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I’ve found this great program which helps to make concept diagrams, flow charts, mind maps, family trees, social networks, semantic networks, and generally layout your ideas. I’ve only just begun using the yEd Graph Editor, but I am very impressed. Best of all, this software is free and cross platform (so it works on Mac, Windows, and Linux). Grab a copy and try it for yourself. Be sure to add your thoughts about the software in the comments section below.
If you’re running Windows or Mac you can grab the executable from the website and be running in no time. However, if you’re using Linux then you will need to enter just a few commands into the terminal. I found the instructions for installing yEd version 3.6.1.1 and have simply updated them for the current version 3.8. This process works for Ubuntu 11.10, but it should also work in other Linux distributions.
Download the package and make the file executable:
- Most systems will allow you to do this by simply right clicking the file, selecting properties, then in the permissions tab, clicking the box next to ‘allow executing file as program’.
- Alternatively, you may have to open a console and change to the directory where you downloaded the installer. Then enter the command sudo chmod +x yEd-3.8.sh
Once the file is executable, you can begin the installation by:
- opening a terminal and change to the directory where you downloaded the installer (if you haven’t done so already). In that directory, enter the command sudo ./yEd-3.8.sh
- In a moment, a graphical wizard will lead you through the installation
Using Ubuntu 11.10, you can find the program by simply clicking the command key (the Windows key), typing yEd, and pressing enter. Other distributions and versions of Ubuntu will install the program in Applications -> Other Applications -> yEd Graph Editor
Here’s an image I created using yEd:
Feel free to share links to your work and thoughts about the yEd Graph Editor in the comments below.
4 comments
1 ping
Alejandro
November 27, 2011 at 6:02 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hi, i’ve installed yed, but i have some problems with it… actually, sometimes it just doesn’t work, i click the yed logo and…. nothing hapen, has you this problem too?
Frank C Jones
November 27, 2011 at 6:55 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ve not had that problem. Can you elaborate on your installation? What operating system are you running and what version is it? What version of yEd do you have installed? What hardware are you running on (CPU, memory, hard drive)?
IngKJ
December 4, 2011 at 1:36 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Frank,
Tempted by the articles, including yours, I tried to install yEd with the commands you provided in Ubuntu 11.10 64 bit.
However, I get an error message.
I have pasted the command dialogue below, any Idea what is an X server and how to overcome this problem?
Best Rgds, IngKJ
——————
yEd-3.8.sh
nkj@nkjm-RF509:~/Downloads$ sudo chmod +x yEd-3.8.sh
[sudo] password for nkj:
nkj@nkjm-RF509:~/Downloads$ sudo ./yEd-3.8.sh
Unpacking JRE …
Preparing JRE …
Starting Installer …
Could not display the GUI. This application needs access to an X Server.
nkj@nkjm-RF509:~/Downloads$
Frank C Jones
December 5, 2011 at 12:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hey IngKJ,
I’m glad my article is among those that inspired you to try out yEd.
First, I’d like to address your question about the X server. The short answer is that it’s the program on Ubuntu that runs the graphical user interface, the long answer can be found in this Wikipedia article and the associated references.
With that in mind, it seems the problem is with your GUI. Are you running this command from within a terminal window in the GUI or directly at the command prompt before loading an X Server? You must first load the GUI by running startx before you can use the graphical wizard to install yEd.
Let me know if this helps and what you think of yEd when you get it running.
Using yEd Graph Editor 3.8 | UNC TAM MA Thesis
October 25, 2011 at 12:06 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[...] I’m now working on bringing my ideas together and I’ll have something more substantive to post within the next two weeks. However, I wanted to share a program I found and the concept map it helped me to create. The program is called yEd Graph Editor and if you want to install it, here’s how. [...]