feb 2019 17:16:55 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/druapl-now-live/ The first interactive Ilograph demo is now live! Check it out here. This Ilograph shows a Drupal deployment on AWS from five perspectives (Data Request, Internet Access, SSH, Security Groups and Templates). While there is much to improve on, I’m hoping to get quality feedback from twitter, reddit and hacker news first. The ‘Template’ perspective in the demo. https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/about-ilograph/ Sun, 03 Feb 2019 13:23:54 -0500 https://www.ilograph.com/blog/posts/about-ilograph/ Ilograph diagrams are interactive, multi-perspective diagrams. From one Ilograph, users can view a system from multiple points of view and multiple levels of detail. Whereas existing solutions would require separate, unconnected diagrams to describe a system from different perspectives, Ilograph diagrams treat perspectives as first-class citizens. First-class support for perspectives is one of several Ilograph features that help users better understand their systems; I’ll expand on these (and have more on perspectives!