Chapter 6. Storing Data in Diagrams

Looks aren’t everything. Even though Microsoft Office Visio 2007 can give you and your audience amazing visuals, there is more to beauty than meets the eye. Office Visio 2007 can also store a great deal of information. Almost all of the diagram types are designed to include data in the form of customizable shape properties called shape data. Shape data provide a data-entry interface for a shape. As an example, organization chart shapes can store data about employees, such as name and job title. Network shapes can store data about devices and equipment, such as manufacturer and model number. Using this feature in Visio 2007 is not mandatory, but it can greatly enhance your final work.

This chapter describes how to use and revise the built-in custom properties that come with many Visio 2007 shapes and how to create new properties. In addition, this chapter describes the reporting tools that can be used for any drawing or diagram that contains shape data.