Visio Graphics Services Overview

As with the Excel Services service application and the Access Services service application, the Visio Graphics Services service application is created by default in SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise via the wizard in most cases. If a new service application is needed, it can be created from the Manage Service Applications page on the Central Administration site.

Visio Graphics Services allows Visio Web drawings published in VDW format to be shared with other users who may not have Visio 2010 installed on their computers. VDW formats can be created only by Visio Professional 2010 or Visio Premium 2010. Standard Visio drawings (VSD files) are not rendered by Visio Services and require Visio to be viewed.

An example is shown in Figure 26.21 of a Visio diagram published using Visio Graphics Services. The standard options of Open in Visio and Refresh are available, as well as the ability to view different pages, zoom in or out, and show the Shape Information Pane visible in the lower-right section of Figure 26.21. The publishing process is accomplished by accessing the Save & Send tool from the File tab, selecting Save to SharePoint, and then choosing the Web Drawing format.

Figure 26.21. Example of a Visio file viewed in the browser.

The settings for the Visio Graphics Services service application are as follows:

• Global Settings— Include Maximum Web Drawing Size (50MB limit), Minimum Cache Age (number of minutes, 34560 maximum), Maximum Cache Age (number of minutes, 34560 maximum), Maximum Recalc Duration (120 seconds maximum), Unattended Service Account Application ID.

• Trusted Data Providers— A number of data providers are already provided, or new ones can be added, using the following types: 1 for OLEDB, 2 for SQL, 3 for ODBC, 4 for ODBC with DSN, 5 for SharePoint Lists, and 6 for Visio Custom Data Providers.