I am a little late posting this, but the day is young! I am on the Microsoft Visio booth if there is anyone out there who wants to learn more about the new Visio!
See more about Visio 2016 : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2015/10/01/the-new-visio-is-here-work-visually/
I have had some comments that the diagram in my previous post ( see http://blog.bvisual.net/2015/11/16/data-import-and-export-features-in-visio-2016-and-2013/ ) was a little hard to follow. May I suggest my free multiSelect add-in can help? ( see http://blog.bvisual.net/2012/07/20/multiple-selection-methods-for-visio-diagrams/ ).
In the following screenshot from Visio 2016 with multiSelect installed, I have selected the Data \ Custom Import feature shape. This makes the multiSelect ribbon tab visible, and I have ticked Options \ Pan and Zoom, and I am about to click the Shape Selection \ Parents button.
One of my most viewed articles is about the data import and export features in Visio 2010 (see http://blog.bvisual.net/2011/05/24/data-import-export-features-in-visio-2010/ ), so I thought that I should do something similar for Visio 2016. In fact, there is very little change since Visio 2013 …. The download file contains VBA code that I used to connect the shapes together from the data recordsets.
We Visio MVP’s were honoured to be invited to Hyderabad last week to visit the Microsoft Visio product engineering team, as an alternative to the Global MVP Summit in Bellevue/Redmond.
This gave us a great opportunity to show off what we have been up to, and to hear about the the future plans…. exciting, but I can’t say anything yet…
The cross-functional flowchart template is possibly one that I use most frequently, and I do like the way that the Function Shape Data value is automatically evaluated from the Swimlane that is is within. But why did Microsoft issue the template without the same feature for the Phases? This article describes how to fix that issue, and is also a plea to Microsoft to correct it in a future release….
So, all of the flowchart shapes contain a Shape Data row named Function, as in the following screenshot, and the value is automatically updated to that entered into the Swimlane header. If the user updates the header text, or moves the shape between lanes, then the value gets updated.
I often use the Microsoft supplied OrgData.xls sample file to demonstrate linking to external data in Visio, however there are a few gotchas lying in wait for the unwary if you try to link to the Microsoft supplied Org Chart shapes …
In the following screenshot, I have the OrgData table showing in the External Data window and I have the ShapeSheet open for the selected Executive Belt shape. Notice that the Shape Data section rows are all black which indicates that they are inherited from the master shape. Also note that there is a Shape Data row with the label “E-Mail” in the ShapeSheet, and one called “E-mail” in the Personnel table.
