Visio 2000 Developer's Survival Guide Table of Contents
Home Dev Surv Guide Home This page

Book Contents In Detail

Part 1: Overview Of The Visio Development Environment 15

Chapter 1: Introduction 17

• Programmable Diagramming: Enter Visio 18
• The Development Challenges 18
• Who This Book Is For 19
• What This Book Covers 19
• What This Book Does Not Cover 20
• Caveat: This Book Is Probably Wrong! 20
• Companion Website 20
• Visio Version Information 21
• Acknowledgements 21

Chapter 2: Overview of Visio Territory 23

• The User's View 23
• The Developer's View 24
  • Generic Solution Structure 24
  • At the Heart 24
  • Automation 24
  • Add-On Code Modules 25
  • Connections To Data 27
  • Example Scenarios 28
• First Look At Visio Structure 28
  • "Model + View + Controller" Structure 29
  • Document Types and Roles 30
  • Where The ShapeSheet Environment Fits In 31
  • ShapeSheet Heavily Used In Automation Too 32
  • The Automation Environment 32
• Visio Model vs. Solution Model 33
• From Here 33

Chapter 3: A Plan For Coping 35

• Planning Your Course Of Study 35
• Toolkit 36
  • Developing Visio Solutions Book ("DVS") 37
  • Multiple Monitors 37
  • Get Comfortable With VBA 37
  • Developer Tools 37
• Other Resources 38
  • Books 38
  • Newsgroups 38
  • Websites 38
• Preliminary Skillset 38
  • Preliminary User-level Visio Activities 38
  • Some ShapeSheet Activities 40
  • Preliminary Developer-Level Activities 40
• From Here 40

Part 2: Visio Structural Breakdowns 41

Chapter 4: Visio Object Model 43

• Object Model Notes 43
  • Objects with Cells 45
  • Collections Versus Individual Objects 45
  • User Controls Shown Abbreviated 45
  • Layer Objects 45
  • Relationship To DVS and Poster Object Models 45
• From Here 45

Chapter 5: ShapeSheet Structure Introduction 47

• Orientation 47
  • ShapeSheet-Environment Covers "Content" Branch of Object Model 47
  • Complete Automation Understanding Must Include Cells ! 48
  • ShapeSheet Organized as Sections, Rows and Columns 48
  • "All ShapeSheets Behave the Same" 49
  • How the ShapeSheet Applies to Diagram Shapes 49
  • Objects Which Contain Cells Via Dummy Shapes 50
  • Objects Which Contain Cells Directly 50
  • Zooming In Further 51
• ShapeSheet Sections and Rows 51
  • Different Section Structures 51
  • Sections and Rows 52
• ShapeSheet Formulas 54
• From Here 54

Chapter 6: ShapeSheet: Detailed Section-Row-Cell Structure 55

• Reading The Tables 55
  • Constants 56
  • Finding The Section Of Interest 56

Chapter 7: ShapeSheet Functions 75

Chapter 8: Visio Objects and Their Properties and Methods 83

• Object/Property/Method Tables 84
• Object Summary Table 84
  • COM-Related Columns 84
  • Event DispInterfaces 85

Part 3: Visio Functional Areas In Depth 149

Chapter 9: Visio Files: Drawings, Stencils, Templates 151

• Top Concepts 151
  • Organizing Our Overview 152
• File Relationships 153
  • Drawing File Point-of-View 153
  • Drawing File With Stencil 154
  • Template file 155
  • Summary of Roles of Document Components 156
  • Silly Visio File Tricks 156
• File Architecture Implications 157
  • Developing Masters and Styles 157
  • Where To Put VBA Code? 157
• From Here 160

Chapter 10: Shapes 161

•  
  • Comfort First 161
  • Shapes and Masters 162
  • "Hello World" via Automation and VBA 162
• Single Shape Type, Distinguishing Attributes 162
• Shape Features Overview 163
• Identity and Name 164
  • Some Subtleties 166
• Coordinate Space and Alignment Box 166
  • Coordinate Space 167
  • One-Dimensional Shapes (Connectors) 168
  • Alignment Box 168
  • Selectively Enabling/Disabling Various Geometry-Controlling Features 169
• Geometry and Geometry Attributes 170
  • Geometry Row Types. 170
  • Geometry Attributes 171
  • Geometry-Related Formatting 171
• Adjusting Feature Positions: Controls 171
• Text 172
  • Text Position 172
  • Text Appearance 172
  • Useful Text Idioms 172
  • Fields: ShapeSheet Values to Text 173
  • Text To ShapeSheet: SHAPETEXT( ) 174
  • Text To ShapeSheet Value: EVALTEXT() 174
  • Setting the Text from the ShapeSheet 175
  • Selectively Enabling/Disabling Text Behaviors 175
• From Here 175
  • Shapes With Member "Sub-Shapes" (Group Shapes) 175
  • Connectors, 1-D Shapes 175
  • Glue, Connections and Connection Points 175
  • Solution-Specific "Data" 176
  • Styles and Masters 176
  • Layers 176
  • Right-Click Context Menu: Actions 176
  • Events 176
  • Foreign Objects 176
  • Hyperlinks 176

Chapter 11: Masters and Shapes 179

• "Master" versus "Shape Instance" 179
• Master-To-Shape and Shape-To-Master 180
  • Starting From New Master 180
  • Starting From Drawing Page 180
• Stencil File versus Document Stencil 181
  • Instances Are Always Created From Local Stencil 182
  • Master Matching Alternatives 182
  • Development Implications 182
• Other Wrinkles 183
• From Here 183

Chapter 12: Some ShapeSheet Practicalities 185

• ShapeSheet Cell Reference Syntax 185
  • Finding Out Cell Names 186
• Universal and Local Row and Cell Names 186
  • Which Names Are Which? 187
• ShapeSheet Calculation Dependencies 188
  • Cells Set Multiple Ways 188
  • Monitoring Recalc Loops 189
  • Keys To Solution 190
  • Trickier Example 190
  • To REALLY Break A Loop 190
  • Twin Peaks Example 191
  • Flaky Recalculation Problems 192
  • The DEPENDSON( ) Function 193
• Guard( ) Function Revisited 195
• ShapeSheet Cell Types and Units 195
  • Internal Numeric Value versus Output Appearance 195
  • "Magic" X, Y Extraction 196
  • Assumed Units 196
• From Here 196

Chapter 13: Composite Shapes Using Groups 197

• Group Structure 197
  • Group As Holder Only 197
  • Group As Shape With Sub-Shapes 198
  • Member Coordinate Space 199
• Group Behavior Variants 201
  • Resize Behavior 201
  • Add On Drop, a Very Promising Feature 201
  • Controlling The Alignment Box 202
  • Controlling Formatting 202
• A Composite Shape Example 203
  • Structure 203
  • Behavior 204
  • ShapeSheet 204
  • Editing The Structure With VBA Functions 206
  • Embellishments 209
  • Protection/Enablement Issues 210
  • Composite Shapes: Ready To Deploy? 210
• Form-Style Text Behavior 211
  • Navigation 211
  • Text Clipping 212
• From Here 212

Chapter 14: Connectors, Routing and Layout 213

• Plan of Attack 214
• Connectors Using Ordinary ShapeSheet Features 214
  • 1-D Coordinate Space 214
  • Straight Connector 215
  • Curve Connector 216
  • Right Angle Connector 216
  • Shortcomings 217
  • Universal Connector 217
  • Further Caveats 220
  • Summary of Simple Connectors Implementation 220
• Dynamic Layout Services 221
  • Individual Dynamic Layout Services 221
  • Basic DLS Participation Eligibility: ObjType 222
  • Dynamic Layout Services Details 223
  • Routing 223
  • Line Jumps 224
  • Plowing 226
  • Layout 226
  • Dynamic "Walking" Glue 227
  • Page-level DLS Disable: DynamicsOff 228
• Dynamic Connectors 228
  • Dynamic Connector Geometry 228
  • Implications For Geometry Dependents 229
  • Text Pin 229
  • Connection Points 230
  • Control Points 230
  • Enable/Disable Dynamic Connector Functionality 231
  • Some Dynamic Connector Developer Issues 231
• Alternative Solutions to Fancy Routing 235
  • Comments 237
• Comparison of Connector Strategies 238
• From Here 239

Chapter 15: Glue and Connects 241

• Orientation 241
• What Glues to What 243
• Glue In Action 244
  • Initialization 244
  • How Gluer Depends on Gluee 244
  • Control Point to Connection Point 244
  • Connector Endpoint to Connection Point 246
  • Connector to "Shape": Dynamic or "Walking" Glue 246
  • Various Parts to Guide Lines 246
  • Visio 2000's Gendered, Directional Connection Points 247
• Factors Affecting User Operation of Glue 250
  • Glue Enable/Disable Wrinkles 250
  • Lock/Guard Glue Formulas 251
  • Connections To/From Group Member Shapes 251
• Some Glue Issues 251
  • Dynamic Glue (_WALKGLUE) Issues 252
• Connects Objects: Reporting On Connections 252
  • Connects Just Reports on Cells 253
  • Some Connections Report As Two Connect Objects 253
• Other Notes 253
  • Temporary Connection Points 253
• From Here 254

Chapter 16: Formatting Via Masters and Styles 255

• Mastering Master Concepts 256
  • Copying versus Inheritance 256
  • The Initial Master-Instance Relationship 257
  • Verifying Inheritance/Local Behavior 257
  • Creating and Removing Local Override Formulas 258
  • Severing Master-Shape Inheritance 258
• Master Identity and Names 258
• Styles-The Basics 259
  • Style "Attribute Sets": Three Sets of Cells 259
  • Style-to-Style Inheritance 260
• Master and Style Inheritance, Together At Last 261
  • Three "Sub-Style" Attribute-Sets Versus Overall "Style" 262
  • Applying a Style 262
  • Applying a Style Switches Inheritance For Entire Attribute-Set 263
  • Applying a Local Formula or Value to a Cell 263
  • Does "Apply Style" Beat Guard() and LockFormat? 263
  • Reverting a Section or Cell to Inheritance 264
  • Un-Applying a Style (Revert to Inheritance from Master) 264
  • Style Collisions 264
• Style Philosophy and Application 265
  • Styles as Named Sets of Attribute-Values 265
  • Styles for Conveying Semantics 265
  • The Evil "Color Scheme" Add-On 265
• Rethinking the Motivation 266
  • Bottom Line 267
• Style Miscellany 267
  • Seemingly Superfluous Sections? 267
• Some Development Implications 267
  • Incomplete Inheritance Control and Visibility 267
  •  The Need for Tools 268
• From Here 268
  • Line Ends and Patterns 268

Chapter 17: Line and Fill Patterns and Line Ends 269

• Relationship Between Pattern Masters and Instances 269
  • Parameters 270
• Line Pattern and Line End Miscellany 271
  • Creating Unscaled Line-Ends 271
  •  Line End Sizing Ratios 272
  • Line Pattern and Line End Positioning 273
  • Other Wrinkles 274
• From Here 274

Chapter 18: Layers 275

• Orientation 275
• Layer Structure And Behavior 276
  • A Page's Layers Versus Layers Object 276
  • A Shape's Layer Membership 276
  • Adding/Deleting Layers 276
  • Assigning Shapes to Layers 276
• Using Layers 277
  • Layers For Shape Data Attributes and Querying 277
  • Querying Made Feasible 278
• Layer Control Tricks 279
• From Here 279

Chapter 19: The "User Interface" Functionality 281

• Orientation 281
• The UI Object Model 282
  • UIObject Peculiarities 282
• Extent of the UI Data 284
  • MenuSets, Menus, MenuItems 284
  • AccelTables, AccleItems 285
  • ToolbarSets, Toolbars, ToolbarItems 285
  • Statusbars, StatusbarItems 285
• General UI Strategy 285
  • Constructing a Custom UI 285
  • Persisting and Instating a Custom UI 287
• Wrinkles 288
  • Potentially Confusing UIObject Names 288
  • Document.CustomToolbars Gets Set Unexpectedly 288
  • Disappearing Toolbar Items 289
• From Here 289
• Tables Referred To in This Chapter 289

Chapter 20: Events 295

• Overview 295
  • Several Different Event Mechanisms 295
  • Where To Put The Code? 296
  • Event Persistence 297
• ShapeSheet-Triggered Event Handling 297
  • CALLTHIS 297
  • RUNADDON 298
  • RUNADDONWARGS 300
  • Dedicated Event Cells 300
• Automation Events Overview 301
• Document Events 304
• WithEvents Event Handling 304
  • WithEvents Overview 304
  • Code for WithEvents: Simple Case 305
  • Code for WithEvents: More Realistic Case, Using Class Module 306
  • Further Issues 310
• Events Via EventList.Add and AddAdvise 310
• EventList.Add 311
• EventList.AddAdvise 313
  • A Class To Implement IVisEventProc 314
  • An Event Sink Object Manager Module 315
  • Persistence 316
  • AddAdvise Compared To WithEvents 316
  • EventList Interacts With WithEvents 317
• Miscellaneous Issues 317
  • NoEventsPending versus VisioIsIdle 317
  • BeforeXXX Events 318
  • VB/VBA Issue With Signed Two-Byte EventCode Values 319
  • Event Support That Visio Lacks 319
• From Here 319

Chapter 21: Loose Ends 321

• Undo 321
• Internationalization: Universal versus Local Names 322
• Document Protection 323
• Paths and Curves 323
• Registry 324
• Version Info 324
• Conclusions 326

Appendix: 1: Using the PDF Version of This Book 327

• Acrobat Reader Tips 328

Index 329

Article Created: 2000-06-09  Last edit: Last edit: 00-10-30 Graham Wideman
Go to:  DiagramAntics.com