Editing DOT (graph description language) (section)

=== Attributes ===
[[File:DotLanguageAttributes.svg|right|thumb|A graph with attributes]]

Various attributes can be applied to graphs, nodes and edges in DOT files.<ref>{{cite web|title=Node, Edge and Graph Attributes|url=http://www.graphviz.org/doc/info/attrs.html |website=graphviz.org|access-date=2017-05-12}}</ref> These attributes can control aspects such as color, shape, and line styles.  For nodes and edges, one or more [[attribute–value pair]]s are placed in square brackets <code>[]</code> after a statement and before the semicolon (which is optional). Graph attributes are specified as direct attribute–value pairs under the graph element, where multiple attributes are separated by a comma or using multiple sets of square brackets, while node attributes are placed after a statement containing only the name of the node, but not the relations between the dots.

<syntaxhighlight lang="dot">
graph graphname {
    // This attribute applies to the graph itself
    size="1,1";
    // The label attribute can be used to change the label of a node
    a [label="Foo"];
    // Here, the node shape is changed.
    b [shape=box];
    // These edges both have different line properties
    a -- b -- c [color=blue];
    b -- d [style=dotted];
    // [style=invis] hides a node.
}
</syntaxhighlight>HTML-like labels are supported, although initially Graphviz did not handle them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.graphviz.org/doc/info/shapes.html#html|title=Node Shapes: HTML-Like Labels|website=graphviz.org|access-date=2017-05-12}}</ref>{{-}}