Workflow design often takes a lot of communication and collaboration. Business stakeholders may send IT professionals business flowcharts to further automate as workflows. On the flip-side, once the IT professional has implemented the workflow, he/she may want to store the workflow as a Visio diagram so that all stakeholders are clear on what is being…
The Point Along Path ShapeSheet Functions in Visio 2010
In a previous blog post about new ShapeSheet functions, we introduced a set of new functions called the Point Along Path functions. These functions allow interactions with geometry paths of shapes. This post provides more detail about these new functions. The following functions open up a broad set of shape interactions for shape and solution…
Custom Containers, Lists and Callouts in Visio 2010
In previous posts we introduced you to Containers and some of their special capabilities. We also introduced Lists through their use in Cross-functional Flowchart, Data Graphic Legends and Wireframe shapes. Finally we introduced Callouts as annotations on Visio diagrams. Containers, Lists and Callouts can be used in a wide variety of diagram types. This article…
The Diagram Validation API
Diagram Validation is a new Visio 2010 feature that provides a way for users to check their diagrams for common errors and for companies to ensure that employees are following certain diagramming standards. The basics of diagram validation and creating custom validation rules have been previously discussed on this blog. In this post, we focus…
New ShapeSheet Cells and Functions in Visio 2010
Our previous post introduced the improvements we made to the ShapeSheet window for shape developers. In this post, we will continue with ShapeSheet development and dig deeper to examine the new ShapeSheet cells and functions available in Visio 2010. New Cells A number of new cells were added to both the PageSheet and the ShapeSheet…
ShapeSheet Formula AutoComplete & Other Improvements
In this post, we’ll be covering improvements to the ShapeSheet in Visio 2010 that make it easier for shape developers to create and modify existing Visio shapes. For those who don’t know, Visio shapes are more complex than they may seem at first; behind each shape is a ShapeSheet (you can get more details here…
Updates Regarding the Visio Viewer
Some of you have recently noticed that your install of the Visio Viewer isn’t working – this is by design and can easily be fixed. Microsoft has recently released Security Bulletin MS09-55 through Windows Update which deactivates Visio Viewers 2002, 2003 and 2007 because of a security issue. With this fix we are retiring Visio…
Wireframe Shapes in Visio 2010
Visio has long been regarded by interaction designers and information architects as an essential tool in their work. Many software wireframes (aka software mockups) are built using Visio, and they can range from mobile software, interactive web sites, to enterprise application software. In the past, Visio included a set of Windows XP stencils for such…
Visio 2010: Better with Windows 7
Windows 7 is here, and it makes it easier to find and work with your favorite applications. This post details the work we did in Visio 2010 to take advantage of new Windows 7 features, to make working with Visio documents even easier. Multiple Documents in Visio 2010 and the new Windows 7 Taskbar The…
Visual Updates to Shapes in Visio 2010
One of the goals of the Visio 2010 release is to make it easier to create attractive, presentation-quality diagrams. Previously on this blog, we have discussed our improvements to backgrounds, layout, routing, and themes. Visio 2010 also features improvements to the default look of many templates, as well as over 500 newly designed shapes. Below…