Editing Diagram (section)

== Overview ==
The term "diagram" in its commonly used sense can have a general or specific meaning:  
* ''visual information device'' : Like the term "[[illustration]]", "diagram" is used as a collective term standing for the whole class of technical genres, including [[graphics|graphs]], technical drawings and tables.
* ''specific kind of visual display'' : This is the genre that shows qualitative data with shapes that are connected by lines, arrows, or other visual links.

In science the term is used in both ways. For example, Anderson (1997) stated more generally: "diagrams are pictorial, yet abstract, representations of information, and [[map]]s, [[line graph]]s, [[bar chart]]s, [[engineering]] [[blueprint]]s, and [[architect]]s' [[Sketch (drawing)|sketch]]es are all examples of diagrams, whereas photographs and video are not".<ref name="MA97">Michael Anderson (1997). "Introduction to Diagrammatic Reasoning", at ''cs.hartford.edu.'' Retrieved 21 July 2008.</ref> On the other hand, Lowe (1993) defined diagrams as specifically "abstract graphic portrayals of the subject matter they represent".<ref name= "RKL 93">{{cite journal |last=Lowe |first=Richard K. |year=1993 |title=Diagrammatic information: techniques for exploring its mental representation and processing |journal=Information Design Journal |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=3–18 |doi=10.1075/idj.7.1.01low}}</ref>

In the specific sense diagrams and charts contrast with [[computer graphics]], technical illustrations, [[infographics]], maps, and [[technical drawing]]s, by showing "abstract rather than [[literal translation|literal]] representations of information".<ref name = "LEB 03">{{cite book |first=Lee E. |last=Brasseur |author-link=Lee E. Brasseur |title=Visualizing technical information: a cultural critique |publisher=Baywood Pub |location=Amityville, N.Y |year=2003 |isbn=0-89503-240-6}}</ref> The essence of a diagram can be seen as:<ref name = "LEB 03"/>
* a ''form'' of visual [[Content format|format]]ting devices
* a ''display'' that does not show [[quantitative data]] (numerical data), but rather relationships and abstract information
* with ''building blocks'' such as geometrical shapes connected by [[wikt:line|line]]s, [[arrow]]s, or other visual links.
Or in Hall's (1996) words "diagrams are simplified figures, caricatures in a way, intended to convey essential meaning".<ref name="BSH96">Bert S. Hall (1996). "The Didactic and the Elegant: Some Thoughts on Scientific and Technological Illustrations in the Middle Ages and Renaissance". in: B. Braigie (ed.) ''Picturing knowledge: historical and philosophical problems concerning the use of art in science''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p.9</ref> These simplified figures are often based on a set of rules. The basic shape according to White (1984) can be characterized in terms of "elegance, clarity, ease, pattern, simplicity, and validity".<ref name = "LEB 03"/> Elegance is basically determined by whether or not the diagram is "the simplest and most fitting solution to a problem".<ref>{{cite book |last=White |first=Jan V. |title=Using charts and graphs: 1000 ideas for visual persuasion |publisher=Bowker |location=New York |year=1984 |isbn=0-8352-1894-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/usingchartsgraph00janv }}</ref>