Two gripes

[Paddy]

Visio 2002 and Visio 2003.

Gripe 1. In earlier Visio, there was an add-on under "Tools": "Stencil
Report Wizard", whereby all shapes in a stencil were compiled into a
"report" of shapes and names. Has this been lost/omitted in Visio 2002 &
2003? If not, where is it?

Gripe 2. In earlier Visio, "Help" was contained within the installation;
Visio 2002 and 2003 need to be on-line and go casting around the web for
answers. I find this bloody hopeless. Is there a way of installing "Help"
locally?

Thanks

Paddy

--

 

[Paul Herber]

Visio 2002 and Visio 2003.

Gripe 1. In earlier Visio, there was an add-on under "Tools": "Stencil
Report Wizard", whereby all shapes in a stencil were compiled into a
"report" of shapes and names. Has this been lost/omitted in Visio 2002 &
2003? If not, where is it?

Gripe 2. In earlier Visio, "Help" was contained within the installation;
Visio 2002 and 2003 need to be on-line and go casting around the web for
answers. I find this bloody hopeless. Is there a way of installing "Help"
locally?

Neither of these options are (as far as I remember) in the default
installation. You will need to go through the custom install options
and add the requuired options.

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

The Stencil Report was dropped a few versions back, but they did publish the
code in the Developing Visio Solutions book. I have something similar at
http://mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm called Stencil Printout. It will loop through
all stencils in a specific directory and create a drawing of the content of
each stencil. Another difference is that the Stencil report will resize the
shapes to fit into a portion of the page, this one does not.

Microsoft's philosophy on help is that it should be up to date which is why
the default is to search on line. They are aware that not all users have
high speed access or sometimes work without internet access, so the feature
can be disabled by going to the Options box under the Tools menu. Under the
General tab, is a button for Service Options. On that page select Online
Content. You can disable the Online Content from there. Under the Shape
Search tab on the Option dialog, you can disable searching online for
shapes.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
Common Visio Questions http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm
Visio Wishlist http://www.mvps.org/visio/wish_list.htm

 

[Paddy]

Thanks, John. I'lll check them out.

Regarding the Stencil Wizard, we are still using the (wonderful) pre-MS
Visio Technical 4.1 in a College for CAD. (another gripe - why did MS drop
the emphasis on precision technical drafting - aka CAD? but I digress). A
curriculum requirement is that they produce stencils of symbols -
architectural electrical, electrical schematic, electronic schematic) and
use their stencils in assigned drawings. Assessment includes printing of
all drawigs and printed stencil reports.

We have found Visio far superior to other CAD-type software, and since MS
purchased Visio, it has gained wider recognition/acceptance. We are looking
at updating to Visio 2003, but have found a few gripes, not the least of
which is the non-compatibility of different versions - yet MS overcame that
for Word/Excel etc years ago..

I'll check out your suggestions.

Paddy

 

[Paddy]

The Stencil Report was dropped a few versions back, (Snipped)

Actually, just playing around, I copied the Visio Technical 4.1 Add-on
"Stencil Report Wizard.EXE" and its required "Stndoc.VST" to the Visio 2003
folder.

I opened a small demo stencil of mine (actually in the Visio 2002
"Solutions" folder, because I haven't yet found the Visio 2003
stencils!!!!), ran the Stencil Report Wizard program from Windows Explorer
and voila!

I can't see any licence issues, since all four versions of Visio I have on
my machine (happily co-existing) are licensed and legal.

Paddy

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

I can't see any licence issues, since all four versions of Visio I have on
my machine (happily co-existing) are licensed and legal.

Paddy

If you own the stencils there is no licensing issue with switching the
stencils between the versions you have.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
Common Visio Questions http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm
Visio Wishlist http://www.mvps.org/visio/wish_list.htm

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

Regarding the Stencil Wizard, we are still using the (wonderful) pre-MS
Visio Technical 4.1 in a College for CAD. (another gripe - why did MS drop
the emphasis on precision technical drafting - aka CAD? but I digress).
A curriculum requirement is that they produce stencils of symbols -
architectural electrical, electrical schematic, electronic schematic) and
use their stencils in assigned drawings. Assessment includes printing of
all drawigs and printed stencil reports.

Visio's main focus has been on business graphics and it's release of
IntelliCad was an attempt to enhance their 2D environment with a 3D product.
They eventually spun that off into a consortium and returned to their main
focus. Over the years, Visio has expanded to include a Professional and a
Technical version. When Microsoft acquired Visio, they started trimming
back, by removing some stencils and merging Visio Technical into Visio
Professional.

As to the stencil reports, are you referring to the actual add-on that gave
a printout of all shapes in a stencil or a report that says which shapes are
being used on a page?

We have found Visio far superior to other CAD-type software, and since MS
purchased Visio, it has gained wider recognition/acceptance. We are
looking at updating to Visio 2003, but have found a few gripes, not the
least of which is the non-compatibility of different versions - yet MS
overcame that for Word/Excel etc years ago..

Visio is a bit more complex than Word and Excel when it comes to what is
being stored. The Word format has been stable since 97. Though there are
limitations on older Visio versions reading new formats, all versions of
Visio can open any file from any previous version.

When of the advantages is it's expandabilty. If you can not find a shape or
extra functionality, it is relatively easy to create it.

I'll check out your suggestions.

Paddy




John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://www.mvps.org/visio/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://www.mvps.org/visio/VBA.htm
Common Visio Questions http://www.mvps.org/visio/common_questions.htm
Visio Wishlist http://www.mvps.org/visio/wish_list.htm

 

[Paddy]

If you own the stencils there is no licensing issue with switching the
stencils between the versions you have.

I was referring more to the copying and use of the Visio Technical 4.1
add-on program "Stencil Report Wizard.EXE" and its required stencil
"Stndoc.VST".

It works like a charm.

Paddy