Microsoft Visio 2007

Microsoft Office Visio 2007 makes it easy for IT and business professionals to visualize, explore, and communicate complex information. Go from complicated text and tables that are hard to understand to Visio diagrams that communicate information at a glance. Instead of static pictures, create data-connected Visio diagrams that display data, are easy to refresh, and dramatically increase your productivity. Use the wide variety of diagrams in Office Visio 2007 to understand, act on, and share information about organizational systems, resources, and processes throughout your enterprise.

Office Visio 2007 is available in two stand-alone editions: Office Visio Professional and Office Visio Standard. Office Visio Standard 2007 has the same basic functionality as Visio Professional 2007 and includes a subset of its features and templates. Office Visio Professional 2007 offers advanced functionality, such as data connectivity and visualization features, that Office Visio Standard 2007 does not.

Top 10 benefits: Microsoft Office Visio 2007

Here are the top 10 reasons to use and upgrade to Office Visio 2007.

Visualize, explore, and communicate your systems, resources, processes, and the data behind them

Effectively visualize, explore, and communicate your processes, resources, systems, and the data behind them with the wide range of diagram types in Office Visio 2007. Find recently used templates and documents quickly using the new Getting Started window. Easily determine which template to use by viewing enhanced thumbnail previews. With Office Visio Professional 2007, open sample, data-connected diagrams from the new Samples category in the Getting Started window to get ideas for creating and designing your own diagrams.

Be more productive by integrating diagrams with information across sources

Integrate data with diagrams to combine disparate sources of complex visual, textual, and numeric information. Data-connected diagrams provide visual context for data and create a complete picture of a system or process. More easily link diagrams to data from a variety of data sources by using the new Data Link functionality in Office Visio Professional 2007. Associate all the shapes in a diagram with data using the new Automatic Link Wizard.

Reduce manual data reentry by letting Office Visio 2007 keep diagrams up-to-date for you

No need to worry about data in Visio diagrams being out of date. Using Office Visio Professional 2007, easily refresh data in diagrams by using the new Data Refresh feature, or schedule Office Visio 2007 to automatically refresh the data in the diagram at fixed intervals. Easily deal with data conflicts that may arise when data changes by using the new Refresh Conflicts task pane.

Visualize and act on complex information by displaying data in diagrams

Visualize data in diagrams with Office Visio Professional 2007 so you can easily understand the data and effectively act on the results. Display data in any diagram as text, data bars, icons, and color-coding—all using the new Data Graphics feature in Office Visio Professional 2007.

Explore data and easily track trends, identify issues, and flag exceptions with PivotDiagrams

Visualize and explore your business data in hierarchical form showing data groups and totals by using the new PivotDiagram template in Office Visio Professional 2007. Drill down into complex data, display data using Data Graphics, dynamically create different views of data, and better understand complex information. Insert PivotDiagrams into any Visio diagram to provide metrics and reports that help you track the progress of a process or system. Connect to a variety of data sources—including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Office Project 2007, and Microsoft Office Excel 2007—to generate PivotDiagrams. More effectively track and report on resources and projects managed in Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Office Project 2007 by generating visual reports from those programs in PivotDiagram form.

Create diagrams faster by letting Visio connect shapes for you

Using new AutoConnect functionality, let Office Visio 2007 automatically connect, distribute, and align shapes in diagrams for you—all in one action. Just drag a shape onto the drawing page and position it over one of the blue arrows that appear on a shape that is already on the drawing page; Visio does the rest.

Communicate complex information with new templates and shapes

Visually communicate in more ways with new and enhanced templates and shapes in Office Visio 2007. For example, in Office Visio Professional 2007, diagram IT service processes with the new ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) template, or create diagrams based on Lean Methodology and visualize more-efficient manufacturing processes with the new Value Stream Map template. And, more easily find information on working with new and existing Visio diagram types in the new Office Visio 2007 Help window. Use it to easily search the entire Microsoft Office Online Web site directly from within Visio for answers to your questions, tips and tricks, and more templates.

Effectively convey information with professional-looking diagrams

Design professional-looking Visio diagrams by choosing a color or effect (text, fill, shadow, line, and connector formatting) for an entire diagram by using the new Theme feature. Choose from the built-in themes included with Visio, or create your own custom themes. Office Visio 2007 uses the same built-in themes as other 2007 Microsoft Office system programs. So, if you apply the same built-in themes in your Visio diagrams that you use in your Microsoft Office Word documents and Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentations, they all match, making it much easier to use the files with one another. Also, design more dynamic workflows with the enhanced 3-D Work Flow shapes that were designed with the new built-in Visio themes in mind.

Communicate using diagrams and share them with a broad audience

Provide cost-effective access to valuable organizational data by making it available through secure diagrams that are easy to share using Office Visio 2007, view in Windows Internet Explorer when you have the free Visio Viewer installed, or preview in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Adjust security and privacy settings for all 2007 Microsoft Office system programs, including Visio, at the new Trust Center. And, for audiences who don’t have Visio or Visio Viewer, save diagrams as Web pages, JPG files, or GIF files. Even save Visio diagrams in PDF format and in the new Microsoft XPS file format to make them more portable and reach broader audiences.

Note: You can save as a PDF or XPS file from a 2007 Microsoft Office system program only after you install an add-in. For more information, see Install and use a PDF or XPS add-in.

Customize Office Visio 2007 programmatically and create custom data-connected solutions

Easily extend Office Visio 2007 programmatically or by integrating it with other applications to fit your industry-specific scenarios or unique organizational requirements. Develop your own custom solutions and shapes, or use those from Visio solution providers. Visualize your custom solutions with Visio diagrams, such as data flow and Windows user interface diagrams, by using templates in the Software and Database category of Office Visio Professional 2007.

With Office Visio Professional 2007 and the Visio Drawing Control, create custom data-connected solutions that make it easy to connect to and display data in any context. You can control several new features in Office Visio 2007 programmatically, including connecting to a data source, linking shapes to data, displaying linked data graphically, connecting shapes to one another automatically (AutoConnect), monitoring and filtering mouse-drag actions, and applying theme colors and theme effects. You can find more information on all new developer-related features in Office Visio 2007 on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and in the Visio 2007 Software Development Kit (SDK).
 

Visualize complex information to better understand it

Office Visio 2007 provides a wide range of templates — business process flowcharts, network diagrams, workflow diagrams, database models, and software diagrams — you can use to visualize and streamline business processes, track projects and resources, chart organizations, map networks, diagram building sites, and optimize systems.

Use the wide range of diagram types in Office Visio 2007 to better understand complex processes, resources, and systems. View a larger image
 

More easily visualize processes, systems, and complex information using new or improved features in Office Visio 2007:

Get started quickly with templates

Office Visio 2007 includes specific tools to support the diverse diagramming needs of IT and business professionals. Create a broader range of diagrams with new templates, such as the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) template and the Value Stream Mapping template in Office Visio Professional 2007. Use the predefined Microsoft SmartShapes symbols and powerful search capabilities to locate the right shape, whether it is saved on a computer or on the Web.

Quickly access templates you use often

In the new Getting Started window, find the template you need by browsing simplified template categories and using large template previews. Locate the templates you used recently by using the new Recent Templates view in the Getting Started window.

Get inspired by sample diagrams

Find new sample diagrams more easily by opening the new Getting Started window and using the new Samples category in Office Visio Professional 2007. View sample diagrams that are integrated with data to get ideas for creating your own diagrams, to realize how data provides more context for many diagram types, and to determine which template you want to use.

Connect shapes without drawing connectors

New AutoConnect functionality in Office Visio 2007 connects shapes, distributes them evenly, and aligns them for you — with only one click. When you move the connected shapes, they stay connected and the connectors automatically reroute between the shapes. 
 

Explore information to identify trends and issues and act on them

Using Office Visio Professional 2007, make your diagrams even smarter by linking them to data to provide a more complete picture of a process, project, or system. Visually explore information to identify key trends, issues, and exceptions, and then act on them. Analyze, drill down into, and create multiple views of business data to gain insight.

Using Office Visio Professional 2007, visually explore data by using diagrams to identify issues and exceptions. View a larger image
 

Easily connect data to diagrams and link data to shapes

Automatically connect diagrams to one or more data sources, such as Microsoft Office Excel 2007 spreadsheets or Microsoft Office Access 2007 databases, by using the new Data Link functionality in Office Visio Professional 2007. Save time associating data with shapes by using intuitive new linking methods, which populate each shapes properties (also known as shape data) with data values. For example, link all the shapes in a diagram to rows of data from connected data sources by using the new Automatic Link Wizard.

Display data attractively in diagrams

Easily display data associated with shapes in attractive ways by using the new Data Graphics feature in Office Visio Professional 2007 to choose from a number of data formatting options. With a single click, display data fields as callouts next to a shape, position fields in boxes below a shape, and place fields of data directly on top or to the side of a shape.

Easily refresh data in diagrams

The new Refresh Data feature in Office Visio Professional 2007 automatically refreshes all the data in your diagrams so that you don’t have to do it manually. If data conflicts arise, easily resolve them by using the Refresh Conflicts task pane, also included with Office Visio Professional 2007.

Visualize business data

Visually explore business data that's normally shown in static text and tables by using PivotDiagrams. Create different views of the same data to more fully understand the issues.

Visually report on project information

Office Visio 2007 is an indispensable tool for visualizing complex project information. Easily generate reports directly from within Microsoft Office Project and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server that track project tasks, owners, roles, responsibilities, and depict complex project ownership structures. Automatically modify the reports as project information changes.

Communicate using diagrams that can be shared with a broad audience

Communicate information using Visio diagrams to maximize its impact in ways words and numbers alone cannot. Then share your professional-looking Visio diagrams with others, even those who don’t have Visio.

Using Office Visio 2007, create professional-looking diagrams that communicate a wealth of information you can share with a broad audience. View a larger image
 

Communicate more effectively and in more ways to reach broader audiences by using new and improved features in Office Visio 2007:

Design professional-looking diagrams

The new Theme feature in Office Visio 2007 makes it easy to format the colors and effects (text, line, fill, shadow, and connector formatting) in an entire diagram with a single click. Office Visio 2007 even uses the same color palette as other 2007 Microsoft Office system programs so that you can easily design professional-looking Visio diagrams that match your presentations and documents. Create more dynamic workflows with new 3-D Workflow shapes, which were designed with the new Theme feature in mind.

Reach broader audiences

Save Visio diagrams in PDF or XPS file format to make them more portable and to reach broader audiences.1 View Visio diagram attachments from within Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

Integrate diagrams into other Microsoft Office applications

Import Visio diagrams into your Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentations and Microsoft Office Word documents. Share business and process information as Visio diagrams and image files, so your audience can understand complex business processes at a glance in a consistent way.

Collaborate with colleagues on the same diagram

With the Track Markup feature, multiple people can collaborate on the same Visio diagram. Generally used for reviewing a diagram and incorporating feedback, Track Markup helps make each reviewer’s contributions clear to other reviewers and to the person who eventually incorporates the revisions in the diagram. If you’re using Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, easily check diagrams in and out directly from Office Visio.

Convert diagrams to multiple formats and share with others

Make your diagrams available to all people in your organization by saving them as Web pages complete with navigation controls, a shape data viewer, reports, choice of image format, and style sheet options. Post diagrams to your organization’s intranet or extranet where anyone who’s using Visio Viewer with Windows Internet Explorer can view the diagrams from within Internet Explorer.**Save Visio diagrams in PDF or XPS file format to make them more portable and to reach additional audiences.*

Collaborate using Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services

Shared workspace functionality supports collaboration with Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services. Visio diagrams saved on a Windows SharePoint Services sites can be opened directly in Office Visio 2007 from the site, and even checked in and out from within Office Visio 2007. When a diagram is opened from a Windows SharePoint Services site, Office Visio 2007 opens a Shared Workspace task pane that contains all of the information in the workspace, including other files, members, tasks, and links.

* You can save as a PDF or XPS file from a 2007 Microsoft Office system program only after you install an add-in.
** Visio Viewer is available as a free and separate download.

Customize and extend Office Visio 2007 programmatically to fit customized needs

Extend Office Visio 2007 programmatically or by integrating it with other applications to fit your industry-specific scenarios. Develop your own custom data-connected solutions and shapes, or use those from Visio Solution Providers.

Customize and extend Office Visio 2007 programmatically by using new and improved features:
 

Plan, analyze, and visualize your custom solutions

Visualize custom solutions with Office Visio 2007 diagrams, such as Unified Modeling Language (UML), data flow, and Microsoft Windows user interface diagrams, by using templates in the Software and Database category of Office Visio Professional 2007.

Build powerful custom solutions

The Office Visio 2007 software development kit (SDK) can help new and existing Visio developers build programs with Office Visio 2007. The SDK includes extensive samples, tools, and documentation to simplify and speed up development of custom applications. The SDK provides a set of reusable functions, classes, and procedures for the most common Office Visio 2007 development tasks and includes support for a broad range of development languages, including Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Microsoft Visual C# .NET, and Microsoft Visual C++.

Add Visio diagramming functionality to any context or program

With Office Visio 2007 and the Visio Drawing Control, create custom data-connected solutions that make it easy to connect to and display data in any context. Using the Visio Drawing Control, developers can embed and program the Visio drawing environment in custom applications. It opens up new opportunities for solution integration, making it easy to include the power of Office Visio 2007 in any smart client application. Because the Visio Drawing Control can be integrated with the host application’s UI, developers can take advantage of Visio drawing functionality as a smooth part of their application without having to develop similar functionality themselves.

Take advantage of new data-driven solution support and new features in Office Visio 2007

You can control several new features in Microsoft Office Visio 2007 programmatically, including connecting to a data source, linking shapes to data, displaying linked data graphically, connecting shapes to one another automatically (AutoConnect), monitoring and filtering mouse-drag actions, and applying theme colors and theme effects. Each of these features has an associated application programming interface (API) that makes it possible to control the feature programmatically and new objects and members associated with it in the Visio object model. You can find more information about new developer-related features in Office Visio 2007 on MSDN and in the Office Visio 2007 Software Development Kit (SDK).