SVG Bob: Modern ASCII Art

SVG Bob acts as the modern, high-resolution successor to Ditaa. Like Ditaa, you draw ASCII art. However, SVG Bob compiles the text into incredibly precise, infinitely scalable SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). It is renowned for recognizing complex ASCII patterns, curves, and mathematical graph representations.

Wrap your ASCII drawings in an svgbob code block.

How SVG Bob Works

You simply “draw” what you want to see. The SVG Bob parser intelligently analyzes the spacing and character intersections to draw continuous vector lines.

syntax .---. /-o-/-- .-/ / /-> ( * \/ '-. \ \ / '

SVG Bob

Recognizing Connectors

SVG Bob recognizes different characters to represent continuous lines.

• | and - form straight lines.
• / and \ form diagonal lines.
• + can be used to explicitly define an intersection.
• . , ', * and o can indicate joints and endpoints.

Complex Network Layout

syntax User | v +--------+ | Router | +--------+ | \ | \ v v +----+ +----+ | DB | | DB | +----+ +----+

SVG Bob

Integrated Syntax for Math

One of SVG Bob’s killer features is that it attempts to render superscript, subscript, and Greek symbols natively based on context, making it occasionally useful for scientific sketches.

It transforms things like alpha into α and x^2 visually if drawn carefully.

Arrow Types

SVG Bob supports a vast array of arrowheads simply by drawing them:

• -> Standard right
• <- Standard left
• <-> Bidirectional
• ~> Wavy arrow
• => Double line arrow

syntax A ====> B B <~~~~ A C <---> D

SVG Bob

Because SVG Bob outputs pure vector paths (unlike Ditaa, which generates rasterized PNGs), your diagrams will remain perfectly crisp even if you zoom to 500% in your exported PDF.