Microsoft Visio (/ˈvɪz.i.oʊ/VIZ-ee-oh) (formerly Microsoft Office Visio) is a diagramming and vector graphics application and is part of the Microsoft Office family. The product was first introduced in 1992, made by the Shapeware Corporation. It was acquired by Microsoft in 2000.

• 1Features
• 2History

Features[edit]

Microsoft made Visio 2013 for Windows available in two editions: Standard and Professional. The Standard and Professional editions share the same interface, but the Professional edition has additional templates for more advanced diagrams and layouts, as well as capabilities intended to make it easy for users to connect their diagrams to data sources and to display their data graphically.^[3][4] The Professional edition features three additional diagram types, as well as intelligent rules, validation, and subprocess (diagram breakdown).^[5] Visio Professional is also offered as an additional component of an Office365 subscription.^[6]

On 22 September 2015, Visio 2016 was released alongside Microsoft Office 2016. A few new features have been added such as one-step connectivity with Excel data, information rights management (IRM) protection for Visio files, modernized shapes for office layout, detailed shapes for site plans, updated shapes for floor plans, modern shapes for home plans, IEEE compliant shapes for electrical diagrams, new range of starter diagrams, and new themes for the Visio interface.^[7]

Database modeling in Visio revolves around a Database Model Diagram (DMD).^[8]

File formats[edit]

All of the previous versions of Visio used VSD, the proprietary binary-file format. Visio 2010 added support for the VDX file format, which is a well-documented XML Schema-based ('DatadiagramML') format, but still uses VSD by default.

Visio 2013 drops support for writing VDX files in favor of the new VSDX and VSDM file formats,^[9] and uses them by default. Created based on Open Packaging Conventions (OPC) standard (ISO 29500, Part 2), a VSDX or VSDM file consists of a group of XML files archived inside a Zip file.^[9] VSDX and VSDM files differ only in that VSDM files may contain macros.^[9] Since these files are susceptible to macro virus infection, the program enforces strict security on them.^[10]

While VSD files use LZW-like lossless compression, VDX is not compressed. Hence, a VDX file typically takes up 3 to 5 times more storage.^{[citation needed]} VSDX and VSDM files use the same compression as Zip files.

Visio also supports saving files in SVG files, other diagramming files and images. However, images cannot be opened.

History[edit]

Visio began as a standalone product produced by Shapeware Corporation; version 1.0 shipped in 1992. A pre-release, Version 0.92, was distributed free on a floppy disk along with a Microsoft Windows systems readiness evaluation utility. In 1995, Shapeware Corporation changed their name to Visio Corporation to take advantage of market recognition and related product equity. Microsoft acquired Visio in 2000, re-branding it as a Microsoft Office application. Like Microsoft Project, however, it has never been officially included in any of the bundled Office suites (although it was on the disk for Office 2003 and could be installed if users knew it was there^{[citation needed]}). Microsoft included a Visio for Enterprise Architects edition with some editions of Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Visual Studio 2005.^[11]

Along with Microsoft Visio 2002 Professional, Microsoft introduced Visio Enterprise Network Tools and Visio Network Center. Visio Enterprise Network Tools was an add-on product that enabled automated network and directory services diagramming. Visio Network Center was a subscription-based website where users could locate the latest network documentation content and exact-replica network equipment shapes from 500 leading manufacturers.^[12] The former has been discontinued, while the latter's shape-finding features are now integrated into the program itself.^[13] Visio 2007 was released on November 30, 2006.

Microsoft Visio adopted ribbons in its user interface in Visio 2010.^[14]Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook (to some extents) had already adopted the ribbon with the release of Microsoft Office 2007.^[15]

November 19, 2012: BPMN^{[16][circular reference]} 2.0 was utilized within Microsoft Visio.^[17]

Versions[edit]

• Visio v1.0 (Standard, Lite, Home)
• Visio v2.0
• Visio v3.0
• Visio v4.0 (Standard, Technical)
• Visio v4.1 (Standard, Technical)
• Visio v4.5 (Standard, Professional, Technical)
• Visio v5.0 (Standard, Professional, Technical)
• Visio 2000 (v6.0; Standard, Professional, Technical, Enterprise) – later updated to SP1 and Microsoft branding after Visio Corporation's acquisition
• Visio 2002 (v10.0; Standard, Professional)
  • Visio for Enterprise Architects 2003 (VEA 2003) – based on Visio 2002 and included with Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect edition
• Office Visio 2003 (v11.0; Standard, Professional)
  • Office Visio for Enterprise Architects 2005 (VEA 2005) – based on Visio 2003 and included with Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite and Team Architect editions
• Office Visio 2007 (v12.0; Standard, Professional)
• Visio 2010 (v14.0; Standard, Professional, Premium)
• Visio 2013 (v15.0; Standard, Professional)
• Visio 2016 (v16.0; Standard, Professional, Office 365)
• Visio Online Plan 1 (Web based editor), Visio Online Plan 2 (Desktop, Office 365)
• Visio 2019 (v16.0; Standard, Professional)

There are no Visio versions 7, 8, or 9, because after Microsoft acquired and branded Visio as a Microsoft Office product, the Visio version numbers followed the Office version numbers. Version 13 was skipped due to triskaidekaphobia.

Visio does not have a Mac OS X version, which has led to the growth of several third party applications which can open and edit Visio files on Mac.

On 7 May 2001, Microsoft introduced Visio Enterprise Network Tools (VENT), an add-on for Visio 2002 scheduled for release on 1 July 2001, and Visio Network Center, a subscription-based web service for IT professionals who use Microsoft Visio for computer network diagramming.^[18] VENT was discontinued on 1 July 2002 because of very low customer demand.^[19]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Release notes for Monthly Channel releases in 2019'. Microsoft Docs. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
2. ^Tom Warren (September 24, 2018). 'Microsoft launches Office 2019 for Windows and Mac'. The Verge. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
3. ^'A comparison of Visio Standard and Visio Professional'. Microsoft.
4. ^'Visio 2007 Edition Comparison'. Microsoft.
5. ^'Visio 2010 Edition Comparison'. Microsoft.
6. ^'Compare Visio Versions'. Microsoft.
7. ^'What's new in Visio 2016'. Microsoft.
8. ^Filev, Andrew (2005). Professional UML Using Visual Studio .Net. John Wiley & Sons. p. 276. ISBN9780764558757. Retrieved December 12, 2012. The cornerstone of the Visio Data POroject will be the Database Model Diagram (DMD). [...] The DMD is mainly an Entity Relationship (ER) diagram with project management capabilities.
9. ^ ^abcdefghijkl'What's new for Visio 2013 developers'. MSDN. Microsoft. July 16, 2012. New file format. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
10. ^'Check for macros that might contain viruses'. Visio Help. Microsoft. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
11. ^'History of Visio'. MVPS. Archived from the original on April 18, 2011.
12. ^'Press release'. Microsoft. May 1, 2001.
13. ^'Outils de réseau Visio Enterprise produit abandonné'. Microsoft.
14. ^'What's New in Visio 2010 for Automation Developers'. MSDN. Microsoft. The ribbon. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
15. ^'Use the Ribbon instead of toolbars and menus'. Microsoft Office website. Microsoft. 2007. Archived from the original on March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
16. ^'Business Process Model and Notation'.
17. ^Horn, Stephanie. 'Introducing BPMN 2.0 in Visio'. www.Microsoft.com. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
18. ^'Microsoft Visio Enterprise Network Tools and Visio Network Center Debut at NetWorld+Interop'. News Center. Las Vegas: Microsoft. May 7, 2001. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
19. ^'Visio Enterprise Network Tools product discontinued'. Support. Microsoft. July 27, 2006. Retrieved March 31, 2013.

Further reading[edit]

• Rasmussen, Anders Ingeman (2010). 'Microsoft Visio 2010 — Open source Visio alternatives'. OSALT: Open Source as Alternative. osalt.com. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
• 'No ERD to SQL code generation in Visio 2003/2007 Pro'. Just another tech blog. Blogger. March 25, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
• 'Microsoft Visio Website'. Official Microsoft Visio website - Visio 2010. Blogger. December 7, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
• 'Create a floor plan'. Microsoft Office Online Help. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
• Parker, David John (2013). Microsoft Visio 2013 Business Process Diagramming. Packt Publishing. ISBN978-1-78217-800-2.
• Parker, David John (2010). Microsoft Visio 2010 Business Process Diagramming. Packt Publishing. ISBN978-1-84968-014-1.
• Parker, David John (2007). Visualizing information with Microsoft Office Visio 2007: smart diagrams for business users. McGraw-Hill. ISBN978-0-07-148261-5.
• Helmers, Scott A. (2011). Visio 2010 Step by Step. O'Reilly/Microsoft Press. ISBN978-0-7356-4887-6.
• Helmers, Scott A. (2013). Visio 2013 Step by Step. O'Reilly/Microsoft Press. ISBN978-0-7356-6946-8.

External links[edit]

• Microsoft Visio 2013 Viewer (Internet Explorer add-in) on Microsoft Download Center
• Microsoft Visio 2010 Product Overview Guide on Microsoft Download Center
• Microsoft Visio 2010: Interactive menu to ribbon guide on Microsoft Download Center
• Old versions of Visio which has abandonware status already. (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 2010Beta)

To create a calendar in Visio, start with the calendar template and use shapes to set up the time periods—for example, daily or yearly. Then drag shapes onto the calendar for events, reminders or notes, and configure them to include data about the occasions they represent.

The Calendar template is available in the Schedule category in Visio.

Create a calendar (Visio 2016 and newer versions)

1. Click File > New, and then in the search box type Calendar.

2. Click the Calendar template and click Create.

3. From Calendar Shapes, drag the shape for the type of calendar you want, such as Day, Week or Month.

4. In the Configure box that appears, specify the date range you want the calendar to cover, and set the other options, and click OK. Configure automatically fills the correct dates into the calendar days.

Create a calendar (Visio 2013)

1. Click File > New, and then in the Suggested searches list, click the Schedule category.

2. Click the Calendar template.

3. In the Calendar template description box, click Create.

4. From Calendar Shapes, drag the shape for the type of calendar you want, such as Day, Week or Month.

5. In the Configure box that appears, specify the date range you want the calendar to cover, and set the other options, and click OK. Configure automatically fills the correct dates into the calendar days.

To change the date range of the calendar, right-click the calendar and click Configure. In the Configure box, change the start or end date.

Note: The Configure box not working for you? See I click Configure for a calendar but nothing happens.

Add or change an appointment

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Appointment shape onto a calendar day.

2. Right-click the shape and select Configure.

3. In the Configure box, specify the start and end time, and other information about the appointment, and then click OK.

To change the date, time or other information about an appointment, right-click it and click Configure. Then change the information as needed.

Tip: When you have the Shape Data box open on your drawing, you can also see and change appointment information for any appointment you click. To open the Shape Data box, right-click an appointment and click Shape Data. It stays open on your drawing until you close it or close the drawing.

Add or change a multi-day event

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Multi-day event shape onto the day on which the event begins.

2. Right-click the shape and select Configure.

3. In the Configure box, specify the details, such as the ending date and place, and then click OK.

Add calendar art

From Calendar Shapes, drag a shape, such as Important, Celebration, Pushpin, or a weather shape, onto the day you want to mark.

Add text to the calendar

Double-click any shape on the calendar, including a day, appointment, event or art shape, to automatically create a text box, and add text. To edit the text later, double-click the day or shape again.

Add a thumbnail image of the previous or next month

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Thumbnail month shape onto your drawing page.

2. In the Shape Data box, specify the calendar options you want, and then click OK.

Create a weekly or multi-week calendar

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Week or Multiple week shape onto the drawing page.

2. In the Configure box that appears, specify the calendar options you want and then click OK.

Create a yearly calendar

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Year shape onto the day onto the drawing page.

2. In the Shape Data box that appears, specify the year that you want to display as a calendar, and other additional options and then click OK.

Create a calendar

1. Click the File tab, click New, and then click the Schedule category.

2. Double-click the Calendar template.

3. From Calendar Shapes, drag the shape for the type of calendar you want to create onto the page.

4. In the Configure dialog box that appears, specify the calendar options you want, and then click OK.

Mark important days

Add or change an appointment

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Appointment shape onto a calendar day.

2. In the dialog box, specify the appointment options, and then click OK.

The appointment is associated with the day and moves with the day if you reposition it. To change an appointment, right-click it, and then click Configure.

Add or change a single-day or multi-day event

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Multi-day event shape onto the day on which the event begins.

2. In the Configure dialog box, specify the options and then click OK.

The event is associated with the day and moves with the day if you reposition it. To change an event, right-click it, and then click Configure.

Add calendar art

• From Calendar Shapes, drag a shape, such as Important, Celebration, or Pushpin, onto the day you want to mark.

Calendar art doesn't move if you change the date. However, if you delete the calendar, the calendar art shape is also deleted.

Add a thumbnail image of the previous or next month

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Thumbnail month shape onto your drawing page.

2. In the Shape Data dialog box, specify the calendar options that you want, and then click OK.

Create a weekly or multi-week calendar

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Week or Multiple week shape onto the drawing page.

2. In the Configure box that appears, specify the calendar options you want and then click OK.

Create a yearly calendar

1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Year shape onto the day onto the drawing page.

2. In the Shape Data box that appears, specify the year that you want to display as a calendar, and other additional options and then click OK.

Create a weekly or multi-week calendar

Weekly and multi-week calendars offer a lot of flexibility. A weekly calendar can span from 2 to 8 days.

A multi-week calendar includes weeks from the same or adjacent months.

Note: Multi-week calendars spanning more than 35 days will not fit on the standard drawing page. You can resize the calendar shape by selecting it, and then dragging a corner selection handle . If you want to create a multi-week calendar that spans significantly more than 35 days, create a new drawing page, and then add a new multi-week calendar to each page in your drawing.

1. On the File menu, point to New, point to Schedule, and then click Calendar.

2. For each weekly calendar that you want to create, on the Insert menu, click New Page.

3. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Week or Multiple week shape onto each drawing page.

4. In the Configure dialog box, specify the calendar options that you want, and then click OK.

5. Change the title by double-clicking it, and then typing the text that you want.

   Tip: If the title isn't visible, right-click the week, and then click Configure. In the dialog box, select the Show title check box.

6. You can add appointments, events, or calendar art.

   • Add or change an appointment

     1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Appointment shape onto a calendar day.

     2. In the dialog box, specify the appointment options, and then click OK.

        The appointment is associated with the day and moves with the day if you reposition it.

     3. To change an appointment, right-click it, and then click Configure.

        Note: If you change the date of the day, the appointment is deleted.

   • Add or change a single-day or multi-day event

     1. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Multi-day event shape onto the day on which the event begins.

        Note: You can use the Multi-day event shape to create events spanning one or more days.

     2. In the Configure dialog box, specify the subject, location, start date, end date, and date format, and then click OK.

        The event is associated with the day and moves with the day if you reposition it.

        Note: If you specified a one-day event, the Multi-day event shape snaps to the specified date. If the event spans more than one day, the shape expands across all of the specified dates.

     3. To change an event, right-click it, and then click Configure.

        Tip: You can also drag the ends of the Multi-day event shape to expand the date range.

   • Add calendar art

     1. From Calendar Shapes, drag a shape, such as Important, Celebration, or Pushpin, onto the day on which you want it to appear.

        You can resize calendar art by dragging a selection handle .

        Note: Calendar art associates with the day, not the date you place it on, so if you change the date, the calendar art shape doesn't move to the new date. However, if you delete the calendar, the calendar art shape is also deleted.

Create a yearly calendar

You can create a one-year calendar on one page, as in the following illustration, or a multi-year calendar with each year on a different page.

1. On the File menu, point to New, point to Schedule, and then click Calendar.

2. For each yearly calendar you want to create, on the Insert menu click New Page.

3. From Calendar Shapes, drag the Year shape onto each drawing page.

4. In the Shape Data dialog box, specify the calendar options you want, and then click OK.

   Notes:

   • To highlight particular days or months in a year calendar, subselect the day or month that you want to highlight. On the Format toolbar, click the arrow next to the Fill Color button, and then click the color that you want. Repeat for the additional days or months that you want to highlight.

   • To quickly change the year or the day that weeks begin on, right-click the Year shape, and then click Configure.

   • To change the color scheme for the year, right-click any empty area on the drawing page, and then click Color Schemes.