bVisual Blog by David Parker

Published on April 16, 2010 by David Parker

Automating SaveAsWeb when a Linked DataRecordset refreshes

My good friend and colleague, John Goldsmith, recently blogged about the Visio SaveAsWeb feature (see http://visualsignals.typepad.co.uk/vislog/2010/03/automating-visios-save-as-web-output.html ), and mentioned that I was going to blog about automating the SaveAsWeb when a linked DataRecordset refreshes … so here it is! This is my version of a poor man’s Visio Services … which is only available with Visio 2010 Premium and SharePoint 2010 with an eCAL.

Firstly, the code is written in VBA, and utilises a module that is in the Visio SDK Samples library. The modSaveAsWeb file can be found in the Publishing category:

Published on April 13, 2010 by David Parker

TechDays and MVP Conference

Busy times! When I was over at the MVP Conference a few weeks ago, I, and a few other MVPs, were interviewed about our experiences with out specialist application. Well, mine has been published now, and can be viewed at http://blogs.office.com/b/office_blog/archive/2010/04/08/visio-rack-diagrams-smarter-than-your-average-drawing.aspx

Published on March 15, 2010 by David Parker

Visio and Bing Maps for Travel Photos

I am not sure how to categorise this article because it covers Visio, Bing Maps and travel. I went to Pisa and Florence for a weekend break this month, and took many photos that I stitched together with Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor). Well, I wanted to show-off these photos as I have done on previous articles, but I wasn’t satisfied with how I presented them before. so I re-used and adapted some of my previous work (see http://bvisual.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!3350D61BC93733A9!1005.entry), and some of John Goldsmith’s (see http://visualsignals.typepad.co.uk/vislog/2007/12/escaping-from-s.html#more), and one of Chris Roth’s blogs (see http://www.visguy.com/2007/07/13/map-distance-dimension-line/).

Firstly, I couldn’t resist taking this photo of a bollard, on the Lungarno Amerigo Vesspucci in Florence, that has been used over and over again to lock-up locals motorbikes:

I created a series of panoramic images using Microsoft ICE, and then located them on Bing Maps. I created two Bing Maps Collections (we flew into Pisa airport on the way to Florence for the weekend) :

Florence : http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=43.7227~10.3944&lvl=17&sty=h&cid=3350D61BC93733A9!2115

Pisa : http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=43.72339418736733~10.396136865019798&lvl=17&sty=h&cid=3350D61BC93733A9!2100

I created a Camera Position master in Visio, and adapted my previous code to import the KML files from the above Bing Map collections into Visio.

I can adjust the splay and angle of the camera to approximate the vista covered by the panoramic views.

I then saved the Visio 2010 document (two pages) as web pages, and altered the frameset.js file, as shown by John, so that the PhotoUrl is displayed as a thumbnail, and the MoreInfoUrl and Bing Maps Url links are available in the Details panel.

In addition, clicking on a Camera Position shape opens the Deep Zoom web page for that view.

Here is the final output: http://www.bvisual.net/views/PisaAndFlorenceMarch2010.htm

Enjoy (I hope).

Published on March 9, 2010 by David Parker

Creating Linked Timelines From Project

A recent newsgroup question asked if it is possible to create shapes in Visio 2007 that are linked to tasks in a timeline in Project …. without lots of coding! Well, that sounds like a challenge that I can’t resist, so here goes!

First, I am using Microsoft Project 2007 and I have loaded the Commercial Construction sample project that is in the Visio SDK.

Published on March 4, 2010 by David Parker

MVP Conference 2010 and Visio Services

I went to the annual MVP Conference in February, and had a really good time, as usual. It is great to see so many people who give their time and expertise for free in all areas of technology, but the highlight for me (besides the skiing on the Saturday) has to be meeting with the Visio product team for two days. We really feel that they listen to us, and we like to hear what they might be considering for the future. I presented my take on the forthcoming validation API in Visio 2010 Premium (did I mention I am writing a book about it?), and others presented their areas of interest. One bit of Visio that stood out was the potential of Visio Services with SharePoint 2010. Obviously the Microsoft Visio team were excited about this, and the Visio MVPs are relishing it too, but what about the rest of the world? Well, I think the message is getting out … hopefully Visio will no longer be Microsoft’s best kept secret!

For example, in December I noticed that Dave McMahon of the very active NxtGen User Group (~~no longer available~~) presented about Visio Services. I was unable to see his presentation but he has blogged about it. Very nice article … I look forward to Part 2 🙂

I think that SharePoint (and web) developers will now see how compelling data-linked diagrams are, and hopefully will demand more and better Visio diagrams. Microsoft are moving Visio into the Business Intelligence division now (which is where I always thought it should be anyway). We Visio developers have got to embrace this wave, or we will get over-looked, and others will attempt to produce visualizations without the richness that we could offer.

To this end, I have managed to create a dual boot laptop with Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 Server which has SharePoint 2010 with Visio Services, so that I can explore the possibilities opened up by this new Visio SharePoint integration, and I will be presenting some of which I discover at the Microsoft TechDays in April.

I will be writing some blogs about Visio Services in SharePoint 2010 in the future but for now, please check out these resources:

Title	URL
Visio Insights – Introducing Visio Services	https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Visio-Blogs-Archive/bg-p/VisioBlogsArchive
Visio Insights – No Code Mashups with Visio Services and Web Part Connections	https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Visio-Blogs-Archive/No-Code-Mashups-with-Visio-Services-and-Web-Part-Connections/ba-p/237608
Visio Insights – The Visio Services JavaScript Mashup API	https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/visio/blogs/visio-services-javascript-mashup-api/
Visio Insights – Using a Visio Process Repository	https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Visio-Blogs-Archive/Using-a-Visio-Process-Repository/ba-p/237473
Visio Insights – Publishing Diagrams to Visio Services	https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Visio-Blogs-Archive/Publishing-Diagrams-to-Visio-Services/ba-p/237483
Visio Insights – Embedding a Web Drawing in a SharePoint Page	https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Visio-Blogs-Archive/Embedding-a-Web-Drawing-in-a-SharePoint-Page/ba-p/237488
Visio Insights – Installing and Configuring Visio Services	https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Visio-Blogs-Archive/Installing-and-Configuring-Visio-Services/ba-p/237494
Configure Visio Services	https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/SharePoint/administration/configure-visio-services

Finally, here is a superfluous photo from my time at the MVP Conference – well post-conference actually. Left to right : Jonny and Richard Smith (Microsoft – thanks for the Nordic skiing), me, Michel LaPlane (MVP Visio in France), Lamie Kim (not an MVP from S.Korea), and Scott Helmers (Visio MVP USA) – all enjoying PFChang’s in Bellevue!

Published on February 15, 2010 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.

[Read more…]