This blog of mine is all about Visio, and is aimed at intermediate, power users and developers. For the less advanced Visio users, or too back fill some skills, then please check out the free Microsoft Visio training available from here : Visio video training
Happy holidays!
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Cyber Monday giveaway free Visio Chess
Earlier today, I gave away checkers for Visio (see Cyber Monday free #Visio Checkers! ) , and now this article completes my Cyber Monday freebies with a downloadable chess set for Visio!
This version of the chess/checker board requires connection points (Type = 2 – Inward/Outward) on each of the 64 squares, an, as before, I have styled the pieces with Bevel and Shadow. However, this time I have used my own tool for converting the XAML from Syncfusion’s Metro Studio library into true Visio shapes. This library is great ( see Metro Studio ) but it does not create true Visio shapes. In addition, I have enabled many different configuration options within Visio, such as background shape choice.
Cyber Monday free Visio Checkers!
As it is Cyber Monday, I thought I would give away a compelling checkers board for Visio! In the UK, we call it Draughts, but the rules are the same… in my last post, I showed how to create a chess/checkers/draughts board, and in this one I add some checkers that can glue to the dark squares only!
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What is the minimum number of rectangles in a Visio chessboard?
This may sound like a simple question with a definite answer, but I think it is worthy of further explanation. I wanted to make a chessboard shape with as few lines as possible, because it makes the shape more efficient and easy to work with. Some might consider grouping 64 squares together, but that would be a very heavy shape. A chessboard needs to appear to have 64 squares, but the following shape only has 9 rectangles … How is this possible?
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Scroll to Capture Visio ShapeSheets with SnagIt
Anyone who develops with Visio faces the problem of viewing the formulas and values in an often difficult to navigate ShapeSheet window. I have been a SnagIt and Camtasia user for many years thanks to the generous free license I get from TechSmith as a Microsoft MVP. I have used both products extensively for my books, articles and videos, though I am not an expert in either product. Now, SnagIt has a panoramic scrolling capture feature that is great with ShapeSheets.
The unique smartness of Visio shapes comes from the ability to program the ShapeSheet behind every single shape. This is like an Excel worksheet divided into sections, and the display can switched between formulas and values. The Visio’s ShapeSheet window does have the ability to toggle the visibility of each section, but that is often not enough to get a complete picture of the formulas involved. The following example is the partial view of the ShapeSheet window for a simple shape.
Create & edit Visio diagrams in browser
Visio Online is now generally available! You can read more about it here , but what does it mean? Well, if you have Visio Pro for Office 365 (like me) then you should find that it is now converted to Visio Online Plan 2, which includes Visio Online as well. Visio Online Plan 1 does not include Visio Pro for Office 365, but these users can view all Visio documents, and can also create and edit simple ones (see the FAQ for more details).
Selecting a New / Visio Drawing in my Office 365 tenant now opens a Basic Diagram in Visio Online. I can then choose to create a diagram from a different template using File / New.
I would also expect to be able to access Visio Online from the waffle menu in the top left of my Office 365 client. This takes me to the Visio Online Gallery, where I can open existing diagrams, or view Popular Diagram templates. At the moment, it only invites me to purchase or upgrade my subscription, but I assume that they will soon be starter diagrams for me to edit
I can also edit some existing simple diagrams that I have selected to view online.
The Shapes search feature looks pretty useful … perhaps it will provide access to third party shapes in the future too!
Visio Online is not as full-featured as Visio desktop editions, but it is really great to see this lightweight editor (at last). It works with the native Visio files, so no need for any conversion, but there are some limitations on file size and features that can be opened by the web version. There are some users who may only need this, but others will still want the desktop, especially Visio Pro for Office 365, because they have more demanding needs, such as Shape Data and links to data sources. It may even be enough for some Mac users out there too, who have long wished to be able to view and edit Visio diagrams without a Visio-clone or converter.
Keep it up Microsoft! Well done.