Visio^® Overview

Visio Shape Data & Open API

Shape Data

Visio shape data is a powerful tool that allows you to add data to shapes in a diagram to provide more information about that shape without cluttering the shape with a bunch of added text. For example, you can add data to a shape within an org chart providing more information about that position's title, salary, department number or contact info. Specific data about IP addresses and hardware info can be added to shapes in a network diagram; for a floor plan, data can be added to specify the types of materials to be used. All of this added data is accessed by right clicking on a shape in your Visio diagram and choosing "Shape" from the drop down menu.

Shape data is a feature that few diagramming softwares offer and is critical for adding additional information to diagrams.

SmartDraw is another option that includes shape data. With SmartDraw, data can be manually added to a shape, or automatically via an import. SmartDraw offers the ability for intelligent shape data, allowing shapes to change their appearance depending on the data they contain. For example, an overutilized server shape in a network diagram could be automatically colored red, or have a flag icon added to it. Added data can be exported as a manifest, showing, for example, the number and types of computers in a given office, their location, as well as asset tags or any other relevant information. SmartDraw can export a manifest with a single click, while Visio requires a custom made, third-party integration. Learn more about shape data in SmartDraw.

Visio API & Object Model

Visio includes an application programming interface (API) that employs object models that allow users to create scripts that automate certain features of Visio, such as opening a new diagram, altering shape behavior, customizing the user interface (UI), or adding shapes to an existing diagram. With the right code, a user can have a diagram created automatically by inputting data or linking to an external data source (like Excel), rather than needing to create the diagram manually by dragging in and/or drawing each portion of the diagram.

For this to work, users will need to be familiar with programming languages such as Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), C#, or .NET, will need a copy of Visio, and will need to take the time to properly set up each script and define most object properties. To automatically add shapes to a diagram, the coordinates and size of each shape and line in the diagram need to be explicitly specified by the programmer. This makes creating a properly formatted diagram from varying data a difficult task. However, once understood, automated diagramming using scripts provides a huge benefit to end users, and will make diagramming and creating visuals much less tedious and time consuming.

Much like shape data discussed above, any good diagramming software should provide an open API to automate much of the diagramming process, and to allow users to customize the program to provide the results most relevant to them.

SmartDraw also has an Open API to let users build diagrams from data automatically.

SmartDraw created the VisualScript SDK to take automation to the next level. The SDK is the foundation of SmartDraw's Open API. It's easy to use because it leverages SmartDraw's intelligent formatting to make specifying a tree or a flow as simple as specifying the parents and children. No positioning information is needed because the intelligent formatting engine knows how to lay them out perfectly on the page. Click here to learn more about SmartDraw's Open API.