What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
1–10 of 46 posts
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#2[deleted]
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#3This is awesome. I can't think of anything it needs except, for your own sake, maybe a visible logo. I'm sold.
Questions:
(1) Are you using ExtJS, GWT, jQuery?
(2) What's on the backend?
(3) How will you make money from this?
(4) Since your source code is out in the open, do you have the (a) will and (b) resources to sue people in far corners of the world who will simply copy your js file, make a few tweaks and set up a competing business (assuming you have an answer to (3) above)?
Regardless of your answer to (4), I assume the problems inherent in that issue are the same reasons more people don't build businesses on the basis of a client-side js file.
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#4I might have missed the option, but a way to import additional images / vectors would be nice. Either just an upload or a creative-commons image search. Also, real-time editing with other users would be superb.
Nice work!
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#5Connections between shapes aren't obvious. I expect to be able to choose a connection, click and hold the mouse over one shape and drag to another. After 5 minutes, i still can't figure out how to connect shapes. Really nice clean design. I will definitely use this.
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#6I can't figure out how do connections work. It worked twice for me when the connection types dropdown was open. Then it stopped working completely... or maybe I'm doing something different now. Anyways - the connections dropdown doesn't behave like a button (can't leave it pressed after I choose the type). The other connection button doesn't seem to do much either since I can drag items around when it's pressed.
Don't see an option to actually display the grid (minor point but I kind of like it).
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#7This is awesome. I can't think of anything it needs except, for your own sake, maybe a visible logo. I'm sold. Questions: (1) Are you using ExtJS, GWT, jQuery? (2) What's on the backend? (3) How will you make money from this? (4) Since your source code is out in the open, do you have the (a) will and (b) resources to sue people in far corners of the world who will simply copy your js file, make a few tweaks and set u…
Thanks very much.
1) ExtJS for the application bits, but that's only about 500 lines of code at the top. The drawing canvas is 25k lines raw JS using no framework.
2) It's Jetty, but the thing is, we barely need a backend. The whole idea of this was to do it all in the client so we have virtually zero server costs, see this post" rel="nofollow">http://mxgraph.blogspot.com/2011/01/mxgraphcom-business-mode....
3) We don't need to. We make a lot of money selling the drawing component, this is a project more for fun to create an online visio pretty much entirely on the client. We have the component and just thought how easy such an app would be to write and give away for free (storage is local, so doesn't cost us either). What you see took 2 weeks (OK, the component took 5 years...).
4) a) No b) No. Life's too short :).
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#8I'm not sure if this is technically possible, but an import/export to Visios format would be killer
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#9One small think I often use in Visio: Ctrl-d (duplicate).
Re: What one thing does this app need for you to dump Visio for it?
#10I can't figure out how do connections work. It worked twice for me when the connection types dropdown was open. Then it stopped working completely... or maybe I'm doing something different now. Anyways - the connections dropdown doesn't behave like a button (can't leave it pressed after I choose the type). The other connection button doesn't seem to do much either since I can drag items around when it's pressed. Don'…
If you press and drag the mouse right button out from near the center of any shape, the connection will appear. On the iPad, press and hold on a shape to start it.
Yeah, the grid, we had this discussion yesterday, it's actually "snap", so your shapes snap to a grid without it being visible. But yes, we're going to make the grid visible by default next release.