bVisual

bVisual Blog by David Parker

Published on by

Handy USB-C Hub for Surface Book 2

I recently wrote about the video connections that I use with my Surface Book 2, and this included the almost impossible connection with my Acer Windows Mixed Reality headset. Well, I now have a neat solution provided by uniAccessories , from whom I have purchased a handy little hub via their kickstarter. This rugged, but small, USB-C 6-in-1 hub allows me to connect the USB 3.0 and HDMI cables to the single USB-C port on my  Surface Book 2.

  • uniAccessories USB-C Hub

This is actually 6-in-1 hub, so I get even more than my original needs! This is the full spec:

  • SD: UHS-1, speed up to 104MB/s
  • MicroSD: UHS-1, speed up to 104MB/s
  • USB3.0: Data transfer speed up to 5Gbps; Charging up to [email protected]
  • USB2.0: Data transfer speed up to 480Mbps; Charging up to [email protected]
  • USB-C: Power Delivery, up to 100W(note: data transfer not supported)
  • HDMI: Resolution up to 4K@30Hz

This hub is certainly going to be very useful!

Published on by

Replacing Images in Visio Shapes by Changing Data

I wrote an article last year about Swapping Images in a #Visio Shape manually, but I want to be able to do this whenever a Shape Data value changes. This is because I use I invariably use shapes linked to data. I also want to be able to have multiple images within a single grouped shape, and all of them changing when their referenced Shape Data values change. I believe that this will be more adaptable for a lot of scenarios than trying to repurpose Data Graphic Icon Sets ( see  Make Your Own Visio Data Graphic Icons Sets … automatically). I also discovered that the Shape.ChangePicture(…) function can just as easily work with urls as it can with network file paths, so even more possibilities are opened up! For example, the Visio Online JavaScript API has the ability to overlay an image (see ShapeView.addOverlay(…)).
So, I have created some macros to provide quick and easy selection, positioning and updating of images within a group shape.

personphotosbydata


I decided to present this article with VBA code rather than my preferred C# so that a stencil could be downloaded to provide instant usability, rather than having to install an add-in. It can be download from Image Utils.vssm, and should then be placed in to My Shapes folder, so that it becomes available to open in Visio. When it is opened, then the macros will need to be enabled.
There are just five public macros:

[Read more…] about Replacing Images in Visio Shapes by Changing Data

Published on by

Power up your Visio diagrams

It’s a new year, and Microsoft Visio Online Plan 2 continues to be updated monthly. There is plenty to get excited about, for example, broken links in Data Visualizer can now be repaired automatically. Also, I am pleased to report that I have written a white paper on using Visio in Power BI effectively! This downloadable guide explains how to combine Visio drawing pages and Power BI data to create great interactive data visualizations, and can be requested from Power up your Visio diagrams.
preview-lightbox-cta-02
I will also be doing a webcast about this subject, so be sure to sign up for notification!

Published on by

My Surface Book 2 video connections

IMG_2888 (Edited)

I was tidying up my office recently, and came across an old magazine cover that I was on back in 1992. In those days, I was a consultant for a company called Isicad, and I am working on a £30,000+ Unix workstation. I have a small monitor for the Unify database on the left, and a large CRT monitor the CAD system, and a tablet with a stylus for interaction with the drawing. I also had more hair than I do now, which probably started going when I turned up to do some demos in Milan on a workstation that was supplied by the German arm of the company … only they didn’t leave a built one … just loads of boxes with parts, and that also included the circuit boards! I had to build it afresh whilst being instructed over the phone, and with my foot firmly hooked around the radiator because I didn’t have an earthing strap! Well, that picture started me thinking about my current workstation, which is a £3,000 Microsoft Surface Book 2, and how I have to connect to video displays nowadays!

I have been through many Windows Servers, PCs and laptops since 1992, but I think I had my first real desire for a particular model when I was over in Redmond for a conference and tried the Surface Book 2. I wanted one, but I had to wait for it to become available in the UK months later, and then a further few months because I wanted the 15″ screen with a Performance Base. I convinced myself that I needed that particular specification because of my continuous use of graphics, particularly with Visio. I was probably correct about that, but I honestly don’t detach the screen very much at all. So, I have the Surface Pen for freehand work on the screen, which I do use now and then, and the Surface Dial, which I only use for scrolling web pages and the audio volume. Maybe one day I can use it Visio… I also have a Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Mouse, which I like because I am allergic to the rubber wheels on most mice, but this one has hard plastic.
The Surface Book 2 is supplied with a power adaptor that has another USB-A port to add to the two USB-A ports on the left, and one USB-C on the right of the base. Well, I couldn’t connect to any external monitor or to a wired ethernet cable, so I forked out for a Surface Dock, which is a monster with a power adaptor and a separate hub with 4 USB-3.0 ports, 2 Mini Display Ports, 1 audio out, and 1 Gigabit ethernet port. I have been stopped several times at the airport with this unit because it looks very suspicious to the border officers when it goes through the X-ray!
So, if I am traveling and want to connect directly to an external monitor, I have two choices. I can take the Surface Dock, a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI, and an HDMI cable, or I can take the Surface power adaptor and a USB-C to HDMI cable that I bought from Uni Accessories via Amazon! You can see the difference below, and I can feel it in my laptop bag too!

[Read more…] about My Surface Book 2 video connections

Published on by

Controlling Visio layers with linked data

Readers of my blog will know that I use the layers in Visio pages to change the display for different scenarios. My macro to toggle layers on/off has been very popular, and I have written an add-in to manage layers that is widely used. However, I was recently asked if the layer settings can be controlled from linked data. Linking data in Visio has been available in all desktop editions, except Standard, since 2007, and I have written many articles and two books extolling this feature, but I haven’t so far controlled layer settings with it, so this article describes how this can be done … as shown in the following screen recording!

UpdatingLayersFromData
[Read more…] about Controlling Visio layers with linked data

Published on by

Reading the registry for Visio settings

I love writing Visio automation code, but I really don’t like writing setup & deployment scripts. There are so many variables : What Visio version, which edition? Which bitness (x86 or x64)? What are the user settings for the paths of stencils or templates?
So, I decided to write myself some C# functions that can be used in custom actions for an installation writing application, such as Advanced Installer. I think of the methods as being in one of three phases, Installation; Functionality and Configuration. The registry has three different areas to search within, Classes Root (HKCR); Local Machine (HKLM) and Current User (HKCU). In addition, the best way to get the true file version of Visio is to use FileInfo on the executable. The following screenshots are from a Cross-Functional Flowchart of the functions that get values for variables, and use them in other functions, until, eventually, the current user settings can be read.


Each of the functions I wrote handle the part of the registry that needs to be used. By that I mean that some settings for 64bit Visio on 64bit Windows will be in a different branch than 32bit Visio on 64bit Windows.
The first function gets the current version of the application associated with Visio drawings:

[Read more…] about Reading the registry for Visio settings