Visio has a native XML file format for a Visio drawing, a Visio template, and a Visio stencil. We do not have the ability to save a Visio drawing into any other XML schema but our own (and SVG, if you are using Visio 2003). If users want Visio diagrams in BPEL or some other business…
Visio Network Diagrams on the Pocket PC
I just heard about a nifty little application that iAdmin Mobile makes to let users view Visio diagrams on the PocketPC. It’s targeted at network administrators who want to browse Visio network diagrams on the go. Here’s what it might look like on the PocketPC: Obviously, the PocketPC is not the right forum…
Automatically Setting Shape Color By Data Values In Visio Diagrams
Visio has a way to let you automatically color shapes by the values in the shape’s custom properties. Consider the case of an organization chart. By default, there are a number of custom properties on an organization chart shape, such as Name, Title, Email. You can view custom properties on a shape by right-clicking…
Dev Luv: Processing Text in Visio
There are two ways to process the text in shape text. You can use Shape.Text, which returns a string that contains placeholders for fields. I would use Shape.Text if I just wanted to read or write a string that did not contain any fields. If you think or know that your shapes contain fields,…
Visual Effects: Easy Elegance with Visio Shape Gradients
Visio shape gradients provide a fast way to give your shapes a professional-looking polish, especially for flowcharts and other diagrams that will be seen by a wide audience. You can set the gradient by selecting the shape, right-clicking, choosing Format, and then Fill. Gradients are set by selecting from the Pattern options on the shape’s…
Dev Luv: “Managed” Visio VSL Add-ons?
Visio solutions comes in three forms: Visio add-on, COM add-in, and VBA code stored in the document. This article on MSDN describes the differences between add-ons and add-ins. Most of the new solution development that I’ve seen use COM add-ins, which were introduced to Visio in Visio 2002. COM add-ins are easier to write, work…
Dev Luv: Using the Double-click Event in Visio
The double-click event in Visio is driven by the Shapesheet. To prototype how this works, drop a shape onto a Visio page and go into that shape’s Shapesheet. Scroll down to the Event section in the Shapesheet (it’s towards the bottom) and look for the EventDblClick cell. By default, shapes have the OPENTEXTWIN() formula, which…
My Favorite Visio HotKeys
Visio hotkey combinations save you time and wrist flexibility. Here are the top hotkey combinations that I use every time I use Visio. Zoom in (Ctrl + mouse left-click) and zoom out (Ctrl + mouse right-click) Zoom so that a selection box fills the screen (Ctrl+Shift + Drag a box with your mouse) Zoom the…
Dev Luv: Finding the Shape That Generated the Click Event in Visio
Visio 2003 introduced mouse and keyboard events into the Visio object model. These events are not shape-specific. The events return the x and y co-ordinates (in internal Visio units) for where the event occurred on the window or drawing page. The implementation lets you respond to mouse events for any part of the drawing window…
Dev Luv: Programmability for the Visio Engine Versus Visio Solutions
A common question that I’ve seen on the Visio developer newsgroups asks for more information on automating the UML or Database Modeling functionality. There is no published automation model for UML or Database Modeling, which tends to puzzle most developers since there’s quite a bit of programmability support for other aspects of the Visio application….