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Visio for Desktop

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Viewing Visio Document Changes in Git

Developing a Visio solution usually involves both .Net code and Visio ShapeSheet formulas. Good practice dictates that the source code is saved into a code repository, such as Git, where changes can be committed and commented. Visual Studio 2019 now includes native Git support, and can be linked to Azure DevOps easily. The code can be viewed by others and the changes made by commits can be reviewed. This is tried and tested for the .Net code, but any changes made to a Visio template, stencil or drawing document is a black box. If the Visio document is included in the Git project, then all that is visible is the fact that the file has been changed, but the detail of the actual changes are unknown. There may be some comments with the commit, but that is not a precise definition. So, what if there was a way to easily spot the changes?

  • Make a small change to a Visio master
  • It registers as a change in Git
  • Cannot see what actually changed in DevOps
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Visio ShapeSheet Functions D-F

The second 32 of the Visio ShapeSheet functions that start with the letters D through to F are visually described in the Visio document below that is available for download.

Please see the general introduction to this series at ShapeSheet Functions A-Z for more information.

Each of the ShapeSheet functions that start with the letters D through to F are on separate pages in the following Visio document. Apart from DOCMD() and DOOLEVERB(), they all work in Visio for the Web, and the document can be downloaded and placed into OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online. It can then be edited in Visio for the Web as a tutorial.

If the Visio document does not display above, then you can download it directly from here.

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Visio ShapeSheet Functions A-C

The first 36 of the Visio ShapeSheet functions that start with the letters A through to C are visually described in the Visio document below that is available for download.

Please see the general introduction to this series at ShapeSheet Functions A-Z for more information.

Each of the ShapeSheet functions that start with the letters A through to C are on separate pages in the following Visio document. Apart from CALLTHIS(), they all work in Visio for the Web, and the document can be downloaded and placed into OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online. It can then be edited in Visio for the Web as a tutorial.

If the Visio document does not display above, then you can download it directly from here.

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Using the CALLTHIS function in Visio

Visio was the first non-Microsoft application to include VBA within it back in the mid-nineties. All of the desktop Microsoft Office applications currently include VBA, although Microsoft have been rumoured to want to replace it for many years, and now there is an alternative scripting option becoming available that is suitable for the web too.

Visio was acquired by Microsoft in 2000, and there are still many scenarios when it is useful to have VBA procedures available in Visio for the Desktop. These procedures can be created using the recorder, and then edited, or just created manually. Every Visio document can contain a VBA project, but it must be saved with the .vsdm extension for documents, .vssm extension for stencils, or .vstm extension for templates. The last letter, m, informs Windows that this file could contain macros, as opposed to the normal last letter x, which cannot. Even with this extension, users, or their IT department, may not enable the macros in Visio documents.

The CALLTHIS function in Visio can be used to run a procedure (sub-function) in a Visio Visual Basic document and pass through a reference to the shape that the function is called from. The Microsoft Docs provide an explanation of this useful technique, and it does describe some examples, but it does not show the VBA code that these examples need, nor does it show them working. It also does not make it clear that these procedures do not need to be in the Visio diagram document, but can be in a stencil that is open in the active Visio session. This is important because it means that VBA code can be centralised and distributed for use use on many other documents.

  • Using CALLTHIS with code in a document
  • Using CALLTHIS with code in a stencil
  • The VBA code behind
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Play Backgammon with Visio

Still in lockdown on holiday, so I thought I would create a version of backgammon that can be played with Visio for the web. This was inspired by my original Visio tutor, the late David Edson, who created a Visio backgammon document which included macros. Macros are not available in Visio for the web, so I have created one where the dice can be shaken, the doubling cube changed, and the pieces reset, using nothing but ShapeSheet formulas.

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Play Chess with Visio in Teams

Following on from my last article about playing checkers with Visio in Teams, I decided that I should also revisit my earlier Visio chessboard to make it work in Visio online. I have implemented the ability to automatically reset the positions before a new game, and I have made a single chess piece shape that can be either colour or icon.

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