Microsoft Office Reference Guide

Mar 26, 2004

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Visio was actually the first Office application I covered for Informit.com; I wrote an article on how to use a Visio Timeline in PowerPoint. The Timeline template in Visio is still one of the most compelling reasons to use the program.

I continued to cover Visio as the Microsoft Reference Guide, intrigued by its "intelligent diagrams" that combine the database capabilities of Excel and Access with the visual communication attributes of PowerPoint.

So when the new version of Visio 2007 came out with the new Office System, I was eager to check it out.

The first thing you notice, which is similar to Access 2007, is a Getting Started panel that previews the Sample Diagrams as well as the various templates. Notice that under the Sample Diagrams IT Asset Management, Process Improvement and Project Management all have new looks and relevance to our endeavors here.

Figure 1273

I decided to see how the Timeline may have changed, and noticed an option prior to opening the diagram called "Open Sample Data."

Figure 1274

Interestingly, a read only spreadsheet in Excel opened, which is linked to the Timeline diagram.

In the drawing itself, which is based on the Timeline Sample, I can see smaller version of the underlying spreadsheet, with links to the milestones and other elements already placed into the timeline diagram. There is also a prompt in the diagram directing me as to how to link other shapes from the stencil in the timeline.

Figure 1275

In the diagram, a new feature is to use a Data Graphic to visually show information. You can easily add a Data Graphic from the Task Pane to a selected shape.

Figure 1276

An easy way to quickly make a diagram look a bit flashier is to apply a Theme.

Figure 1277

I really liked the fact that my data in the timeline was already linked to an Excel spreadsheet, but when I opened the spreadsheet, I found that the one based on the original sample was Read Only, and I could not get the links to work properly (as I understood them).

What I did was to do a Save As, and create a new spreadsheet with the same rows and columns, and then relinked the saved spreadsheet to the diagram (which I also saved under a new name).

Now it worked — when I changed the data in the spreadsheet, and refreshed the data in Visio, the diagram.

Of course you can also view data linked to diagrams in spreadsheet format by viewing the External Data window but I have not found a way to alter the data in the External Data window to be reflected in the diagram.

Figure 1278

Don't confuse the linked data in the external diagram with the ShapeSheet, which is the brilliant blueprint for every part of a Visio diagram that determines its properties. This still exists — and still has user defined cells that you can program with VBA to change the properties of an entire Page (shown here), or of any selected shape in the diagram.

Figure 1279

Another new feature is AutoConnect. In this figure, the blue triangle is a prompt for a possible connection; if I click it, the connection is made automatically, enabling me to quickly connect various shapes in a flowchart.

The way it works is you select a shape in the Shapes window. Then rest the pointer over a shape on the drawing page. Click the blue connection arrow on the side of the shape that you want to connect to. Visio automatically adds and connects the shape and aligns it for you. You can repeat the process as many times as you want to quickly add and connect a series of shapes.

Figure 1280

Another new feature is the ability to insert text fields into shapes to display additional information. Fields are organized into categories, such as Date/Time, Document Info, and Shape Data. Fields are updated automatically when you change the information on which they are based.

Figure 1281

By making a field equal user-defined cells the shape will show the information entered in the Value cell of the User-defined Cells section in the shape’s ShapeSheet spreadsheet.

This is similar to using the new Data Graphic, except it shows the exact value instead of a pictorial representation.

Other new features include a PivotDiagram template, allowing you to visualize and explore your business data in hierarchical form showing data groups and subtotals. You can identify the key messages in your data and visually communicate them with others in your organization. There is also a new Refresh Conflicts task pane to let you deal with data conflicts that may arise when data changes.

Among the other templates that look really spiffy are the Software and Database template, including some neat new sample diagrams for web site design. You can download a 30-day demo of Visio 2007.

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