Toggle Button

[Vegim]

I'm not sure where to post this (Programming/Shapes, etc), but I've spent the last few days sifting through several ways on how to create buttons to toggle between layers.  I'm trying to create a standard Visio template for our Network Engineers to use, and it seems the easier you want to make things for people to view your diagrams, the harder it is for whoever is designing the diagram in Visio.  That being said, we use Visio a lot for very complex network designs - so being able to flip a switch to see the Core network, or just being able to see devices away from networks, etc.  I understand the layering concept and how all of that works - but the problem is getting more interactive with Visio makes it harder to use.

So that being said, we use Visio 2003.  I have read http://davidjpp.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/toggling-layers-on-and-off/ - who has created a GREAT tool for part of what I want to do.  Here's kind of a little scope:

1)  Create a basic template for doing Visio designs.  Not saying they HAVE to be done this way - but a nice header, company logo, etc.  Need to also have a spot for diagram information including Engineer Name, Date, Location, and other fields. 

2)  Create a landscape and portrait of the template.  Layers should be created for the "template" things .. like header, etc that go in to the Template layer.

3)  Figure out how to use the bVisual module by davidjpp.  I can't figure out for the life of me how to customize it.  I was able to use the ShapeSheet to remove right click menu items under actions, but there are more things I would like to do.  If you download the Stencil (which I have attached here to make it easier), it is hard for me send it to someone even if they lower their Macro security.  I sent it to one of my colleagues (just a sample as an example) and it didn't work right.  The basic functionality:  You place the stencil on your visio diagram that has a few layers.  Select the button, and shift select an object that is in the layer you would like to assign to it.  Right click and press Read Shape Layers.

Some of the things I would like to do with this button:  Remove the circle indicator.  It is a waste of space, and since when you resize the button and the circle doesn't adjust correctly - makes it very difficult to do anything.  I have edited the stencil and removed the circle, and it's still there!

Last, but not least, and probably not even last - if I send the Visio file to someone else, it doesn't work.  I'm assuming because the stencil is somehow linked to my diagram, and I need to send the complete set:  .vsd and stencil??  Anyway I can combine?  I'm trying to make it easier for people but it looks like I'll have to create a wiki on how to follow standard company visio policies, haha.

4)  More on the template aspect - is there any way to have an area for the details like I explained in #1, but not have to double click the area and edit the text and worry about formatting?  Can I set custom fields up and maybe each time the template is opened, the engineer can enter their information and it will select the current day and insert all of that data?  I was reading something about custom fields but no bueno.

5)  Going to create a page on our internal web for Visio stuff.  This will include all of the stencils we use (Cisco, Juniper, etc), the standard templates, the custom button stenciles, etc.  This will also include a FAQ.

I'm guessing this will be an ongoing project that will take a few weeks.  Any help would be appreciated, even if you don't want to hit all the points I'm trying to work on.  I should add that I have been using Visio for a long time and never knew about layers until 2 weeks ago. I'm not a complete newb to Visio, but I guess I am now that I am reading a lot of these walkthroughs/guides/looking at stencils and not being able to figure out how to use them.

Would appreciate any responses!

I also attached global_sample_2.vsd - this is where I used the ToggleLayer stencil, but again, I removed it from the stencils list or however that structure works - and the buttons don't work.  However, before I removed it, I added the bVisual module to the global_sample_2.vsd using VB Editor.  Hmm... I hope I can clear some of this nonsense up.

[aledlund]

Why not check this out,
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa140253(office.10).aspx
al

[Vegim]

Why not check this out,
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa140253(office.10).aspx
al

Hi Al,

I don't think that is even close to what I want to accomplish, but I appreciate the effort & response.  The team I work with is in charge of Network Operations, not generating sales, etc.  But if I'm on the right track, you wanted to show me that linking between files is pretty simple?  Or did you want me to try to incorporate some of the features they tried to do with my objectives?

To simplify my post (I rambled on):

1)  I want to create a standard Visio template for my team
2)  I want to use toggle buttons that are placed on the template to switch layers on and off (visibility)
3)  I want to create a Visio web page on our internal web for stencils, FAQs, etc - and for whatever other Visio related reasons.

Some of the tools are available, but as I mentioned, they seem hard to customize.  A simple task like removing the circle out of the ToggleLayer stencil from bVisual totally removed the functionality.  Also, how do I make sure the stencil goes with the Visio diagram, so it will permanently work as long as the receiving end enables macros?

[aledlund]

a.) The reason for the pointer was the drawing example does use a template with the ability to flag custom properties (i.e. designer, etc.). You can add background pages for the logo and other static components.

b.) Keep working with Davids example it has the necessary code, it just needs to be customized.

c.) You can put a button on the template to call the necessary code to show layers, but experience says that the views you are trying to create might be better done with separate drawings. Some ideas over here
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/results.aspx?qu=visio+network&origin=FX101741961

d.) webify... Using Visio as part of a web solution (installing on a server) needs to be done in the context of Visio Services (i.e. v2010 and Sharepoint), so some planning on platforms needs to be done.

al