bVisual

Layers

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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
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Fixing the Layers problem with Callouts in Visio

I recently re-discovered an issue with callouts in Visio for a couple of projects that I am working on, and so I had to find a fix. The problem is that the callouts become dis-associated from their target shapes if either the layer visibility of the callout or the target shape is toggled off, and then back on again. This will result in a diagram with shapes without any connected callouts, so moving any of the target shapes will not move their associated callouts with them! I initially came up with a workaround that involved some jiggery-pokery with sub-shapes and layers, but it seems that the problem could have easily been averted if Microsoft had incorporated one specific User-defined Cell from the very start…


First, I should be clear which callouts I am talking about because the word has been used and abused over the years … This article refers to the callouts that are inserted from the Insert / Diagram Parts ribbon group. These are part of the Structured Diagrams concept that was introduced with Visio 2010.

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Layer Manager add-in for Visio released

I use layers in Visio a lot. Maybe it is because I originally used CAD, and created facilities and cable management layouts linked to data. I know that some of my fellow Visio MVPS don’t use layers very much at all, mainly because they create process diagrams, I guess, but careful use of layers in a diagram can provide multiple views of the same base information. However, Visio has a more complex layering system than any CAD program that I used, so I have always created my own layer management tools. I have decided to package my utility together as an add-in that others may want to use too.


 
I have made some short videos explain the issue with layers in Visio, and how I solved it.
What’s the issue with layers in Visio?
Making it simple to toggle layer settings
Saving and recalling multiple layer settings easily
The add-in can be downloaded from my company website : LayerManager
I have put some licensing into the add-in, but 30 days are allowed for free.
Here is some of the genesis of this add-in : Toggling layers on and off
 

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Microsoft inviting beta testers for Visio on iPad Preview

Well the secret is out … Microsoft are looking for beta testers for the initial release of Visio on iPad. Note, that this is view only, but it should offer a more faithful graphical representation than any third-party product. Plus, it has layer control!

Microsoft asks Insiders to comment in particular on the following iPad-specific features:

Visio on iPad Preview
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Announcing visViewer 4th edition … and why I did it

Sometimes I get really frustrated with Microsoft. They have a really great data-diagramming product with Visio, which they bought for the largest amount that they had ever paid for an acquisition at the time in 1999, but they have not succeeded in marketing the virtues of visual data to most of the Office community. I have always thought that one of the reasons for that is a misguided belief that you should not be able to make good use of Visio diagrams without purchasing Visio. My evidence for this is the lack of data, and sometimes hyperlinks, that are with each shape in the various outputs such as XPS, PDF, and Save As Web. For me, this is a missed opportunity because each of these formats could include data and multiple hyperlink support for each shape. Indeed, it should have been relatively simple for Microsoft to integrate Visio better with Word, Excel and PowerPoint … and I mean graphics and data, not just dumb pictures.

image
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Comparison of Visio Save As Web Outputs

SharePoint 2013 Visio Services provides a great solution for viewing the actual Visio file directly within a SharePoint web page, however you need to be logged into your corporate web to do this. So, how can you view Visio files in a web page if you cannot use Visio Services?

You could build a web page with the Visio Viewer control, but that is ActiveX and will only work in certain controlled conditions. The benchmark has to be allowing the Visio file to be viewed on an iPad, or an Android tablet, or Surface RT. Visio Services in SharePoint 2013 will enable this, and will allow for the Visio document to be zoomed, panned, and the Shape Data and hyperlinks to be viewed and used, but, again, this is not always available.

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