visio 03 tips and tricks handout

Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and Tricks

IntroductionThis document is intended to provide you with a brief collection of more than 60 of some of the tips and tricks which will serve to make you more productive in working with Microsoft Visio. It is by no means a complete compendium of all of the shortcuts, techniques and information available on the subject. For further information and resources, please see the Resources section at the end of this document.

IconsThis document uses several Icons to assist you in understanding the tips and tricks. There are icons which show you which version of Visio that these tips and tricks apply to. There are also icons which show which edition of Visio, Standard or Professional, that the tips and tricks apply to. Finally, there are also icons which flag the particular tip or trick as a shortcut or easy access feature, and a tip or trick of importance to your usage of Visio. The icons used in this document are:

ICON MEANINGApplies to Microsoft Office Visio 2003

Applies to Microsoft Visio 2002

Applies to Microsoft Visio 2000

Applies to Microsoft Visio Professional Edition

Applies to Microsoft Visio Standard Edition

Indicates that this is a shortcut. This is a faster methodology than the standard system of utilizing menus and diverse dialogs to accomplish this task.

Indicates that this is an important tip or trick. Knowledge of this particular tip or trick will be highly useful to your daily use of Visio

All of the tips and tricks will be presented to you as if you are using Visio 2003 Professional Edition; however, if the technique is applicable to other versions and editions, the Icons at the beginning of each tip or trick will assist you in using these features under these other versions and editions as well.

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ContentThis document is structured to provide you tips and tricks in the following areas:

The Visio Environment Basic Diagram Creation Tools Basic Drawing Techniques Formatting SmartShape™ Symbols Predefined Diagram Types

The Visio Environment

ToolbarsVisio has multiple configurable Toolbars which are designed to place the Visio commands that you need the most right at your mouse cursor. To choose which Toolbars you would like to have available within your working Visio environment:

Right-click with your mouse on any open area of the toolbars area at the top of your Visio working environment. This action will display a context menu with a listing of all of the available toolbars. If the toolbar name has a check mark next to the name, that toolbar is actively displayed in your Visio working environment. If the toolbar name does not have a check mark next to the name it is available to be displayed but is not currently active.

Click with your mouse on any toolbar name. If the toolbar name has a check mark next to the name it will be deactivated and no longer displayed. If the toolbar name does not have a check mark next to the name it will be activated and displayed in your Visio working environment.

Each of the toolbars display icons applicable to differing tasks within the Visio environment. Some may be active while working with a particular task while others may be inactive.Toolbars are sensitive to the screen resolution of the local machine that Visio is running on. The greater the screen resolution, the greater the number of toolbars and icons that are able to be displayed.

Each toolbar can have a custom selection of icons, functions and tools contained within the toolbar. To customize a toolbar by adding functions to the toolbar:

Right-click with your mouse on any open area of the toolbars area at the top of your Visio working environment. This action will display a context menu with a listing of all of the available toolbars and will display a context menu item listed as “Customize….”

Click with your mouse on the Customize… context menu item. This will display the Customize dialog. The left list in the dialog contains a listing of the available categories. The right list in the dialog contains a listing of the available functions for that particular category.

Select a category from the left list by clicking with your mouse on that particular category

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and Tricks Select a particular function from the right list, click with your mouse and drag the function onto

any displayed toolbar and release your mouse button. This action will add that function to that toolbar.

To customize a toolbar by deleting functions from the toolbar:

Right-click with your mouse on any open area of the toolbars area at the top of your Visio working environment. This action will display a context menu with a listing of all of the available toolbars and will display a context menu item listed as “Customize….”

Click with your mouse on the Customize… context menu item. This will display the Customize dialog. The left list in the dialog contains a listing of the available categories. The right list in the dialog contains a listing of the available functions for that particular category.

Click with your mouse on the toolbar you wish to delete items from and drag the particular icon off the toolbar. This action will delete that function from that toolbar.

Choose Drawing TypeVisio utilizes a feature called “Choose Drawing Type” to assist you in selecting a particular diagram type to create. The available options will be discussed individually later in this document under the Section entitled Predefined Diagram Types. Should you need to create new diagram based upon a totally blank drawing environment you will need to perform the following action:

Select File ► New ► Choose Drawing Type… from the Visio Menu system

In the New Drawing pane at the right of the Visio environment select the Blank Drawing item.

This action will begin a new diagram which has no stencils open and is based upon the page size defaults in Visio.

To add stencils to the Visio environment and make master SmartShape™ symbols available for inclusion in your diagram you will need to perform the following action:

Select File Shapes Then select the stencil you need from the list of available solutions and the stencils contained in that solution

Or Select the Stencil Icon from the Standard Toolbar

Then select the stencil you need from the list of available solutions and the stencils contained in that solution

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Basic Diagram Creation Tools

The Drawing PageThe Visio drawing page is user configurable both in size and orientation. You can choose from a listing of available typical page sizes by performing the following action:

Select File ► Page Setup… From the Visio menu system

In the Page Setup dialog, under the Print Setup tab, in the Printer Paper drop-down list, select from the list of available paper sizes.

If you need a drawing environment with a non-standard size, you can easily manipulate the drawing page size directly in the drawing area by performing the following action:

Ensure that the drawing page is displayed and is the active window

Hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and move your mouse cursor to an edge of the drawing page. Your mouse cursor will change to a resize arrow. If you pause at the page edge a tool tip will appear informing you that you will perform a Resize Page operation.

Click with your left mouse button, hold, and drag that paper edge in or out to the desired size.

Repeat this action for any and / or all of the four edges of the drawing page.

To change the page orientation between Portrait and Landscape modes perform the following action:

Select File ► Page Setup… From the Visio menu system

In the Page Setup dialog, under the Print Setup tab, select either of the two radio buttons for Portrait or Landscape orientation.

StencilsVisio utilizes the concept of Stencils to assist you in creating a diagram with pre-drawn SmartShape™ symbols. The Stencils organize the SmartShape™ symbols into easily recognizable and logical categories based upon the type of diagram you wish to create. In the Choose Drawing Type topic above, we detailed how to open a Stencil in your drawing environment for use. There are some issues that you might want to be aware of when working with stencils that can assist you in understanding how the formatting and size of the SmartShape™ symbols is handled by Visio.

When you drag a SmartShape™ symbol from a Stencil to your drawing page you are actually creating a copy of that Master SmartShape™ symbol in your diagram’s local Document Stencil. This local copy is the source for all default formatting and size information.

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksEach subsequent time you drag a SmartShape™ symbol from the Stencil onto your diagram, Visio checks for the existence of a local copy of that Master SmartShape™ symbol on your diagram’s local Document Stencil. If a copy exists, the local copy is used to create the SmartShape™ symbol in the diagram. If it does not, Visio will first copy the Master SmartShape™ symbol to the local Document Stencil and then use that copy to create the SmartShape™ symbol in the diagram.This concept is important since it gives you the ability to change any aspect of that local master and have that change be populated throughout all of the instances in the diagram. However, if you have made a change to a particular instance of that Master SmartShape™ symbol in the diagram, that instance will lose its inheritance for that particular aspect of the SmartShape™ symbol.

As an example, if you were to drag a Desk SmartShape™ symbol from the Building Plan ► Furniture stencil and repeat that action four times, you would actually have four instances, (or exact copies) of the desk on your local Document stencil. If, later, you were to change the color of a particular desk by selecting Format ► Fill from the Visio menus and change the fill color from white to red, that one instance would, indeed, be red.

If you later altered the fill color of the local copy of the desk master on the local document stencil from white to blue, and save the edited master, the three copies of the desk which had not had the red fill applied would turn blue, whereas the red desk would retain its red fill color.

Connecting SmartShape™ SymbolsMany Visio diagram types are what can generally be referred to as “Connected Diagrams”; that is, they consist of SmartShape™ symbols connected other SmartShape™ symbols via lines or Dynamic connectors to demonstrate flow or association. Typically a Visio user would drag a SmartShape™ symbol from a Stencil then drag a second SmartShape™ symbol from the stencil, then connect them by dragging a dynamic connector SmartShape™ symbol (for example) from a stencil or selecting the connector from the Standard Toolbar.

Connecting SmartShape™ symbols can be far easier than this! Here is a process that will save you lots of time in creating connected diagrams:

Drag a SmartShape™ symbol from (for example) the Basic Flowchart Shapes stencil onto the drawing page.

Ensure that the SmartShape™ symbol that you just added to your diagram is selected (its green sizing handles are selected)

Next select the Dynamic Connector tool from the Standard toolbar.

Now with the Dynamic Connector tool selected, drag another SmartShape™ symbol from the Flowchart stencil and drop it into your diagram. Note how the two SmartShape™ symbols are automatically connected with Dynamic glue.

Dynamic glue means that no matter how the SmartShape™ symbols are laid out on the diagram, Visio will sort out the best position for them to attach to the SmartShape™ symbols. Static, or point-to-point, glue ensures that the connectors remain glued to the particular connection point on the SmartShape™ symbol.

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksYou can alter the connection type between Dynamic and Static glue at any time you desire. If you click on the endpoint of a Dynamic connector and drag it off a SmartShape™ symbol it will break the glue. If, then, you click and drag that endpoint to the edge of a SmartShape™ symbol at a connection point (as indicated by the presence of a small blue “X” on the SmartShape™ symbol) you will establish Static, or point-to-point, glue.

To establish Dynamic glue, click and drag an endpoint of a Dynamic Connector to the center of a SmartShape™ symbol and pause over the symbol. Note that the edges of the SmartShape™ symbol are highlighted in a double-red border. Release the endpoint while the SmartShape™ symbol is highlighted and Dynamic glue will be established.

If you need specific point-to-point glue and there is no connection point at the location you need on the SmartShape™ symbol, you can create a connection point in the following manner:

Locate the Dynamic Connector tool on the Standard Toolbar in Visio. At the right edge of the tool select the down-pointing arrow and select the Connection Point tool.

With the Connection Point tool selected, click on the SmartShape™ symbol you wish to add a connection point to, and holding down the Ctrl key, click on the location where you wish to establish the connection point.

When this task is completed, you will see a new connection point (small blue “X”) associated with the SmartShape™ symbol. This new connection point can now be used to maintain a new Static Glue connection with 1-D shapes and Dynamic connectors.

Normally the “rule of thumb” has been that 1-D SmartShape™ symbols such as lines and dynamic connectors can glue to 2-D SmartShape™ symbol such as boxes, or to other 1-D SmartShape™ symbols. However, Visio has a glue property which will allow 2-D SmartShape™ symbols to glue to other 2-D SmartShape™ symbols. To create a 2-D to 2-D glue connection, follow the procedure detailed below:

As detailed above, create a Connection Point on a 2-D SmartShape™ symbol such as a rectangle.

While the SmartShape™ symbol and its associated new connection point are still selected, right-click on the new connection point.

The context menu will allow you to establish the connection point as Inward or Outward.

On one of the 2-D SmartShape™ symbols, establish the Connection Point type as Inward. On the other 2-D SmartShape™ symbol establish the Connection Point type as Outward. Note that the Outward Connection Point type is displayed as a small blue dot. Outward Connection Points on 2-D SmartShape™ symbols can statically glue to Inward Connection Points on 2-D SmartShape™ symbols. Relocating the 2-D SmartShape™ symbol with the Inward Connection Point will cause the 2-D SmartShape™ symbol with the Outward Connection Point to remain glued and follow the relocation. Relocating the 2-D SmartShape™ symbol with the Outward Connection Point will cause the 2-D SmartShape™ symbol with the Outward Connection Point to disconnect and no longer follow the relocation of the 2-D SmartShape™ symbol with the Inward Connection Point.

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Laying Out SmartShape™ SymbolsAs you create connected diagrams, the location of the SmartShape™ symbols on the drawing page can become cluttered making it hard to ascertain the intent of the connected diagram. Furthermore as connection lines cross over each other and Visio establishes small bridges at the crossing points, the paths become ever more complex to follow.

Visio provides a fast and easy method to untangle connected diagrams and establish a better layout making them eminently more readable. To have Visio automatically layout the SmartShape™ symbols in your diagram, complete the following procedure:

Select all of the SmartShape™ symbols that you want to have Visio lay out. This can be completed by selecting Edit ► Select All from the Visio menu system.

Select Shape ► Layout Shapes… from the Visio menu system

In the Layout Shapes Dialog, configure the layout options by selecting the Placement Style, Direction, and Depth, the Connectors Style, Direction, and Appearance as well as any other requested options.

Click the OK command button to exit the Layout Shapes dialog.

Visio will reorganize the SmartShape™ symbols to provide the most readable layout for them.

Associating Data with SmartShape™ SymbolsOne of the hallmarks of Visio is its ability to create diagrams which are not only graphically rich and clear, but, additionally, data rich. This is to say that every SmartShape™ symbol in a Visio diagram has the capability to hold data in numerous areas and utilize that data in many ways.

Most obviously, the text on the face of the SmartShape™ symbol can contain not only user entered text, but additionally Text Fields. Some examples of these are Date and Time Information, Document Information, Geometry Information, Object Information (Name, Master, Data 1, 2, and 3 fields), Custom Property Information, User Defined Information, and Custom Formulae.

To illustrate this capability, select a SmartShape™ symbol and begin typing text into the SmartShape™ symbol. Next complete the following steps:

Select Insert Field… from the Visio menu system

In the Field Dialog select a Category, Field, and Format for the field information you want to add to the text of the SmartShape™ symbol.

Click the OK command button in the Field dialog to close and confirm your new field.

Note how the new field information is displayed.

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksVisio SmartShape™ symbols which are added to a diagram as part of a solution based upon a particular template often contain Custom Property information. Examples of this are the Flowchart SmartShape™ symbols. These symbols contain the Custom Property Fields “Cost”, “Duration”, and “Resources”. These Custom Property fields can be accessed by selecting Shape ► Custom Properties… from the SmartShape™ symbol’s context menu. Additionally this can be accessed by selecting View ► Custom Properties Window… from the Visio menu system. These

You can add any number of additional Custom Properties to a SmartShape™ symbol by completing the following steps:

If no Custom Properties yet exist associated with the particular SmartShape™ symbol select Shape ► Custom Properties from the Visio menu system. A dialog will appear informing you that no Custom Properties exist, and asking you if you want to create them.

The Define Custom Properties dialog will be displayed.

If Custom Properties already exist associated with the particular SmartShape™ symbol, select Shape ► Custom Properties from the Visio menu system.

Click on the Define… command button. The Define Custom Properties Dialog will be displayed.

Complete the entry of all fields in the Define Custom Properties Dialog and click the OK Command button to confirm the action.

Every Visio SmartShape™ symbol contains three data repositories; Data 1, Data 2, and Data 3. Each is capable of holding up to 36Kb of character storage. You can access these data repositories in the following manner:

Select the SmartShape™ symbol in question.

Right-click on the SmartShape™ symbol and select Format ► Special… from the context menu.

Enter any text you wish into the Data 1, Data 2, and Data 3 fields.

Click the OK Command button to confirm your action.

Visio also provides a mechanism to associate SmartShape™ symbols with data sources via the Database Wizard. This wizard will link SmartShape™ symbols with ODBC compliant data sources such as Microsoft Office Access2003 and Microsoft SQL Server. To create this association, complete the following steps:

Select Tools ► Add-Ons… ► Visio Extras ► Database Wizard from the Visio menu system.

Complete the steps in the Database Wizard

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksWhen complete, data is linked between Visio SmartShape™ symbols and data source records. The ability to update the data is fully bi-directional.

Working with Multiple SmartShape™ SymbolsAs with most graphics applications, Visio has the ability to collect individual SmartShape™ symbols into higher-lever groups. This feature makes moving, resizing, and formatting various numbers of SmartShape™ symbols faster and easier.

It is important to note that when two or more SmartShape™ symbols are collected together in a Group, there is, in effect, a “shell” wrapped around the Group. The group itself has its own text block. The group takes its own formatting, and the group has its own resize behavior.

Individual SmartShape™ symbols within the group may still be accessed by sub-selecting them. To sub-select a SmartShape™ symbol within a group, first select the group and then with the group shape selected click again to select the individual SmartShape™ symbol within the group.

To repeat an action such as creating a copy of a SmartShape™ symbol, you can use the shortcut key F4. To illustrate this point:

Drag out a rectangle using the rectangle tool.

Hold the Ctrl key and click and drag out a duplicate of that SmartShape™ symbol to a location slightly below the original.

Press the F4 key. Each press of the F4 key repeats the previous action.

This process can greatly increase productivity when creating arrays of SmartShape™ symbols.

When dealing with multiple SmartShape™ symbols and performing operations that create and destroy SmartShape™ symbols such as Shape ► Operations ► Union, Combine, Fragment, Intersection, or Subtract, the order of selection is highly important. The formatting associated with the first SmartShape™ symbol selected is the formatting which will be applied to the final result of these operations.

Basic Drawing TechniquesIn addition to the host of predefined symbols provided by Visio, you have the ability to create your own SmartShape™ symbols utilizing the basic drawing tools found on the Drawing toolbar. The following five tips and tricks sections will detail the use of each of these tools.

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Rectangle ToolThe rectangle tool, as the name implies, allows you to create a basic rectangle on the current Visio drawing page. This SmartShape™ symbol is a 2-D symbol. It has Height and Width. It is resized by adjusting its sizing handles.

To create a rectangle:

Click on the rectangle tool on the Drawing Toolbar.

Move your cursor over the drawing page

Click, hold, and drag then release to define the size and position of the rectangle.

If you hold down the Shift key while dragging out a rectangle, Visio will constrain your ability to create the rectangle to creation of a square.

When a rectangle is added to a Visio diagram and selected, initially you will see the sizing handles at the four corners as well as the midpoints of each side. New to Visio 2003 is the Green dot above the rectangle itself. This green dot is the new rotation tool. It replaces the requirement to select the rotation tool from the Toolbar in previous versions of Visio.

New, also, to Visio 2003 is the new detailed selection controls feature. If you hover your cursor over the selected rectangle you can access the relocation controls for each of the vertices of the rectangle. If you hover your cursor over the green rotation dot you will see the pin for the SmartShape™ symbol displayed. The Pin can be thought of as where the SmartShape™ symbol is “pinned to the drawing page”. The Local Pin is where, within the confines of the SmartShape™ symbol, the pin point is positioned. This point serves as the center for the SmartShape™ symbol’s rotation and resizing.

All of these detailed controlling points can be altered by clicking on them, which will change their color from green to magenta, and dragging them to a new location as required.

Ellipse ToolThe ellipse tool allows you to create both ellipses and circles. This SmartShape™ symbol is a 2-D symbol. It has Height and Width. It is resized by adjusting its sizing handles.

To create an ellipse:

Click on the ellipse tool on the Drawing Toolbar.


Click, hold, and drag then release to define the size and position of the ellipse.

As with the rectangle detailed above, if you hold down the Shift key while dragging out an ellipse, Visio will constrain your ability to create the ellipse to the creation of a circle.

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksWhen an ellipse is added to a Visio diagram and selected, initially you will see the sizing handles at the four corners as well as the midpoints of each side. The Green dot above the ellipse itself is the rotation tool.

If you hover your cursor over the selected ellipse you can access the relocation controls for each of the vertices of the ellipse. If you hover your cursor over the green rotation dot you will see the pin for the SmartShape™ symbol displayed. The Pin can be thought of as where the SmartShape™ symbol is “pinned to the drawing page. The Local Pin is where, within the confines of the SmartShape™ symbol, the pin point is positioned. This point serves as the center for the SmartShape™ symbol’s rotation and resizing.

Line ToolThe line tool is one of the most basic drawing tools in Visio. This tool, by definition, creates a line. This SmartShape™ symbol is a 1-D symbol. It has length (Width) but no Height. It is resized by relocating its endpoints.

To create a line:

Click on the line tool on the Drawing Toolbar.


Click, hold, and drag then release to define the size and position of the line.

If you hold down the Shift key while dragging out a line, Visio will constrain your ability to create the line to creation of a line oriented strictly horizontally, vertically or one of the four 45 degree increments away from horizontal or vertical.

When you create a line and then click on an endpoint of that line to create another connected line segment, Visio changes the resulting SmartShape™ symbol from a 1-D symbol to a 2-D symbol. If you continue to add line segments and end your final line segment exactly at the beginning of the entire sequence, Visio will consider this a closed SmartShape™ symbol and establish it as a filled SmartShape™ symbol. This is to say that you can set and edit the fill color of the bounded area.

Arc ToolThe arc tool is another basic drawing tool in Visio. This tool, by definition, creates an elliptical arc. This SmartShape™ symbol is a 1-D symbol. It has length (Width) and Height. It is resized by relocating its endpoints.

To create an arc:

Click on the arc tool on the Drawing Toolbar.


Click, hold, and drag then release to define the size and position of the arc.

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The creation of an arc is gesture specific. That is to say that the direction of the “bow” of the arc is based upon how you move your mouse cursor in an arched movement to indicate how the arc should curve. There are no Shift key specific constraints on arc creation.

Freeform ToolThe freeform tool allows you to create a SmartShape™ symbol which is totally gesture specific. As you click, hold and drag your cursor, you create a freeform SmartShape™ symbol.

To create a freeform SmartShape™ symbol:

Click on the freeform tool on the Drawing Toolbar.


Click, hold, and drag then release to define the size and position of the freeform SmartShape™ symbol.

If you create a freeform SmartShape™ symbol which does not have its endpoint meet it’s begin point, the resultant SmartShape™ symbol will be a 1-D symbol. It has length (Width) and Height. It is resized by relocating its endpoints. If you create a freeform SmartShape™ symbol which has its endpoint meet it’s begin point, the resultant SmartShape™ symbol will be a 2-D symbol. It has Height and Width. It is resized by adjusting its sizing handles.

Pencil ToolThe pencil tool in Visio serves several functions. It is gesture specific and has the capability of creating both line and arcs. Additionally it allows the editing of vertices of any previously created SmartShape™ symbol.

To create a line with the pencil tool:

Click on the pencil tool on the Drawing Toolbar.


Click, hold, and drag then release to define the size and position of the line being careful to gesture in only a straight linear manner.

If you hold down the Shift key while dragging out a line utilizing the pencil tool, Visio will constrain your ability to create the line to creation of a line oriented strictly horizontally, vertically or one of the four 45 degree increments away from horizontal or vertical.

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksTo create an arc with the pencil tool:

Click on the pencil tool on the Drawing Toolbar.


Click, hold, and drag then release to define the size and position of the arc being careful to gesture in manner which indicates how you wish the bow of the arc to be created.

As with the line and arc tools, you may add additional line or arc segments and create an open or closed 2-D SmartShape™ symbol.

If you select the pencil tool from the Drawing Toolbar and click on any existing SmartShape™ symbol, yow can select any of the symbol’s vertices and edit their position. You can, additionally, edit other aspects of an arc segment’s properties which affect the curvature of the bow segment of the arc.

Formatting SmartShape™ SymbolsSubsequent to creating any SmartShape™ symbol, you can alter many properties that affect visual aspects of the symbol. If the symbol is a 1-D symbol, its line format and its text format can be modified to suit your particular requirements. If the SmartShape™ symbol is a 2-D symbol, its line format, its fill format, and its text format can be modified.

Format TextEvery SmartShape™ symbol in a Visio diagram has a text block. This means that every line, arc, ellipse, circle, rectangle, square or open or closed symbol can have text displayed as part of the SmartShape™ symbol. To add text to a SmartShape™ symbol simply select the symbol and begin typing.

Once you have text associated with the SmartShape™ symbol, you may wish to format the text such that it utilizes the particular font and size which suits your particular needs.

To modify aspects of the SmartShape™ symbol’s text, right-click on the symbol and select Format ► Text… from the SmartShape™ symbol’s context menu. The Text dialog will be displayed, allowing a wide range of modifications to the text.

To modify aspects of the font itself, select the Font tab in the Text dialog. To modify aspects of the character scale and spacing, select the Character tab in the Text

dialog. To modify aspects of the paragraph alignment spacing and indentation, select the Paragraph

tab in the Text dialog. To modify aspects of the text block in alignment, margins, and background color, select the

Text Block tab in the Text dialog. To modify aspects of the tab spacing, select the Tabs tab in the Text dialog. To modify aspects of the text bullets, select the Bullets tab in the Text dialog.

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksTo modify the size, position and orientation of the text block associated with the SmartShape™ symbol complete the following procedure:

Locate the Text Tool (it looks like a Capital Letter “A”) on the Standard Toolbar.

Using the down-pointing arrow at the right of the Text Tool, select the Text Block Tool (it looks like a Capital Letter “A” inside a circular arrow)

Select the SmartShape™ symbol whose text block you wish to modify.The text block can be resized, repositioned and rotated to suit your needs.

Format FillAny 2-D SmartShape™ symbol which is closed, and hence filled, can have any aspect of its fill modified.

To modify the fill of a SmartShape™ symbol right-click on the symbol and select Format ► Fill… from the SmartShape™ symbol’s context menu. The Fill dialog will be displayed, allowing modifications to the fill pattern, color, and transparency of the SmartShape™ symbol’s filled area as well as the pattern, color, and transparency of the SmartShape™ symbol’s drop shadow. . Note that only one fill format style can be associated with a particular SmartShape™ symbol.

Format LineAny SmartShape™ symbol can have any aspect of all of its line segments modified.

To modify the lines of a SmartShape™ symbol right-click on the symbol and select Format ► Line… from the SmartShape™ symbol’s context menu. The Line dialog will be displayed, allowing modifications to the line pattern, weight, color, and end cap, as well as corner rounding, and arrows at line ends. Note that only one line format style can be associated with a particular SmartShape™ symbol.

Predefined Diagram TypesIt is not the purpose of this Tips and Tricks document to document the features and functionality of every aspect of all of the solutions that Visio ships with “out of the box”, however, a brief understanding of each of the diagram types and any critical aspects of them will be highlighted here.

All Visio solutions include both Metric and Imperial (US units) versions. These are included so that no matter what standard paper size and grid spacing you choose to work with, the Visio solutions will work properly on those page sizes and will snap appropriately to those grid spacings.

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Block DiagramVisio Block diagram solutions include:

Basic Diagram Block Diagram Block Diagram with Perspective

The Basic Diagram solution provides 30 geometric shapes as SmartShape™ symbols as well as dynamic connectors and Borders, Titles and Backgrounds. Generic solutions can be created based upon this solution.

To assist in initially laying out these SmartShape™ symbols the use of Visio’s Guides would be a great productivity increase. Visio Guides are non-printing SmartShape™ symbols which serve as snap and glue linear boundaries. Both the Vertical and Horizontal guides are available at all times by bringing your mouse cursor to the edge of either the horizontal or vertical rulers. When your mouse cursor is at the edge of a ruler, your cursor will change to a double-headed arrow. Click, hold and drag on the ruler edge to drag out a ruler onto the drawing page.

As you add SmartShape™ symbols to your diagram, these symbols can be glued to these guides and easily repositioned by simply repositioning the guide. All SmartShape™ symbols glued to the guide will move with the guides themselves.

The Block Diagram solution contains 2-D SmartShape™ symbols in both flat and raised format along with Borders, Titles and Backgrounds. Note that some of the arrow SmartShape™ symbols are open-ended while others are closed. You can match open-ended symbols to others to create larger and more complex symbols. When you have placed open-ended symbols in proximity to each other to create the appearance of a more complex closed symbol it is a good idea to group the new symbology.

The Block Diagram with Perspective solution is similar to the Block Diagram solution, with the notable addition of a Vanishing Point feature. By relocating the vanishing point SmartShape™ symbol, all block symbols with perspective alter their perspective to accommodate the new vanishing point placement in the diagram

BrainstormingThe singular Visio Brainstorming solution creates a brainstorming diagram.

In working with the Brainstorming solution you will first add a Main Topic SmartShape™ symbol to your diagram. After the Main Topic symbol is in place, you can edit the text on the face of the symbol and it will be reflected in the outline as displayed in the floating / dockable Outline Window. Next, you will add one or more Topic SmartShape™ symbols by right-clicking on the Main Topic and selecting Add sub-topic from the context menu. Each sub-topic can contain one or more sub-topics as well.

To change the appearance of any given topic or sub-topic item, right-click on it and select Change Topic Shape from the context menu

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The finalized brainstorming diagram can be exported to Microsoft Office Word 2003, or Microsoft Office Excel 2003, or to XLM format for use in other applications and in diverse ways.

Building PlanVisio Block diagram solutions include:

Electrical and Telecom Plan Floor Plan Home Plan HVAC Control Logic Diagram HVAC Diagram Office Layout Plant Layout Plumbing and Piping Plan Reflected Ceiling Plan Security and Access Plan Site Plan Space Plan

All of the Building Plan solutions ship with specialized SmartShape™ symbols called Space symbols. These spaces can be converted to walls by right-clicking and selecting Convert to Walls from the space shape’s context menu. By using the Pencil tool you can add vertices to any of the space symbols and relocate them prior to converting to walls to create unique and unusual wall configurations that conform to the exact lengths and angles of the particular building you are documenting.

Business ProcessVisio Business Process solutions include:

Audit Diagram Basic Flowchart Cause and Effect Diagram Cross Function Flowchart Data Flow Diagram EPC Diagram Fault Tree Analysis Diagram TQM Diagram Work Flow Diagram

While creating Audit diagrams you may wish to number the flowchart symbols to detail process steps.

In a flowchart, select the shapes you want to number. From the Tools menu, Select Add-Ons, ► Number Shapes. In the dialog which is displayed, on the General tab, under Operation, click Auto Number.

Under Apply To, click Selected Shapes, and then click OK.

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksTo number new flowchart shapes as they are dragged onto the page, in the Number Shapes dialog box, click Continue numbering shapes as dropped on page.

Charts and GraphsVisio Charts and Graphs solutions include:

Charts and Graphs Marketing Charts and Diagrams

A good idea in working with any of the chart and graph SmartShape™ symbols is to always remember to right-click on the symbols to display their context menus. The available configuration options will be displayed to assist you in configuring these symbols to suit your specific needs.

Remember that Visio supports the use of images as SmartShape™ symbols. To insert an image into a Marketing Chart and Diagram solution, perform the following procedure:

Select Insert ► Picture ► From File… from the Visio menu system

In the Insert Picture dialog, navigate to the directory where the image file you need resides. Click on the Open command button to confirm your selection and add the image to your diagram.

Once the image is in your Visio diagram, you can modify it to suit your needs. One modification that may be of the greatest benefit to you is the ability to change the image’s transparency. To accomplish this perform the following procedure:

Select Format ► Picture… from the selected image’s context menu.

In the Format Picture dialog, adjust the transparency to suit your specific needs

Click the OK command button to confirm the changes you have made.

DatabaseVisio Database solutions include:

Database Model Diagram Express-G ORM Diagram

When using the Database Model Diagram solution, you have several beginning tasks available to you. You can:

Create a database model diagram from scratch

Reverse engineer an existing database

Import a database model from another program

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The Database Model Diagram solution makes extensive use of a new Database menu item added to the Visio Menu System. All of the procedures and wizards required to perform these powerful database tasks are available from within this Database menu.

Electrical EngineeringVisio Electrical Engineering solutions include:

Base Electrical Circuits and Logic Industrial Control Systems Systems

The Base Electrical solution provides numerous electrical schematic symbols. Should your needs include symbols that are not contained within the five stencils, you can request that Visio search sources beyond your desktop for the symbols you need.

To search for more Shapes in Visio 2003, perform the following procedure:

If the Shapes pane is not already open, open it by selecting View ► Shapes Window from the Visio menu system

At the top of the Shapes pane in the Search for Shapes: area, type in the name of a symbol or class of symbols you need to use; for example type in the word Transistor

Click on the green right-pointing arrow to begin the search

This search will return ten or more transistors from external sources. These SmartShape™ symbols can be added to your diagram just as if they were residing on a local stencil on your local machine.

FlowchartVisio Flowchart solutions include:

Basic Flowchart Cross Functional Flowchart Data Flow Diagram IDEF0 Diagram SDL Diagram

As with all Visio solutions, when you begin a new Flowchart solution Visio will display a Task pane on the right of the drawing window. Beginning a new diagram, Visio will display a context sensitive Template Help task. You can select from any of the displayed help topics from the Microsoft Office Online system. These topics will assist you in understanding the functionality of this particular diagram type: for example IDEF0. It will also assist you in a step-by-step process in creating this particular diagram type.

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MapVisio Map solutions include:

Directional Map Directional Map 3D

The Visio Directional Map solution is designed to allow you to create maps which provide generally not-to-scale maps to illustrate how to find a particular location or travel from one location to another. They are not intended to replace geographic maps and other powerful mapping applications such as Microsoft MapPoint 2004. Because Visio solutions are provided in both metric and US solutions, the directional map solution contains road signage applicable to the local environment. In other words, when using the US-based solution you will find Interstate and State Route road sign symbols. In the metric solution you will find UK and EU-based road signage. You are free to “mix and match” between these differing stencils.

To access a stencil that is not currently open complete one of the following procedures:

Select File ► Shapes and then select one of the required stencils from the list of available solutions in the Visio menu system

Or

Click on the Shapes Toolbar Button on the Standard Toolbar and then select one of the required stencils from the list of available solutions in the Visio menu system

Mechanical EngineeringVisio Mechanical Engineering solutions include:

Fluid Power Part and Assembly Drawing

Many of the SmartShape™ symbols found in the Mechanical Engineering solutions have configuration options associated with them. Just as with any Visio SmartShape™ symbol, to access these configuration options right-click on the SmartShape™ symbol in question to access its context menu and select from the available options.

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NetworkVisio Network solutions include:

Active Directory Basic Network Diagram Detailed Network Diagram LDAP Directory Novell Directory Service Rack Diagram

There have been changes in the solutions provided within Visio 2003. Visio 2003 no longer supports auto discovery of networks. If you want to use Visio to map your network, you might want to check out the various third-party products that are available, such as Fluke Networks’ LAN MapShot. LAN MapShot lets you quickly discover all IP and NetBIOS devices, including switches, servers, routers, printers, hubs, hosts, and Fluke Networks tools, as well as IPX servers and printers, in your local broadcast domain.

LAN MapShot is included in the Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Resource Kit for IT Professionals.

All of the Network Equipment SmartShape™ symbols used in the various Network solutions contain numerous Custom Property fields. To be precise, these SmartShape™ symbols contain more Custom Properties than can be displayed in the normal Visio Custom Properties dialog box. To facilitate an ease of use in working with the Custom Properties associated with these symbols, select View ► Custom Properties Window from the Visio Menu System rather than selecting Shape ► Custom Properties… from the SmartShape™ symbol’s context menu.

Organization ChartVisio Organizational Chart solutions include:

Organizational Chart Organizational Chart Wizard

By default, when creating a new Organizational Chart using the Organizational Chart solution, as soon as you drop an Executive SmartShape™ symbol from the stencil to the drawing page, a dialog appears instructing you in the proper procedure for working with the Organizational Chart symbols. The method’s logic is this:

To add a subordinate position to a higher-up position, drop that subordinate symbol on top of the higher-up. Visio will automatically take care of connecting and properly laying out the SmartShape™ symbols in the diagram.

The Organizational Chart Wizard solution begins with the display of a wizard that will step you through the entire process of generating an Organizational Chart form an external data source such as a Microsoft Office Excel 2003 spreadsheet. The wizard interface is intuitive and easy to follow. Read each screen of the wizard carefully and the wizard will do a fine job of not only diagramming your Organizational Structure, by additionally creating drill-down pages for each functional group.

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Microsoft® Office Visio® Tips and TricksEach of the drill-down pages is a synchronized copy of the overall structure as diagrammed on the first page of the drawing. To add additional synchronized pages, right-click on a manager and select Create Synchronized Copy… from the context menu.

Process EngineeringVisio Process Engineering solutions include:

Piping and Instrumentation Diagram Process Flow Diagram

An integral part of the Visio P&ID and PFD solutions are the Component and Connectivity explorer. These explorers are activated via the Process Engineering custom menu which is added to the Visio standard menus when you use either of these Process Engineering solutions.

Project ScheduleVisio Project Schedule solutions include:

Calendar Gantt Chart PERT Chart Timeline

The Calendar solution adds a custom Calendar menu to the Visio standard menu system. This Calendar menu contains a menu item entitled Import Outlook Data Wizard… This wizard lets you read the data from your local Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 calendar and then the wizard will generate a calendar in the current Visio drawing page. This calendar can then be enhanced with additional symbology and text. If you wish, this calendar can then be saved as HTML and published to the web, retaining all of the Custom Property data that was stored with each calendar entry.

The Gantt Chart solution can either create a Gantt chart from scratch or import data from Microsoft Office Project 2003. The wizard to perform the importing of data from Microsoft Project can be found under the Gantt Chart menu that is added to the Visio Menu system when you begin a new Gantt chart solution. Once you have created a Gantt chart, it can be exported to Microsoft Project as well. This exporting feature is also found under the Gantt Chart menu added to the Visio standard menu system.

Visio’s Timeline solution contains the ability to not only create a timeline with user definable time increments and place intervals and milestones along the timeline, but it also contains a new feature implementing a detail view of a segment of that timeline. To add the detail view, drop an Expanded Timeline SmartShape™ symbol onto the timeline and configure the interval.

Timeline data, like the Gantt Chart information listed above can be imported from, and exported to Microsoft Project. This functionality is accessed via the custom Timeline menu added to the standard Visio menu system.

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SoftwareVisio Software solutions include:

COM and OLE Data Flow Model Diagram Enterprise Application Jackson Program Structure ROOM UML Model Diagram Windows XP User Interface

The UML Model Diagram template in Visio provides full support for creating object-oriented models of complex software systems. It includes the following tools, shapes, and functionality:

The UML Model Explorer, which provides a tree view of your model and a means of navigating from one view to another.

Predefined SmartShape™ Symbols that represent the elements in the UML notation and support the creation of the UML diagram types. The shapes are programmed to behave in ways that are consistent with the UML semantics.

Easy to access UML Properties dialog boxes where you can add names, attributes, operations, and other properties to UML elements.

The ability to reverse engineer projects created in Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 or Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to generate UML static structure models.

The ability to reverse engineer projects created in Microsoft Visual Studio. NET and generate UML static structure models.

The Windows XP User Interface provides a true Drag-and-Drop user interface design system that allows you to graphically prototype how all of your Windows XP User Interface components will look. These components include, but are not limited to, Window Design, Dialog Box Design, Wizard Design, and Forms Design.

It should be understood that this solution is not a CASE tool. No language specific code is generated in the background. It is, however, possible to create a custom solution using these SmartShape™ symbols and custom macros written in Microsoft VBA, Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, Microsoft VB.NET, Microsoft C++, Microsoft C#, or Microsoft C#.NET to develop the ability to generate language specific code.

For further information on these possibilities, please refer to the list of external resources at the end of this document.

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Web DiagramVisio Web Diagram solutions include:

Conceptual Web Site Web Site Map

The Visio Web Site Map solution begins with a wizard which requests that you point to the root of a web site where you want your mapping to begin. The browse button allows you to navigate out to the site you wish to reference and accept that URL. The website map that is created is a hierarchal diagram and is fully selectable and editable as necessary.

ResourcesThe following references/links are a brief listing of some of the resources at your disposal to obtain further information about Microsoft Office Visio 2003, Visio Solutions, Visio User Groups, Visio News Groups and more.

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Support Centerhttp://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;visio2003

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Discussion Groupshttp://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?lang=en&cr=US&dg=microsoft.public.visio.general

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Developer Centerhttp://www.msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/visio/

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Books from Microsoft Presshttp://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/5603.asp

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 in the Microsoft Office Marketplacehttp://office.microsoft.com/search/results.aspx?Scope=EP%2CEM&Query=visio&Origin=HH011205091033&CTT=5

Microsoft Visio MVP Sitehttp://www.mvps.org/visio/

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Third Party Developer Solution Siteshttp://directory.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/advsearchresults.aspx?productscsv=15

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 TechNet Sitehttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/visio/default.mspx

Milestone Consulting Group, Inc. – Information Worker Consulting & Education Services http://www.milestoneconsultinggroup.com

visibility.biz – Microsoft Visio Consulting & Educational Serviceshttp://www.visibility.biz

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http://www.visibility.biz/

http://www.milestoneconsultinggroup.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/visio/default.mspx

http://directory.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/advsearchresults.aspx?productscsv=15

http://www.mvps.org/visio/

http://office.microsoft.com/search/results.aspx?Scope=EP%2CEM&Query=visio&Origin=HH011205091033&CTT=5

http://office.microsoft.com/search/results.aspx?Scope=EP%2CEM&Query=visio&Origin=HH011205091033&CTT=5

http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/5603.asp

http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/visio/

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?lang=en&cr=US&dg=microsoft.public.visio.general

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?lang=en&cr=US&dg=microsoft.public.visio.general

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;visio2003

visio 03 tips and tricks handout

Documents

edition of visio

working visio environment

usage of visio

version of visio

visio commands

daily use of visio

tricks introduction

icons applicable