I reader of one of my earlier posts, Copy Data from one Shape to Another ( see http://davidjpp.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/copying-data-from-one-shape-to-another/ ) asked how a cow can inherit the field number of from the field that it in. I think that this is just an example of how you can automatically update any Shape Data value from an underlying container, but I will use a cow in a field example anyway. This example uses VBA code, but should be good to use in any version of Visio since Visio 2000.
bVisual Blog by David Parker
Writing rules to validate diagrams in Visio 2010 – A worked example
Microsoft Visio 2010 Premium Edition introduced an extension to the Visio Type Library called the Validation API. This provides the capability to validate a Visio diagram to ensure that its construction complies with industry-standard or company –wide rules.
Organizations are able to use this new feature to encapsulate business logic as validation rules, grouped within rule sets.
Microsoft Visio 2010 Premium edition contains rule sets for use with Basic and Cross-Functional Flowcharts, BPMN Diagrams and SharePoint Workflow Designer diagrams.
This article describes how you can create your own rule sets and rules.
Microsoft Visio 2010 Beta now available to the public
One of the greatest benefits of being an MVP is our chance to participate in private beta tests of the forthcoming versions of our chosen application. Well, I have been testing the new version of Visio for a while now, and blogging about parts that we have been able to talk publicly about. I think Visio 2010 is going to be a tremendous step forward for enterprises, so it feels good to announce that anyone can download the beta of Visio 2010 Premium edition now … just follow the link on this button:
For me, the highlights are:
- Structured Diagramming – Containers, Lists, Connectivity API
- Rules Validation – ability to use and create diagramming rules, like for BPMN and SharePoint Workflow
- Visio Services – server side refreshing of data linked diagrams, SharePoint integration
There are many improvements behind the scenes to support these new features. Try it out for yourself!
Visio 2010 : Containment and Cross-Functional Flowcharts
One of the templates to get a revision in Visio 2010 is the Cross Functional Flowchart template because of the new list and containment functionality that has been added into the core application. I had to write a small bit of code in earlier versions of Visio for each flowchart shape to automatically understand which swimlane and phase it belongs to, but now there are ShapeSheet functions available, so a slight modification of a flowchart master enables it to inherit values from the swimlane that it is in. This article demonstrates who you can do this to, for example, synchronize the fill color of each flowchart shape to that of the swimlane that it belongs to.
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