Visio -> other formats

[Pemo]

I understand that the Visio format is held close to Bill Gates' chest that
other software (eh PaintShop Pro, Irfanview etc) cannot read/convert to
other formats.

Is there a reason, other than MS bloody-mindedness?

(Yes, I know there are filters to Save As other formats but these are
utterly appalling)

Pemo

 

[Al Edlund]

I'd suggest as an observer of M$ office products that it would appear that
more and more of what we see has an XML set of underpinnings. The base
'model' has remained fairly consistent over the last few releases. I haven't
had the pleasure of seeing Graham Widemans new 'survival' book, but in the
last one he spent a significant amount of time going into how XML might be
applied as a 'generic' external tool. He also provides some very handy tools
for examining both XML and Visio.
Al

 

[Lori Pearce \(MSFT\)]

The Visio XML file format is an publicly documented format. Go to the Visio
developer center and you can get information on that file format. XML is the
present and the future.

The Visio binary file format is extremely complex (one look at the XML
format and you will understand what I mean) and has never been fully
documented publicly and probably never will. It's basically only documented
by the code itself.

Use XML. It's full fidelity with the binary.