Editing DOT (graph description language) (section)

{{Short description|File format}}
{{Infobox file format
| name                   = DOT
| icon                   = 
| iconcaption            = 
| screenshot             = 
| caption                = 
|_noextcode              = on
| extensions             = <code>.gv</code><!--{{nbsp|3}}<code>.dot</code>-->
|_nomimecode             = on
| mime                   = <!--<code></code>-->
| type_code              = <!-- {{hlist |"gv" |"dot"}} -->
| uniform_type           = <!-- <code></code>-->
| conforms_to            = <!--<code></code><br /><code></code>-->
| magic                  = 
| developer              = 
| released               = <!--{{start date and age|df=yes|paren=yes|2000|00|00}}-->
| latest_release_version = 
| latest_release_date    = <!--{{start date and age|2000|00|00|df=yes}}-->
| genre                  = [[Graph (discrete mathematics)|Graph]] description language
| container_for          = 
| contained_by           = 
| extended_from          = 
| extended_to            = 
| standard               = 
| open                   = Yes
| url                    = 
}}

'''DOT''' is a [[Graph (discrete mathematics)|graph]] description language, developed as a part of the [[Graphviz]] project. DOT graphs are typically stored as [[Computer file|file]]s with the <code>.gv</code> or <code>.dot</code> [[filename extension]] — <code>.gv</code> is preferred, to avoid confusion with the <code>.dot</code> extension used by versions of [[Microsoft Word]] before 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://marc.info/?l=graphviz-devel&m=129418103126092|title=File extension .dot or .gv? |website=marc.info |access-date=2011-03-08}}</ref> <code>dot</code> is also the name of the main program to process DOT files in the Graphviz package.

Various programs can process DOT files. Some, such as ''dot'', ''neato'', ''twopi'', ''circo'', ''fdp'', and ''sfdp'', can read a DOT file and render it in graphical form. Others, such as ''gvpr'', ''gc'', ''acyclic'', ''ccomps'', ''sccmap'', and ''tred'', read DOT files and perform calculations on the represented graph. Finally, others, such as ''lefty'', ''dotty'', and ''grappa'', provide an interactive interface. The GVedit tool combines a text editor and a non-interactive viewer. Most programs are part of the Graphviz package or use it internally.

DOT is historically an acronym for "DAG of tomorrow", as the successor to a DAG format and a ''dag'' program which handled only [[Directed acyclic graph|directed acyclic graphs]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-14 |title='dot' name (etymology) |url=https://forum.graphviz.org/t/dot-name-etymology/1367 |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=Graphviz |language=en}}</ref>