Using Microsoft Visio 2002 with Microsoft Office XP

Published: November 1, 2001

Applies to:
Microsoft Visio 2002
Microsoft Office XP

For the latest information, please see https://office.microsoft.com/home/office.aspx?assetid=FX01085798

On This Page

Introduction
Visualizing Data Stored in Office Documents
The Enterprisewide Diagramming Standard
Conclusion

Introduction

Summary: In English, we say, "I see" when we mean that we understand. Tools that help us visualize complex concepts can help generate that "I see!" moment faster. That's why organizations that use Microsoft® Office XP can benefit from Microsoft Visio®, the business diagramming software that empowers effective visual communication.

Organizations recognize the productivity gains that come with a standard communication tool set and have widely adopted Microsoft Office. Likewise, Visio diagramming software provides a common visual language that helps everyone across the enterprise communicate more effectively. When Office users add Visio diagrams to their Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint® slides, and e-mail messages, the results have far more impact than words or numbers alone.

In this paper, you'll see how Microsoft Visio, a standalone Office family program, can be used alongside Office XP to help users become more productive and more effective with a visual style of communication.

A simple flowchart adds clarity to this text-heavy Word document.

Advantages of a Visual Work Style

Many of the communication challenges we face today stem from information overload. In today's rapid-fire pace of business, people have to comprehend and respond to changes quickly. We write reports in Word, distribute Excel spreadsheets, present PowerPoint slides, and exchange numerous e-mail messages. Most people feel deluged with information they barely have time to process.

Replacing a list of bullet points with a Visio timeline helps audiences more easily comprehend and remember the information in this PowerPoint slide.

Effective visuals can bridge the gap between information overload and understanding by reducing reams of text into concise diagrams. The scenarios that follow show how Visio diagrams generate instant understanding by presenting information in a way that is:

• Concise. A single diagram can cut through an overload of text and numbers to clearly present main points.

• Memorable. Presenting information visually can dramatically increase comprehension and recall.

• Universal. Diagrams provide a common visual language that spans cultural and technical barriers.

This organization chart concisely communicates change in a way that text connot.

How Visio and Office XP Work Together

As an Office family member, Microsoft Visio provides many familiar features that help you start creating and sharing diagrams right away. Visio also integrates with Office XP programs to help you quickly and easily visualize the information you work with every day. Plus, you can easily share Visio diagrams in the context of your everyday business communications - via Office documents, in e-mail messages, and on the Web.

Getting Up To Speed Quickly

Visio provides an intuitive approach to diagramming and includes many familiar Office features that help you become productive right away. Whether you need a simple flowchart or a highly detailed technical drawing, you can easily assemble diagrams using predefined shapes. Visio includes thousands of SmartShapes® symbols arranged in task-specific stencils. Automatic layout and alignment tools provide design assistance that ensures professional results. Plus, attractive borders, backgrounds, and color schemes help you add an attractive touch regardless of your level of artistic expertise.

Users of Microsoft Office will be immediately familiar with the Visio work environment. Visio provides many classic Office features, plus a number of features new to Office XP. Visio 2002 includes the new look of Office XP and the timesaving Task Pane. Personalized menus and customizable toolbars work just like they do in Office programs. AutoCorrect, the Office spelling checker, and Office keyboard shortcuts help you become productive right away. Just like in Office XP programs, Answer Wizard Help offers quick access to task-specific Help topics stored both locally and on the Web.

Simply drag and drop predefined SmartShapes symbols from the stencil onto the drawing page to assemble task-specific diagrams.

Visualizing Data Stored in Office Documents

While all Visio diagrams can be created using the drag-and-drop technique, many diagrams can be generated automatically to help you visualize data stored in Office documents. For example, you can transform employee contact information stored in Excel spreadsheets into organization charts using the Organization Chart Wizard. Similarly, tasks and milestones documented in Microsoft Project serve as the basis for project timelines. Visio can also generate network diagrams, Web site maps, database and software diagrams, and more by connecting to corporate networks, Microsoft SQL Server™, Microsoft Visual Studio®, Microsoft Exchange Server, and other data sources.

Visio diagrams can also be linked to databases so you can populate shapes with custom properties. Shapes in a Visio diagram can be linked to any database that supports the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) standard, including Microsoft Access, Exchange Server, SQL Server, and many others. In addition, Visio can automatically create reports and bills of materials from the data stored with shapes. The data can be exported for further analysis in Word, Excel, Access, or other programs.

This organization chart was created by importing employee data stored in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Physical asset information stored in a Microsoft Access database can be imported into the shape property fields of an office layout diagram.

Sharing Drawings and Diagrams Easily

Integration with Office programs makes it easy to share Visio diagrams in the context of your everyday business communications. Just insert Visio diagrams into Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and e-mail messages. You can even revise and update diagrams in place, right within Office documents. Or, you can embed links to Visio diagrams to synchronize changes made to the original diagram. You can even launch Visio from within an Office document to create new drawings.

Once inserted into Office documents, Visio diagrams can be updated in place. The Visio tools, menus, and shapes can be accessed from within Office programs.

Publishing on the Web

Like other Office XP programs, Visio lets you quickly and easily save documents as Web pages. You can zoom in and out of diagrams right within Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later. With page tabs, it's easy to navigate multi-page diagrams online. And hyperlinks embedded into Visio diagrams are preserved when saved to the Web, even when you assign multiple hyperlinks to a single shape. Plus, when you save Visio diagrams as Web pages, you don't sacrifice the data stored behind shapes—a custom properties frame displays the data right within the Web browser.

Visio diagrams can be saved as Web pages complete with built-in zoom capabilities, page tabs for navigation, and a custom properties frame.

The Enterprisewide Diagramming Standard

Smart organizations continually look for technologies to leverage their existing investment. By adding Visio to the Office desktop, businesses can standardize on a communication tool set that can be used broadly throughout the organization. With support for a full range of business and technical diagramming solutions, Visio 2002 is the single technology that organizations can adopt for information-rich visual communication. And with improved deployment and customization capabilities, Visio is even better at meeting organizational needs.

The Visio Product Family

The Visio 2002 product family has been streamlined to simplify organizational purchase decisions and to facilitate more efficient deployment and maintenance. The three products are designed to meet the needs of specific groups of users:

• Visio Standard: for Business Professionals Visio Standard provides diagramming solutions that help business professionals—such as project managers, sales and marketing professionals, human resources personnel, administrative staff, and others—visualize and share information about the people, projects, and processes they work with every day.

• Visio Professional: for Business and Technical Professionals Visio Professional helps technical professionals—IT, developer, and engineering professionals—visualize existing ideas, information, and systems and prototype new ones. Visio Professional also includes the business diagramming solutions found in Visio Standard.

• Enterprise Network Tools: For IT Professionals Visio Enterprise Network Tools is an add-on to Visio Professional 2002 that provides advanced network diagramming and documentation capabilities for IT professionals and includes a one-year subscription to the Visio Network Center.

Because Visio products share a common file format, users can exchange diagrams across the organization, regardless of which Visio product they use. Visio Standard and Visio Professional also include the Visio diagramming engine for developing custom visual solutions.

Customizing Shapes, Stencils, and Templates

Visio provides a flexible platform with shapes that represent thousands of task-specific symbols. Yet different businesses have different requirements. Thanks to SmartShapes technology, anyone can modify shapes or create custom shapes to suit organizational or personal needs.

It's easy to edit any of the thousands of Visio shapes to match unique corporate or industry standards. Or, you can draw and program shapes from scratch, and then save them on stencils or in a template to reuse in other diagrams.

You can also add intelligence to shapes. By writing formulas in the spreadsheet-like ShapeSheet® window, you can make shapes data-aware or modify their behavior in other ways. For example, a door shape can "know" when it's glued to a wall shape and can rotate appropriately. A network equipment shape includes properties for the manufacturer and other information with sample data already assigned.

A Platform for Enterprisewide Solutions

Visio software is also a development platform on which highly customized solutions can be built—even if you have only limited programming support in-house. For example, organizations can build integrated applications for asset tracking, sales force automation, automated scheduling, data visualization, and so on. (For some real-world examples, check out the Visio case studies on the Web at https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/ms810818.aspx and https://www.microsoft.com/office/visio/prodinfo/default.mspx

The solutions that ship with Visio are built using the same application program interface (API) and methods that are available for end-user development. Programmers can code integrated business applications using built-in Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA) 6.3, or other programming languages such as Microsoft Visual C++®, or any Automation controller.

Deployment and Maintenance

New and improved features make it straightforward to deploy and maintain Visio alongside other standard tools across the organization. Like Office, Visio 2002 can now be deployed using Microsoft Windows® Installer technology, which simplifies desktop management. With help from the Custom Installation Wizard and Systems Management Server (SMS), organizations can perform silent and unattended installations to specific user groups. Improved support for non-administrator desktop and Terminal Server enable organizations to utilize Visio in a secure Windows environment. And once Visio has been deployed, features such as Install on Demand, Auto Repair, and Auto Update alleviate Help desk workloads.

Conclusion

All organizations want to keep information and processes flowing so that employees can make critical decisions quickly. That's why many companies standardize on a communication tool set with Microsoft Office XP at the center. Visio 2002 makes a compelling addition that maximizes your investment in Office and promotes more effective communication throughout the organization. With Microsoft Visio, people can quickly and easily create professional-looking diagrams that integrate well with the work they do in Office programs. The results provide a concise and memorable way of presenting information that helps everyone across an organization to improve everyday communications—and the bottom line.