Araucaria (software)
software
Araucaria is an argument mapping software tool developed in 2001 by Chris Reed and Glenn Rowe, in the Argumentation Research Group at the School of Computing in the University of Dundee, Scotland. It is designed to visually represent arguments through diagrams that can be used for analysis and stored in Argument Markup Language (AML), based on XML. As free software, it is available under the GNU General Public License and may be downloaded for free on the internet.
How it works
The user interface is composed of a main window (diagramming), a schemes editor and the AraucariaDB online interface.
When a text file is loaded into the program, the text is displayed in the left-hand panel of the main window. Highlighting portions of text before clicking on the right (larger) panel creates corresponding nodes at the bottom of that panel. Nodes can then be paired together by dragging one (which will be the premise) to the other (the conclusion).
To each node may be attached a value such as the ownership of the proposition, or an evaluation specifying the degree of confidence placed in premise. Similarly, symbols can be added to the arrows to state the strength of the inference. In addition, the user may link arguments, supply missing premises (argument reconstruction) and use refutations.
The diagram will always take the form of a tree structure in Araucaria.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4784456. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2001.
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This entry incorporates text from “Araucaria (software)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.