Venn diagram generation software from RCC(8) specification or similar

Question

Please note: While the bounty is no longer available, I\'m still keen for anyone with an answer to this question to contribute; I\'m still watching it, and I\'m

Answer 1

I don't know of any software that can generate such diagrams. However, If I had to tackle your problem I would probably explore the possibility of using Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). I think you can translate your DSL for RCC into SVG XML, and then you can render it (maybe in a Web browser). You can easily find examples on the Web by searching for "svg venn diagram". A nice one is here: here's a diagram that I generate from that website

and here's the corresponding SVG code (also from the website):

There's also an Apache toolkit for SVG called Batik, which should support display, generation or manipulation of SVGs.

Another option is to use TikZ & PGF with LaTeX: there you have powerful macros that let you programmatically place shapes, and the rendering is done by LaTeX. Here's an example:

\documentclass[a4paper,10pt]{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes,calc}

\begin{document}

\pagestyle{empty}

\begin{tikzpicture}

    \node (TPP) {X TPP Y};

    \node
        [ circle,
            draw,
            minimum width=2cm,
            label={[label distance=-0.7cm]145:X},
        ] (X) [right of=TPP,xshift=1cm] {};

    \node
        [ circle,
            draw,
            minimum width=1cm,
            anchor=south east,
        ] (Y) at (X.south east) {Y}; 

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

which produces the following (i.e. the RCC8 TPP relation):

You can see from the LaTeX code that you can draw the Y circle at south west of X (X.south west) saying that Y's anchor is also at south west (anchor=south west). You can find a more complex example here, and some additional discussion here.

Although this is not yet a layout algorithm that draws RCC8 relation for you, I think you can define LaTeX macro that translate RCC8 relations into PGF/TikZ macros. The drawback is that you must then compile the LaTeX code.

I hope this helps and good luck!