Forrest logo
back to the cat tool

gxl2gv:tldr:2fb6e

gxl2gv: Convert a graph using `stdin` and `stdout`.
$ cat ${input-gxl} | gxl2gv > ${output-gv}
try on your machine

This command is a Unix shell command that is used to convert a GXL file into a Graphviz file. Here's the breakdown:

  1. cat: This command is used to concatenate and display the contents of files. In this case, it is used to read the contents of the file referred to by the value of the variable input, or a default value of "gxl" if the variable is not set.

  2. ${input-gxl}: This is a variable substitution in the form ${variable-default_value}. It is used to substitute the value of the variable input. If input is set, its value will be used. If not, the default value "gxl" will be used instead.

  3. |: This is a pipe operator and is used to redirect the output of the cat command to the input of the following command.

  4. gxl2gv: This is a command or program that takes GXL (Graph eXchange Language) files as input and converts them into Graphviz files.

  5. >: This is the output redirection operator and is used to redirect the output of the previous command (gxl2gv) to the file referred to by the value of the variable output, or a default value of "gv" if the variable is not set.

  6. ${output-gv}: Similar to the ${input-gxl} substitution, this substitutes the value of the variable output. If output is set, its value will be used. If not, the default value "gv" will be used instead.

So, in summary, this command reads the contents of a file (specified by the input variable or default value), converts it from GXL to Graphviz format using gxl2gv, and saves the output to another file (specified by the output variable or default value).

This explanation was created by an AI. In most cases those are correct. But please always be careful and never run a command you are not sure if it is safe.
back to the cat tool