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by Moe Jones |
Do you need a versatile program that will create simple flow charts and complex technical drawings? If so, then the software Visio 4.5 Technical may be what you are looking for. If you are in business and need to move, you can plan the move with this program. Or create construction drawings or petroleum process designs or space management plans. If you can think it, you can make it visual with Visio. For international firms, you can create ISO 9000 compliant flowcharts.
I have used it for a few job applets (small applications) and it is a very useful program with an easy learning curve. For a beginner, you'll need a little extra time since the software incorporates Visual Basic into the program's drawing engine. If you are accustomed to VBA (Visual Basic Application) then you will feel at home, but this feature might cause a beginner programmer a few headaches. VBA is very useful since it combines both the power of VB and OLE automation for custom planning, layouts and diagrams.
However, this is not a 'techie' program that requires you to be a programmer - not by a long shot. Why? Visio has a number of Wizards, templates, stencils and a large collection of predefined shapes. For example, with SmartShapes (with more than 3,000 shapes) you can maintain a shape's dimension and create a drawing or chart with ease. There are Wizards that provide similar assistance.
This program is very simple to install and configure. Visio comes with two CDs, one for Windows 95 and Windows NT and the other CD for users of Windows 3.1. I like the idea that I was allowed to install the program on any drive that I wanted, unlike some other software that requires you to install that program only on the "C" drive.
To start, all you do is click on the Visio icon, under Programs, which pops up a window menu of what Drawing Template you would like to create. A few examples of these templates are Industrial Process, Electrical and Electronics, Business Diagrams, Mechanical Engineering, Maps and Facilities Management. Once you have selected the template to start with and the drawing window opens, you will feel at home if you have Office 97, because the toolbars and menus are like Office 97, which is a switchable interface. From the large collection of predefined shapes, you just select a shape and drop and drag it to the open work sheet and start connecting each one together in any form you would need.
Visio has a number of Wizards that come with the program, which lead you step-by-step in making a technical drawing. There are quite a few of these Wizards and here are just a few and what their function is. There is the chart Shape Wizard that helps in adding special effects to your charts in your drawing, there is the Data Base Wizard that allows you to link your database to your Visio drawing and there is the Hyperlinking Wizard, which creates links to a URL or links an object to a page in the same diagram, or lets you "save as" an HTML web page. This is a good procedure to maintain the currency of your web page information and data.
Once you have completed your drawing and saved it, you save your work in a directory other than Visio. I save my drawings in the same directory that Word 97 saves its files in, My Documents. You also can export your drawing as a metafile bitmap and incorporate it in a Word Document. Visio provides a number of import/export formats. For instance, you can import Autocad R13 files and export GIF, JPG and PNG files.
For color, you can create a custom color palette (company colors?) and use the gradient fills feature easily. This feature was particularly helpful in distinguishing various parts of a more complex diagram. For instance, if it is a flow chart and several jobs are involved in completing the task, such as assembly, each job can be in a different color.
There are other versions of Visio: the basic version of Visio, which is a fine program for home use, and Visio 4.5 Professional, which is a program for use in the office environment or for engineers or architects or landscape designers, etc. (Both the Tech and Pro versions create network drawings.)
I should like to see a better set of learning documentation. If you wait a little, you'll find third party documentation. After a good program is on the market, you can typically find better documentation than that which came with the software.
For more info go to http://www.visio.com.
Do you need to create an organization chart, network diagram, control chart or a flow chart? How about trying to find loopholes located in your business plan or just trying to maximize your business resources? If you think there is a need to do so, you might want to check out this software program from the company Micrografx, called "Flow Charter 7".
As a volunteer on the help committee for HAL-PC's Internet service HALNet, I found when I was helping other members with their installation problems, they were having difficulty in understanding how to solve the problem by just reading the text instructions. I decided to try an installation flow chart and to my surprise I found that the average member that I was helping found it a lot easier to understand. They could solve their problem by following the flow chart, step by step.
One of the new features I found particularly useful was that when I add an object (box, triangle, etc.) to a chart, the existing lines/objects nicely move away, rather than hide behind the new object. It's a sort of "get out of the way" process and it does improve the look and practicality of your chart.
After using this program, I learned that not only could I create a flow chart to teach others, I could also create a flow chart to collect data, perform calculations, or understand a process and even use it to make decisions due to the program's new, innovative productive tool called Living Flow Charts. This tool allows the user of the flow chart to interact with the chart itself. That is, every object on the diagram, for instance, can present a Wizard type of dialog box to enter data (just for that one object) or change the path previously established…much like a decision tree. That's just plain intelligent! By the way, this feature is also an interactive trouble shooting process that asks questions and guides you toward a solution.
I would like to back up to the program's installation. I found it to be a generally simple program to install, except for one slight cliché. When you install the program and do not want it to install in the "C" drive, it still wants to install all its fonts on the same drive that the Windows directory is on. This should not cause any problems and as far as I can tell, it doesn't.
When you have installed the program, open it up. You will notice that a most of the tool bars and menus are like Office 97. This should not be a surprise, since I have noticed that quite a few other programs provide or give you the option of an Office 97 interface.
When it comes to operating the program, I don't think you will have any problems creating your first flow chart. I read somewhere this quote, "Perfect for the novice PC user with little or no artistic background". I found the statement to be so true, because I'm no artist.
With all the creating tools you have at hand, with Flow Charter 7, it would be difficult not completing the chart you need. With the easy-to-follow wizards, templates and 20 plus different diagram charts, you are bound to find what you will need. There are hundreds of shapes, etc. that are predefined. You can create a pyramid chart, a comparison chart, circle spoke chart, checklist and even a target chart. The template CoolSheets, which is used to create the above charts, is what makes it so easy in creating those charts. And FlowCharter makes it simple by an extensive use of drag and drop. Just drag the chart shape on a work sheet, add text to the shape and finally connect the shape with lines. The CoolSheets wizard will assist you in "tweaking" your graphic, diagram, or chart.
Flow Charter 7 even allows you to create your own design shapes for your chart with its 10 free hand drawing tools, 16 shadow effects and 20 3D effects.
As I said before, the toolbar is Office 97, and the program is totally Microsoft Office 97 compatible, which makes it nice when you want to embed some data from a Office program into your flow chart. The interface is switchable. And guess what, it's even compatible with Microsoft's new Intellimouse.
I really feel that Micrografx will support this program for some time to come. I have been to their web home page and they are coming out with a viewer for their program. This means you will be able to send a copy of your chart on a disk and it will be viewable by the recipient.
If you would like to sample Visio, a trial CD is available, call 1-800-424-9704. For more info go to http://www.micrografx.com.
Moe Jones is a HAL-PC member and Co-SIG Leader of the Windows 95 SIG.
E-mail me at webmaster@hal-pc.org with any comments you have and tell me what you want to see here.
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