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Note From the Publisher: I am pleased to announce that
Visions.eZine is available in Japanese. Yasu Ohgushi <yasu@rrcorp.co.jp> also
translates our sister publication, upFront.eZine, into
Japanese. Contact him directly to obtain the Japanese edition
of Visions.eZine.
Visions.eZine is now available in three languages: English,
Spanish, and Japanese. Claudio Jose Maccio <claudiom@elsitio.net>
is translating the Spanish Edition; you can check out his Web
site at http://habitantes.impsat.com.ar/piso70/8/visions.htm
Top
of the News:
Autodesk Beats Microsoft to .Net; Corel
a Close Second?
The last week has not been a good one for the Visio team. They
are facing (1) the fact of falling behind Actrix as a .Net product;
and (2) the prospect of renewed competition from Corel, also as
a .Net product.
Earlier this week, Microsoft purchased 24.6% of Corel for US$135
million. In exchange, Corel has committed to adapting its CorelDraw
(and other products) to Microsoft's .Net software rental system
by the end of 2001. Corel shares doubled on the news. Said an
industry observer on CNET: "The real value in the Corel Company
is the graphics software, which is a perfect complement to Office,
and runs best on PCs and MACs."
.Net is Microsoft's "vision for the next generation of Internet-based
products and services," quoting cfo John Connors. "Ten
years from now, more of our revenue will come from subscriptions,"
says ceo Steve Ballmer, "Software that takes care of itself,
backs itself up on your behalf, stores it for you on the Internet
-- how could you not prefer that to software that doesn't do those
things?" [Not me, for one.] In addition to driving Word's
real-time grammar checker wild, the details and the timeline for
.Net have been vague, with some industry watchers predicting that
it could take Microsoft as long as three years to convert all
its software to operate over the Internet.
While the media gives Microsoft's .Net
redirection over-extensive coverage, Autodesk has already done
it. Earlier in the year, AutoCAD was made available over the Web
on a trial basis. After installing client software from New Moon,
you could run AutoCAD over the Internet. Even on a DSL line, however,
the software felt sluggish; and with a 28.8KB modem, the software
simply wasn't usable.
Last week, Autodesk took a direct shot at Microsoft by making
its competitor-to-Visio diagramming software available as .Net
application. Rumors of the ASP version of Actrix had surfaced
last May; the product is now available for testing.
Until the middle of November, you can run Actrix Technical 2000
"over the Web" just like Microsoft hopes to do at some
point in the distant future. To test out Actrix's diagramming
over the Internet, you need to first do these steps:
1. Go to http://pointa01.autodesk.com/portal/actrix_login.asp
2. Fill out the registration form.
3. Download the 2.7MB Citrix client software.
4. Go back to the Point A Web site, and click Actrix Session.
Notice that a new browser window appears: "Initializing Actrix
Session." After a few minutes (depending on the speed of
the Internet connection), Actrix appears as a separate application
(it might be hidden by your Web browser window).
You can now run Actrix over the Net. Some notes:
VSD
Viewer Redux
The previous issue of Visions.eZine (v2#19)
was a special report on the state of viewing VSD files independent
of Visio. Graham Wideman wrote:
A significant reason that Visio's file format hasn't been released
is that it wouldn't necessarily provide useful data for creating
a drawing. This is because any number of aspects of the drawing
are calculated on the fly:
a) Many shape parameters are based on formulas in ShapeSheet cells.
Even if a Viewer could read the formulas, it would need the ShapeSheet
calculation apparatus to arrive at the actual values. This is
a non-trivial proposition.
b) Many cells in a typical drawing inherit formulas from masters
or styles in a rather tricky fashion. There must be complete info
in a VSD to follow the inheritance paths, but again this is likely
not trivial. (It's not even currently completely accessible via
Automation).
c) The close integration of Visio with VBA means that some portion
of some drawings is calculated on the fly using VBA calls (e.g.
CALLTHIS and RUNADDON -- if not supplemented by an external VSL
or EXE). A Viewer would have an impossible time duplicating this.
In short, a competent Visio Viewer would end up looking a lot
like -- Visio! Microsoft willing, a plausible answer to all this
is for VSDs to include a snapshot of the most recent value for
each ShapeSheet cell, along with the formula. I have no idea if
this is likely to happen before some other significant revision
to the VSD format comes along, and subsumes these issues.
Second, a quite good way to pass at least a static picture of
Visio files around is PDF. They can be generated easily (using
Adobe Distiller, not free but inexpensive), they are full resolution,
can be zoomed etc in Acrobat, the text can be searched (might
have to use Postscript fonts for this, but not horrible), and
I think they can be annotated. Might raise some issues for big
drawing sizes though.
Mr. Wideman raises some issues that
I didn't think of, and that Visio's pr team didn't comment on,
either. In my parallel world of AutoCAD, Autodesk faced this same
problem. In their case, ObjectARX is the name of the programming
interface that generates programmer-defined objects -- not too
unlike Visio shapes generated by ShapeSheet formulae and VBA macros.
Autodesk's solution was two-fold: (1) to view these objects, Autodesk
programmers created a second, meta-object format that displays
a proxy version of the ObjectARX-defined objects in copies of
AutoCAD that lack the ObjectARX code; and (2) Autodesk created
Object Enablers, which are stripped-down ObjectARX programs that
allows users to edit (but not create) proxy objects.
In the meantime, IntraNet Solutions announced Outside In v6.1
for viewing, conversion, and access of unstructured business content
by all types of clients and applications including wireless. New
capabilities includes full format support for Visio 5 and Visio
2000. [It'll be interesting to find out what "full support"
for Visio means.]
http://www.outsideinsdk.com
Other
Visio News
The SR-1 service release (aka bug patch) for Visio 2000 finally
appeared last week on the Microsoft Web site. (It had been released
a half-year ago.) You can download it from http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/visio/downloadCatalog/dldvisio.asp
.
I found, however, that Microsoft makes it tough to download. In
addition to providing the serial number, I needed to create "online
ID" and a password. Then I had to fill out all sorts of "Shopper
Information." After providing the data, Microsoft wanted
to charge me $14.93 to mail me the CD-ROM, instead letting me
download the patch. The final insult was that the patch was "back-ordered"
and would not be available until November 2. Needless to say,
I cancelled the order.
In the absence of the actual patch, I'll fill you in on what the
Microsoft Web site says about SR-1:
+ Microsoft branding
+ Office user interface
+ When choosing a font, you see a sample of the typeface.
+ A toolbar button emails the Visio diagram.
+ Unsaved changes to the diagram file can be recovered in case
of power loss or Windows failure.
+ Some tasks, such as changing color schemes, happen more quickly.
+ A number of bugs are fixed, both for users and programmers.
You can read detailed info here: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q264/4/00.ASP.
After my report on "what's new
in next year's release of Visio 10," Catherine Brooker of
Microsoft's pr firm, Waggner Edstrom, called with some corrections:
The GUI in Visio 10 is based on Office 10. The new GDI is responsible
for 2D vector graphics. While Visio 2000 can handle 16.7 million
colors, documents have a limit to the number of simultaneous colors;
this limit is being lifted with Visio 10. Contrary to what I reported,
lines and layers will also be transparent. While Visio 10 supports
XML, it will not be aecXML; instead, it will use the BlisXML dialect,
which is based on the IAI's IFC v.2 specification.
As for the conflict between Microsoft saying that no Visio developers
left and a Visions.eZine reader who reported a telephone conversation
with a Visio employee who said many developers had left: the story
is that eight of 11 Visio support staff who helped third-party
developers moved to other positions within Microsoft.
The Microsoft TechNet for IT (information technology)
people has been opened for Visio users. The site is said to be
"a clearinghouse of resources to help you deploy, maintain,
and support Visio in your environment. Find out how to use Visio
drawing and diagramming software to help you visualize your network
infrastructure."
http://www.microsoft.com/visio/VTC/
Shunra Software has upgraded Storm Wide Area Network
(WAN) Emulator for performance improvements as well as new features
aimed at simplifying use and increasing security. Users will now
be able to disconnect/reconnect the graphic user interface directly
from the hardware, have improved control over Storm's Ethernet
ports and run multiple pages of Visio simultaneously. Storm v1.1
is currently in beta and will be released in November.
http://www.shunra.com
Tranxition's Personality Tranxport Professional 2.0
transfers computer personality from one Windows platform or PC
to another. The software allows IT professionals to create and
manage rules for data migration, including the ability to gather
data files from anywhere on the system's disk and redirect the
files to a specific folder in the destination machine with the
sub-directories left intact. The software supports many business
packages, including Visio.
http://www.tranxition.com
Ampersand announced it is offering the Zerocode Design
Environment Service through its Web site. A typical application
development project starts with the design of database tables
and their relationships. Many commercial products, such as Visio,
provide graphical design environments, and Zerocode accepts SQL
code from any source, including reverse engineered inputs from
legacy databases.
http://www.zerocode.com
Microsoft
News
Microsoft is keeping an eye on Napster. "If the song-swapping
site prevails in court, what does that mean for the software industry?"
asks PC World. The difference, of course, is that MP3 files
are virus-free, while EXE and VBS files are virus-laden.
Beta 2 of Office 10 is due out this month. No sign of a beta for Visio 10, yet.
The Office Template Gallery was recently opened by Microsoft at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/TemplateGallery/default.asp. It, however, contains no templates for Visio.
The estimated cost of breaking up Microsoft has reached
a new high. Consumers worldwide could wind up paying anything
up to US$310 billion more, according to a new study produced by
professor Stan Liebowitz under the banner of pro-Microsoft and
Microsoft-backed lobby group the Association for Competitive Technology.
- The Register
You can read Mr Liebowitz's complete analysis here: http://www.actonline.org/pubs/remedies3.pdf
And you can read a contrary viewpoint here: http://linuxtoday.com/mailprint.php3?action=pv<sn=2000-09-28-006-21-NW-CY-MS,
which notes that "The inflation rate must have been hellacious
in the last six months: in February, Liebowitz pegged the cost
of breaking up Microsoft as being US$30 billion to consumers."
Most of Windows ME features are available for free. Check out http://www.computeruser.com/articles/1909,5,17,1,0901,00.html for the details.
Microsoft shares hit new 52-week lows on news that personal
computer sales are slowing down. The share price fell below US$60
for the first time in nearly three years. Last quarter, 31% of
Microsoft's pre-tax profits came from its portfolio holdings,
according to the New York Times.
Meanwhile, Apple became the eighth most-traded stock in
U.S. history as panicked investors traded 132.4 million shares
amid the company's biggest-ever single-day drop: 52 percent. -
CNET. Apple shares are now at 1/3 their 52-week high.
Visio
Tips
Tip #52: Document stencils versus stencil files
Visio users are familiar of stencils, but many are not
aware of "document stencils." To help differentiate,
I'm reproducing this from the Visio help file:
Document Stencil: A document stencil is a stencil stored in every drawing file that contains copies of all the masters used in that drawing file. When you add or edit masters in a document stencil, the changes affect only that drawing file. The masters are linked to their instances in the drawing, so changes you make to masters in a document stencil are reflected in each instance of the shape in the drawing. You cannot save the document stencil to use in other drawings-it is simply a component of the active drawing.
Stencil File: A stencil file has the extension .vss, and you can open it separately or with a template. If you save a stencil with a template, the stencil opens when you open the template, along with a drawing page that has the scale, styles, and other features appropriate for the shapes on the stencil. When you add or edit masters in a stencil, the new or revised masters become available for any new drawing you create using that stencil or for any template that opens the stencil. Instances of the masters in existing drawings are not affected.
Puzzled about Visio? Got an idea on how to make Visio work better? Send your questions and tips to ralphg@xyzpress.com .
Poeple
on the Move
Mozquito Technologies added Stefan Brotzler
to their executive team. Brotzler was one of the first key employees
with Visio and was a major contributor to the company's success
in Europe from startup to market leader. Mozquito Factory is the
world's first XHTML development suite.
http://www.mozquito.com/
Equity Office Properties Trust has purchased World Trade
Center East in Seattle WA, from WRC Trade Center LLC for US$38.7
million. Microsoft, a successor-by-merger to Visio Corporation,
is the building's sole office tenant, which is a six-story, 187,000-square-foot
building.
http://www.equityoffice.com
Letters
from Readers
"Having known the folks at Visio since before version 1 (when
it was Shapeware Corp.) I was a bit dismayed when I found out
that Microsoft was buying them. I was also well aware that they
were always technically in bed with Microsoft so it was probably
inevitable. However, I must say, that the support, the knowledge
base, and the Web site for Visio are much improved now that Microsoft
has them. The only real lacking that I find (or don't find) is
the third party, tech support, and customer submitted downloads.
I sure wish they'd bring them back."
- Ken Schiff, Productivity Through Technology <http://www.guiguy.com>
Re: Readers Asking for Help
"I'm trying to locate Visio stencils for sound reinforcement
systems (live concert sound systems), and recording studios. Any
suggestions?"
- Brian Barnes <brian.barnes@myrio.com>
"We are documenting our old Paradox 3.x system in preparation
for an upgrade to SQL or Oracle. I know that Visio should be able
to map out the tables and I hope show some relationships, but
I cannot make it work. I have practically memorized the manual
and I go through the Wizard steps and in the end I get two tables
that print out with no relationship showing. I am at a loss.
The other manual I have doesn't talk about databases at all.
Is there an intermediate level course offered on Visio anywhere?"
- PPIweb@aol.com
Re: Is Visio 2000 Technical Viable for CAFM?
"If you are looking for a low cost CAFM system, we have a
system called Asset 2000, which allows for the import or referencing
of CAD data and will allow you to connect directly to an Access
database. The software costs US$995. For a free evaluation please
visit our Web site at http://www.graphstore.com
or if you would like further details please email us at info@graphstore.com
"
- David Blain, Graphstore <david.blain@graphstore.com>
Re: NetZoom Review
"Thank you very much for your review of NetZoom 2000 in Visions.eZine.
Your comment about how NetZoom feels slower than VNE is valid.
As you noted, NetZoom's file size is much smaller than VNE's but
the trade off is speed. Another factor is the amount of data that
we have behind each shape (including automatically assigning port
connection points). Our engineers are currently working on speeding
up the process and think that they can decrease time by 50%.
"Regarding price, an end user who doesn't need all of the
advanced features of Enterprise can buy Standard (approx. US$187)
or Professional (approx. US$380) plus NetZoom 2000 (US$99) and
save a considerable amount of money. Many of our customers are
Visio users who can't justify the $999 for Enterprise.
"Keep up the great work on Visions.eZine! It is the only
source of regular information for the Visio community and you
are doing all of us a great service."
- Adrian Davis, Altima Technologies <http://www.altimatech.com>