Visio 5.0 drawing software gets better and better with age

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): About two weeks ago I received a wedding invitation from a cousin. He was to have his wedding reception at the mosque inside the House of Representatives (DPR) complex in Jakarta. He was considerate enough to enclose a map of the mosque in the invitation.

Unfortunately, the map contained a few errors that caused some confusion. Moreover, whoever prepared it had chosen to exclude important landmarks such as the DPR building itself and the Manggala Wanabhakti Complex. Not surprisingly, we missed the entrance to the mosque when we went there.

The map itself, it seemed to me, was created with the help of a heavy-duty drawing program, most probably AutoCAD. For a seasoned AutoCAD user, creating a simple directional map such as this one would not take much time. However, it took months to really master real world programs like AutoCAD. I remembered a much more intuitive way of creating diagrams and flowcharts, and the name Visio came immediately to mind.

Visio was the pioneer of the drag-and-drop business graphics software. Back in 1992, when the first version came up and the company name was still Shapeware, Visio was considered the easiest tool for creating diagrams, and it earned popularity overnight. A few other companies tried to imitate and share the success of Visio; here was ABC Flowcharter from Micrografx, and Corel even came up with Corel Flow. But today, in its fifth generation, Visio is still considered by critics and editors to be the best program for flowcharting and diagraming.

I happened to obtain a demo copy of the Visio Standard 5.0 from Singapore, so I thought why not try it out and see how much time I would need to create a simple directional map that would lead us to the mosque where my cousin had his wedding reception.

I should admit up-front that I was not totally unfamiliar with Visio. I had used it in the past, but it has been many years since then. The intuitive approach of this program has not changed, though, and I was able to complete the map that you see in the accompanying picture in seven minutes. It is not a gorgeous looking map, because Visio is not for artists. Moreover, the artistic talent is also something that I wish I had. But, still, I guess the map would guide you to the location easily.

Shapes

Basically, Visio comprises three components: The template, the shapes and the tools. The template is the page that has grids on which we create our drawing. The shapes are ready-to-use drawing objects that we can select, drag and drop into our template. Over 1,300 shapes are available in Visio Standard. They are organized in pages like a catalog, and these pages are called the stencils. You will find the stencils on the left side of the screen.

In my project, I chose the stencil for Directional Map. It contains shapes for railway tracks, clove junctions, roundabouts, bridges, signs, public houses, buildings, skyscrapers, etc. One important feature of these shapes is that you can expand it in one direction without affecting their other properties. In creating the railway track, for example, I can stretch it without changing its general look.

To create the map, I simply dragged the shapes that I needed into the template. These shapes are intelligent objects, so they automatically snap to the grid as well as to another shape whenever we place them together. When we move one shape, the connection will not be broken. It simplifies the job tremendously.

To represent the Manggala Wanabhakti Complex, I needed two shapes of the skyscraper. Instead of dragging the same shape twice, I just selected the shape in the stencil and used the Stamp tool. With this tool, as you can guess, I can place as many instances of the same shape on the template as I needed.

Creating text was also very simple. I just dragged the Text Box shape from the stencil, typed in the text and adjusted the width of the box. I could change the font, change the color of the text, decorate the box with a color and texture fill and add some spice. I did not do it because the map would have had to be photocopied in black and white anyway.

In case the drawing gets bigger than the size of the paper that your printer can print on, Visio also allows you to divide it into two or four or more pages. This is called tiling.

Special purposes

Do not let yourself be fooled by the ease of use of this program that I have just described. Visio can do more than just create instant diagrams. It can be connected to external database, automate charts for project management, and even be integrated with SAP's R/3 so that you have a better view of its implementation throughout your enterprise.

In fact, Visio comes in different editions. In addition to the US$150 Visio Standard, you can choose Visio Professional 5.0 (US$350), Visio Technical 5.0 (US$350), and the soon to be released Visio Enterprise 5.0. With 1,000 network and telecom shapes, Visio Professional has more complete shapes for those working in the information system and software development areas. Visio Technical is more suitable for people who work with schematic diagrams. The Visio Enterprise is packed with 14,000 exact replica of network equipment shapes and it will enable you to manage your enterprise resources better. Visio's Web site (www.visio.com) provides guidelines that you can use to decide which one you should have.

If you cannot find the tools that you need, you can access Visio Solution Library on their Web site and get specialized tools for your rather unique tasks. Visio is also well integrated with Office 97, and it is also Web-ready. You can even create links to sites on the Internet in your diagrams.

After six years and five generations, Visio is still a great diagraming and flowcharting software program. Creating simple diagrams, maps and many other types of business drawings is easy. However, with a lot of efforts, you can do a lot of things with any one of the four editions. The more complex your task, the more time and effort you have to invest, though.

About the only complaint that many people -- including a software reviewer in PC World -- have is that Visio diagrams look dull. They do have a boring look. You don't have snazzy properties such as gradient fills, watermark, etc. in Visio. Other programs, such as Corel Flow, would allow you to place bitmap images on the drawing. But, then again, the main objective is to communicate your idea as clearly as possible, right? If that is the case, the less dressy the diagram is, the easier it is to comprehend.