Table of Contents

Part 1: Overview Of The Visio Development Environment

Chapter 1: Introduction

Programmable Diagramming: Enter Visio

The Development Challenges

Who This Book Is For

What This Book Covers

What This Book Does Not Cover

Caveat: This Book Is Probably Wrong!

Companion Website for Tools, Samples, Updates

Visio Version Information

Acknowledgements

Chapter 2: Overview of Visio Territory

The User's View

The Developer's View

Generic Solution Structure

At the Heart

Automation

Added Functionality

Connections To Data

Example Scenarios

First Look At Visio Structure

"Model + View + Controller" Structure

Document Types and Roles

Where The ShapeSheet Environment Fits In

ShapeSheet Heavily Used In Automation Too

The Automation Environment

Visio Model vs. Solution Model

From Here

Chapter 3: A Plan For Coping

Planning Your Course Of Study

1. This Book Builds On Other Essential Sources

2. Use the Automation Object Model as Mental Scaffolding

3. Reading Strategies

Preparation

Multiple Monitors

Get Comfortable With VBA

Companion Website For This Book

Visio 2003 Developer's Survival Pack Browser Tools

Document-Page-Window Browser

Drag-And-Drop Spy

Geometry Helper

ShapeSheet Developer Helper

Screwdriver for Directional Connection Points

Animation Addon

Events Browser

UIObjects Browser

CommandBars Browser

Inheritance Browser

XML Browser

Bulk VS?-to-XML Converter

Visio.bin Browser

Download and Installation

Visio 2003 Developer's Survival Pack Utilities

VB-to-VSL Adapter Component

Registration Tools

Other References and Support

Books

Newsgroups

Websites

More Visio Tools

Preliminary Visio and VBA Skillset

Preliminary User-level Visio Activities

Some ShapeSheet Activities

Preliminary Developer-Level Activities

From Here

Part 2: Visio Structural Breakdowns

Chapter 4: Visio Object Model

Object Model Developments in Visio 2003

Expanded Object Model

Objects with Cells

Collections Versus Individual Objects

User Interface Objects Shown Abbreviated

Layer Objects

Relationship To DVS and Poster Object Models

Browsable Object-Property-Method Tables

Tools for Object Model Browsing

Visimation Xpose

VBA Object Browser

VBA Locals Window

XML Browser

Additional Tools

From Here

Chapter 5: ShapeSheet Structure and Functions Introduction

Orientation

Complete Automation Understanding Must Include Cells!

ShapeSheet-Environment Covers "Content" Branch of Object Model

ShapeSheet Organized as Sections, Rows and Columns

ShapeSheet Section-Row-Cell Reference Tables

ShapeSheet Orientation Continued

"All ShapeSheets Behave the Same"

How the ShapeSheet Applies to Diagram Shapes

Objects Which Contain Cells Via Dummy Shapes

Objects Which Contain Cells Directly

ShapeSheet Sections and Rows

Varying Section-Row Structures

Sections and Rows vs. Objects

ShapeSheet Formulas and Functions

From Here

Part 3: Visio Functional Areas In Depth

Chapter 6: Visio Files: Drawings, Stencils, Templates

Top Concepts

Organizing Our Overview

Use XML Browser

File Relationships

Drawing File Point-of-View

Drawing File With Stencil

Template file

Summary of Roles of Document Components

Silly Visio File Tricks

File Architecture Implications

Developing Masters and Styles

Where To Put VBA Code?

How Visio Groups Solution Components

Directory-Based Component Grouping

MSI-Based Component Grouping

MSI 5 Cent Tour

Alternate Names: How Visio Finds Templates and Stencils

Conclusions

From Here

Chapter 7: Shapes

Comfort First

Shapes and Masters

"Hello World" via Automation and VBA

Single Shape Type, Distinguishing Attributes

Shape Features Overview

Identity and Name

Some Subtleties

Coordinate Space and Alignment Box

Coordinate Space

One-Dimensional Shapes (Connectors)

Alignment Box

Selectively Enabling/Disabling Various Geometry-Controlling Features

Geometry and Geometry Attributes

Geometry Row Types

Geometry Attributes

Geometry-Related Formatting

Adjusting Feature Positions: Controls

Text

Studying Visio's Supplied Stencils and Templates

From Here

Geometry In Detail

Text in Detail

Shapes With Member "Sub-Shapes" (Group Shapes)

Connectors, 1-D Shapes

Glue, Connections and Connection Points

Solution-Specific "Data"

Styles and Masters

Layers

Right-Click Context Menu: Actions

Events

Foreign Objects

Hyperlinks

Chapter 8: Shape Geometry

Overview of Visio Geometry

Visio Geometry Types

Playing with Shape Geometry

Automation: Don't Overlook DrawXxx Methods

ArcTo, Ellipse and EllipticalArcTo

ArcTo Row

Ellipse Row

EllipticalArcTo

Some EllipticalArcTo Tricks

Related Automation Methods for ArcTo, Ellipse and EllipticalArcTo

Developer Aid: GeoHelper

PolyLineTo Row Type

Related Automation Methods for PolyLineTo

NURBSTo Row Type

NURBS in the Drawing Window

NURBS Foundation

In More Detail

Correspondence to NURBSTo Row

Closed (Periodic) NURBS: The Rap on Wrapping

So What Are Those Visio Adjuster Handles Anyway?

Solving Some Problems

Summary Comparison of Visio UI Versus NURBS Features

Dynamic Connector Geometry

Related Automation Methods for NURBSTo

References

Ink

From Here

Chapter 9: Masters and Shapes

"Master" versus "Shape Instance"

Master-To-Shape and Shape-To-Master

Starting From the New Master Command

Starting From Drawing Page

Stencil File versus Document Stencil

Instances Are Always Created From Local Stencil

Master Matching Alternatives

Development Implications

Other Notes

From Here

Chapter 10: ShapeSheet Mastery

ShapeSheet Cell Reference Syntax

Finding Out Cell Names

Universal and Local Row and Cell Names

Changed in Visio 2003

Which Names Are Which?

ShapeSheet Calculation Dependencies

Cells Set Multiple Ways

Monitoring Recalc Loops

Keys To Solution

Trickier Example

To REALLY Break A Loop

Twin Peaks Example

Flaky Recalculation Problems

The DEPENDSON( ) Function

Visio 2003 SetAtRef Functions

SetAtRefExpr(Last-Formula-Stuffed-In)

SetAtRef( ) and SetAtRefEval( )

Previous Examples Revisited

Fancy Path for Control

Glueable Stay-Horizontal Connector

Guard( ) Function Revisited

ShapeSheet Cell Types and Units

Internal Numeric Value versus Output Appearance

"Magic" X, Y Extraction

Assumed Units

Formula Change Tracking

Aids for Developers

Macro Recorder

ShapeSheet Formula Tracing Window

Cell Dependents and Precedents

ShapeSheet Developer Helper Tool

ShapeSheet Editing in XML Text Format

Named-Row Reordering

Automated Aids for Building Shapes

Shape Studio

Do-It-Yourself Shape Builder

Editing and Studying XML Files

From Here

Chapter 11: All Things Text

Shape.Text

Overview

Text Position

Text Appearance

Fields: ShapeSheet Values to Text

Text To ShapeSheet: SHAPETEXT( )

Text To ShapeSheet Value: EVALTEXT()

Setting the Text from the ShapeSheet

Selectively Enabling/Disabling Text Behaviors

Text Formatting: Details

Overview

Character and Paragraph Sections: Controlling Text Format

Paragraph Section

Visio's Text Format Model Revisited

ShapeSheet Text and String Functions

Basic String Functions: New in Visio 2003

Testing String Equality: STRSAME

Making Text Fit

Alignment Box Expands To Accommodate Text

Text Scales Proportional to Shape Height

Text Scales Smaller to Fit More Text

Text Clipped to Shape Interior

Level Text

Text Follows Angle, Right-Side-Up

Text Positionable by User

Text Positioned Near Connector Endpoint

Improved Text Quality and Behavior in Visio 2003

Quality Settings

Text Events

Comments and "Screen Tips"

Visio Style Comments (aka "Screen Tips")

Office Style Comments

Add Office Comment to Shape

Related Text Topics

Other Text Data Notes

Smart Tags

From Here

Chapter 12: Composite Shapes Using Groups

Group Structure

Group As Holder Only

Group As Shape With Sub-Shapes

Member Coordinate Space

Group Behavior Variants

Resize Behavior

Add On Drop, a Very Promising Feature

Controlling The Alignment Box

Controlling Formatting

Controlling Selection During Shape.Drop

A Composite Shape Example

Structure

Behavior

ShapeSheet

Editing The Structure With VBA Functions

Embellishments

Protection/Enablement Issues

Cell Dependents and Precedents

Form-Style Text Behavior

Navigation

Text Clipping

From Here

Chapter 13: Connectors, Routing and Layout

Plan of Attack

Connectors Using Ordinary ShapeSheet Features

1-D Coordinate Space

Straight Connector

Curve Connector

Right Angle Connector

Shortcomings

Universal Connector

Further Caveats

Summary of Simple Connectors Implementation

Dynamic Layout Services

Overview of Dynamic Layout Services

Basic DLS Participation Eligibility: ObjType

Dynamic Layout Services Details

Routing

Connector "Appearance"

Line Jumps

Plowing

Layout

Dynamic "Walking" Glue

Page-level DLS Disable: DynamicsOff

Connector Splitting

Dynamic Connectors

Dynamic Connector Geometry

Implications For Geometry Dependents

Text Pin

Connection Points

Control Points

Enable/Disable Dynamic Connector Functionality

Some Dynamic Connector Developer Issues

Alternative Solutions to Fancy Routing

Comments

Dynamic Layout Performance Hints

Comparison of Connector Strategies

From Here

Chapter 14: Glue and Connects

Orientation

What Glues to What

Glue In Action

Initialization

How Gluer Depends on Gluee

Control Point to Connection Point

Connector Endpoint to Connection Point

Connector to "Shape": Dynamic or "Walking" Glue

Various Parts to Guide Lines

Visio's Gendered, Directional Connection Points

Working with Gendered Connection Points

Factors Affecting User Operation of Glue

Enhanced Snap and Glue Control in Visio 2002/3

Lock/Guard Glue Formulas

Connections To/From Group Member Shapes

Some Glue Issues

Dynamic Glue (_WALKGLUE) Issues

Connects Objects: Reporting On Connections

Connects Just Reports on Cells

Some Connections Report As Two Connect Objects

Connector-Sensitive Connection Points

Other Notes

Temporary Connection Points

Visio 2003's Connector Splitting Feature

From Here

Chapter 15: Formatting Via Masters and Styles

Mastering Master Concepts

Copying versus Inheritance

The Initial Master-Instance Relationship

Verifying Inheritance/Local Behavior

Creating and Removing Local Override Formulas

Severing Master-Shape Inheritance

Master Identity and Names

Styles-The Basics

Style "Attribute Sets": Three Sets of Cells

Style-to-Style Inheritance

Master and Style Inheritance, Together At Last

Developer Aid: Style Clues in the ShapeSheet Window

Developer Aid: Inheritance Browser

Three "Sub-Style" Attribute-Sets Versus Overall "Style"

Applying a Style

Applying a Style Switches Inheritance For Entire Attribute-Set

Applying a Local Formula or Value to a Cell

Does "Apply Style" Beat Guard() and LockFormat?

Reverting a Section or Cell to Inheritance

Un-Applying a Style (Revert to Inheritance-from-Master)

Style Collisions

Style Philosophy and Application

Styles as Named Sets of Attribute-Values

Styles for Conveying Semantics

The Evil "Color Scheme" Add-On

Rethinking the Motivation

Bottom Line

Some Development Implications

Seemingly Superfluous Style Sections?

Incomplete Inheritance Visibility

The Need for Tools

From Here

Chapter 16: Line and Fill Patterns and Line Ends

Relationship Between Pattern Masters and Instances

Parameters

Line Pattern and Line End Miscellany

Creating Unscaled Line-Ends

Line End Sizing Ratios

Line Pattern and Line End Positioning

Line Patterns vs Overlaid Lines

Other Wrinkles

From Here

Chapter 17: Documents, Pages, Layers and Markup

Document

Page

PageSheet

Background Pages

Markup

Markup Pages

View with DocPgWin Tool

Working with Markup

Markup's Default Behavior

Implementing Rigorous Markup Behavior

Markup Task Pane Markup List

Convert Markup to Normal Page

Layers

Layer Structure And Behavior

A Page's Layers Versus the Layers Object

A Shape's Layer Membership

Adding/Deleting Layers

Assigning Shapes to Layers

Using Layers

Layers For Shape Data Attributes and Querying

Querying Made Feasible

Layer Control Tricks

From Here

Part 4: Building Visio Solutions

Chapter 18: Building Solutions: Introduction

Overview

Alternative Solution Forms

Summary

Orientation to Visio User Interface, Events and Windows

Preview of Some Key Issues

Angle of Upcoming Solution Topics

A Note on Visual Studio.NET

Different Visio Roles, Different Forms of Solution

Visio for Rendering/Output

Visio for Information Capture

"Discipline-Specific Drawing Environment"

Discrete Operations on Drawing

Adding Intelligence to Shapes: "Shape Services"

Adding Intelligence to Drawings: Drawing-wide Semantics

Drawings as Views of Models

Visio as Control Panel

Visio Drawing Control Opportunities

From Here

Chapter 19: Menus, Toolbars, Accelerators

Orientation

Two User Interface Models to Choose From!

Study Sequence

Overview of UIObject-Based Object Model

Items

"Groups" of Items

"Sets" Handle "Context"

Extent of User Interface Data

Three "Levels" Of UI Customization

UIObjects: Messy Details

UIObject Browser: Completing the Picture

Overview of CommandBars-Based UI Object Model

Visio's Use of CommandBars

CommandBarControl Events

CommandBar Browser

Document-Specific CommandBars?

UIObjects and CommandBars, Together At Last

UIObject-Based Model to CommandBars

CommandBars to UIObject-Based Model

Implications for CommandBarControl Events

Usability of CommandBar Model

General UI Strategy Using the UIObject-Based Model

Constructing a Custom UI

Details

Persisting and Instating a Custom UI

Other Sources of Menus and Menu-Like Things

Don't Forget ShapeSheet Actions Section!

Visio 2003: SmartTags Piggyback on Actions

MouseDown Popup Menus

Wrinkles

Potentially Confusing UIObject Names

Persistent Events on Visio Templates Caused UI Confusion

Disappearing Toolbar Items

Example UI Exercises

Adding UI Elements

Minimal UI

From Here

Chapter 20: Events and Other Notifications

Overview

Several Different Event Mechanisms

Event Persistence

Notifications from ShapeSheet Activities

CALLTHIS

RUNADDON

RUNADDONWARGS

Dedicated Event Cells

QueueMarkerEvent

Automation Events Overview

Spectrum of Events Exposed

Event Filters

Document Events

WithEvents Event Handling

WithEvents Overview

Code for WithEvents: Simple Case

Forgetful" VBA?

Example With Model

Code for WithEvents: More Realistic Case, Using Class Module

Further Issues

Events Via EventList.Add and AddAdvise

Developer Aids

Events Browser

Event Trace

SDK Event Monitor

EventList.Add

EventList.AddAdvise

Simple Event Sink Example

Event Sink with Forwarding

Persistence

AddAdvise Compared To WithEvents

EventList Interacts With WithEvents

Filters

Miscellaneous Issues

QueueMarkerEvents Revisited

NoEventsPending versus VisioIsIdle

BeforeXXX Events

VB/VBA Issue With Signed Two-Byte EventCode Values

Mouse and Keyboard Events

.NET Implications

From Here

Chapter 21: VBA-Based Solutions

Visio VBA State-Of-Play

Overview

Benefits and Drawbacks of VBA-Based Solutions

The Modules of a VBA Project

"Ordinary" Modules

Class Modules

Forms

ThisDocument Module

Be Aware of VBA Project Behavior Options!

Getting Rid of a VBA Project

Where To Put Solution Code

Put VBA Code In Stencil

What About Document Events?

Copying Code From Stencil To Drawing

Cross-Project and ShapeSheet-to-Project References

Project to Project

Calling from ShapeSheet, (and UI Items and Events)

Establishing Drawing-to-Stencil References

Project Paths

Project Names

From Here

Chapter 22: "Visio Solution Library" Solutions: VSLs and Addons

Overview of VSL Features

The VSL API

The Visio-to-VSL Conversation

Introducing the VBVSL_Adapter

Overview of VBVSL and Adapter

Minimal "VBVSL_Min" Example

IVBVSL Interface Details

Fulfilling the Needs of VBVSL.cls

Structure For More Complex VSLs

Breaking Down Functionality By Addon Or "Command"?

Installation, Registration and Uninstallation

VSL/Addon Registration With Visio

VSL Unregistration

Additional VSL Installation Considerations

.NET and VSLs

Summary of Benefits and Drawbacks to VSLs

Benefits

Drawbacks

From Here

Chapter 23: Exe and Out-of-Process Solutions

Out-Of-Process Concerns

Integration With Visio

ReflectArgs Exe Example

Conclusions

.NET Exe Solutions

From Here

Chapter 24: COM Addin Solutions

COM Addins Overview

COM Addins In Visio

Conclusion

From Here

Chapter 25: Solution Window Management

Visio's "Windows"

Windows

Window methods and Attributes

Example: Hiding the Shape Search Window

Task Pane

Solution Windows in Visio

Out-of-Process vs. In-Process Windows

Default Visual Basic Form Behavior

Modal Form

Modeless Form

Coordinating modeless windows with Visio

Plain Desktop window

Plain MDI Child window

Anchor window

Stencil window

From Here

Chapter 26: Visio ActiveX Drawing Control

Basic Visio Drawing Control Container

"Single Document" Concept

File > New

File > Open

File > Save As

File > Save

Additional Sample Functions

Open a Stencil

Tidy Windows

Access the Automation Model from Host App

Respond To Events

Respond to Visio Object Events

Other Ideas

Further Considerations

Drawing Control's Relation to Visio Application

VDC.HostID

Using Multiple Controls

User Interface

Utility of Addons and Addins in VDC Scenarios

From Here

Chapter 27: ShapeSheet Service Addons

Event Lifetimes and "ShapeSheet Services"

ShapeSheet Services Pattern

Demo ShapeSheet Services Sample

Main ShapeSheet Services Concepts

"Demo ShapeSheet Services" Sample

I-Am-Selected Service

Supporting Utility Functions

Connect Count Service

Navigation Keys Service

Further Notes on Demo ShapeSheet Services Sample

Conclusions

From Here

Chapter 28: Visio and XML

Visio 2003's XML Features

Optional XML File Format: "XML for Visio"

VDX-Format IDataObject and Drag and Drop

Solution-Specific XML In Document

Solution-Specific XML in ShapeSheet

SVG Format Export

Making Sense of XML

What XML Looks Like

It's A Document, No Wait, It's A Database, No Wait...

MSXML

XSL and XSLT

Schemas

Namespaces

Hands-On "XML for Visio"

Studying VDXs To Learn Visio Structure

"XML for Visio" for Hard-to-Fix Fixups

SolutionXML Examples

Processing "XML for Visio" Files

Ideas

Using MSXML to Iterate Through All Nodes

View

Change: Re-Mastering Shapes

Let MSXML Do The Walking: XSL Patterns and XPath

Visio XML Straight To HTML, in Code

Visio XML Straight To HTML, in Browser

Wrinkles

Generating XML for Visio

From Here

Chapter 29: IDataObject and Shape Drag-and-Drop

Visio's Use of OLE Drag and Drop

Drag and Drop Objects

Introducing IDataObject

From Visio Shape to IDataObject

"Clipboard" Data Formats

Summary So Far

Stencil-Like Features, Using Various Languages

Visual Basic 6 and VBA

C# .NET Implementation

VS 6 C++ and Borland Delphi Implementation

XML IDataObject

XML Data To Visio

XML Data From Visio

Persisting IDataObject Data

VB6 Drag and Drop The Hard Way

Drag And Drop Demo

From Here

Chapter 30: Visio and ActiveX

Using Ordinary ActiveX Controls in a Visio Document

Dynamically Adding ActiveX Controls to Drawing

Documents Linked/Embedded In Visio

Visio ActiveX Control?

Accessing Visio from Within an "ActiveX Shape"

AXShape Sample

From Here

Chapter 31: Animation

"Manual" Animation

Move Disappointing, Rotate Works

Live Dynamics Option and Shape Cell

Overcoming Move Problem: Use Control Point

No VBA While Dragging--Some Alternatives

"Real" Animation

Animation Component

Following A Path

Off-Screen Drawing

Faster Roads (and other Path Patterns)

From Here

Chapter 32: Export and Bitmap Topics

Working with Bitmaps In Visio

Bitmaps, Start to End In Visio

Other Factors Impacting Bitmap Output Quality

Shape With Swappable Bitmap

Save As Web Page

Controlling Bitmap Export From Code

Document's Preview Picture

From Here

Chapter 33: Some Utilitarian Odds and Ends

Persisting Solution Data

Text In Cell

XML

VisXData and IStorage

When to Persist

Undo

Undo Sample VBA

Document Protection

Registry

Version Info

From Here

Chapter 34: Some Deployment Notes

Considerations for Stencils and Templates

Considerations for VSL and COM Addins

From Here

Chapter 35: Internationalization Features

Overview of Internationalization Features

Automation Model

Shape Sheet Window: Changed for Visio 2003

Details

"First time sets both names" Behavior

Named Rows

Default Collection Properties

Cells() Special?

Cell.Formula Not Just Local

ShapeSheet Formula Units

Decimal Points and Argument Separators

Special Case: SETF

Visio-Supplied Stencil Names

Migration Issues

From Here

Part 5: Browsable Reference to Visio Structure

Chapter 36: ShapeSheet Section-Row-Cell Structure

Reading The Tables

Constants

Finding The Section Of Interest

Chapter 37: ShapeSheet Functions

Chapter 38: Visio Objects, Properties and Methods

This Section Available for Download Only

Chapter 39: Events Table

Index