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Block Draw

by Sudesh Kumar
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Latest Version

0.6.0
a day ago

Changelog

  • Bend a link. Select a link and drag one of the small dots on it: the link now passes through the point where you drop it. Add as many bends as you need, drag a filled dot to move a bend, double-click it to remove it, or press Reset route (in the panel or the right-click menu) to let the line find its own way again. Elbow links keep their right angles, curved links stay smooth, and the bends move and copy together with the blocks. Each change is one undo step. Double-clicking the middle of a link still edits its label.
  • Bring to front and Send to back work across blocks and links. They used to reorder blocks only among blocks and links only among links, and every link stayed above every block, so a label block sitting on a line could not be brought in front of it, and a link could not be sent behind a block. Now Bring to front puts a block above the links, and Send to back puts a link behind the blocks (and the other way round). Nothing changes in drawings that do not use them: links are still above blocks, so a container block never hides the links inside it.
  • The new bends and layers are saved in the drawing file (waypoints on links, behind on links, inFront on blocks; see docs/FORMAT.md) and are drawn in PNG and SVG exports, embedded drawings and presentations. They are written only when used, so drawings that do not use them are saved exactly as before, and older versions of Block Draw open the new files (without the bends and layers). Excel and Google Sheets exports lay links out on a grid and ignore them.
See all version on GitHub

README file from

Github

Block Draw for Obsidian

Draw block diagrams in Obsidian: titled blocks, links and frames. Then present them, or export to Google Sheets, Excel, JSON, SVG or PNG.

Block Draw in Obsidian: two frames, linked blocks and the frames panel

Features

  • Draw fast: infinite canvas, grid and snapping, undo/redo, an eraser, single-key shortcuts. Eight shapes; elbow, straight or curved links you can bend by dragging; bring to front and send to back across blocks and links; frames that group blocks; blocks that contain other blocks.
  • Link everything: link a block to a frame, a note, another drawing or a URL, and jump with Ctrl/Cmd+click. Show a drawing in a note with a blockdraw code block or a [[Drawing.blockdraw#Frame]] link.
  • Look sharp: one-click themes (3D, Minimal, Futuristic, Classic), palettes, a 3D effect, ten business fonts, and text aligned left, center or right, top, middle or bottom.
  • Explain: tags (“Service · Java”), plus comments and descriptions that you can show or hide, also while presenting.
  • Present: press P for a full-screen slideshow, one slide per frame, with a laser pointer. Click a block to spotlight what it depends on.
  • Show data flow: animated flow along links, running both ways on two-way links.
  • Export: Google Sheets (one tab per frame), Excel, JSON, SVG and PNG.
  • Works offline, follows your light or dark theme, and runs on desktop and mobile. On a tablet or phone, tablet mode lets a finger or pen draw without opening Obsidian's sidebars or pull-down menu, and the pen's button erases.

The 3D theme: soft colors, raised tiles and links, technology tags

Install

Block Draw needs Obsidian 1.5 or later.

  • Community plugins: open Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for Block Draw and install it.
  • Manual: download main.js, manifest.json and styles.css from the latest release into <your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/block-draw/, then in Obsidian open Settings → Community plugins, turn off restricted mode if needed, click the reload button next to Installed plugins, and enable Block Draw.
  • BRAT: add sudesh309/Block-Draw as a beta plugin.
  • From source: npm install && npm run build, then copy the three files as above.

Quick start

  1. Click the ribbon icon or run Block Draw: Create new drawing. Drawings are .blockdraw files.
  2. Double-click the canvas to add a block and type its title. Press Enter to finish.
  3. Hover the block, drag a dot from its edge and release on empty space: a connected block appears, ready for its title.
  4. Press F and drag around some blocks to put them in a frame. Name the frame right away.
  5. Select a block and pick a frame in Link (left panel) to link them. Ctrl/Cmd+click the block to jump.
  6. Open the Export menu (toolbar download icon, the tab's ⋯ menu, or the command palette), or press P to present.

Press ? in the editor for all keyboard shortcuts.

Google Sheets export

Exports go through an Apps Script web app that you deploy in your own Google account (works on desktop and mobile, no Google Cloud project needed), or through a Google sign-in on desktop. Set it up under Settings → Block Draw → Google Sheets; the steps are in the design doc.

Network use and privacy

Block Draw works offline and contacts nothing by default. It uses the network only to Google, and only when you ask:

  • Google Sheets export, and its connection test: your own Apps Script web app, or Google sign-in and the Sheets API.
  • Web fonts, if you turn on Settings → Block Draw → Load web fonts from Google Fonts (off by default): Inter, Roboto, Open Sans, Montserrat and Lato are downloaded from Google Fonts. Otherwise Block Draw uses the fonts installed on your device.

The code enforces this: every request goes through one place and only to the hosts these features declare. Links in drawings open only for web and mail addresses (Obsidian links ask first), and your Google Sheets secrets stay on each device instead of in the synced settings. There is no telemetry and there are no ads. Details: network use and privacy and SECURITY.md.

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License

MIT

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