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You're reading from  Mastering Data Visualization with Microsoft Visio Professional 2016

Product typeBook
Published inMay 2016
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781785882661
Edition1st Edition
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Authors (2):
David Parker
David Parker
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David Parker

David J Parker's background has been in data visualization ever since he struggled to produce lists of hospital equipment from Computer Aided Design models of buildings as a budding architect in the '80s. He moved into building and infrastructure asset management in the late '80s using a Unix system and gradually migrated to Windows-based systems throughout the '90s. He became a European Business partner of Visio Corporation in 1996 and presented the database-linked Visio solutions that he was providing merchant banks in London and New York with at several international conferences. David started bVisual Ltd. in 1998, which provides Visio-based solutions to various industries, and became a Silver-level Microsoft partner. He has been a Microsoft MVP (Visio) for the last 12 years and has helped Microsoft Corp, UK and Western Europe, by providing Visio solutions, training, website content, and presentations. David has had several books on Visio published and has been presenting Visio/SharePoint integration courses for many years for Microsoft Western Europe, from Oslo in the North down to Lisbon in the South. He has presented at SQL and SharePoint Saturday conferences and writes a regular blog for people interested in Microsoft Visio.
Read more about David Parker

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Chapter 7. Creating Custom Data Graphics

In Chapter 4, Using the Built-In Data Graphics, we learned how to use the built-in Data Graphics. There are three types of graphic items to display data values: text callouts, icons, and data bars. In addition, there is the ability to color by value, but this does not require any new shapes.

This chapter covers enhancing existing data graphic items, and the creation of new Text Callouts, Icon Sets, and Data Bars.

In this chapter, we will learn the following topics:

  • How graphic item Masters are structured

  • How custom Icon Sets are created

  • How custom Data Bars are created

  • How custom Text Callouts are created

Understanding the structure of graphic item Masters


Each of the three types of graphic item master (Text Callout, Icon Set, and Data Bar) have their own special ShapeSheet cells. These cells provide the information for Visio to present in the Data Graphic dialogs and for the application to add the graphic items to each shape. The following screenshot shows a Text Callout (with the letter symbol and the e-mail address), an Icon Set (with a thumbs up or down), and a Data Bar (displaying the salary range for the grade):

The configuration of these graphic items is contained within a Data Graphic Master. When a Data Graphic is applied to a shape, each Graphic Item Master is inserted into it. Of course, this cannot happen if the target shape is not a group shape, so it must first be converted into a group if it is not one already.

If the Data Graphic configuration is changed, then each of the shapes that have it applied on them must be re-configured.

Each graphic item Master contains a shape that...

Modifying graphic items


The easiest way to create a Text callout, Icon Set, or Data Bar graphic item is to duplicate an existing one and then modify it. This is best done in the Drawing Explorer window because these graphic item masters are not visible in the Document Stencil. The Duplicate command is available on the right-click menu of the source Master. If the desired built-in graphic item is not in the Drawing Explorer window, then simply add it to a temporary Data Graphic for a shape in the document. This will bring a copy of the graphic item master into the Document Stencil.

The Match master name on drop property should be ticked in the local document stencil version of the Master.

The following screenshot shows the Protection section of the ShapeSheet of the graphic item Master. There are several cells that have 1 as a value in them, and they may need to be temporarily changed to 0 in order to unlock them.

These values should then be returned back to 1 or locked when the edits are complete...

Summary


In this chapter, you learned how to create enhanced versions of Microsoft Visio Graphic Item Master shapes. We created custom Text callouts, Icon Sets, and Data Bars. We recognized that it is easiest to copy, adapt, and reuse existing Graphic Item Masters.

In the next chapter, you will learn how validation rules can be used to check conformance to corporate standards. You will also learn about the built-in reports tool, and how to extract useful information from structured diagrams.

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Published in: May 2016Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781785882661
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Authors (2)

author image
David Parker

David J Parker's background has been in data visualization ever since he struggled to produce lists of hospital equipment from Computer Aided Design models of buildings as a budding architect in the '80s. He moved into building and infrastructure asset management in the late '80s using a Unix system and gradually migrated to Windows-based systems throughout the '90s. He became a European Business partner of Visio Corporation in 1996 and presented the database-linked Visio solutions that he was providing merchant banks in London and New York with at several international conferences. David started bVisual Ltd. in 1998, which provides Visio-based solutions to various industries, and became a Silver-level Microsoft partner. He has been a Microsoft MVP (Visio) for the last 12 years and has helped Microsoft Corp, UK and Western Europe, by providing Visio solutions, training, website content, and presentations. David has had several books on Visio published and has been presenting Visio/SharePoint integration courses for many years for Microsoft Western Europe, from Oslo in the North down to Lisbon in the South. He has presented at SQL and SharePoint Saturday conferences and writes a regular blog for people interested in Microsoft Visio.
Read more about David Parker