bVisual

bVisual Blog by David Parker

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visViewer 3rd Edition released

Microsoft recently updated the free Microsoft Visio Viewer (see http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=f9ed50b0-c7df-4fb8-89f8-db2932e624f7 ).  I have updated visViewer (see http://www.bvisual.net/Products/visViewer.aspx ) to use the new version of the Microsoft Visio Viewer which now enables you to view all versions of Visio documents from Visio 5 to Visio 2010 without having Visio installed.

One of the cool things about the Microsoft Visio Viewer is its ability to view reviewer’s markup. Here is an example of a document in Visio with reviewer’s comments:

VisioComments

Here is the same document in bVisual visViewer:

ViewerComments 

Useful!

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Microsoft Visio 2010 Business Process Diagramming and Validation book published

Phew … my new book is published, and I have a new Visio 2010 add-in, Rules Tools, to accompany it.

If you are a Microsoft Visio 2010 Premium Edition user or developer who wants to get to grips with both the basic features of Visio 2010 and the new Validation Rules in this edition, then this book is for you. A working knowledge of Microsoft Visio, and optionally .NET for the add-in code, is required, though previous knowledge of business process diagramming is not necessary. More experienced Visio users will gain valuable knowledge for building add-ins and creating and publishing rules. If you want to achieve results from Visio 2010 beyond the ordinary out-of-the-box features, then this book is ideal for you. Although this book covers the Premium Edition, much of the book is still useful if you are a Visio 2010 Standard Edition or Professional Edition user.

Microsoft Visio 2010

Microsoft Visio 2010 Business Process Diagramming and Validation :
https://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-visio-2010-business-process-diagramming/book

Rules Tools

The new Validation API enables businesses to write custom validation rules to suit their own purposes.
Microsoft Visio 2010 provides built-in rule sets for flowcharts, BPMN diagrams and SharePoint Designer Workflows. However, it does not provide a rule set developer interface for the analyzing, amending or creating rules. This Rules Tools add-in fills this gap by providing an extra group in the Process tab in Visio 2010 that allows users to analyze existing rules, display issues, and to export/import rule sets.

Go to the Rules Tools page for more information

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Jottings in June

Finishing a book always takes longer than you imagine. There seems to be an almost endless round of chapter revisions, but it is now done, and soon to be released. Meanwhile, Microsoft have published a chapter from my first book, Visualizing Information with Microsoft Office Visio 2007 at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff718158(office.12).aspx. This is still very relevant for Microsoft Visio 2010 users because it is all about linking data to diagrams, and I think is an essential companion to my forthcoming book.

007148261X

About the Book

Visualizing Information with Microsoft Office Visio 2007 by David J. Parker, published by McGraw-Hill (ISBN 978-0071482615, copyright 2007 by McGraw-Hill, all rights reserved). Visualizing Information with Microsoft Office Visio 2007 demonstrates how to effectively visualize, explore, and communicate complex business information. Learn to use PivotDiagrams, Data Graphics, and Smart Tags, as well as link data to shapes and create meaningful Visio documents and reports. Plus, you’ll get vital security information, time-saving tips, troubleshooting techniques, and downloadable macros and code samples.

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Musings in May

I have been quiet on this blog this month for two good reasons …

Firstly, I wrote a blog for The Microsoft MVP Award Program Blog entitled 10 Days for Office 2010: 10 Visio 2010 Tips and Tricks, which you can see at

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mvpawardprogram/archive/2010/05/13/10-days-for-office-2010-10-visio-2010-tips-and-tricks.aspx

Secondly, I have been finishing my forthcoming book Microsoft Visio 2010 Business Process Diagramming and Validation, which you can read about at https://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-visio-2010-business-process-diagramming/book

Oh, and you can also catch my presentation about the new Visio at the UK TechDays last month, see http://www.microsoft.com/uk/techdays/

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Automating Area and Perimeter Length Shape Data

[UPDATE: Microsoft introduced a new function into Visio 2010 called PATHLENGTH(…), so some of the following is now not required. See Automatic Line and Segment Lengths in Visio )

Another newsgroup question has asked about automating the update of shape area and perimeter lengths.  Now, this is an area (no pun intended) that I am most interested in because I used to do a lot of space planning.  Visio Professional does include Space and Boundary shapes on the Resources stencil that use an add-in to update the area, but does nothing about the perimeter length.  These shapes do highlight some of the issues to be considered though…

  • Visio pages can be scaled, and indeed the various floor plan and site layout templates in Visio are pre-scaled.  Most templates are not scaled, and  therefore default to 1:1 scale.
  • Visio measures everything internally in inches, although you can display in almost whatever units you choose.
  • The Visio Application object has a handy ConvertResult (StringOrNumber, UnitsIn, UnitsOut) method, which can be used for linear and area measurements … and can also be used for date and times.
  • Visio can store decimal numbers to a very high degree of precision (I counted 14 decimal places), but you almost always want to format the display.
  • Visio can call a method in a VBA project when the values in specified cells are changed.
  • It is easy to display Shape Data in a shape, either by using Data Graphics or by Insert Field

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