# No neato output png file generated

**URL:** <https://forum.graphviz.org/t/no-neato-output-png-file-generated/619>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [April 19, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.graphviz.org/t/no-neato-output-png-file-generated/619 "2021-04-19T16:01:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PaltryProgrammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@PaltryProgrammer](https://forum.graphviz.org/u/PaltryProgrammer)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.graphviz.org/t/no-neato-output-png-file-generated/619/1 "2021-04-19T16:01:35Z")

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I am running the C++ code below but the neato output file “tree.png” is only occasionally generated.  
The dot input file “tree.dot” and the gvpr input file “binarytree.gvpr” are confirmed to exist Kindly advise. The output of neato in verbose mode is below

system(“dot tree.dot | gvpr -c -f binarytree.gvpr | neato -v -n -Tpng -otree.png”);

neato - graphviz version 2.47.1 (20210417.1919)  
Using render: cairo:cairo  
Using device: png:cairo:cairo  
libdir = “C:\Program Files\Graphviz\bin”  
Activated plugin library: gvplugin\_neato\_layout.dll  
Using layout: neato:neato\_layout  
The plugin configuration file:  
C:\Program Files\Graphviz\bin\config6  
was successfully loaded.  
render : cairo dot dot\_json fig gdiplus json json0 map mp pic pov ps svg tk vml xdot xdot\_json  
layout : circo dot fdp neato nop nop1 nop2 osage patchwork sfdp twopi  
textlayout : textlayout  
device : bmp canon cmap cmapx cmapx\_np dot dot\_json emf emfplus eps fig gif gv imap imap\_np ismap jpe jpeg jpg json json0 metafile mp pdf pic plain plain-ext png pov ps ps2 svg tif tiff tk vml xdot xdot1.2 xdot1.4 xdot\_json  
loadimage : (lib) bmp eps gif jpe jpeg jpg png ps svg

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![steveroush](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@steveroush](https://forum.graphviz.org/u/steveroush)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://forum.graphviz.org/t/no-neato-output-png-file-generated/619/2 "2021-04-19T16:31:36Z")

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My guess is that **dot** , **gvpr** , and/or **neato** are failing but the error messages (if any) and return codes are being lost. (My guess is that **gvpr** is the culprit)  
I think this might help you figure out what was going on:

- `system("dot tree.dot -oxtree.dot")`
- Assuming xtree.dot exists and looks good, do this:  
`gvpr -c -f binarytree.gvpr xtree.dot | neato -v -n -Tpng -otree.png`
- if necessary, split the **gvpr** / **neato** pipeline