I am the author of the venerable Using Microsoft Visio 2010, from QUE publishing. The original book came with 24 companion videos that are no longer accessible from the publisher's site. This channel was created to share those videos with you.
Even though this content was produced for Visio 2010, many of the topics and techniques still apply to Visio 2013, 2016, 2019, and perhaps beyond. So enjoy! I hope they offer a bit of learning and a bit of entertainment!
Muchos gracias!! 20 years of using Visio for home renovation planning and I could never figure out how to get consistent dimension lines. 20 minutes spent with your tuto and I'm now an architect!! My builders are impressed. You have great teaching skills. Thanks a lot.
Here's two tips to view the Shape Data Sets panel, inspired by @ericgelders Method 1: - Right-click in the Shape Data panel and click "Shape Data Sets..." Method 2: 1. Right-click the Quick Access Toolbar (bar of small shortcut icons at the top of the window) 2. Choose "Customize Quick Access Toolbar..." 3. In left drop-down, set: Choose commands = "All Commands" 4. Find "Shape Data Sets..." in the list and select it 5. Click the "Add" button in the middle of the form 6. Click OK to exit the pop-up You will now have a button in the Quick Access Toolbar to show the Shape Data Sets panel whenever you need it! Thanks to Eric G!
These videos are still valuable these days, thank you for putting them up here! I like to work with shape data sets, it's very covenient. But I wonder if there is a way to see ALL the shape data sets being used in a Visio drawing, in a list or overview, or maybe a data dump? To get to all the data sets, first you need to dive into the shape, then the shape editor and then edit shape data sets... That's a bit obfuscated IMHO.
I believe the definitions are stored "per-document", and can be found in SolutionsXML, which is an awkward API, but you can get at it with VBA, C#, VB.NET, etc, if you are technically inclined. If I had a few spare hours, I would try and make a GitHub project that did some basic accessing of this information, so people could start an .exe and have a quick look at them, maybe export them to some text file for re-import, etc.
Also, the "Shape Data Sets" floating window shows all the data sets in the document. I think you have to use this to apply a set to a shape, so I'm not sure I truly understand your question now...?
@@VisioGuy Thanx for the extensive replies! Yes, I found the Shape Data Sets floating window eventually, thanx for pointing out! The thing is, you have to dig relatively deep to find it - it's not like there's an option in the ribbon to find it with one mouse click and provide you with a convenient data set overview.
Is there a more straightforward way to display 'shape data' directly onto the shape without using the more 'sophisticated data graphics'? So just the text without the graphics?
Hi, yeah, it's easy enough to link Shape Data to text fields. Visio nerds refer to this as "insert field". Over on my other channel (www.youtube.com/@VisioGuy/videos) I've got this video: "Insert Field Trick" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KRufpyxaW7A.html There's also this article that has some deeper info that will definitely help if you need multiple text blocks in different locations on a shape: "Link Fields to Subshape Text" www.visguy.com/2018/02/14/link-fields-to-subshape-text/
Hi, not sure if I have a video on that topic (no time to do a new one in the near future), but over on my website, this article discusses the topic. It's a bit developer-oriented, so depending on your nerd-factor...: "Text Resizing with ShapeSheet Formulas" www.visguy.com/2007/08/21/text-resizing-with-shapesheet-formulas/ Also: "Resize Text With Metafiles!" www.visguy.com/2007/08/24/resize-text-with-metafiles/
Hi! I'm working on a visio automation project. My project involves reading data from several excel files and automatically create a complex visio file to organize these data in a visual format. Problem is, some shapes I will need to use are complex, there will be a master shape that contains several other shapes, which in turn will contain other shapes. At this level (so, third level) some information that comes from the excel files needs to be applied. First and Second level should also have their own shape data. To summarize, I'll have: - shape level 1 - master -> shape data set 1 - shape level 2 - sub-shape 1 -> shape data set 2 - shape level 3 - sub-subshape(s) 1 -> shape data set 3 also, the NUMBER of shapes at level 3 must be correlated to a shape data field in level 2. Is it possible to do it, or should I directly focus on a way to simplify this shape ?
hi, what about visio 365 plan 2 ? I could follow you until a certain point, but then, I can't find an option to link to stencil shape, rather than to shape in drawing.
Right-click in the ShapeSheet and choose "Insert Section...". Then check "Controls". You'll get a new control handles section with one row, look for the section title "Controls".
Any suggestions for kitchen appliances and cupboards so as to build an elevation drawing? Plenty of info on how to do data rack and tech gear elevations.
I have been looking everywhere on how to create a custom arrow head for connector. Other than a half ass wiki from Microsoft I couldn't find anything. And then I found this GOLD!! (Just to support the guy, I will try to buy that book!)
HA HA, dude, try to increase the text size of 270 textboxes simultaneously, while keeping texts inside the shapes so that shapes increase automatically. Saatanan saatana saatana, mulkku suuhun näille typerille neuvojille.
You can "redo last action" via F4, Ctrl + Y or hitting the "Redo" button on the ribbon. So you can select a box and type "Text". Then select a bunch of other boxes and press F4 to redo that text-typing. I think this video is secretly all about hitting F4! :)
Hi PP, Visio doesn't really work that way. Pages are on tabs, more like Excel. You *can*, however have "ever growing pages" or "infinite canvas". Pages can be bigger than a sheet of paper, and will get tiled across sheets if you print to paper. If that sounds interesting, have a look at Design > Page Setup > Auto Size. Turning Auto Size on allows Visio to resize the page as you add elements to your drawing.
When you copy a foreground page to e.g. Word, the background gets offset with a distance equal to about the paper margins. Are you aware of this and how can you fix this?
Try View > Show > Task Panes > Size & Position. You can also get the Size & Position panel by clicking Width/Height/Angle in the status bar at lower-left, when a shape is selected. The fields in the Size & Position panel accept math, so you can, for example add "+0.5deg" to the existing angle value to rotate a shape.
Thankyou, great video, I'm using Visio pro 2019 and the dimensions units differ from page settings I've gone through different settings and there seems to be a bug.
Hard to help on such little info. I just ran a test, dropped an engineering dimension line on a 1:1 inch page, and the dimension read "1.0". Switched the page to metric, and the dimension line immediately displayed "25.4".
@@VisioGuy I have a master with a picture of a timer, which I added connection points. In the display window of the timer I added a Blue Rectangle shape with the words either "Open" or "Close". Every time I place a timer in the drawing I have to go in and manually change Open or Close. I need a way to do this with a as a selectable option. TY.
I had a built in data table show up in the Shape Data window every time I place shape on Visio and the contents of that window suddenly disappeared. What happened?????
I copied multiple shape datas without realizing they had link data, and now when I double click a shape it has 2 or 3 shape data sets. Is there a way to fix it easily, or is manual the only option?
Thank you for sharing this valuable information. Would you have any suggestions on how should one plan a large visio layout involving 100+ components ? For example, if we have a complex IT infrastructure diagram consisting of 80+ servers which network components . We can definetly take the help of Dynamic grid, data linking, zoom/pan, and document stencils but I still struggle on how to layout and then manage that artifact. Any inputs are welcome.
Visio shows blank values just fine. Do you want the row to disappear when it has no data? How will you add data then? If you know the ShapeSheet, you can hide fields with something like this: Prop.Row_1.Invisible = (LEN(Prop.Row_1)=0)
Assuming you are using a fixed list type, you can insert a semicolon before the list of items in the Format field, which themselves are separated by semicolons, which then allows users to leave that field blank.
@@culgiles4433 thank you. I will try that. I’m connecting to an excel spreadsheet shared through sharepoint and it automatically updates my diagrams depending on the data found.
Great video! The one thing I was looking for however, I did not find. I am creating three dimensions from one baseline using "Vertical outside". I am having difficulty aligning the three dimensions to the same base point. I think this may be due to the lines overlapping. To rectify this, I tried using the "Vertical baseline" shape, however, after I set my first dimension, moving the yellow node for the second dimension accomplishes nothing other than moving the little yellow square--No second line appears. I'm using Visio Professional 2013. Thank you for any suggestions you can offer. I would also like to say I love this video because you speak clearly and to the point, and you don't have distracting background "noise". Many thanks!
Hello Mr.Visio. I was hoping you could shed some light regarding shapes, and how they become disproportionate and wonky once you zoom out. Even though they're originally all on the same straight line.
